Laptop Music Power!: The Comprehensive Guide

With the ever-increasing number of musicians using computers in live performance, there is a need for a resource on how to deal with the unique difficulties involved. This book is here to fill that need. Providing an in-depth look at live music performance with laptop computers, readers will gain a solid understanding of this relatively new and growing area of music creation. While the book explains laptop music from a big-picture perspective, it also covers some of the technical specifics such as how to choose equipment (both hardware and software) and get it working properly, as well as the musical possibilities that can be gained from a particular hardware and software setup. Additionally, readers explore some of the most effective ways of using computers in a live performance situation. A number of interviews with well-known performers who use computers live are interspersed throughout the book, as well as detailed descriptions of the actual hardware and software setups being used by various contemporary performers. Musicians in the realm of music will truly benefit in this guide's unique, extremely informative, and diverse approach.

Are you one of the many musicians using a computer in live performance? If you're looking for one source on how to deal with the unique difficulties involved, this book is for you. Providing an in-depth look at live music performance with laptop computers, you'll gain a solid understanding of this relatively new and growing area of music creation. While the book explains laptop music from a big-picture perspective, it also covers some of the technical specifics such as how to choose equipment (both hardware and software) and get it working properly, as well as the musical possibilities that can be gained from a particular hardware and software setup. Additionally, you'll explore some of the most effective ways of using computers in a live performance situation. A number of interviews with well-known performers who use computers live are interspersed throughout the book, as well as detailed descriptions of the actual hardware and software setups being used by various contemporary performers. If you're in this realm of music or considering entering into it, you will truly benefit from this guide's unique, extremely informative, and diverse approach.

John von Seggern has been a professional musician and producer since 1991, moving between Tokyo, Hong Kong, and California. He is currently working as a digital DJ and producer in Los Angeles in addition to working for M-Audio, the leading company in computer audio. John began his musical career as a session bassist in Asia, and he has played with many of the top artists in the Asian music industry, including recorded appearances on numerous CDs and movie soundtracks in Tokyo and Hong Kong as well as participating in five world concert tours.

Having made a successful career as a studio musician, John became interested in electronic music through his involvement in Hong Kong's growing club culture in the mid-1990s and began his own group with partner Stephen Ives in Hong Kong in 1999, the Digital Cutup Lounge. DCL have gone on to record two CDs of groundbreaking music together (the first DCL CD,Cutup Mixdown, was named Album of the Year in Hong Kong in 2001 by HK Magazine, who called it ''the most exciting thing to hit the Asian music industry in years'') and have remixed a string of top international artists including Nelly Furtado, Enrique Iglesias, Lee Ann Womack, Barry White, Astrud Gilberto, Trilok Gurtu, Asha Bhonsle (India), Alsou (Russia), the Safri Duo (Denmark), and Sam Hui (Hong Kong). Their music has been released in North America, Japan, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.