Re: How about a vibrating watch?

[Matt Davignon <mattdavignon@gmail.com>]

That's pretty huge. (Listening from the audience perspective.)

One thing that can go wrong with looping music is letting things (loop elements) go on for too long. If a brain hears a loop as a repeating machine (instead of as a flow), it can start to get really annoying. For example, I was in the TV department of Target the other day, and they had all the TVs on a 1 minute loop advertising for their deals. That type of repetition didn't excite me - after about 6 minutes there, I was ready to stab someone. As a musician, we learn to focus our attention elsewhere when loops get repetitive, but the audience doesn't experience it in the same way. 

Also, playing too long can hurt you in the long run. Often newer musicians see "time spent on stage" as a measurement of success. (That is, a 2 hour performance is better than a 60 minute performance, which is better than a 30 minute performance.) As an audience member, I've been to many concerts where my thoughts of the band changed based on how long they outlasted their welcome. At the last concert: at 20 minutes in, I was loving it and thinking about how I wanted to get this band more gigs. At 30 minutes in, I was ready for a graceful end. At 45 minutes in, I was thinking that I'd have to set some strict rules if I scheduled them to play. At 70 minutes in, I was staring daggers into them and entertaining thoughts about "accidentally" tripping over the power supply. Looking around the audience, I saw lots of people with the same facial _expression_ as me. 

Someday, I'll post my list of "stuff to do / stuff not to do", from a venue's experience.
-- 
Matt Davignon
mattdavignon@gmail.com
www.ribosomemusic.com
Podcast! http://ribosomematt.podomatic.com

Per Boysen <perboysen@gmail.com> was like:

Have you considered practicing listening "from an audience
perspective" to the music you are playing, while you are playing?

That's a good habit to develop because it makes you sensitive to
"overplaying", "forgetting time" and other usual mistakes. A vibrating
watch may be good if you play a short set, like for example 20 minutes
and need to know when you have five minutes left - time to kick off
the last piece or round it up if you are already playing a piece that
will need a few minutes more.

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.perboysen.com
http://www.youtube.com/perboysen