Live performance is risk and storytelling

Hey there!

I shared earlier this morning on my Patreon that a whopping 50% of my email list opened up last week's newsletter about performing electronic music. You're considered a rock star in the email world if you have a 30% open rate so 50% is huge.

What that tells me is that there's a pretty strong desire amongst music producers to perform their work live.

I'm also willing to bet that it means that plenty of us, possibly yourself included, have no idea where to start.

I can feel that way quite often, too. When I do feel this way, I often think about this video by Oora. Towards the end of the video, he says "A good live performance is one that balances storytelling and risk." I think he's right, but what does that mean?

It's funny to think about but when you go and watch a band or an orchestra or a singer-songwriter perform, the whole performance is a risk. At any point, the musicians could make a mistake. The reason I say it's funny to think about is because there is no other option. If you want to perform on the guitar, you have to play the guitar. The risk is assumed.

Electronic music is different. The machine assumes all the risk and we have to choose what portion of that to take on ourselves. It's easy enough to hit play and let the DAW get to work pumping out your magnum opus. You could just stand there and bask in the glory of it all. But it wouldn't be a live performance.

Much in the same way that prompting an AI to write a song does not make you a songwriter, getting onstage, hitting play, and standing back does not make you a performer. That points to a deeper conversation about effort being a prerequisite to music-making, but that's for another day. My point is that a good electronic performance is one in which you, as the performer, make the effort to shoulder some of the risk.

That risk can look different every performance, too. You could sequence drums live. You could focus on performance effects. You could mix live. You could use a keyboard and play the bass part. You resequence your tracks. You could perform sample chops. The choice is yours and the options are endless.

But what about the role of the DAW in all of this then? This is where the storytelling aspect comes in. How you craft your live set dictates the arc of the performance. Look at it this way; if you're on a road trip you get to choose the route you take but you're always driving on roads that have already been paved. In other words, your live set pre-determines the beginning and ending of your performance and it's up to you to decide what happens in the middle.

I know this discussion has largely been conceptual but when it comes to performing electronic music, I tend find that the conceptual is the first and greatest hurdle to crafting a great performance.

Also, as a quick aside, I mentioned last week that I'd be incorporating more performance aspects into my own work and I was able to squeeze two quick, improvised performances into last week's video!

Do you have any questions about performing electronic music? If so, reply and let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

Til next time.