Korg Forums

[paul_courville]

Ok before the mob mentality starts closing in on me, please hear me out.

I am from an era where guitarist ripped long solo's, drummers hammered away on animal skins, nibble fingered bass players worked their instrument and keyboardists took off on wild rapid solo's covering several octaves with passion and precision (ala RUSH and YES etc).

With the advent of modern music technology I'm afraid much of that is lost.

I sense, we are becoming more programmers and less players.

I have pretty much always been a "home recording artist".

Recently, I've given live performance a shot.

Problem is, how does today's modern musican connect with a live audience?

My schedule doesn't allow me to join a band.

So... I go it alone onstage with my EMX, Triton Le, RK-100 midi controller and Ableton Live.

I also use a wide variety of psy-visuals via laptop and video projector.

But at the end of the day it's still just one musician(me) standing onstage trying to entertain a crowd of people.

And in the case of the EMX, are we not mere mortals simply turning pre-written parts on and off, turning a few knobs for effect and possibly playing around with a 1 1/2 octave toy keyboard.

Not quite the same as watching the likes of Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Geddy Lee, Greg Hawkes etc.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is a physical side to playing a musical instrument that is somehow lost with all this mad machinery.

"I guess it's really just a question of your honesty, yeah your honesty.

One likes to believe in the freedom of music but glittering prizes any endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity."

But I digress.

Most people don't know alot about the technical side of live music, nor do they particularly care.

They just want to be entertained.

I think there looking for some kind of emotional connection.

Can I get a witness?

Can anyone relate?

Or am I just mad?

A voice crying in the digital wilderness...?

Anyone faced and/or overcome these obstacles?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Paul Courville is a.k.a. Cyberdude

[maako]

Actually a good question.
When people ask me "Wow, did you do that song?" I can't help but feeling a little embarrassed, since all of it was done with machines.
And I answer "Well, with todays technology a monkey could do that, heeh..".

But to gig as an electronic musician is not so bad me thinks.
As you said, no time to join a band, so alone you stand.
I used to be an one man band for a while, until some friends invited me to one of their practices.
It was hard to adapt at first. From doing basically all parts of a song down to throw in a noise every now and then felt weird.
"What? They want me to do this swooshy sound every now and then?"
But that's all what a band is for, everyone contributes. And we were seven guys on stage, so it would sound terrible if everyone did their own thing.
But I can definitely recommend you to join a band. Or at least team up with one more musician.
Now this band played every thing from rock to reggae, all original tunes.
While I'm more of an Electro guy. But the experience was well worth it.

The band had a great year, but we're all expats in a foreign country, so some continued their journey and the band got reduced to three guys.
Well, two, since I decided to move on to find another Electro oriented player.
Cuz I think playing with others gives a lot of inspiration. I'm still amazed how seven guys could get along so well when there are bands of three that can't be in the studio at the same time without trying to kill one another, hehe..

[reddone]

I used to play guitar , drums , and if needed bass guitar . Over time i became very frustrated at my band members lack of anything fresh , not to mention they could'nt play in time properly Or play a whole song !
Eventually i discovered PC music making and started to pull the music together myself , much better .
7-8 years on though i miss the feel of playing something "For real" (Mx is always a blast though) and am building up ideas to form an electro/metal/breakbeat band .
I will probably sit on drums with my MX+ES1 , and on occasions get up for a scratch mix . All i need to do now is find someone who can use a bass guitar, a guitarist and another programmer/mixer/scratcher/drummer who can swap positions with me .
I dont think that i'll have a regular vocalist as this will only create some sort of problem , so i'll use samples til i get an idea how the band works as a whole .

I definately feel like the days of "Standalone" cold electronics are dying
and we ( even if we are wildly creative on our synths/samplers ) must learn to become musicians again as opposed to just being DJ's / Producers .

Anyone know of some good edgy electro/breakbeat/rock bands ??

[Ruso]

emx is no different from a guitar or a real instrument, so you are a real musician... it's a groovebox, which literally means, you can turn it on an empty pattern, and instantly make one(if you know the machine)....

I tell you I switched to ableton but I still can't help myself jumping on the electribes to improvise for a while... it's just too fun.

[maako]

[reddone]

I definately agree with ruso that the Mx is just an instrument like guitar but expanding our musicianship out of a set of instructions and into un-synthetic sounds would make us More of a musician .

But to musically interact with others
defines the ''musician''
better i think .

