Elektron Musical Instruments

A lot of electronic acts I know just use DAT for
nearly all the backing tracks. I tried using a laptop
live for a while, but gave it up because i didn't feel
comfortable relying on something so complex and
temperamental. I did play with a band recently that
just used a mac laptop all they did was play files
from itunes lol. If thats all your going to do DAT is
much more reliable and less complex. I don't know
anyone who uses CD for thier backing tracks, DAT seems
to be prefered I don't know why that is. You do get
better sound quality at 48khz. Perhaps because its a
lot easier to put it together a show you can just
record your tracks to tape in real time from your
setup and there are no CD burning complications, and
no potential skipping. 

I've read about a lot of people using "virtual"
instruments at shows like albeton live, VST
instruments, etc. People don't seem to have any
problems but I question the reliability of those
systems, if your on the road and something goes wrong
do you have a computer geek with you to straighten it
out? My suggestion is not to power on or touch the
laptops for ANYTHING except on stage at the live
shows, that way they are going to be very reliable
verses if you played around with them on the road
which I wouldn't be able to resist doing, you run the
risk of something getting changed or messed up.

Another idea is sometimes its better not to use the
exact same instruments and sounds from your album on
the road. For the parts that are live you could use
traditional keyboards instead of just controllers with
a computer, that way people aren't hearing just a
carbon copy of your CD. 

Hope my post wasn't too long for you I guess I had a
lot to say... just my thoughts. Good luck.

=====
james.d.stark
http://jamesdstark.com