Different Strokes: A Prototype Software System for Laptop Performance and Improvisation

One last academic article for everyone for the week. This article is from Mark Zadel and Gary Scavone from the Schulich School of Music, McGill University. This article sets forth to present to the reader the progress of laptop based performances and discusses some of the issues surrounding the perceived lack of active creation (doesn't that apply to all livePA?) and the visual aspects that a laptop brings to a performance.

.:Different Strokes: A Prototype Software System for Laptop Performance and Improvisation:.

WARNING: The linked file is a .PDF file.

Sarah Goldfarb-Loops and Tracks Liveset

I found these two liveset links online from female livePA artist Sarah Goldfarb. Unfortunatly I have not been able to find any more information about her as an artist online. The information is few and far between. It seems the best I could do is find her info at discog.com: .:Sarah Goldfarb:.

If anyone can provide some more detailed information please send it my way. The female presence in livePA is already scarce. It doesn't help when I can't find information on the artists that are out there. Anyways, enjoy these two live sets.

Note the sets are in Zip/Rar files.

.:Loops and Tracks:.

.:Loops and Tracks 2:.

via .:TheUnit.ca:.


Edit: Update, my apologies. It seems Sarah Goldfarb is indeed a male, not a female. Come one man, give us a good website.

The Object of Performance: Aural Performativity in Contemporary Laptop Music

Continuing with the postings of highly academic .PDF articles about live performance, Caleb Stuart of the University of Canberra has written an interesting paper about the emergence of laptops for the use of modern performance.

There are some interesting arguments here that may get you thinking about which side of the fence you sit on for laptops and performance.

quote:
...we have not lost performativity but instead the audience needs to make a shift in their understanding of performance in the live
computer mediated digital audio environment from a visual focus to that of aural performativity. [The] music scene addressed here is experimental in nature and is followed by a small subculture. This sub-culture in the last few years has itself become comfortable with the nature of live performance and the computer as an instrument.

Warning: This is another .PDF file.

.:The Object of Performance: Aural Performativity in Contemporary Laptop Music:.

DSP.Rack: Modular Software Environment Performance

Ok, this is not exactly what you are thinking it is. It is not a link to some great software for you to download. Instead it is a link to a paper written by William Kleinsasser at the Towson University Department of Music that discusses a modular environment using MAX/MSP for live work.

It is essentially an Abstract for a music programmers conference, but I think some of our readers might be interested in reading this in case they themselves would like to tackle the concept in MAX/MSP or Pure Data.

WARNING: The link is to a .PDF file.

.:Dsp.rack: Laptop-based Modular, Programmable Digital
Signal Processing and Mixing for Live Performance:.

DEAD P.A. Live Video Clip

Here is a video clip of livePA artist Dead P.A. I don't have much more info beyond that, but I hope you like this clip

Looks like things are working again

Alright, it looks like I have things up and running smoothly again. A simple new template is up and it was pretty painless to implement, except for putting a banner image in there. Anyways, everything seems to be in order, I am just waiting for the last of the LivePA bloggers to switch over and we should be good to go.

Switched to new Blogger, Template a little Messed

Tonight we switched over to the new version of Blogger and it appears that the template for the page has become a little messed up. Try to bear with us on this as I try to fix it this weekend. I might as well take this opportunity to implement a new template for the page so hang on until we get some editing going.

Petertools Liveset 1.5

.:Petertools Liveset:.

Petertools Liveset is a collection of midi tools and software interfaces that are designed to allow the user realtime and live control over Propellerhead's Reason for live performances.

If you are a Reason user looking to take your software live then Liveset might be a great tool to help you get there.

quote:
LiveSet is a powerful and versatile realtime MIDI processor explicitly developed to enhance live performances. It provides the capabilities to control every detail of your live session, making it easier to setup and perform.
LiveSet processes MIDI signals coming form your on-stage gear, such as Master Keyboards or MIDI Control Surfaces, and route them to a ReWire-enabled software as well as external MIDI devices.


Framework features

• Virtually unlimited rack
• Resizable rack window
• User friendly connection cables
• Modules presets management
• Customizable Transport Bar with big display

MIDI features

• 2 independend MIDI inputs
• Selective MIDI Thru
• 2 independend transformation busses
• Key splitting with an up to single-key resolution
• MIDI Learn functionality for keys and controllers

Audio features

• ASIO 2.0 support
• Up to 32 audio channels
• Support for 32 to 96KHz
• Internal 32 bit processing

Tags: petertools.com liveset Reason midi

Blip Festival:

.:Blip Festival:.

Well I am sorry to say I am a bit late on this one, but if you happen to live in NYC then you can still catch the last few days of this festival.

The 1st ever Blip festival is is a musical and artistic showcase that has artists ranging from musical to video and more showcasing all sorts of artwork created using modified, DIY's and retro gear. There is an absolutely huge list of artists at this festival, doing mostly chiptune music as well as video circuit benders and more. It looks to be really cool, and is being sponsored by a whole bunch of great groups, including a few of my favorite: .:8-Bit Peoples:. and .:Makezine:.

If you can be sure to check out the website for some photos and media.

Quote:
THE TANK and 8BITPEOPLES are pleased to present the Blip Festival, a four-day celebration of over 30 international artists exploring the untapped potential of low-bit videogame consoles and home computers used as creative tools. Familiar devices are pushed in new directions with startling results -- Nintendo Entertainment Systems and Game Boys roaring with futuristic floor-stomping rhythms and fist-waving melody, art-damaged Sega hardware generating fluctuating and abstracted video patterns -- and that's only the beginning. An exploration of the chiptune idiom and its close relatives, the Blip Festival is the biggest and most comprehensive event in the history of the form, and will include daily workshops, art installations, and nightly music performances boasting an international roster larger and more far-reaching than any previous event of its kind. Small sounds at large scales pushed to the limit at high volumes -- the Blip Festival is an unprecedented event that is not to be missed.


Tags: Blip Festival live 8bit

Create Digital Music: The Best, 100% Free Music Plug-ins - Just Add Host

.:Create Digital Music: The Best, 100% Free Music Plug-ins:.

Create Digital Music has posted a nice list of some great freeware vst plugins that they deem to be "must haves" for any system.

There are definitely some staples on there that I think compete the best commercial synths such as Synth1, Polyiblit, Drummatic, Karma and Crystal.

I was even surprised to find some very impressive synths that I have not heard about such as the ConreteFX Rock, or Highlife. It almost makes me want to switch back to Windows.......Almost.

Tags: freeware VST plugin