A FEW THOUGHTS ON USING CANNED MUSIC…

Back in the early days of music technology, there came to pass the big divide between “fresh” live music and “canned” music. Of course what we are talking about is recorded music, which has been elevated to such a fine art in these digital days.  But the big divide still exists as to the difference between a live performance and the “studio version” of a track. On stage there is no bigger stigma than to be caught lip-synching to a recorded track of your voice, or even your own band; just ask ELO, Milli Vanilli, or Ashlee Simpson.

I have a confession. When I started to think about performing without a band, back in my post-band days, I was swept away with technology. Having a computer play my keyboards and drum machine really seemed like a cool thing. I would just sing and play lead over it all just like a real band. But when it came to playing to the mechanical tempo, I thought “I may as well be playing to a recording.” And guess what? I left the computer at home and started doing just that. Several gigs of soul-less performances left me tired of the stage.

The above experience, I would put into Category One. In the same category I would put Karaoke, which is to say there is nothing wrong with this traditional drinking activity. But singing to a pre-recorded backing track is just that. There have even been technology schemes to make Karaoke more interactive, such as programmed reverb settings for the chorus and auto-harmony for the big ending. There is alot of technology happening in Karaoke machines lately. But still, if you loose your place, you are hosed.

Category Two is even more technology dependent, but can be quite fun. Using MIDI, a truly interactive musical performance can be achieved by triggering the progression of a tune to a tap of the foot, press of a key, or even the recognition of a musical phrase. If the software engine is smart enough, all you have to do is play. But how many tunes do you want to program like that? Programming environments like MAX/MSP, SuperCollider and even Ableton Live allow for very immediate performance response. Adding snippets of digital audio to the scheme brings more realism and this is exactly what is happening in high-end video game sound tracks today. When you prowl away from the action in Halo, the orchestra goes mellow. When you head into the heat of things, the musical activity gets hyper. Of course in a game, you don’t have to care about what’s going on with the music in order to enjoy yourself. So how does THAT translate to a live gig?

The winner by default is Category Three. Instead of performing on top of canned music, or trying to get canned music to play with you, this final approach is to just play finished tracks with a bit of modification and manipulation. Experimental DJs and turntablists have landed on this concept to great success. An entire industry is dedicated to mutating the recorded song. Even the traditional mixers are making a decent income. This seems most evident when “live” venues are headlined by celebrity DJs and stadium-sized festival audiences are grooving to the wheels of steel. Although critics of club DJs have been quoted as saying "a monkey could do it", as one of the most identifiable performance art forms of the 21st century, I guess it doesn’t matter what the content is, so much as how one “opens” the can.