IDM, Laptop Artists - The new folk?

[eeldip]

i disagree (also) with those who were saying that computers have no place on stage.
do you think keyboard instruments (besides the ones that look like guitars) also have no place?
essentially the player looks pretty much the same on keyboards and laptops.

not that they dont have a place on stage, just that the people taking them on to the stage should be aware of what they do to the performance.

as a side note: i also believe that keyboards are sort of a drag, which is why i play a keytar in my band.

[pscottm]

i don't see a problem w it. has anyone seen oval play live, or fennesz? those guys will peel off the outer layer off your skull. ..and are fascinating to watch. also a totally different experience to listening to thier records.

of course there will always be boring laptop artists, but there will also be probably 1000 times as many guitar players who are just as boring.
-pscottm

[soundispatch]

IMO, it's the new prog-rock.

farmer's manual the new yes?

fx randomiz is hilarious to see live. markus popp makes me tired. ever since akita masami (merzbow) started using a laptop, his performances (and music) are about 0.1 times more exciting.

-cal

[JES]

Umm...what's IDM stand for?

As for laptops, I think it's great though they do have to get around the boring stage show thing. THere's a big DJ/VJ scene in Barcelona and lots of other places, and that's one way around it. The other would be to just go for some of the contrivances of rock performers.

As for the stand there and do nothing issue, that was a problem with keyboards, synths and sequencers too and bands found creative ways around that.

One other thing nobody's talked about -- live performance becomes much more economically viable when you're a 1-2 person band. Small payment split one or two ways is better than the three or four that a rock band has to split. And the front end costs are in the same range, depending on your laptop or instrumental setup.

Best,
--JES
Edited for an afterthought

[psychicoctopus]

The only effective performances I've seen involved synergy with other arts, mostly video art.

Video can be a laptop art, too, and really enhances a show. I admit I've gotten spoiled by the projection artists that sometimes accompany live shows, whether its rock, dub, glitch, or whatever. Unless the musicians are top-notch and just tearing into it, I'm thinking "yeah... seen this before." Gimme some video, a 35mm slide show even, to stoke the imagination...

[friendlybunny]

I performed with a laptop live once, and it sucked. I got that feeling you get when you're working on the computer and ignoring somebody else in the same room.

It's more dorky than playing a keyboard and twiddling knobs.

For me, it was a novelty act. It sounded fine, felt weird, looked boring.

Laptops are great for portable recording though...

[bedbug]

Umm...what's IDM stand for?

One other thing nobody's talked about -- live performance becomes much more economically viable when you're a 1-2 person band.

Or it adds something that you couldn't do with a 1-2 person band. If I was playing out solo, I could almost see using a laptop for rhythm tracks. It's not its effect on a band's image I mind, it's that laptop now implies a genre, and that genre being IDM (intelligent dance music).

Let's say you've got a laptop that you've downloaded whatever software on it. Who's to say your not recording dixieland jazz on it? But if I showed up to a club with a laptop, it would be assumed that I was doing an IDM project.

So in that sense, I don't think it's being all that inventive because there's a million possibilities for it, and all I ever hear it being used for is bleeps and electronic farting noises. You can't break ground that's already been broken before.

"I'm being innovative in the exact same way Radiohead is!"

[SpaceCad]

I think it all depends on how you use the laptop live. Yeah, it's not a human. I'm not looking for the laptop player to really take off on a wicked solo. But I love it when it is used in a very subtle manner, like a soundbed. I love the fact that Wilco will use a laptop in their live set up. Same with Sparklehorse. It helps support the artist so that they can deliver a more emotional vocal or solo or whatever.

I look for laptops to create a foundation and the artist to decorate the performance. If you have a boring artist, the laptop is not going to make him/her shine.

Look at the dj scene. How many dj's are there that have weekly gigs that are totally lame? about 90%. But the other 10%...stellar.

[ottokbre]

yeah, the labeling needs to stop. but what else do ya do? i hate the name "programmer", no man! I don't friggen work at microsoft already!
IDM sounds better as an acronym than actually said out right. beatminer? nah, 'cus lots don't even make beats. laptop artist, er, laptopist. hmmm...
i'll just stick to musician perhaps.

"Laptops are practical in so many ways. It allows you to be more mobile, it takes less space and gives you less headaches when it's time to pack up your stuff or go through the border but above all you don't have to watch the stupid plane movie featuring Richard Gere anymore when you're traveling"

- Akufen

[apropos of nothing]

Err, herm.

I've seen some really interesting laptop shows and some really piss-poor ones.

The exciting ones are usually ones where the artist/s have more going on than just mousing on a screen.

I can't remember names for any of these people, but the best was a show from a guy in DC who did Drum and Bass stuff and ran back and forth from a computer (I think running Cubase SX) to some sampler/keyboard setup to a pair of turntables. Great. Great to dance to, fun to listen to, fun to watch.

Another good one was two fellows ("Broken Toy Orchestra"?), both sitting on the floor on the stage. One was laptop twiddling and goofing with keyboard, the other was goofing with a midi controller and a series of rewired dsp-based (children's) toys and processing the results (I wanna say through a Sherman filter bank). Again, fun to watch, fun to listen to, blew a tweeter at the club cuz they should've compressed the signal.

Another band locally, "Go Machine", the keyboardist and drummer both use laptops for sound generation. The keyboardist is using virtual synthesis and loops and the drummer has triggers hooked up to all his drums to supplement. In addition to this, they also have about a bajillion instruments -- accordion, violin, standard guitar/bass thang, and they sing harmony.

The boring ones involved a guy mousing.

"What's he doing up there?"
"I think he's playing Quake."

Its not the tech, its how ya use it.

[the velour fog]

The other would be to just go for some of the contrivances of rock performers.

introducing the new lap-tar.

[eeldip]

i was always impressed with the way man or astroman handled their computers on stage.

they strapped on some keyboards and ran really long serial cables to their macs. (running that software that ORI software- i forget what it is called, but it is free stuff) a lap-tar of sorts.

the computer never interferred with the music except when occasionally something would crash... (loudest mac startup sound i have ever heard in my life)

[bedbug]

but above all you don't have to watch the stupid plane movie featuring Richard Gere anymore when you're traveling"

I went on a 2 week driving/camping trip last summer and one of the travelers bought a laptop with Simpsons seasons 4-9 on it. It was pretty cool watching the coolest show ever while out in the wilderness, or while driving.