Sampler Bands: THE REAL END TO LIVE MUSIC!

Floydian · #1 09-17-2009, 10:31 PM

OK so I was looking at the Rock Band Live thread and it got me to thinking...

What does everyone think of sampler bands? By sampler bands I mean bands that use essentially two samplers and maybe half a drum kit (a la Animal Collective, which seems to be leading this new charge in college music.) You may not be seeing this in many areas yet but I can tell you it is already a huge deal in liberal art colleges. It is the biggest new fad in popular indie music right now. I live in Richmond, Virginia attending VCU and I have been to numerous house shows and legitimate venues where there have been multiple sampler bands playing.

You may be asking what the problem is, as it is still technically live music. I think the problem with these bands is that there is no real instrumentation going on besides the random clash of a cymbal. Everything else is little sound bites from a floppy disk or hard drive. This has already become a preferred trend instead of club dj's as you get the party atmosphere with very thick processed beats but still can have the excitement of a live show. Personally I think it is boring to watch and really just opens it up for a any jackass with 600 dollars and time to spend looking through mountains of sound bites to put in front of a beat that they probably ripped off from someone much more talented than they are.

Obviously I am being a little dramatic with the title to my thread

but I think it is a very interesting conversation point and honestly is only going to get more popular.

UncleFluffy · #2 09-17-2009, 10:34 PM

Not a new phenomenon, as far as I know. Been going since at least the early 90s, if not before.

It may have become a lot more popular recently, I'll give you that, but I'm not in the college music world any more so I wouldn't have noticed.

newbold · #3 09-17-2009, 11:24 PM

"Personally I think it is boring to watch and really just opens it up for a any jackass with 600 dollars and time to spend looking through mountains of sound bites to put in front of a beat that they probably ripped off from someone much more talented than they are."

What's your idea of the concept of talent?

"This has already become a preferred trend instead of club dj's as you get the party atmosphere with very thick processed beats but still can have the excitement of a live show."

And much easier to tour and afford working as an artist with/as.

If it's about the music and the experience of bringing people together than how bored one is is secondary.

It's 2009, soon to be 2010 and though the music isn't always for me, I like a live element to DJs and Producers. It means that it's not just tracks and a singer, it means that there's a real reason this act is here - and is more than just a listening party.

This summer I saw Medeski Martin and Wood at the Toronto Jazz Festival. Dubmatix opened which was a producer (laptop, hardware) and a bass player. Great huge sound in the tent...I was outside. Was it perfect? nope, but I thought 'I'd love to be at a club/lounge that this act were playing' and 'I wonder what they sound like on record'.

What a great way for music to move - but there will still be full bands. there will ALWAYS be live bands.

It's only a case of everything moving in only one direction if you choose to perceive life as such.

There will never be an end to live music.

Jimmy Bones · #4 09-18-2009, 12:26 AM

I saw a 'death metal' band called Gensou out here. they have a guitarist, a drummer, and a screamer, and their band leader is an Apple iBook.

phatbass · #5 09-18-2009, 12:55 AM

Since the late '70's, I've seen a few "death of live music" trends - disco's, synths, drum machines, samplers, backing tracks. Guess what? Live music always survives.

Often these trends give the live scene a kick in the butt as far as bands/musicians being forced to actually think a bit about their performances and maybe discover a few different approaches to gigging.