Please Note:- D J Events R Not Live Music

DJ section would be great then we dont get closed minded live event freaks coming to live dj events amen

I think that DJ's who are creating realtime mixes on the fly are certainly a valid artform and I respect that, and certainly it is "live." Probably the issue there is with them calling themselves "DJ's" as the term has historically been used to mean simply someone who selects recordings to play, makes the playlist and talks between songs. Which I also respect, even though I wouldn't call it "live music." It would be good if those calling themselves "real DJ's" would just call themselves "remixers" or "turntablists" so people knew the difference.

My band is an actual rock band that is playing live instruments - electric guitar, bass, full drumkit and we all sing. And we stream live into SL with our avatars all logged in, we have no prerecorded tracks, drum machines or anything like that of any kind. Many people have said that is what they consider "live music" (that or a solo artist playing acoustic guitar or piano or some such) and they don't want to hear anything pre-recorded, or anyone playing with backing tracks, doing karaoke or whatever.

So probably what it comes down to is people being honest about what they do. If everybody makes it clear what they are doing then no one will be pissed off because it doesn't meet their expectations. We might need more event categories to help people filter what they want, possibly. I was thinking of making an external web site where musicians and DJ's (and venues) could list their services and it could be spelled out more clearly what they do.

A great discussion because it points at the real heart of the problem.

There are so few tools to create music within second life that we usually end up with one of two things.

DJ events where (the majority of the time) you might as well be listening to a radio station.
"Live" events where you might as well be listening to a radio station but at least its being performed real-time and now. I'm kind of biased here on the Playing Music side rather than the Playing Other Peoples Music side.

In neither case however, are musicians/composers really making the decisions and using the audio technology of SL within SL.

If you look at what people do just because they love it - making music is one of the big things everywhere in the world. It keeps me going. It would be nice to be able to do more with it in SL.

I created a loop engine because that's all SL gives me to work with - 10 second wave files.
With this I can load hundreds of percussion, bass, pads, fx files and if they're all the same length and in the same key they work. I can mix the files individually, assign them to groups, mute/unmute and mix the volumes of the groups. Once we have the voice in the main grid I'll be able to solo over top via voice chat.

I'm not really a composer as much as explorer in the sense that I never know what I'm going end up with since the factorial combination of all the possibilities is enormous. Add to that the Audio Preferences possible and the fact that the camera is the pickup position everyone picking it up will hear something different.

So what the heck is this??

You might say that this is the only "LIVE" stuff going on in SL because it doesn't come from somewhere else. It only happens in SL Maybe its METALIVE. A new category.
(My dream is to play a club in RL from SL.
Then we're talking. I'm open to offers to perform anywhere in the world.)

What we need are a lot more sound and midi tools - I'm wondering if I can transmit a midi file encoded into a graphics file. I think it would be cool if musicians could come together and jam in SL using SL instruments. There's always going to be some limitations in interactivity due to the response delay of the web but I think there's a lot of fun to be had here.

By the way - with the Voice Chat - neither DJs or Musicians will have to worry about the streaming server any more. With the right audio interface that has a cue mix monitoring feature anyone can talk and play music (CD or Instruments) at the same time anywhere so even though it won't happen in SL musicians will be able to play at home and each individual can contribute their stuff to an overall mix. If you haven't tried it yet go to the Beta Grid - I was totally surprised how easily and well it worked and its really going to change the SL experience.

"Live musicians" (as defined by the OP) commonly employ drum machines and sequencers when performing. Should they be classified as "non-live", just because one or more of their instruments generate sound autonomously? No, that would be totally ridiculous. Just attend one of Komuso Tokugawa's performances in SL if you doubt it, in which he always employs reams of electronic aids, very masterfully. And it doesn't get any more "live" than that.

The situation with top master DJs is similar, although it gets closer to the other end of the spectrum when they take a break and just select tracks --- that then is no longer "live" music by any stretch of the imagination, and even DJs would agree with that. If it were, then radio stations that just select tracks would be classified as "live music" too, which is obviously silly.

What it comes down to is CREATIVITY, not what equipment or sources you employ. If that creative input is being done live, and the result is music, then you have live music, it's as simple as that. Of course, one may not like the resulting sound, but that's a different issue altogether.

