Nothing replaces a great drummer after a couple beers with the band...
Nothing replaces IRevolution Ouverture electronic drums either...
It depends on how mechanical the theme is, the space there's in the mix for percussive sounds (may have to be redone) and the room for error in timing (smart dedicated sequencing programming for live use).
Live drums sound very good BEFORE getting through amp's, afterwards, it either makes smart use of compression (ala Chemical Brothers) or you'll get a much duller sound in drums to keep dinamics confortable for the public - unless using percussion pads to trigger pre-selected electronic sounds that fit the mix.
Chemical Brother's mixes are also very "percussion" oriented (big beat), the "filling" sounds are rather "permissive" to let drums rule and make them even more atractive by giving the beat a melody - their act is diferent from Jarre's, both "fly" but Jarre flies at 10 km height whereas CBrothers do it near to land - much more adrenalin and speed whereas Jarre is more panoramic and wide - and less "drum" demanding.
Magnetic Fields 2 original automatic percussion (with the original MF2) still is a delight to me and never was surpassed in live versions, the groove the delay add's is more amazing than imitating it with snare hits of lower volume.
Still, I love a drummer that add's groove... perhaps one of these days I'll play drums "over" a Jarre theme, filming it... so you can catch my groove.
Kind Regards,
AMR
http://www.alvaromrocha.com
