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The Laptop as an Instrument?
An anonymous reader wonders: "As music production tools, computers are everywhere from recording and mixing to publishing. What about computers as the sole musical instrument? DJing or just playing mp3s aside, we have improvisers and orchestras that treat a laptop as a full-flavored instrument. What's the most interesting laptop-only live act you have seen/heard?"
A well-played Unreal Tournament match.
"HAT TRICK!"
[Gun fire]
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1!"
[Gun fire; Explosions; Crazy]
"FIRST BLOOD!"
"MUILTI-KILL..MEGA-KILL!"
And so on.
I wonder if I use bold in my signature, people will notice my posts.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I have been composing and performing with midi for about 15 years and using computers live for about 10 years. I usually use a rack mounted standard PC for all of my VST instruments via V-Stack. I may start using Kore but I just started messing with it.
The main problem with laptops is most come with less than stellar sound devices. Some come with 24-bit spdif outs but still suffer from noticeable latency which makes live performance difficult at best. There are a good number of external sound devices available for laptops out now but I have yet to see one that has made me confident enough to move away from my road case rack. Plus it looks cool to show up at a gig with a road case full of esoteric lights and whistles.
Now if someone would just write a VST interpreter that will run in Gentoo I will be pooping with joy.
My keyboard rig:
Old ass Kawai K-4 as controller (Per note aftertouch)
P4 3GHz with Delta 1010 for sound device
Tascam TMD-1000 mixer for external effects
Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition. - Adam Smith (1723-90)