[homerush]

do they always play on their live concerts 100 percent live?do they use synthi?disks or anything else?do they handle it like real musicians without any unreal help?i cannot imagine that they use any playback or so.i also heard that the but a mini disc to the soundboard what does that mean ? the music came from the mini disk or they record their music for some stuff (live cd or something i don´t know)thats a very silly question but i need to know this.

[Danny Himself]

All performances of 100% are unique and use no backing tapes. There's some videos on youtube of 100% performances and they all sound different.

[Chris Lawrence]

i think he/she's asking whether they play 'completely' live (not referring to the song), with no pre-programmed samples or whatever. aside from jim's very minimal laptop samples for the nyc ghosts tour, every sound you hear onstage during a sonic youth concert is being created by one of those 4 (or 5) people onstage right before your eyes (well, before *someone's* eyes..).

except all those ratt tapes they used in the 80s.

[atsonicpark]

except the supposed she's in a bad mood feedback whir

[m^a(t)h]

i love the recordings of early american/burning spear with the weird screaming tape in between. so cool.

[val-holla-ing]

i thought they had been using buddha machines recently, as well.

i'm not sure, but it seems as if it's being insinuated that tape loops and other sounds (electronic or not) aren't considered instruments and that's not fair :-(

[homerush]

yes that´s right i don´t mean the song 100 percent from dirty
i mean if the sound of sonic youth is normaly instrumental driven. my english sucks but this is what i mean. a guitarr is instrumental a bass is instrumental synthisyzer is not instrumental.and if they use synthi or any computergenerated sound or soundeffects that is not the same fun on a live show than the sound cames direct from the guitarr because of strange chords or whatever.i mean direct play that is live. play the guitarr and listen how it sounds.and i also don´t like unreal stuff on albums.but this very tiny synthi moments on rather ripped or daydream nation when the songs starting are very good.you know excatly ok here begins the song it go for a while and when the song has really started you don´t hear any stuff like that.and this noise wave when the gittar makes this sonic youth sounds, this is so perfect and i think also real.what is wrong with me? i am a very big r.e.m fan like the old stuff (crush with a eyeliner from monster with thurston) and earlyer. but now they use synthi drums and so on. and on the new album arround the sun it´s very difficoult to say okay this sound is real and this is synthi.

[val-holla-ing]

synthisizers and computers are too instruments and can be just as fun as guitar or bass or drums. i've seen full bands play extremely boring sets and guys with laptops rocking shit out, so it has less to do with the medium than how it's being used.

[atari 2600]

Hypnotist: You are all very good players …
Team: [in unison, entranced] We are all very good players.
Hypnotist: You will beat Shelbyville.
Team: We will beat Shelbyville.
Hypnotist: You will give one hundred and ten percent…
Team: That's impossible. No one can give more than one hundred percent. By definition that is the most anyone can give.

- Homer at the Bat

 

[Danny Himself]

Do you work for SNPP or something?

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by homerush

yes that´s right i don´t mean the song 100 percent from dirty
i mean if the sound of sonic youth is normaly instrumental driven. my english sucks but this is what i mean. a guitarr is instrumental a bass is instrumental synthisyzer is not instrumental.and if they use synthi or any computergenerated sound or soundeffects that is not the same fun on a live show than the sound cames direct from the guitarr because of strange chords or whatever.i mean direct play that is live. play the guitarr and listen how it sounds.and i also don´t like unreal stuff on albums.but this very tiny synthi moments on rather ripped or daydream nation when the songs starting are very good.you know excatly ok here begins the song it go for a while and when the song has really started you don´t hear any stuff like that.and this noise wave when the gittar makes this sonic youth sounds, this is so perfect and i think also real.what is wrong with me? i am a very big r.e.m fan like the old stuff (crush with a eyeliner from monster with thurston) and earlyer. but now they use synthi drums and so on. and on the new album arround the sun it´s very difficoult to say okay this sound is real and this is synthi.

What they do is certainly completely live. They have, however, done various live experiments involving samplers, laptops, tape-loops, etc. I don't think they do much with pre-programmed samples, because they have enough direct sounds to sample on stage. They used to do a song in the early Confusion is Sex days called "Audience" where they took the sounds of the crowd at the end of their set and looped it and made it really loud. I'm also relatively sure that Jim 'O Rourke did some live laptop manipulations sometimes during his stint with the group.

[Magic Wheel Memory]

I saw them do "Secret Girls" back in '93. The piano music was pre-recorded.

[SynthethicalY]

Does it really matter if some things are used? Like a synth, laptops and so forth?

[SynthethicalY]

I think this new wave of doing things is quite interesting. Instead of just using guitars and a amp.

[SynthethicalY]

It will be the new wave of doing Dj, don't you think?

[val-holla-ing]

Originally Posted by SynthethicalY

It will be the new wave of doing Dj, don't you think?

ms. pinky (http://www.mspinky.com/) proves your point.

i'm all about embracing the laptop as an instrument. the possiblities stretch as far as one's imagination. it's also a new challenge because there's much more to playing a laptop than technique and phrasing and all that. there's a whole language to it that compounds on general music language.

AND it reduces the clutter of having to set up all kinds of pedals and wires. even though tangled wires are aesthetically pleasing to an extent, it's a real bitch to set up and take down for a gig.

[greenlight]

still, there's something about the guitar as an instrument. plus combination guitar and laptop as another instrument is interesting.

[val-holla-ing]

nobody said that the guitar wasn't still a damn good instrument, but it does have limitations.

but i agree on the guitartronics thing.

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by Magic Wheel Memory

I saw them do "Secret Girls" back in '93. The piano music was pre-recorded.

I'm so jealous! I didn't know they ever did that song live!

[Chris Lawrence]

good call on secret girl.

'audience' isn't reeeeally a 'song they did in the confusion days', its a studio manipulation of some audience applause from an '83 gig released as a one-off on a compilation, not something reproduced live.