I should also add...
(god, I love ellipsesesese).

when I grew up we played things with strings or keys or valves or reeds and bridges and bows and maybe some of the more experimental of us had amps and pickups and microphones.

It does seem a little alien for a performer to rock up to a performance and demand to know where they should plug in their iPad. Even more so when someone needs to ask if they can jack their Ableton control surface on, when it won't work without some kind of actual computer to make the sounds.

An Ableton interface to me is basically a Speak'n'Spell concept, but matched up with a Lite-Brite physical layer, and then combined with a Moog synthesiser. All of which concepts already exist. Oh but! It can be interfaced to co-enact DJ Decks. But not real actual DJ decks. No, MIDI facsimiles.

For all the people that claim being a Master DJ is a musical profession, I say- play the decks and don't use a set of MIDI controllers in lieu of being able to use real DJ decks. I have a lot of respect for Public Enemy, and zero for DJ Boogie Dave from Birmingham.

When I was a toddler, we had Fisher Price activity centres that were hung on the side of play pens.
babyduckshop.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/fisherpriceactivitycentre1.jpg

Ableton interfaces and MIDI DJ interfaces are about as complex and rewarding as that.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Sat 9 Jun 2012, 2:43, 15 replies)

If you love elipses so much,
you should learn to use them.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Sat 9 Jun 2012, 8:41, closed)

Awesome, i detest virtual mp3 dj'ing having learned the proper way on my 1200's and my later and much missed 1210 Mk II's although i admit to using ableton to externally control some of my beloved musical toys or making a mix cd for the car.
But in my defense, i've been using midi through SAW on my 386, Cubase on my atari and amiga then ableton on my 486 and pentium since Dave Smith invented it so midi doesnt make me feel old but the ritalin generation who think its a modern thing do.
(Finster Ate a cat biscuit for a bet, Sat 9 Jun 2012, 8:44, closed)

*doffs cap
I've ended up in on online argument before with people who say playing decks is virtually an instrument in itself, and having considered it, I concur, if you're scratching and looping with vinyl, fair dos. I put it to anyone, when they bring out Guitar Hero, no one really considers them to be guitarists when they're pressing buttons instead of touching fret.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Sat 9 Jun 2012, 12:55, closed)

Thats why i vent forth my scathing contempt for guitar zero kids at every opportunity and doggedly strangle tunes out of my trusty ole westone thunder 1a. At least i'm playing and not indulging in a shit hybrid of air guitar and teenagers bedroom onanism.
(Finster Ate a cat biscuit for a bet, Sat 9 Jun 2012, 13:13, closed)

So, getting old for you equals musical snobbery then?
I mean, David Hockney uses iPads as an artistic medium. Does that make him any less of a painter?
(The Luggage is haunted..., Sat 9 Jun 2012, 9:36, closed)

You'll be white-knighting Autotune next.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Sat 9 Jun 2012, 12:43, closed)

I do wonder how people used to manage before Auto-Tune existed.
Being able to sing properly, I imagine.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Sat 9 Jun 2012, 14:33, closed)

what david hockney did with the iPad is high-end finger painting.
www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&biw=1517&bih=676&tbm=isch&tbnid=-euk1g5TmS3LQM:&imgrefurl=http://kottke.org/10/11/david-hockney-ipad-drawings&docid=Wo3DasX4JAh5FM&imgurl=http://also.kottke.org/misc/images/hockney-ipad.jpg&w=500&h=329&ei=fDjTT_PAF8LP0QW8vLiKBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=801&vpy=161&dur=488&hovh=181&hovw=276&tx=89&ty=143&sig=100808910832392717795&page=1&tbnh=154&tbnw=215&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:84

Hockney is a skilled artist, Hockney uses iPad, other people use iPad, therefore other people are skilled artists also? Sorry. Doesn't fly for me.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Sat 9 Jun 2012, 12:51, closed)

I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer.

(The Luggage is haunted..., Sat 9 Jun 2012, 14:18, closed)

no, it just makes him even more of a pretentious collosal cock end.
(Finster Ate a cat biscuit for a bet, Sat 9 Jun 2012, 13:14, closed)

That's an outrageously stupid thing to say about a great artist
It's "colossal".
(ubergeekian, Sat 9 Jun 2012, 20:37, closed)

Ooo your such a critic
(Finster Ate a cat biscuit for a bet, Sun 10 Jun 2012, 17:32, closed)

Two DJs in a pub...
... one says to the other "Fancy going to the cinema?". "Dunno", his mate replies, "who's the projectionist?"
( electric_goat, Sat 9 Jun 2012, 10:17, closed)

Midi is a technology developed over 30 years ago; and used probably on every record you have bought in that time. This post just makes you look like you don't actually have a clue about music and how its made/performed.
(calder83, Tue 12 Jun 2012, 10:36, closed)

This reply proves that you didn't read my post properly
I wasn't talking about MIDI in sequencing or MIDI for synthesis sound banks or MIDI for tape transport commands or MIDI even for triggering pyrotechnics at concerts- I know plenty about music technology thanks, I built our recording studio from scratch and we've recorded and produced plenty of albums- for other bands and not just ourself.

I was referring to people going 'Push buttons to trigger samples, twist knobs to change envelope parameters or filters' as some kind of live performance 'skill'.

Now read it again and see if you get it this time.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Tue 12 Jun 2012, 17:36, closed)