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The Curse of Knob-Twiddling

<< Watching people push buttons on black plastic just don't cut it.  When I
perform, I use MIDI to
control video clips via a Macintosh.  I started doing this because people
always commented about my horrible stage presence!  I'm looping guitar,
vocals and bass!  I don't have time for that Davey Jones/Axel Rose dance!
The video is my dancer.  I've actually taken video tape of my audience
with and without the video show, and I've proven that people stay longer
with the video.

Mark Sottilaro >>

My story goes like this:

About a year ago I started making music using my computer and loop-based
software (ACID, etc) and really got into it.  I'd wanted to be a musician
for a long time but really hadn't "believed" that I could do it all by
myself.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided recently that I wanted to be
able to play live shows without doing some sort of glorified CD player bit
with DAT/MD/CD/Laptop/etc, which led to several weeks of frustration as I
attempted to envision a process/method/setup wherein I could put on an
interesting performance and be able to create a complex and interesting
sound live with a minimum of backing tracks.

I've gotten a bunch of gear now and I'm well on my way to having a (to my
mind) satisfactory live sound, but I've also found that as Mark states here
"I don't have time for that Davey Jones/Axel Rose dance!" or to even look
away from what my hands are doing.

Besides the fact that after practicing a lot more (years...) I may be able
to work all this stuff without looking, and the mentioned use of video....
does anyone have any suggestions/comments about what to do to "jazz" up a
necessarily knob-twiddling performance?

Thanks,
Jonathan
aka phalen180