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Post by jollyness on Oct 23, 2007 6:25:44 GMT -5
As great as the shows are does anyone else wish the show was stripped back to just the violin? No Drums, no OHP, no piano?
I saw someone mention it in the request thread and I was pondering it the other morning too.
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Post by jollyness on Oct 23, 2007 6:36:28 GMT -5
Actually, no offense either but the OHP show is not for me. I find it distracting. Part of what makes the songs so great are the enjoyment and wonder of hearing and seeing them produced live. I think the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. We have a dissenter in the ranks!  |
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Post by victoria on Oct 23, 2007 6:47:26 GMT -5
I've always had the slight feeling that the OHP is there so that people don't look at Owen during the show.
But I don't think it should be taken away even if that isn't the case! The addition of colour and movement makes the shows better, in my opinion. Plus, if you really don't like it (because you are crazy), it's not like it's on for the whole show.
And no piano? Why not?
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Post by jollyness on Oct 23, 2007 6:56:02 GMT -5
I think I just loved the simplicity of the show, with just the violin. Actually simplicity is completely the wrong word. I felt the depth and fullness of the music made just from one instrument was amazing. Anyone* can make a great piece of music from multiple instruments. Only someone special can make it from just one...
*not actually true but you get what I mean I hope.
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Post by jules on Oct 23, 2007 8:06:35 GMT -5
Actually, no offense either but the OHP show is not for me. I find it distracting. Part of what makes the songs so great are the enjoyment and wonder of hearing and seeing them produced live. I think the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. We have a dissenter in the ranks! If he loses the piano he will lose some great tunes.. Paris 1919 for instance is made for the treatment Owen gives it. I personally think he has progress a great deal as a musican since I first saw him supporting Acrade Fire with just the violin and loop effects and to cut him back to where he was back then would be wrong. Yes he would be great without anything else (even without the loop effects from the look of the blogioteque clips) but you have to allow progression and expansion of performance. I want to see him with more instruments not less. What I would give to see him perform live with a full brass section (hmm probably just a bottle of alcohol - don't want to let him blackmail me later ) As for the OHP, I think Steph brings color and life to the music, but you don't have to watch. I didn't get to see any of it at Coventry (so I missed some newer ones) because of the angle I watched the show, so it is possible if your really not interested (heathen though you are  ) The request thing is a real bonus for us and whilst i'm sure he's interested in how people perceive his presentation, I trust Owen to just get on and do his thing. Saying that it's always great to he someting stripped down or played differently. The upright piano at Coventry in the summer was one of those moments you don't want to forget. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2007 11:23:54 GMT -5
You have to think about things from Owen's standpoint, solo violin and looping pedal is constricting and makes for a repetitive style of composition. I was very pleased to see the addition of a keyboard, when i first heard the live version of arctic circle I thought, yes, this is Final Fantasy.
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Post by ender605 on Oct 23, 2007 11:31:51 GMT -5
Yea, when he bought that keyboard in the middle of the tour last year and showed up with it, I was really surprised. But I think it fills some of the songs out a bit more, and like Jules said, gives him the ability to play more songs. I also think it goes with the way his sound has progressed. I'm putting together a looping set right now, and I have a sampling pads on the side so I can loop drums or other sounds I can't make with a guitar. Like mhmm said, doing it all with just one instrument limits your ability. I'm surprised Owen stuck with it as long as he did.
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Post by Owen from Final Fantasy on Oct 23, 2007 14:56:28 GMT -5
Oh, for goodness sake, more than half the songs I play are solo violin anyway.
The piano right now is just replacing the Juno I've been using for the last year. I haven't really written anything that fully takes advantage of it's abilities. Maybe I won't... we'll see. It's a heavy instrument.
Sorry for the weird show last night, Seattle, I didn't get any sleep and I was seeing stars.
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liederling
Pretty Girl
...curiously into people and musics Manitoban...
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Post by liederling on Oct 23, 2007 16:08:36 GMT -5
If he loses the piano he will lose some great tunes.. Exactly. Another example would be Arctic Circle, in which the backdrop of the repeated pipe organ figure fittingly gives the song an epic scope; especially in the chorus, with the melody just soaring over top! Wouldn't be quite the same live song without it. Anyway, sometimes composers/performers need a variety of musical colours & textures to express what they want. Plus, he seems really amped, playing his new Yamaha, which does sound brilliant. Got mad piano skillz, too, though he may deny it. I'd like to throw in a harp & tympany/percussion with Jules' brass section and see what magic that conjures up. One could always request a quieter ballad, like Took You Two Years or Adventure.exe for "pure" violin-y pleasure. Not to fret, though; Owen's been trying out arrangements of He Poos Clouds & Afraid of Japan where he just staight through sings & plays violin or piano (no looping), oldschool s-s style. In Vancouver and Victoria, they were minimalistic bliss. Actually, no offense either but the OHP show is not for me. I find it distracting. IMO, Steph's "live movies" are *amazing* & part of the fun. But I do think that dimming the spotlight for the OH projector sometimes makes it really difficult to see the Performer at work. (allows him, too, to "hide" the cherubic mug when so inclined -naughty thing ) As long as it's not done for the whole set... |
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Post by cheshire on Oct 23, 2007 18:15:09 GMT -5
The only bad thing about the piano is that it is rather large, but there are so many more songs he can play with it. I LOVE Steph's light shows, I neer really thought of them as distracting from the show, since it's pretty easy to just look towards Owen. They don't overpower the stage or anything.
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vito
Pretty Girl
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Post by vito on Oct 23, 2007 21:04:27 GMT -5
you people are crazy, Steph's show is brilliant! together with the music created some of the most magical musical moments i've witnessed (holy alliteration). or something like that. But to me, the two go together perfectly
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Post by jollyness on Oct 24, 2007 3:40:28 GMT -5
yes everybody, but I can still say that I'd prefer the show to be 100% violin and I'm not keen on the light shows right?
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franx
Pretty Girl
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Post by franx on Oct 24, 2007 13:06:12 GMT -5
I love the light show and everything else Owen has brought to the live performance -- gets better and better every time I see him.
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Post by meryl on Oct 24, 2007 18:02:59 GMT -5
I agree. The OHP is a free and dazzling treat. It's so much bang for your buck. Etcetera.
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Post by pearl on Oct 24, 2007 23:29:48 GMT -5
if this thread must continue
please
correct the spelling of "mourning"
not to be a beyotch, but it's driving me mad
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