I guess everyone one has their breaking point. For you vinyl or drum machines for me laptops 
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A+P is an actual engineer though that is his trade… so it goes back to authenticity, doing your own thing. His instruments ARE him.
Which is an interesting point, especially looking at the greats like Miles Davis, Coltrane, Hendrix. They should essentially be an extension of you.
Most of the professional touring artists I have opened for limited their setup to 1 or 2 luggage pieces. Usually they had stems or Ableton and a couple pieces to tweak.
Again, it comes down to context. These guys have a fan base that just want to literally see the person in the flesh play their music.
If you are aiming for a rockstar DJ show, of course there’s showmanship and all that comes with it, illusion, etc. But my other experience is playing art galleries, garages. More fluid, open, gritty… I think most of us expect there is going to be unpredictability, if something fouls up it’s not that big of a deal because we were all sort of “running experiments” anyway.
Really like that about electro music and less about the commercialization.
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i saw him opening for autechre in 2015, was BEYOND disappointed to see him do that modular set. i wanted the breakbeats, not what felt like any random dude fiddling with a modular that ended up sounding like a shitty version of the headliner.
then AE comes on, only laptops and midi controllers. absolutely loved it!
mark fell is a interesting example because he talks about specifically trying not to move around or seem like he’s into the music so as to let the audience decide for themselves.
side note: this is one of my fav vids of all time, monumental!
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Clicked the link on Sleaford Mods. Never heard of them until now. Been listening to em nonstop ever since. Amazing
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This.
I’ve played gigs where people came to talk afterwards and were surprised to know it was my own music - they usually assume you’re a DJ unless they’re nerdy enough to recognize the gear (if it can even be seen from below the stage) or at least familiar with the “liveset” distinction.
Then again, I find good livesets fascinating - I remember seeing Simian Mobile Disco play around this circular set full of modulars almost a decade ago… Then again, I fall under the nerd category 
There’s also the intangible factor of charisma. Same as there are some actors who can dominate a movie scene without saying a word, there are performers who can stand mutely and be fascinating. Same as there are ones who can be jiving and ‘going crazy’ but you’re just not convinced. Charisma is a strange thing.
Whoa! Isn’t that Lysa Arryn from GoT?
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Thanks guys for showing me all these kool laptop performances. It’s opening me up a little from my stubbornness. That being said OT forever!!! 
Ha, tough question during lockdown 
I am into techno, and mate people do not give the slightest shit if you are mixing from CDJ, laptop, layering in Ableton live or going full modular, people just want music and dance. Also, most of the time people barely see what you are doing, it is a table of equipment period. I think the energy you give performing is a lot more important, and being able to do what you want to the sound is a big part of it.
I think that each performer has a different setup depending on what they want to do, I like a rather minimalist setup that is ready to go and that I use in my studio production, so I can transfer patches and samples around easily with a similar quality, but in most club PA system it does not matter that much either 
But it depends what you do, I never mixed in bars or casual events, perhaps the mood is different there
Cheers
They don’t teach this one in school. I’ve been both “band” and “engineer”. Both sides (at the amateur level I operated at) tend to view other other in opposition, but you get a much nicer experience all around if you approach it as a collaboration. As “engineer” it really helps if you can read and tolerate a wide range of personality types. As a “band” it helps to appreciate the engineer is trying to help make a good night for all, but also has to protect their gear and/or the venue’s sound level responsibilities.
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That’s her, unexpected huh!
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The only thing that actually matters about your gear is how fast you can get it OFF THE STAGE.
Unless you’re last. Then fuck it, get some refreshments.
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i’ve done some yoga classes with guitar and ambient-beat driven electronic music here in the states. it was awkward at times because you can’t really get feedback in the moment like a room full of folks dancing. at the end everyone had kind things to say and mostly enjoyed having a rhythmic set that was new-agey nonsense (no offense to any new agers in the chat, but you know…)
the rest of the times i did it, i had a blast and unfortunately haven’t had the chance to do it since covid hit. thanks for reminding me it’s something i loved to do
Yep! I did FOH for some indie venues for years. As a performer, I find it disrespectful to the sound person and the other performers if you’re not hauling ass off stage to roll cables elsewhere. Throw your cables on top of your gear, and get it the eff off stage. Carry your cymbal stands off stage, THEN take the cymbals off. It’s not that hard to not be an oblivious POS.
And… don’t wait to be on stage to meet your sound person! Seek them out! Know their name… let them know your setup… hand them an input list… offer them a gawtdamb beer. They already don’t give a shit about you having brand new material, so make a connection and that can change in a hurry.
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Oh my god YES.
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If I’m in the audience I only care if I’m having fun and the music is good. At least as far as dance music goes, even as a gear head, when I see all the gear coming out that’s a yellow alert that the music is about to get really average really fast.
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