[Dancecult-l] liveness

[out left]

See here .. an NZ EDM laptop performer take the debate to You Tube

Cosm is a prolific and brilliant performer who resolved the debate for
his own work by making a film about what he does when he plays 'live'.

//

http://cosm.co.nz

Hey,

So recently I've noticed quite a bit of debate about what is truly a "live" act using a 
laptop. I have found the whole debate really interesting and thought I would chuck in my 
two cents.

I taught myself "live" music pretty much from scratch over here in New Zealand. I wasn't 
exposed to any other live acts apart from Pitch Black who basically set my mind to what 
actually is "live". Then quite recently I have been getting more and more international 
gigs, and I am finding a lot of acts which I consider to be complete and utter bullshit.

I really respect all producers, especially those who have the guts to showcase their music 
in front of crowds of people... but calling themselves live when they don't do a damn 
thing is plain out false advertising. Even having a knob on a cuttoff, or eqing layers is 
great!, but I have seen some dudes not even touch one piece of gear while on stage, and 
still reaping the financial and promotional benefits of the “live” tag.

Once again, I've got no problem with people who just play their arrangement of original 
music.. I've done many sets where there has been a lot of preprogrammed/arranged music 
(and I still do sometimes)...that’s very cool and I would still pay top dollar to go and 
check out fresh tunes from awesome producers... but I seriously think we need to sort out 
another term so they don't get confused with people who actually sit up late at night for 
weeks on end practicing and perfecting an actual live set.

Anyway, I thought I would take this opportunity to show off a little of my technique for 
when I perform live, as well as use it as a promotional tool to give out to festivals and 
parties. My goal here is to inform the general punter population about what actually 
playing live using a laptop involves, so they can start making judgments for themselfs and 
eventually put pressure on the promoters, while at the same time sharing some of my 
techniques with those who are still learning, or want to make themselves more live.

The video is about half an hour long and covers quite a range of methods used for 
performing live using a laptop, midi controllers and a synthesizer. The intro goes on a 
little about me and my music, then it gets into the depths of how I perform live, and 
finishes with a short montage of clips I have gathered from various gigs I have done in 
the past.

Here is a direct link to the entire video, or if you prefer I have chopped it up into 
sections which you can watch individually below.

http://www.dailymotion.com/cosm/video/xy0m5_tom-cosm-on-live-electronic-music

Part 1 – An introduction, a little about me and my music style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNM-3QFq9fA

Part 2 – a basic introduction to my live set canvas and how I go about layering loops and 
samples to create music on the fly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KewXjN5CJTQ

Part 3 – The first of three “tricks” which I use when performing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohJQq4bg3JQ

Part 4 – The second “trick”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WLNcoLWYaQ

Part 5 – The third trick, followed by a short montage of clips and my conclusion to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNwjB5NXe3M

As always, I encourage you to pass this information on if you are into it or think you 
know of anyone who might be interested in watching. I always have and continue to give all 
my music away for free, so the whole word of mouth is how I promote myself and get gigs.

If this is new to you and your interested in checking out my music, there are some 
completely free live sets on my website as well as photos/news/upcoming gigs etc.

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaankyou and I look forward to hearing your opinions on this

-Tom (Cosm)