Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Wow what an excellent point!  I agree myself.  There's something about a "CD
player"
that gives me the willies.  I mean it is the same, if not better than using
a sequencer it's
just I get chills up and down my spine when I think of a song "skipping"
like a CD player
occassionaly does.  I would much rather the whole thing just drop out in
dead silence than
have to stand there like a deer caught in the headlights while a refrain of
"Girls just want to
have fun" by Cindy Lauper plays over, and over, and over.

It's all just future shock.  Just like being in an elevator we put our lives
on the line with our
technology.  Perhaps it's time to go low tech and start hauling around
pianos again., but then
again even piano keys break.  Again I think this all speaks to one of the
thrills of playing
out in front of a bunch of people.  How borning it would be to know that
nothing could ever
go wrong.  I have to think that it only adds to the excitement of the whole
thing.

Again I am looking into the CD player option.  Honestly my frustration lies
in the fact that
I DO have a great laptop with some usefull programs in it, it's just that
I'm not completely
aware of everything that is available on the computer for live performances.
I am looking
for something that can "Switch" everything, even perhaps load a sequence
from one of my
SD-1 disks too, for each song.  Currently I go through a ballet at the end
of each song to
press a button on my DX7II (if it's not already set up through my SD-1) then
jump over
to my laptop to load in a sample, then scurry over to my SD-1 and load in my
next song
(Whew!)  Somehow technology is causing me more work than creating added
benefits.

Any suggestions on software from all you seasoned pros out there?  Thanks
again for the
great letter Alan!

Michael


----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan" <alangino@...>
To: <Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 11:10 AM
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Is It Live - Or Is It Memorex?





Enjoying the "What A Sequencing Mess" discussion and couldn't stand
just sitting there so I thought I would throw in my two-cent theory
in the mix with hopefully an interesting side-line topic so as not
to clutter Michael's discussion....

I think there are times as musicians when we tend to psychologically
fool ourselves and give ourselves some sort of "live" playing
credibility because we have a synthesizer unit and programmed
sequencer accompanying our "live" performances. I would think we
could all agree, however, that is one of the primary purposes for
the existence of synthesizers with on-board sequencers. It certainly
took our talent to create, arrange, play, and program the sequences,
but...once that is accomplished, we have nothing more than pre-
recorded keystrokes within designated patches initiating sounds or
music. There is no difference, bottom line, between that and a CD
player playing a pre-recorded piece of music during a "live"
performance. And getting to that word "psychologically" again, I do
definitely think that audience members would react very differently
if they knew you were using a CD player verses an on-board
sequencer. From their perspective, I think they would throw much,
much more scorn toward the CD player. But I also think that is
because they don't, for the most part, have a clue as to what a
sequencer is or what it is really doing anyway. So then...if and
when you come to terms with that, you can move on to what may or may
not be more reliable.

Let me first say with regard to my performing, I have been a "single
act" for most of my "live" performance career. There is considerable
difference between that and a band when it comes to equipment
failures such as those we are speaking about. I don't think that
anything can be more reliable, as Jay has previously mentioned in
the previous topic, than a CD player with pre-recorded material with
selection and playback as easy as hitting a button. I have owned my
VFX and SD1 for almost 15 years and dearly love them both but I
would never get on stage with the dependability of my performance
riding on either one of the units, especially the VFX. I have
experienced that failure a couple of times. That's my choice of
course. I use computer software to accomplish my sequencing these
days anyway so all my VFX and SD1 sequencers do is collect dust.
Although I no longer play live very often anymore, if I did I would
have to have a laptop accompanying me and all that goes with that
set-up or.....a CD player.

Someone might say..."Well why don't you just record the whole
performance and lip-sync it or whatever. "Well, unfortunately to the
demise of a "live" performance, you could do exactly that and some
folks out there do. And when you use sequencers or drum machines to
accompany your performance you are doing just that, just in a
limited way perhaps. You are going to hit a button on the sequencer
or drum machine and play the same sounds you would play if you hit a
button on a CD player containing your pre-recorded material. In both
cases "you" are not playing any of it at the time of your "live"
performance.

So therein lays the choice you have to make in my opinion. If you
think programmed sequencers playing during "live" performances is
different in the end than pre-recorded music playing on a CD player
during "live" performances, then you will have to put your trust in
the sequencer and all that goes with it. All things considered and
with a choice, it seems to me the CD player would be the more
reliable and the easiest to back-up.

Smiley Face - Smiley Face - Smiley Face,
Alan








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