Definition of Live PA

[davethedrummer]

hehe

[Ritzi Lee]

Yo guys!
Really some great replies. :clap:

But explain me this argument:
If you play a piano, for example, the keys and strings are already there, you are kind of reorganizing the sound of the strings.....

Is a DJ a musician then?

A musician creates something with the intend of creating, composing with the intend to do so.

DJing is more random like a discovery type of thing.
He doesn't really know what comes. It's all momental,
and happens at that time when he does his thing.
Especially the thing Dave was talking about when you mix 2 records together...

[massplanck]

I dont really have a prob with abelton used in any paricular which way....

but I do have a problem with everyone using the same piece of software the whole time.

How interesting would the 60's have been if all them hippies had played on the same guitar with the same sonic capabilities and same eq. yawn.

Abelton makes stuff sound like its being played through abelton if you know what i mean.

[dan the acid man]

anything that is being created there and then, in front of your eye's, is live imo. whether that's 2 record's being mixed together, to tweaking effect's to full blown synth setup's, it's all live

[davethedrummer]

Is a DJ a musician then?

A musician creates something with the intend of creating, composing with the intend to do so.

DJing is more random like a discovery type of thing.
He doesn't really know what comes.

sorry ritzi but there's nothin random about djing.
it's creative and spontaneous but not random, well not for me anyway.
it's practised and perfected at the same time as being free and expressive

see what i mean?
random just isn't the word to describe it.
i see what your getting at
but i just have to insist that djing is live in EVERY sense of the word
it just isn't traditional music making , but that just means it's a modern means to an end.

both my parents are musicians ( pianists , my brother too my grandparents too and other members of my family , some are very well known for what they do.)
i'm really used to having traditional musicians around me and with a background like that you may think i would be fighting against things like djing,

but in fact when hip hop came along in the mid 80's i realised that making music was going to take a different path , and that's what i believe today

turntablism as its known now or just straight mixing
or three dex or adding fx or whatever , it's preformed live it can go wrong
it takes skill to make it work right and some people are better than others.

this is the very essence of live music.


watching a bunch of guys dancing around on stage to a prerecorded dat tape is not.
if you think about it THAT is what we should be talking about right there.

there's a few acts like that around. i've seen plenty and you really could take the guys off the stage and replace them with some remote controlled puppets and achieve exactly the same effect.

[davethedrummer]

How interesting would the 60's have been if all them hippies had played on the same guitar with the same sonic capabilities and same eq. yawn

they did mostly mate!
there wasn't anywhere near as much choice in the 60s as there is now

gibson les pauls / rickenbackers / fender strats

marshall amps / vox ac30's / fender jazz choruses

cry baby wah pedals (70s)

spring reverbs , analogue tape delays , natural tube distortion


(i'm salivating already)

[dan the acid man]

analogue tape delay's :love: :love: the watkins copy cat :love: :love:

[xfive]

How interesting would the 60's have been if all them hippies had played on the same guitar with the same sonic capabilities and same eq. yawn

they did mostly mate!
there wasn't anywhere near as much choice in the 60s as there is now

gibson les pauls / rickenbackers / fender strats

marshall amps / vox ac30's / fender jazz choruses

cry baby wah pedals (70s)

spring reverbs , analogue tape delays , natural tube distortion


(i'm salivating already)

Yeah, but I think the Dead were pretty well known though for heavily modding their instruments to get unique sounds.... probably some other groups too.

[Methodixxx]

How interesting would the 60's have been if all them hippies had played on the same guitar with the same sonic capabilities and same eq. yawn

they did mostly mate!
there wasn't anywhere near as much choice in the 60s as there is now

gibson les pauls / rickenbackers / fender strats

marshall amps / vox ac30's / fender jazz choruses

cry baby wah pedals (70s)

spring reverbs , analogue tape delays , natural tube distortion


(i'm salivating already)

Big Muff (stick that bitch onto a 303 :lol: )

The Fuzz (was that the other one hendrix used?)

[Methodixxx]

But yeah, great thread... it's so interesting to see other live acts and ways of playing... I'm totally with Henry in regards to djing too, there are ways of djing where you do basically the same thing as pressing play on a dat (ie. late mixes, easy non challenging stuff, knowing what your going to play, etc) but who here does that..? Playing 3 decks, or going crazy in a scratch routine leaves so much room for improvisation, trying new things, seeing what sounds work, etc, etc, etc... which is the true essence of a live performance in my mind...

Most bands that play gigs for example will have a set of songs they can choose from.. some will even know what order they are going to play them in... is that so much more live than a PA with only parts of a track sequenced, who totally changes his tracks on the spot in reaction to the crowd / situation...? I really don't think it is... Henry said it earlier, all the stuff we write techno with are still instruments, they are just a modern variation of a very old thing.. they still have to be perfected, you still have to practice, some people are still more gifted at what they do, etc, etc...

Good topic though and interesting to see different peoples views.. I'll stop ranting now ;)

[markus]

I think it's all personal preference really... Most people just make their music on a computer and break their tracks up into patterns to load onto their hardware or into Ableton for live PA. It doesn't matter whether you're using hardware or software, they'll both play your loops the same. Personally I enjoy playing my live PAs on hardware, but that's just my own personal preference. I know a lot of people that put on a good show using Ableton. They both have their ups and downs. With Ableton you run the very small chance of your laptop crashing while in the middle of a performance, but at the same time, it's a bitch to lug hardware around to gigs, and it's a little more work to load all of your samples onto your hardware and assign them to patterns and junk. But in my opinion, it's well worth the extra time.

[The Overfiend]

Welcome to Blackout Primal ;)

[Evil G]

i think live pa would be much more interesting it stood for prince albert, not public address. all eyes would be glued to the stage!

[The Overfiend]

PA = Pummel Adverse :lol:

[acidchild]

Very gray area. Some people can rock out using Ableton live. It has changed the way live techno is done. But unless there's some other element added to the laptop...it's kinda boring. To watch. I personaly wouldn't use a computer for live use, or to make music with. All my PAs are done with my machines in pattern play/write mode. I usually keep the TR-707 in write mode the whole time and add & subtract sounds on the fly. The MMT-8 and TB-303 are kept in pattern write mode. Sometimes i will bring a TR-505 with to trigger drum samples, and keep that i write mode. That is MY live pa set up. The definition of Live PAs has changed over the years. If the music is bangin' who cares! As long as you're not using pre-set sequences out of a groove box=o]