I would certainly support being able to select live music by its GENRE in SL. That would help a lot of people, given the massive popularity of live music in SL.

And as regards DJs themselves ... well they need to classify themselves into performance artists and track spinners, because plain "DJ" doesn't cut it. A performance artist should never under any circumstances play a complete track, as that would imply that his "art" entails doing nothing at all, ie. a pure parasite on the musicians who made the track. If you value your "artist" status, you don't wanna go there.

Morg.

Funnily enough, if LL were to provide a "DJ" category under Events, then live remix DJs like Enferno would perfectly validly post their events under Live Music still.

Even though the genre doesn't appeal to me, there's more live music creation going on in one of Enferno's live remix sessions than in many traditional live covers. And that's what "live music" is about ... live, interactive, musical creativity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AIofhC6A38&eurl=

Pity that he doesn't perform in a genre that appeals to me more, haha.

Giving non-creative track spinners their own "DJ" category would help though. Hopefully some of them will be honest and stay out of the "Live Music" category where live remix DJs like Enferno clearly belong.

Morg.

I think a lot of people are confused as to what the term "DJ" means.
I got these from answers.com, for validity, but most people that have worked with any of these artists, or as one, understand and can differentiate properly.

MC (Master of Ceremonies)
1. A person who acts as host at a formal event, making the welcoming speech and introducing other speakers.
2. A performer who conducts a program of varied entertainment by introducing other performers to the audience.

DJ (Disc Jockey)
A disc jockey (also called DJ) is an individual who selects and plays prerecorded music for an intended audience.

The term disc jockey was first used to describe radio announcers who would introduce and play popular gramophone records. These records, also called discs by those in the industry, were jockeyed by the radio announcers, hence the name disc jockey, which was soon shortened to DJs or deejays. Today, there are a number of factors, including the selected music, the intended audience, the performance setting, the preferred medium, and the development of sound manipulation, that have led to different types of disc jockeys. However, today there are many different kinds of 'DJ's' and it does not always mean 'disc jockey' in the traditional sense, for example turntablist DJ's use actual 'discs' whilst radio DJ's may use a number of sound sources including music files, CDs, jingles, and other pre-recorded media.


Composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term refers particularly to someone who writes music in some type of musical notation; thus, allowing others to perform the music. This distinguishes the composer from a musician who improvises or plays an instrument.

The level of distinction between composers and other musicians also varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music. For example, in the development of classical music in Europe, the function of composing music initially had no greater importance than the function of performing music. The preservation of individual compositions received little attention, and musicians generally had no qualms about modifying compositions for performance. Over time, however, the written notation of the composer has come to be treated as strict instructions, from which performers should not deviate without good reason. Performers do, however, play the music and interpret it in a way that is all their own.

Musician
A musician is a person who plays or composes music Musicians can be classified by their role in creating or performing music:

* A singer (or vocalist) uses his or her voice as an instrument.
* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.
* Both singer and instrumentalist can be improvisers, who create real time music.
* Composers and songwriters write music.
* A conductor coordinates a musical ensemble.


I understand that, in recent times, the term DJ has come to encompass almost any and all artist who performs/composes/etc any type of music which is utilizing any type of music or sound not necessarily created at the time of the performance. This isn't always the case even. Many a "DJ" compose and perform their music live. A "DJ" in the true "live" sense of the word (anyone who does more than simply change songs, discs, or tapes) should never even be clumped into the "DJ" category, as they are far more skilled. That's not to say that beat matching one song to another properly isn't a laudable skill, just that even MORE skill is required to take that to the next level, and match each track to the beat. (A track isn't a song, but a component of every song. You may recall 8-track tapes, which had up to 8 separate channels of musical data played synchronously to form a cohesive song.) I think what people are seeking to say is "Performing Artist/Composer" as opposed to "DJ". I am definitely in agreement that "radio" events, where MC's, DJ's, and the likes are separated from PA/PC events. A PA can range from things like cover bands to mixologists and turntablists. A PC can also include mixologists and turntablists, but not a cover band, as long as the music performed was composed by the performer.

In other words: I agree with the OP, in a sense, that performers of all sorts should use care in choosing where they choose to list their event. However, I believe we're all simply happy that they choose to perform for our benefit. Really, how hard is it to click "Teleport" and go somewhere else?

WOOT