(Live +) In Person
Posted on | April 3, 2009 | 6 Comments
I have to say, I find seeing ambient artists doing live shows to be pretty boring. I find the music to be pretty useless without some context for, well, use. I’m falling pretty hard here into one side of what an old literary theory professor of mine called the Kant/St. Augustine divide, and I think that’s fine. Maybe you have other ideas, and I think that’s fine as well.
But I’m also pretty interested in expanding the spirit of what this site has been doing for the last few years, and so I’d like to start thinking about some ways of getting the music I point to on this site out from under your headphones and out into the actual world for use. But in a way that’s a bit more indirect than promoting live shows. That’s not very interesting to me.
So consider this an invitation for artists, designers, and anyone else reading to collaborate on some kind of project that applies ambient music to the world. I really have no idea what that means, but I’d like to try to do something. If you have an interest, or ideas, or anything, leave a comment, shoot me an email at ambientmusicblog at gmail.com, or berate me via twitter.com/ambientmusic.
Comments
6 Responses to “(Live +) In Person”
Leave a Reply
April 3rd, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
Does this count as live ambient?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt1dOlBXqwA
April 3rd, 2009 @ 2:15 pm
Very nice work. Would like to hear more.
April 5th, 2009 @ 5:09 am
know what you mean its interesting with a genre like ambient..i create ambient music but have found myself deviating into more general electro/trance/idm inspired sounds to be able to perform live… and perform at a wide range of places..etc..
my interest is maininly in ambient/soundscapes etc
but as far as my experience goes.. it works performing live in only certain situations where background atmospherics are required (eg..art exhibtions, installations etc)..
i have found i can get away with performing more purely ambient material when using visuals or working with a VJ, this seems to give it the extra performance element that is needed to keep people interested…or also overlaying live instruments, adds to it..
April 13th, 2009 @ 12:19 pm
really like your blog!
April 20th, 2009 @ 1:47 pm
I’ve been railing on my blog (www.echoes.org) about the failings of live ambient music for many years now. Love the music, but it’s often a less than satisfying experience live. Have you heard of the Gatherings shows in Philadelphia? (thegatherings.org) Lots of ambient live music, some of it truly live, some of it off the laptop.
April 20th, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
John,
I’m not familiar with Gatherings. Checking it out now.
I’m of the same opinion, I think. I guess the question I have is: so what’s next?
Is this music “doomed” to boring live performances for afficiandos, or is there some other, hopefully more interesting way to get it out into the world? I don’t know, but I know I hear a lot of good stuff, and I know that watching guys noodle out barely audible music via MacBooks isn’t particularly interesting. (And, honestly, even if it was interesting, the lifestyle I have at this point in time really doesn’t support getting out much to live shows.)
Like your site btw, and thanks for the comment.