computer as instrument.
We played two great gigs this weekend with Brad and me on laptop, and Bob Holub on "prepared guitar".
Compared to playing a normal instrument, a computer is a straightjacket. The path between "idea" and "realization" is slow and clunky. Lots of mouse-clicking and virtual patch-routing. It's different than "think I'll play a fill now" on bass. So Brad and I have struggled for a while with computer-based performance.
But this weekend we started figuring things out. Having Bob helped a lot. He gave us space to build things and ease them in. Also, the pieces were very ambient -- long and beautiful and evolving -- which is much more conducive to improvisation with a computer. The alternative is setting up your pieces beforehand and spending most of the gig as DJ Mute Button. That's boring as hell but I figure it's what the Chemical Brothers or the Crystal Method are doing at their shows. Well, maybe they tweak a filter cutoff now and then.
Anyway, fun shows. Of course we didn't record a thing. But we'll play more of these gigs soon and we'll record them. Hopefully we can release a CD later this year.