Real World Digital Audio

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The more widespread computers have become in performance, the more

wide open their uses. Some computer performances expand upon conven-

tional techniques. There are keyboardists playing soft synths, guitarists

using computers for effects, turntablists using real vinyl to scratch digital

files, and drummers hitting pads to trigger cues in a flexible backing track.

Other possibilities include:

• Sampling an instrument or voice and manipulating layers of loops

• Creating improvised, mashed-up soundscapes by remixing samples

• Assembling a custom piece of software for creating sounds, mixing

beats, and generating musical patterns

• Running theatrical cues (sound, music, and even video and lighting)

• Manipulating visuals in time with music (VJing)

• Using sensors and home-built physical controllers to generate interac-

tive music

Despite such a wide range, you may be surprised at how much computer

performers—from the rock guitarist to the DJ to the experimental sound

composer—have in common.

The main challenge all computer performers face is to adapt software and

hardware tools, most of which are intended primarily for a studio environ-

ment, to playing live in front of an audience. This requires that you set up

easy-to-see onscreen setups and easy-to-play hardware controls, so that you

have access to what you need at the touch of your hands or feet.

Certain tools work well for many kinds of live performances. Software

like Ableton Live is popular with musicians in divergent genres because it

can perform tasks normally associated with DAWs and samplers in real

time onstage, and has an interface that’s easy to see and control while per-

forming. For those willing to invest time in making their own custom

performance tools, modular environments like Cycling ’74 Max/MSP

(www.cycling74.com), Pure Data (www.puredata.info), and Native Instru-

ments Reaktor (www.native-instruments.com) can help tailor the computer

to fulfill almost any set of needs without the necessity of writing a line of

actual programming code. Many performers have musical techniques in

common, too. DJs were among the first to manipulate audio in performance,

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