rocker654 wrote:

bassdriver wrote:

kerble wrote:they may use laptops live, but they do not write music with laptops (or didn't for 99% of their career). Kraftwerk are fucking geniuses. read the book on 'em. I'll dig up a title today.

I was just kidding.

So was I. The humor was lost on the druids of the forum.

It could just be that your humor wasn't funny.

You never know!

alex maiolo wrote:However, they are not a "rock" band, so none of this matters regarding this poll.

-A

mouse on mars - not a rock band
dalek - not a rock band (though they now have a guitar player - and they rock!)

um..... the young gods - great computer rock band but no laptop an stage

I start to think that there aren't to many good examples of rock bands using laptops.

kerble wrote:they were tremendous.

I love the part in the dvd where they have robots depicting themselves on stage during the performance. So very fucking funny!!

most bands can't do what is expected once you put a laptop into the mix. but once you utilize the computer to its fullest extent, you get bands, eg. battles, that can blow yer load.

I rather liked +/- when I saw them live, and there was a laptop on stage.

madmanmunt wrote:I am seeing more and more rock bands come out on stage and play along to laptops these days.

Since when has this been acceptable practice?

What the fuck?

This is like asking if using a piano, or a delay pedal is acceptable.

It's just another instrument or effect processor.

Lobster Magnet wrote:

madmanmunt wrote:I am seeing more and more rock bands come out on stage and play along to laptops these days.

Since when has this been acceptable practice?

What the fuck?

This is like asking if using a piano, or a delay pedal is acceptable.

It's just another instrument or effect processor.

It would be acceptable if almost all the bands who do this didn't play as if the last drop of life has been sucked out of them.

It mainly depends on what the machine is being used for. I did some nice fingertipping-drumming on the lid of my ibook. You can also attach a rubber band and get some nice sounds out of it. This would be using the labtop itself as an instrument.

Then you can use it as a playback machine, same way as a minidisc-recorder, but giving you some opportunities as the possibility of looping certain parts until you decide to go to the next part, as opposed of having to stick to the prerecorded arrangement on a minidisc. This is a little bit karaoke. But a good performer doing karaoke shouldn't be so bad.

or you stick some controllers to the computer and use virtual instruments, as synthesizers, drum-machines etc. then it's just less heavy than carrying around the original instruments. convenient if you use bicycles for transport for example. noone should be damned for not owning or renting a van.

main problem is the email-checker-appearance of the person behind the machine. This can be avoided by putting the machine vertically to the audience on a high stand, by using different controllers than computer keyboard and mouse (game controllers! self built controllers! wireless keyboards and mouses on guitarstraps!)

But someone really should write an application that generates midi-messages while you read your mail. Then the form follwos function-issue would be finally resolved.

I think it's a bad idea.

You have a rock band; why does that rock band need to involve a laptop in its performances?

There is no good reason for this.