The threshold of recognition
I play in a cover band. We play live less than 6 times a year. That makes for a lot of fun at gigs because they occur so far apart. For us, one of the pinnacles in performing is that exquisite moment when someone in the audience recognizes what you are playing. Usually this moment is punctuated by a "yeah!" or on occasion "dude! That's [______] (insert artist/song name)." Whenever it happens we all get a little jolt of pride in our playing and a little bit of confirmation that we are playing to "our crowd."
I call that moment the threshold of recognition.
I also listen to a lot of music - sometimes live music. On quality live recordings I often enjoy hearing that moment on a macro level: the crowdsourcing version. One in particular that I like is from Underworld's Everything, Everything Live album. Underworld is a group that has been around since the 1980s and for the past 16 or 17 has been making excellent music that sits somewhere between indie rock and electronica. They play live as a duo these days - one singer who plays guitar and sings and one mixer/producer who controls the loops and effects and beats. Doesn't sound like much does it?
They combine the music with nothing less than spectacular graphic support that is as interesting as the music: still photos, video, film loops, lasers. A little bit of everything (everything). Nearly all of it is synchronized to the music which makes for a sensory smorgasbord. Hearing the recordings on Everything Everything Live makes me remember the 4-5 times I was lucky to see Underworld live. The best part of that record is when they play Rez - a relatively unknown song that was the B-side to Cowgirl - arguably their biggest hit of the early 1990s. On the live record they play Rez (which is really just another instrumental version of Cowgirl) and after 3 minutes or so transition into Cowgirl. The moment when the crowd recognizes the intro to Rez is great but falls short of the delerium that takes over when they recognize Cowgirl.
That's the Threshold of Recognition. Dude.
I call that moment the threshold of recognition.
I also listen to a lot of music - sometimes live music. On quality live recordings I often enjoy hearing that moment on a macro level: the crowdsourcing version. One in particular that I like is from Underworld's Everything, Everything Live album. Underworld is a group that has been around since the 1980s and for the past 16 or 17 has been making excellent music that sits somewhere between indie rock and electronica. They play live as a duo these days - one singer who plays guitar and sings and one mixer/producer who controls the loops and effects and beats. Doesn't sound like much does it?
They combine the music with nothing less than spectacular graphic support that is as interesting as the music: still photos, video, film loops, lasers. A little bit of everything (everything). Nearly all of it is synchronized to the music which makes for a sensory smorgasbord. Hearing the recordings on Everything Everything Live makes me remember the 4-5 times I was lucky to see Underworld live. The best part of that record is when they play Rez - a relatively unknown song that was the B-side to Cowgirl - arguably their biggest hit of the early 1990s. On the live record they play Rez (which is really just another instrumental version of Cowgirl) and after 3 minutes or so transition into Cowgirl. The moment when the crowd recognizes the intro to Rez is great but falls short of the delerium that takes over when they recognize Cowgirl.
That's the Threshold of Recognition. Dude.
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