laptop as an instrument

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fourtracter

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alright... i think this is a very strange and off topic post, but i am very curious.

in what ways can a laptop (apple g4 powerbook to be more specific) be an instrument?

i mean not so much a recording device, sampler, or soft synth player but as a unique instrument. i'm really not that firmiliar with the possibilities, but i would love to know more.

any thoughts?

since i don't really even know how to be too clear, i am very open to an expanding subject - please ask questions and provide suggestions.

thank you very much - i hope this is interesting.
 
pretty much just a soft synth or a sampler. What do you want to do, tap on the keyboard in a drum pattern and mic it? hehehe
 
i don't know

i really have no idea what i want to do.

i was just thinking, my laptop is the most powerful piece of electronics i have. there must be a way to utilize it.

just a thought.
 
actually your laptop can be far more than just a "soft synth or sampler." To learn more, check out a software programming environment like MAX. Sorry to be so brief, but I've got to run. Good luck.
-Teddy
 
max

thanks teddy.

i actually just heard about max. i don't have my g4 yet, but i soon as i get it, i am going to try max out. i think this is exactly what i was trying to get at. any other recomendations?


thanks again.
 
A laptop isn't really equipped to "be" it's own instrument, but the possibilities are pretty huge when combined with other instruments. Soft synths are too big a category to be discounted - VSTi's are much more flexible than a standard keyboard, and you can design unique sounds to use onstage. They can also be used as effects processors for vocals, guitars, or about any audio source in realtime (barring latency).

I'm not a mac guy, but D-Sound makes realtime audio FX processors that could be used with laptops. I've wanted to check out the new Native Instruments Kontakt too - not sure if it's realtime, but it uses audio input instead of MIDI.

...just a few thoughts.

Sean
 
I think he is asking if the Laptop can actually be used onstage....



For instance, if you get a soft sampler, and some sort of program that allows you to use the computer keyboard to play the sounds rather than hooking up a real keyboard...

That would be cool to see a guy playing a laptop... good Idea...

So, im gonna turn the floor over to the techie geeks... Does the program exist, to play keyboard on a computer keyboard??

If it does exist, I imagine you could do drums too..

Joe
 
I've seen more than one band now use a laptop onstage to play loops/sequences.....the one(s) that come to mind immediately are the Chicago Underground Duo and Isotope 217
 
"alright... i think this is a very strange and off topic post, but i am very curious.

in what ways can a laptop (apple g4 powerbook to be more specific) be an instrument? "









I would try beating on it with drum sticks.
 
check out Live from Ableton software - it's made to be used in live performance for sequencing and playing loops, dropping stuff in and out in real time with no lag or glitches, and syncing them on the fly.

I've played around with it, it's incredible.

but it is sample based, not midi based, so you need to have all your samples ready before you play (although it also has a variety of effects which are all tweakable realtime... and bear in mind, I was running it on a P3/500 pc with 128Mb RAM, not the most heavy-duty pc!!)

it's a whole lot of fun.

as for playing midi keyboard from the pc keyboard, Cakewalk *used to* have a Virtual Keyboard which allowed you to play like that, I'm not sure if they still have that in their newest versions, but I think there are some 3rd party softwares that will let you do this.

and as for all you snide mf's talking out the side of your mouth about "hit it with a hammer", there's a lot of classic tunes in your collection where the drums are cardboard boxes, drum cases, Levi-wrapped thighs, etc... don't be such snobs.

good luck. have fun.

- housepig.
 
Hey FourTracter........LOL
Sry bout that but it's kind of funny. Do you record from ur Tractor...?
Anywayzzzz, The cool thing about music & recording is that there are virtually no rules. ( well, a few basics anyway) but u can do whatever u want. So rock on w/ ur Bad Notebook and experiment.........Good Luck...
 
I use Acid for live performances. I’ve developed my own little bag of tricks for making it more improvisational. Don’t want to give up my secrets just yet, but many of them are pretty strait forward once you get to thinking about it.:)

barefoot
 
You could throw together your own unique sounds with something like Absynth.
Or just use virtual instruments/soft synths. Unless you're looking for super-weird fractal, theramin, thought-controlled input software ;)

Nothing wrong with soft synths. Below is a snippet off of the emagic website:

---
Herbie Hancock plays Emagic software instruments live on stage
June 21st 2002

Instead of using stacks of bulky keyboards Herbie Hancock prefers to create his sounds using Logic and Emagic software instruments in PowerBooks live on stage. He enthusiastically describes his experiences on tour recently in an interview with the renowned British magazine Sound On Sound — here's what he had to say:

"I'm not playing any samples, I'm doing more pianistic things ... I'm actually using software instruments, which is totally new to the music scene. I have an Apple Titanium PowerBook on stage with Emagic EVP88, the virtual Rhodes plug-in, and a virtual Clavinet. The EVP88 sounds more like a Fender Rhodes than any other synthesizer I have ever heard! And the Clavinet sounds like a real Clavinet. There are even software pedals like Crybaby wah-wah and Morley pedals that also sound like the real thing. We did the whole tour with software instruments only, which were both still in beta stage, and we had no problems with them, they worked perfectly."

The interview is published in the current issue of Sound On Sound, July 2002. More information at www.sospubs.co.uk and www.herbiehancock.com.

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