The Electronica/House Revolution

[Szostak]

Hey guys! how's it going?

How many of you are familiar with electronic/house music? Personally, I love the European (mostly French) side of it all, including bands like Daft Punk, Justice, Boys Noize, Burial, the Crystal Method (I understand they're from the states), Pendulum, etc. Anyway, just a few topics for discussion ...

First, to whoever listens to this, what bands do you listen to? I love listening to new bands so post post post them!

Secondly, how is this done? Seriously, i am so confused as to what these guys are doing when they are live, or even in the studio for that matter. I know they're playing with samples and drum machines and all that, but how? computers? keyboards? both?! Enlighten me if you can




take it easy,
Paul

[Endrik]

these days it's very easy, you just need a computer and decent software... just program the beats, basslines, melodies, chords etc. add all kinds of effects or whatever. there are millions of possibilities and of course you can use real instruments as well.
I'm not interested in programming anymore, I used to do it a lot, these days I'm more fascinated of the new wave of musicians who play electronic music on real instruments

[thetroy]

My friend made me listen to Justice a week or so ago and I couldn't stand it. Sounded like a bunch of random noise to me - no discernable melody or rhythms for the most part. What am I missing?

[Endrik]

My friend made me listen to Justice a week or so ago and I couldn't stand it. Sounded like a bunch of random noise to me - no discernable melody or rhythms for the most part. What am I missing?

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[åron]

Personally, I'm in a phase where I really resent most electronica. Some of the artists go to great lengths to keep their shows improvisational. Most wouldn't dare mix things up in terms of song structure or anything too substantial. That's much of what irks me: some of the creators are lazy or stupid and yet the real hustlers make good money at it despite a serious lack of artistry. Rock/metal/etc can learn a lot about the way Electronica makes a live show a product, a party.

The big acts you mention, for the most part sequence their shows on computers with midi and audio interfaced to hardware. They use software, plug-ins, hardware synths, drum machines and processors to generate the sound. I know bands that tour around with a studio's worth of gear, then other artists that make everything inside a laptop.

Justice performs with mountains of gear but what they do live can be done with one powerful computer. For that matter, there are plenty of artists that might well be pressing play on a 2 track. In a traditional sequence package, the best case scenario would be a song tracked out into stems that can be effected and mixed on the fly.

A more advanced and impressive approach would be to use something like Ableton Live. Live is far and away the serious tool for artists that want complete flexibility in a package. It runs like clockwork and with a lot of preparation, slays everything else out there. For better or worse, the audience is there to party and the artists mostly don't want to risk a real live performance; they'd rather create the illusion of live and basically pump out playback for their fans.

[JacksonDean]

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