LivePA

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Live PA (Performance Artist or Personal Appearance) is a term used to describe the act of performing music (mostly electronic) live. This differs from what a DJ might do as the music is created by the person performing it, with an element of improvisation and live composition or arrangement.

Many popular acts in electronic music worldwide can be categorized as Live PA artists, like Kraftwerk, Underworld, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, Daft Punk, and others.

While the term "Live PA" literally means "Live Performance Artist", it generally refers to live performance of electronic music, via synthesizers, samplers, and sequencers. The term "Live PA" can be used as a noun or adjective.

There is some dispute over the exact meaning of "PA". Other interpretations are that "PA" stands for a "Personal Appearance" by the performer, and a very small minority holds the opinion that it stands for "Public Address", a reference to the PA system on which the music is played to the crowd.

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[edit] Performance

Performing Live PA is a quite varied process, and it can range from pushing play on an Audio CD and pretending that instruments are being played (generally frowned upon by musicians and public alike) to live keyboard players playing with a live drummer, and anything in between.

Generally Live PA artists have a center sequencer controlling MIDI or audio loops (examples are Ableton Live, the Akai MPC series, or other MIDI and audio playback devices). The sequenced audio (routed from the synthesizers playing MIDI and samplers playing audio loops) is then routed to a mixer, which can be used as another layer of control over sound with the use of effects, volume, panning, and EQ. Synthesizers, audio samples, vocals, and live instruments can be added to the ongoing performance as well.

By utilizing stored music data (notes, loops, and sequences), the Live PA artist has the freedom to single-handedly significantly alter and improvise a song's progression, and to add in whatever he or she pleases in real-time. Live PA artists regard this as a defining nature of Live PA, whereas other forms of performance are not given this ability. Bands cannot easily communicate to spontaneously change the nature of a song in mid-note, and DJ's are limited to pre-recorded songs.

Many Live PA artists try to combine the qualities of both bands and DJ's, taking the live music element from bands, and the buildup and progression from song to song of DJ's, as well as the sheer volume of music controlled by a single person (of a DJ as opposed to a band). By allowing the sequencer to handle routine elements of a song, such as theme progression and drumming, the Live PA artist can focus on producing what is most important to the listener: the actual sound waves emanating from the speakers.

Technological progress has kept Live PA evolving to this day. Drum machines and synthesizers allowed the electronic Live PA artist to orchestrate a single-person concert. Nowadays, with advances in laptop processing power and in software effects and instruments, the Live PA artist can pack a single laptop and sound card into a bag and perform.