This whole 'live' thing....

alz

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I know there's a thread about Andy C, but I thought there should be a thread just for the debate on this 'live' performance aspect that seems to be being thrust on the music scene at the moment.

Personally, I only think that 'live' should be used if there are instruments are involved. I know a MPC is practically an instrument but I still don't think it qualifies as 'live'. When I saw Sub Focus "Live", it was basically just a poor DJ set with lots of lights. I know that Chase n Status did a 'live' thing, and even though I didn't enjoy any of it, at least it was LIVE with a band and a singer. To me the only d'n'b acts to make the transition successfully is London E, something which sadly and regrettably I never got to see and also Roni Size, who I did see with a full orchestra and a gospel choir, now that was LIVE.

When I saw Bass Clef at Glasonbury he was playing from decks, but with a sampler, he'd play his instruments, sample them and augment those samples live, also something I had appreciation for because he wasn't just loading up his own samples and looping them.

Also something I've noticed is that with these 'live' performances is that it's the same set they've learnt. I'm not trying to detract from the effort that's been put in, but it's basically just learning a routine on a MPC and getting payed more from what I gather.

So I guess the question we should debate is: What do you think constitues a live performance from a producer?
 
yes a live set should be played live, allot of live sets are pre-made, with FX tweeks over the top, thats a load of bollox imo, espcially for dance music, i write all my music with live set's in mind, designed to be remixed on the fly, like a dj set, but with more options, change the percussion, bassline, leads, pads, FX etc, and with some live synths and FX on top, alongside all of that i have a large pallet of sounds/loops/vocals/drum-machines and all sorts of other shit which can be dropped in wherever the mood takes me. but thats just my take on a live set, as long as its not pre-recorded with the occasional filter sweep, i dont really care how an artist approaches their live, or if it has 'real' instruments in it, seems to be a little pointless to have a big rack of synths and keyboards these days when a PC can do it all, but i suppose it doesnt look as kool...is that whats important tho?
 
A LIVE SET IS PURELY TO GET MORE MONEY FOR A SHOW!

---------- Post added at 15:44 ---------- Previous post was at 15:42 ----------

it also allows DJs to make the transition from 'underground' to playing at bigger event in front of bigger crowds, electronic music is bigger than ever right now, and has replaced rock / indie music popularity wise, so if an artist is being backed by a live show they will get better and bigger shows on big stages etc
 
A LIVE SET IS PURELY TO GET MORE MONEY FOR A SHOW!

---------- Post added at 15:44 ---------- Previous post was at 15:42 ----------

it also allows DJs to make the transition from 'underground' to playing at bigger event in front of bigger crowds, electronic music is bigger than ever right now, and has replaced rock / indie music popularity wise, so if an artist is being backed by a live show they will get better and bigger shows on big stages etc

nonsense, live sets are a big part of the underground EDM scene, perhaps not so much for DNB, but that comes from the fact that people in the DNB scene have in the past turned their noses up to anything other than Vinyl. fortunetly that perspective has shifted a little bit, although the dnb scene has a long way to catch up compared to trance/breaks/techno/etc scenes. creating a live set can only be done by people who really really love the music, it takes a FUK of allot of hardwork
 
Personally I'd be happy to let them loop breaks but this is for the purist...


What's the machine he's using with his right hand called?

 
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Honestly I think this whole live thing can just fuck off. I go to dnb raves to see DJs play tunes. If I wanted to go and watch an artist perform live then I'd go to a gig.
While electronic artists doing live sets can be spectacular (for example, Bonobo), it generally has to be from a genre that can be adapted to a more traditional kind of show. Watching some little tosser fuck about with pre recorded samples on an MPD is not what I would classify as a live set, and in all honesty I think you'd have to do something incredibly special to adapt DnB to make a good live performance (like Roni Size and LE, as mentioned above).
 
Honestly I think this whole live thing can just fuck off. I go to dnb raves to see DJs play tunes. If I wanted to go and watch an artist perform live then I'd go to a gig.
While electronic artists doing live sets can be spectacular (for example, Bonobo), it generally has to be from a genre that can be adapted to a more traditional kind of show. Watching some little tosser fuck about with pre recorded samples on an MPD is not what I would classify as a live set, and in all honesty I think you'd have to do something incredibly special to adapt DnB to make a good live performance (like Roni Size and LE, as mentioned above).

this.
 
The only proper live set ive seen was c&s at ram @ victoria works. A dj finished, then there was a pause of about 5/10 mins in the music while they set up their equipment. Absolutly killed the atmosphere, didn't even had a background cd on, felt like we were at a concert, not a rave. I didn't stay for the set in the end, just went to smoke/room2. What a waste
 
Iv seen C&S "live" at global gathering.. what a load of wank. It brought NOTHING new to their tunes. You couldnt tell if they were actually using their instruments. It was just their album with 30 second gaps in between every "song".
 
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