{"items": [{"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852", "anchor": "fb-792901531852", "service": "fb", "text": "I hear ya loud and clear", "timestamp": "1465838914"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852&reply_comment_id=792901696522", "anchor": "fb-792901531852_792901696522", "service": "fb", "text": "→ If you are interested in a download of our completely live techno set at this last contrathon weekend , I'd be happy to share it", "timestamp": "1465839002"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852&reply_comment_id=792902010892", "anchor": "fb-792901531852_792902010892", "service": "fb", "text": "→ That sounds fun, but I guess I'd be more interested in how you run your instrumentation to do live techno sets?
(Amy and I tried a \"live techno\" set a few years ago, and while we had a great time and got some ideas out of it that we've more recently used live with the Free Raisins, we weren't happy enough with the sound to want to do more techno-only sets.)", "timestamp": "1465839310"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852&reply_comment_id=792902300312", "anchor": "fb-792901531852_792902300312", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman
Drums: Mix of roland handsonic and my acoustic set/ I added a multivox occasionally for real low stuff
Guitar&fiddle were just less conservative with their pedal experimentation
https://www.dropbox.com/.../AACPx7otJy41rN65srgwv-Lsa...", "timestamp": "1465839507"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852&reply_comment_id=792902584742", "anchor": "fb-792901531852_792902584742", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I think anything pre recorded removes flexibility and perspective from the dialog (for us , between the caller and also the dancers)", "timestamp": "1465839675"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852&reply_comment_id=792907754382", "anchor": "fb-792901531852_792907754382", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Listened to a couple; thanks for sharing them!", "timestamp": "1465841257"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852&reply_comment_id=792910024832", "anchor": "fb-792901531852_792910024832", "service": "fb", "text": "→ certainly ......just realized brian let us play Metallica's \"one\" for 17+ minutes lol", "timestamp": "1465842402"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792901531852&reply_comment_id=792910239402", "anchor": "fb-792901531852_792910239402", "service": "fb", "text": "→ 17+ minutes! That's nuts!", "timestamp": "1465842501"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792906950992", "anchor": "fb-792906950992", "service": "fb", "text": "\"kicked off a recorded version\" Depends. I always felt that Perpetual e-Motion (and anyone else who uses loops) were producing their product ethically because their loops were always recorded in real time, and then looped while the musicians were creating more interesting complexities of new sounds over the just-created loops. Yeah, sometimes they sat back for a deep breath, but usually they were creatively working their tails off, and they deserved the break. By these lights, looping live is different from pre-recorded.
FWIW, Anything that produces sound while being modulated in real time by human intent -- yup, that's a musical instrument.", "timestamp": "1465840915"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792906950992&reply_comment_id=792907265362", "anchor": "fb-792906950992_792907265362", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I'm not trying to talk about what's ethical, I'm talking about the kind of music I enjoy playing.", "timestamp": "1465841113"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792906950992&reply_comment_id=792908323242", "anchor": "fb-792906950992_792908323242", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Sorry to introduce a potentially negative concept. But as both a performer and consumer, who has seen other performers \"mailing it in\", I have always felt that paying audiences were ethically owed a committed performance. And I must say that Raisins are one of the most committed set of performers I've ever seen.", "timestamp": "1465841475"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792906950992&reply_comment_id=792908517852", "anchor": "fb-792906950992_792908517852", "service": "fb", "text": "→ And the fact that you enjoy what you're producing is a major part of the value of your performance.", "timestamp": "1465841596"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792906950992&reply_comment_id=792908847192", "anchor": "fb-792906950992_792908847192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ This isn't a big worry for me. People play this music because they enjoy it, and organizers hire bands that they think their dancers will enjoy. This is a good dynamic that leads to great music; things seem pretty healthy.", "timestamp": "1465841798"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792906950992&reply_comment_id=792910229422", "anchor": "fb-792906950992_792910229422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Absolutely. And the community owes their performers for the performers' time, travel, and trouble it takes to share their joy and talents with the community.", "timestamp": "1465842495"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792908956972", "anchor": "fb-792908956972", "service": "fb", "text": "Is it feasible to make a blind test of how important this band/dancer interaction is, maybe by physically separating a band from the dancers but transmitting audio/video and making people unsure whether they're playing (dancing) to live dancers (musicians)?", "timestamp": "1465841845"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792908956972&reply_comment_id=792909535812", "anchor": "fb-792908956972_792909535812", "service": "fb", "text": "→ You could totally do it, but it would be hard to fully blind. You'd probably want the musicians to play some sets during the evening and sit out others randomly. You could substitute a previous live recording by the same band.
