Live Performance in the Age of Super Computing

.:Live Performance in the Age of Super Computing:.

Now here is an interesting read. Artist and producer Robert Henske Henke has written an interesting article. In this article he talks about the impact that computers, mainly the laptop have had on performance. It is an interesting comparison discussing the subtle and not so subtle issues that make computers debatable musical instruments.

Quote:

A classical non-electronic musical instrument relies on a constant user-interaction in order to produce a sound. The instrument has specific physical properties, defining its sound and the way it wants to be played. The music is a result of the properties of the instrument and the skills of the player...Now, explain to someone why pressing a space bar on a computer sounds like Bruce Springsteen one time and, the next time you try, it makes no sound at all. With ‘real' instruments, it is also obvious that precision, speed, volume, dynamics, richness, and variation in sound are the result of hard work, and that becoming a master demands training, education, and talent. Without the player doing something, there is nothing but silence.