Of course it all depends on the genre and audience. To me, its all the
same. In my electronica gig, I try to blur the lines between DJ and Performing
Musician. The audience wants the music to sound good. Period. If I need to
have several parts layed out to serve the music, so be it. I could, and have
played everything live. Its a lot of work and the arrangments tend to resemble
one another as a result.
A lot of looping that I hear, is really more about the manipulation of
sound then the actual playing of the instrument. The notes played on the
guitar are really just a starting point. Delays, filters, and the looper
itself are the stars of the show.
So the natural extension of that is to use anything and everything at
your disposal. The audience doesn't care. Maybe the calssic rock guitar player
in the back of the room will sneer and dismiss me as being fake, but I
couldn't give a shit about him. My audience is just trying to blow off some
steam after a long week. The bass line I recorded on wednesday and added all
sorts of clip envelopes will sound way better then the bass line I could play
live. Melodies, solos, and other flavors are done live and are never the same.
Plus with Lives Follow actions, you can have as much or as little randomness
as you like.
Whatever serves the music. Ego be damned.
MFC