But it would be a lot of work, and most dancers who didn't specifically chose this would be sad to not have the musicians up on stage in front of them.", "timestamp": "1465842122"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792908956972&reply_comment_id=792919206432", "anchor": "fb-792908956972_792919206432", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Excitement. Everyone says it, everyone knows what it means -- both performers and dancers. Unquantifiable.", "timestamp": "1465845547"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792908956972&reply_comment_id=792937350072", "anchor": "fb-792908956972_792937350072", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Walker: Setting up a blind test and then asking people to rate how much they enjoyed each dance seems pretty good.", "timestamp": "1465852604"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792908956972&reply_comment_id=793005114272", "anchor": "fb-792908956972_793005114272", "service": "fb", "text": "→ more importantly is the caller dynamic , a computer can't adjust in real time to fix a situation as a communicating group can", "timestamp": "1465880610"}, {"author": "Gawain", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792908956972&reply_comment_id=793081201792", "anchor": "fb-792908956972_793081201792", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The Moving Violations did that as an april fools joke many years ago. (I was running sound, so they coordinated with me) and basically started playing live but then seamlessly switched to their CD in the middle of the dance. They then left the stage and joined in dancing. I don't think a single person noticed until the CD track ended, and all the dancers looked in bewilderment at the empty stage, it was beautiful.", "timestamp": "1465926545"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792908956972&reply_comment_id=793083761662", "anchor": "fb-792908956972_793083761662", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Interesting!", "timestamp": "1465927858"}, {"author": "Bennett", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392", "anchor": "fb-792949166392", "service": "fb", "text": "For my money I prefer bands that can play without a PA at all... and a caller who can do the same! These have been by far my favorite dances, perhaps because they demand the musicians listen closely to each other and begin thinking of dynamics in relation to each other and the caller. To me this feels like the hippest most forward thinking music I've heard lately and I encourage all dance musicians and callers to try it. Requires a shift in how you think about making your art, for sure, but I've found it to be shift for the better.", "timestamp": "1465857867"}, {"author": "Bob", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=792951012692", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_792951012692", "service": "fb", "text": "→ huh. i started out that way. as a mandolinist, i've no interest in going back.", "timestamp": "1465858846"}, {"author": "Bennett", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=792980763072", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_792980763072", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yeah, it definitely is hard to give up the juice once you get used to it! And of course some instruments are louder than others (Edith's fiddle is a friggin cannon and that makes it easier to play without a PA). The big plus for me is the way I notice band members suddenly listening to each other and balancing so that a mandolin can be heard. Doesn't always happen, and that's frustrating. Greg Boardman tells stories of playing dances in Maine without PAs in the 60s before anybody owned them and says they had the dancers trained to dance quietly and the musicians all learned to kinda balance each other out. We've gotten to experience some of that feeling, and all I'm saying is, it's really nice.
And I would be lying if I said I didn't appreciate the PA when the room is loud with talkers or had a lousy architect. Especially since I play a guitar that is not so loud.", "timestamp": "1465871855"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=793005273952", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_793005273952", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Any Percussion would destroy most acoustics / there is a difference in choosing entertainment and being a traditional purist .......going all acoustic is the purist route", "timestamp": "1465880781"}, {"author": "Bob", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=793061411452", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_793061411452", "service": "fb", "text": "→ in addition to instrumentation, it's a function of size of event. when dances were kitchen junkets or Slightly larger community events, acoustic was practical, even ideal. when you get to a certain number of bodies & size of room, it just doesn't work. one caller i will not name but \"grew up with\" in a dance sense 40 years ago in an entirely-acoustic dance scene still insists on calling without a mic; it was never pleasant -- hoarse bellowing, although her natural voice was very pleasant -- and now she has obvious vocal damage but remains adamant that it's the right way, when many people, myself included, can't bear to be in the room with it. ideals are great; being an idealist sometimes isn't.", "timestamp": "1465915477"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=793062139992", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_793062139992", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I used to really enjoy playing acoustically at the Swarthmore Community Center ECD and SCD dances in college: small room with good acoustics, ~16 dancers, quiet crowd. You got a good connection between the dancers and the band, and between the band members. And you didn't have to deal with the hassle of a PA. But I've almost never played a contra in an environment where that would work out.
