where do you draw the line between a backing track and sequncers/drum machines? Take an act like The Prodigy for example. It's just Liam Hwlett bashinga way at a keyboard. He's not manually triggering the drumloopsa nd samples. Is that still live?

... there is a difference IMO in having machines play bits for musicians you can't afford to have on stage, and, for example, Madonna and Britney miming to their vocals. That is simply wrong. If you go to a Madonna concert you go to hear her singing the songs, not miming to a tape.

[swervedriver]

... there is a difference IMO in having machines play bits for musicians you can't afford to have on stage, and, for example, Madonna and Britney miming to their vocals. That is simply wrong. If you go to a Madonna concert you go to hear her singing the songs, not miming to a tape.

With the autotuned generation it's probably preferable to hear a tape.

where do you draw the line between a backing track and sequncers/drum machines? Take an act like The Prodigy for example. It's just Liam Hwlett bashinga way at a keyboard. He's not manually triggering the drumloopsa nd samples. Is that still live?

Electronic music scene has that useful "live PA" term, which can mean everything from "playing most parts by hand" to "standing next to macbook like a tit and observing how nicely it plays the music". It pretty much sorts the problem out, relieves you from caring if it's live or not :>

I thought the Prodigy had a live drummer. Hm. Pendulum on the other hand have a drummer, guitarist, bassist and Rob even sings (with autotune lololo) whilst playing his keytar. Awesome shows. Anyhoo, yeah faking that shit sucks. Kinda ruins your status as an "artist".

Kinda ruins your status as an "artist".

So true. They're just imitations of themselves.

Kinda ruins your status as an "artist".

So true. They're just imitations of themselves.

I don't agree with this. As long as the music was originally composed/produced (or anything involving artistic input) by those people, I'm fine with calling them artists. And for putting on a show, any method is ok as long as it makes for an entertaining experience for the intended audience.

HOWEVER, for rock and metal shows, using backing tracks of any kind significantly dilutes the whole rock vibe thing. Even having the drummer play to a click track ruins much of the groove in many situations... When I go to a rock concert, I don't expect to hear the songs exactly as they are on the album. Instead, I hope to experience arrangements of the songs which are somewhat faithful to the original, considering the limitations of what the band members can reasonably do on stage with the gear they have without resorting to pre-recorded backing tracks.

where do you draw the line between a backing track and sequncers/drum machines? Take an act like The Prodigy for example. It's just Liam Hwlett bashinga way at a keyboard. He's not manually triggering the drumloopsa nd samples. Is that still live?

My way of drawing the line is this: Can the band suddenly jump into a song (e.g., a cover) that was not on the setlist, but for which each member on stage knows their parts? If not, because that would require some pre-programmed drum loops or whatever shit, it's not "properly" live in my book.

where do you draw the line between a backing track and sequncers/drum machines? Take an act like The Prodigy for example. It's just Liam Hwlett bashinga way at a keyboard. He's not manually triggering the drumloopsa nd samples. Is that still live?

My way of drawing the line is this: Can the band suddenly jump into a song (e.g., a cover) that was not on the setlist, but for which each member on stage knows their parts? If not, because that would require some pre-programmed drum loops or whatever shit, it's not "properly" live in my book.

Well... Once upon a time I used to make heavy electronic music, in a sort of early Berlin Schule/ Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze sort of way. Lots of modular synths that look like telephone exchnages, analogue sequencers, gate triggers from drum machines and that kinda shit. Whilst a lot of it would be semi-improvised and spontaneous live (with the unpredictability of that sort of equipment it could rarely be anything else), it wasn't really possible to suddenly leap into a cover version. It was properly "live" though.