Re: The Curse of Knob-Twiddling

[Mark Sottilaro <sine@zerocrossing.net>]

http://vidvox.net/

phalen orion wrote:

> << 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