Laptop

Laptop

A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...

 battles are a competitive event for an Electronic musician

Electronic musician

An electronic musician is a musician who composes or plays music from synthetic sounds generated with synthesizers, samplers, drum machines or music sequencers....

 to match their skills against others. Competition rules limit equipment to a laptop computer and an external pointing device

Pointing device

A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...

 (mouse). Some competitions will allow external hardware, usually a single MIDI controller

MIDI controller

MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....

 (this set up is very similar those used for Live PA). There are typically three or four rounds, following a single elimination bracket or similar structure. Each round consists of a number of head-to-head matches between two randomly selected participants. Rules vary, but typically the competitors are allowed two to three minutes on stage to play their individual compositions and/or sounds. Stage presence is often a key element for judging, in addition to technical finesse and ability to engage the audience.

A panel of judges decide which contestant advances to the next round, single elimination style. Usually, there are no restrictions on the type of material performed other than it must be the competitor's original creation. This aids to provide distinction from DJ battles, wherein competitors play music created by others. Musical genres vary widely, with obvious tendencies towards Intelligent Dance Music

Intelligent dance music

Intelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...

, Glitch

Glitch (music)

Glitch is a term used to describe a genre of electronic music that emerged in the mid to late 1990s. The glitch aesthetic is characterized by a deliberate use of glitch based sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted disturbances reducing the overall sound quality and are thus...

, Experimental Electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

, Mashups

Mashup (music)

A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...

, House, and Technoid.

Various local and national laptop battles have garnered the attention of electronic music and/or sound design production sponsors, such as Ableton

Ableton

Ableton AG is a Berlin-based music software company that produces and distributes the production and performance suite Ableton Live and a collection of related instruments and sample libraries.- History :...

, Mackie

Mackie

Mackie is a brand of the United States-based company LOUD Technologies. The Mackie brand is used on professional music and recording equipment, such as mixing consoles, loudspeakers, and DAW control surfaces....

, and Native Instruments

Native Instruments

Native Instruments is a technology company that develops software and hardware for music production and DJing. The company has originally been identified mostly with software instruments, but has also expanded to various other music equipment segments in recent years.Current products of Native...

. Sponsor products are often included in competition prizes. Laptop battles are becoming a worldwide phenomenon with battles organized in Germany, UK, Japan, New Zealand, and Italy.

The Laptop Battle concept originated in Seattle several years ago (from Fourthcity Records), and has since been held in cities all over the world. https://www.facebook.com/fourthcity

Formats

All formats can vary in length of rounds (usually 2-3 minutes) and competition bracket style (single or double elimination). Some battles also include alternating sets by each performer, such as two 2-minute sets each. Mouse and keyboard rules may vary as well, and sometimes will allow for a USB version of the peripheral if the on-board peripheral is disabled or unused on the laptop.

Laptop Only

This format was used in the 2006 Atlanta Laptop Battle I, II, and III http://www.zeroplate.com/laptop/2005/09/battle-one.html.

This format only allows the following equipment:

• One laptop
• One external sound card

Single MIDI Controller

This format was used for the 2006 US National Finals http://www.laptopbattle.org/index.php?x=RULES, the 2006 Atlanta Laptop Battle Finals, and the Laptop Battle UK competitions.

This format has the following restrictions:

• One laptop computer
• One external sound card
• One MIDI controller
  MIDI controller
  MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....
  
  
• All equipment must fit in a 2' x 2' square

Exhibition Matches

This format will be featured in the 2007 Atlanta Preliminaries I Laptop Battle https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3739648805299846529&postID=7069418744439527380. It involves two competitors not included in the single- or double-elimination tournament structure, and may include more experienced performers and/or the judges from the ongoing laptop battle. This format is unique in that the actual sonic material utilized in the battle is limited, and performers have a limited amount of time to create their pieces.

This format has the following restrictions:

• One laptop computer
• One external sound card
• One MIDI controller
  MIDI controller
  MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....
  
  
• All equipment must fit in a 2' x 2' square
• Preparation is limited to a specific window of time before the match
• Source material is limited to supplied samples, which are not available to the performers until the preparation window

External links

• http://www.laptopbattle.org/ - #1 (since 2003)
• http://www.laptopbattle.com/ - #2 (since 2007)
• http://www.fourthcity.net/ - Seattle-based artist collective that created the Laptop Battle
• http://www.nophi.net/laptopbattle/ - Atlanta Laptop Battle Series (since 2006)
• http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A142317 - Write-up of the Atlanta Laptop Battle Finals
• http://www.laptopbattlenyc.com - NYC Laptop Battle
• http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/10/02/computer-nerds-find-their-niche-sort-of/ - Rolling Stone Rock and Roll Daily article about the first-ever NYC laptop battle
• http://www.laptopbattle.org/videos.php - Laptop Battle Video Archive
• http://www.laptopbattle.de/ - Munich/Germany (since 2005)
• http://www.laptopbattle-mannheim.de/ - Mannheim/Germany (since 2006)
• http://www.laptopbattle-stuttgart.de/ - Stuttgart/Germany (since 2007)
• http://www.laptopbattle-dresden.de/ - Dresden/Germany (since 2009)
• http://www.laptopbattle.jp/ - Tokyo (since 2007)
• http://www.laptopbattleuk.com/ - Bristol/UK (since 2006)
• http://www.myspace.com/laptopbattleuk/ - UK (since 2006)