Question for live performers: Does the setup "matter"?

[quartzwatch]

I’ve definitely lived the life of someone with a crazy-sketchy custom gear setup, stressing that everything will fall apart. And sometimes it did. Caused me a lot of stress. Going partially ITB (on my iPad) let me do the weird routing things I wanted without hauling out a ton of stuff. And my performances are better for it, lets me focus more on what I want to say.

Some of that gear I didn’t want to part with, so now I have a small separate setup in my studio for those fun unreliable pieces that I can jam on when I want. But I don’t try to gig with them anymore.

[jefones]

This entire concept closely ties into the scene and places. I’ve done gigs at places where you couldn’t get booked unless your playing fully on a hardware rig and other gigs where there was a laptop playing backing tracks while the band banged on disconnected midi controllers. People were much more into the latter too.

I do much more live video for people than my own live music. When doing video I notice I’m often the one working the hardest, trigger things in time sweeping effects etc. People want a show, as long as there are elements of excitement, good music, visual stimulation and crowd interaction, they tend to be pleased.

No one really care what gear you’re using, except other gearheads.

[sndrsklr]

…unless it’s hip hop. Hip hop has always been about using whatever you have/ whatever works.

as a Hip Hop head for more than 20 years this might be true for the real spirit of it but you wouldn´t believe how many people are bitching about gear that is being used, especially in the DJ part. “Real DJ´s play vinyl” and stuff like that. Sync button is the invention of the devil himself and every controller is the opposite of “keeping it real”. While I still love Hip Hop from the bottom of my heart these folks have ruined it for me, don´t want to be associated with this narrow minded thinking.

[reeloy]

…different times…different rules…

there were times, where having nothing but a laptop with u on stage, was the big sexy…
nowadays it’s common ground, no matter what it sounds like, looking like ur nothing but reading ur mails on stage is the most boring thing to do…

end of the day and all times, it’s nothing but showbusiness…
and there’s no showbiz without pretending…

and actually, we’re back to the good old rule…what matters the most, is what comes out of the speakers…
and no matter if we’re talking dj’s or truu live acts, full band setup’s or anything inbetween…
once u sound right, all that’s missing to make the night complete is pretending…

so, if ur show makes sense in any way and feels real, ur good to go…

u can have the biggest setup around and with u…if u don’t perform that thing, pretend the right way, ur boring…

and since most people can’t count on personal stagecrews and stuff, all u can do is make sure ur sound does’nt suck and u shake ur hips the right way behind some small footprint gear that shakes the room with u…in authentic fashion…

so never turn a knob without a sonic reason while just pretending big time…
audience can smell posers pretty fast…even if u rock big time while doing so…once ur known as a poser only, no big sourrounding gear park will help any longer…

[GovernorSilver]

Answers in bold below

I’d appreciate input from folks that play live, improv or semi-improv, electronic music…

Do you find or have you found that the gear you use on stage matters with regards to getting gigs, your perceived “value” as a performance , etc? No

Considering that so much of what we do could be done on gear that ranges from a laptop/ipad to a massive Kieth Emerson-sized modular rig, does it add more “value” to the performance if there’s more knobs, dials, blinking lights, etc. so the audience “gets” that you’re doing more than just DJ’ing tracks or pressing play? No, if the performer is failing to connect with the audience. We have a local muso who plays shows with just a mic and spoons half the time - he is successful because of his charisma, beatboxing, spoon beats, and rap skills

For example, even if you’re jamming off a laptop or ipad, but you surround yourself with a bunch of physical controllers, etc. to make it look like Dr. Frankenstein’s lab, does that help your brand as a performer (i.e. seem more “serious”) vs if you went out and performed the EXACT same set off a laptop?

No, it does not help either way if you are not connecting with the audience. We had a local muso who just pressed play on his laptop, but then as the laptop played, he would dance along to it with tremendous enthusiasm. It helped that he wore makeup and a cute dress, and also had the laptop playing meticulously edited video. But main thing is, he was able to connect with the audience and get them excited to come to more of his gigs. I only say “he” because he never communicated anything about how he wanted to be identified

[blurrghost]

admittedly, i’ve been out of that scene for quite some time now (due to geography only).
that’s sad to hear. it was always an ethos i respected. i remember there being people with that attitude but they were always laughed off as rich posers from the burbs.

[Geneoart]

The advantage of doing a set with just a laptop is you can press play and act as a hype man for your own music.

[craig]

You can also work on your bass face instead of your skills haha

[Geneoart]

I definitely need to work on my bass face. Maybe something like this

[Meriphew]

I know that I don’t want to see a “band” playing that only has a laptop or an iPad onstage. Might as well go listen to a DJ at that point. I’m not saying you have to have a modular system onstage with you, but you better be playing something. The crowd is expecting to be entertained, or as Cobain once said “Here we are now, entertain us”.

[Geneoart]

I have to agree. It’s not really a performance. Its not DJing or performing live on a synth or drum machine, it’s just pressing play on a spacebar. I’m sorry I want to see more then that.

[Kegeratorz]

Long time ago I could capture a crowd with a guitar, mic, and harmonica, it’s a stellar connection. Be you in front of them, only way it works.

[rex_mundii]

Author & Punisher is a pretty good example of what having an interesting setup can add.

On the other hand, seeing Kraftwerk sometime during the 2000s was also pretty rad - bunch of dudes in front of laptops barely moving in the half-darkness with a big screen and some crazy ass visuals (smoked a lot of weed that day though so it could’ve been shithouse for all I knew).

[Geneoart]

On the other hand, seeing Kraftwerk sometime during the 2000s was also pretty rad - bunch of dudes in front of laptops barely moving in the half-darkness with a big screen and some crazy ass visuals (smoked a lot of weed that day though so it could’ve been shithouse for all I knew).

Kraftwerk gets a pass.

[rex_mundii]

True. But i think even with them it still came down to the visuals. If there’s something worth watching then they have my attention. If not, then it’s like any other night when I’m there to drink/dance/whatever but don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to whoever’s up the front.

[Geneoart]

I get it. I saw Richard Devine last year and got as close as I could to the stage too see him perform up close and also dance to the music. You can see in his face he’s exploring and performing while moving his hands twisting and plugging cables going nuts. That’s so much more memorable than seeing someone stare at a computer screen. For me a musician pressing play on a computer is not a performance, it’s a presentation only.

[JuanSOLO]

I’m pretty sure Peaches just pressed play on a mini disk player for a bunch of tours, and some of those gigs were hell of a performance.

[Geneoart]

Was Peaches singing? If so that’s a live music performance. If you are Just dancing to prerecorded music then that’s performance art. There should be a distinction.

[Lauli]

Eh I don‘t know, saw this one local (?) techno guy with just his laptop and a friggin mouse once. Even though he seemed like he was checking his mails and browsing elektronauts while dancing, he had a pretty good live vibe going on in the music. You could hear some filter sweeps, mutes or delay feedbacks or whatnot going on that were playing question/answer with the listeners – or the other way around? Still, it could‘ve all been prerecorded either way, hard to tell just by hearing the music.

[Microtribe]

What if the performance is ‘standing still next to a laptop that plays a backing track while the bandmate shouts lyrics into a microphone’ ? Who says what is art and what is not? What is performed and what is not? And who cares anyway?

I think its interesting that the overwhelming majority of responses to this thread are all in agreement. No, it does not matter what gear you use on stage.