another guy here who branched into electronics after years playing ‘traditional’ instruments.
i remember when i made that jump. i felt like i was making music with a different part of my brain. or at least with additional parts that i hadn’t engaged before. the whole science of sound sculpting with sequencers and lfos was fascinating yet cerebral. years have gone by since then and i have a lot more facility with electronics than i used to. while i don’t feel that instant physical connection right through my fingertips with the sounds i’m creating, i do sometimes feel the freedom and satisfaction you’re talking about. i probably would feel it more (and more frequently) if i were a proper keyboard player or hand drummer however.
huge topic, i’ve found (nearly bought an entire book on it recently), and i think it relates to what i said previously: when i feel that real-time physical connection between what my body is doing at that exact moment and the sound that is produced, i get a certain instant visceral satisfaction. it’s not that i can’t get satisfaction from composing and sequencing, but it touches me differently.
i suspect it is also part of the disconnect that can exist between audience appreciation and electronic performance. it’s one thing if you’re an engaging keys player – keith emerson is one iconic example – who hauls a huge rig onto the stage yet still does something a casual audience can look at and say, ‘ah, he’s hitting those keys and appropriately pitched tones come out, so he’s making the music’. the same might be said for live finger drumming on the rytm or an mpc’s pads, for example, as opposed to using them to play presequenced material.
now that electronic music has been around for a few decades, i doubt an electronic musician needs to perform in the ‘traditional’ sense to be accepted. but the more visual connection there is between a performer’s real-time actions and the music’s movement, the more an audience – casual or otherwise – will be able to appreciate it as a performance.