One exception would be playing for outdoor dances in a public square, where it doesn't exactly \"work out\", but has some interesting tradeoffs: https://www.jefftk.com/p/contra-dance-unplugged", "timestamp": "1465915739"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=793062209852", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_793062209852", "service": "fb", "text": "→ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JO2k-FJho8", "timestamp": "1465915790"}, {"author": "Bennett", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=793064585092", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_793064585092", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yup, size of room, instruments in band, skills of caller, I totally agree. They are also, interestingly, all things that are factors whether or not there are electronics in the room.
I'm not calling for purity or insisting we ban electronics from dances. I'm simply putting it out there that I have heard all-acoustic dances work and I've enjoyed it to the point of preferring it. I think people forget that dances were played and called acoustically for hundreds of years and that it's even possible and kinda nice when done well.
Sure it takes careful listening, the right space and the right caller, but maybe the nuance that brings is what I'm feeling, that thing that I enjoy about it.
The thing I know I struggle with is rooms that are too loud, dynamic range that is flattened out in the transfer from acousic to digital and back to acoustic, tone that is harshened, etc etc. And of course, solving those problems is all about \"the right room, the right people, the right equipment\" so perhaps it is all academic.", "timestamp": "1465916973"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=793068572102", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_793068572102", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman
The flash contra we played at LEAF (acoustically ) was pretty sweet. About 4 hands 4 too many. We had two callers on board to at least supplement that volume difference", "timestamp": "1465918964"}, {"author": "Joey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792949166392&reply_comment_id=793069200842", "anchor": "fb-792949166392_793069200842", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Bennett
So if the room is too loud (honestly at some level this is the only option for the sound man, given they can't put a speaker every 5 feet) .....go to cvs and buy the swimming earplugs. They cut the overall noise but mostly the damaging mids. I use these when seeing any loud concert. Save your ears and get better sound
Or you can do what tom Wildman has done and get a wireless \"in ear\" system that hooks up to our (band) headphone mix! I think this is great", "timestamp": "1465919257"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332", "anchor": "fb-792952689332", "service": "fb", "text": "Given that you aren't opposed to electric stuff (just want it not to interfere with live dynamic) and already have lots of electric stuff on stage, is it surprising how many of the instruments are acoustic?", "timestamp": "1465859991"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792954535632", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792954535632", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Most instruments out there are acoustic, or (like keyboard and drums) are electronic versions of originally acoustic instruments, so it doesn't seem that surprising to me? What instruments would you see us add?", "timestamp": "1465861013"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792955373952", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792955373952", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I don't know instruments very well. Just seems like a lot of effort goes into producing sound with acoustic instruments, recording it with a mic, and re-emitting it as sound. I just think it's interesting that cutting out two of those steps seems pretty possible.", "timestamp": "1465861338"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792955413872", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792955413872", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I guess maybe it's that we're relying on physical properties of acoustic instruments to do a lot of the computation about what stuff should sound like, and doing that computation ourselves if we cut them out would be hard.", "timestamp": "1465861392"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792957554582", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792957554582", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Even electric instruments typically generate some sound and then record it with a mic: electric guitars with strings, wurlitzers with little bars, hammonds with tone wheels, etc. There are fully electronic instruments, but in general they don't give you the same level of control over timbre.", "timestamp": "1465862693"}, {"author": "Julia", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792969430782", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792969430782", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I don't know that we actually want Jeff to get a theremin.", "timestamp": "1465867549"}, {"author": "Allison", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792980673252", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792980673252", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I'm not opposed to a theremin, specifically. But I definitely do not want to encourage whatever he and David have used to make their phones generate high pitched noises.", "timestamp": "1465871788"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792981556482", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792981556482", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Theremin theremin theremin! Audrey Knuth Amy Englesberg", "timestamp": "1465872275"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792983288012", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792983288012", "service": "fb", "text": "→ uh oh", "timestamp": "1465873365"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=792985658262", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_792985658262", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I could play it with my feet while I play mandolin!", "timestamp": "1465874686"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/792884945092?comment_id=792952689332&reply_comment_id=793007409672", "anchor": "fb-792952689332_793007409672", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The mind boggles.", "timestamp": "1465881434"}]}