[paul_courville]

[Ruso]

same as what I've been trying to tell you... don't jump into a genre don't listen to what others do..... just do what you want to do..

[willyraccoons]

I think it's an interesting question and a lot of people wonder that kind of things often..

I think that a guy that plays an electribe or other groveboxes is a real musician, even more that many other guys that buy a cheap guitars and instantanealy forms a punk rockin band.
Actually, you will find that many people that have this kind of stuff knows a lot about music and play other instruments (in my case y play guitar and synths). Many other doesn't, but if you really play an electribe... that means that you know how to programme a synths, play keyboards, play a sampler, programme effects, make patterns, etc..
I say that is a good thing... Not everybody knows how to programme this things, to play it, to make good music.. so that makes it a real instrument too . I'd say an instrument of the next generation

Anyway...

The problem here is the AUDIENCE.. they dont know nothing about you, about this dilema... you have a notebook with Live, a desk, an electribe, and they could think that you're just playing an mp3. (I thought that way before doing electronic music)

It's difficult, but my solution is this...You gotta SWEAT.

Bring all the stuff that you can to the live permormance... keyboard, effects, electribe, desk, notebook, guitar if you want it, drum pads, etc.. things that you can play in live.. because that is fun for you too.
I think that if you play with bands or at least in duo that's better too.. people see you in other way.

You gotta get into a kind of state of trance with your instruments.. that are the real musicians. You gotta sweat. When slash do a great fuckin solo in the guitar he gets high!! he sweats!!! but not with drugs.. it's the music that leads you to that place, the real good music.
If you just play and sort the patterns that come preprogrammed in the electribe you're not a real musician, you will feel nothing because that's is not your own music.

I have a band.. we are 3.. we play Nu jazz.. I have a drummer that plays electronic drums, other guy that plays keybooards (organ, piano, synths) and I play the guitar and the ELECTRIBE !!! we jam over the loops and stuff that programme in the electribe and I tell you that the electribes are pure fun if you know how to use it.

Look at this guys.. they could just do their music with a single notebook.. but they doesn't !!! they know that if you wanna feel, improvise, create, DO music.. you gotta have stuff..you gotta know how to play it. And they carry to every gig about 30 machines connected to really play live. People see that, and love them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKzMb7aXPVo

Bye
_________________
" Extasis es el estado que sobreviene cuando se oye la música" (Kitab adab al-sama ua al-uaÿd). Al-Gazalí (1058-1111)"

[JunglistBE]

nice vid, always wondering: what's their setup? do they use electribes?
edit: i'm talking bout the chemical brothers

[itch.]

[paul_courville]

i think paul you need to consider who your trying to please in terms of playing live. i think you get two types of people at gigs. those that stand at the back, break evrything down and get fixated on how the music is actually made

and then you get those who just forget about all the logistics and just listen and dance to the final product comeing through the PA. - those are the type you need to be trying to cater for IMO.

even better if you can get the sceptical critics to dance as well.[/quote]

Hey itch. ,

Yep... I agree.

Until recently, I've always pretty much been in the first group you mentioned since I come from a very technical background.

The latter group are the carefree fun-loving party goers.

Definitely the ones to focus on entertaining...

Of course, capturing the hearts and minds of both would be ideal! lol

Good advice, thanks.

Paul Courville is a.k.a. Cyberdude
www.cyberdudeproductions.com
_________________
"Secret to Electribes: push all the buttons, turn all the knobs, record what sounds good!"

[reddone]

Yeah , i used to stand around Bopping slightly , analizing the music , and kinda forgot what "listening" to music was about . I was all about being technical , its like i was in " read-ahead " mode rather than just "feelin" it or "rollin" with it .

A couple of months ago i begun to re-think my whole direction and attitude to my music and performance . I have to get my Electro/rock band together n expand my Musicality again .

I'll get that electronic drumset though and take it from there .

Man , with all these great instruments we have in the modern world , it's a great time to be a musician .

[ultra]

rush sucks

[sineSurfer]

Hi everyone!, 2 cents:

musician= anyone who is able to play an instrument live(preferably well played), as opposed to just mixing premade stuff, so:

A musician can do both things, a dj not always.

with a dj, people connects to the music, the same with the so called "live acts"<- that is if you count tweaking knobs and pushing buttons as instrument playing, not on my book but enjoyable nevertheless.

with a live band, if the band is good at what they are playing, people connects to the music and the humans playing it.