When a contra dance organizer faced a last-minute crisis—no sound person for their event—they considered recorded music instead. But according to a recent post on LessWrong, musician jefftk advocates against it, even under time pressure. He offers three alternatives: acoustic live music, the historical default; learning basic sound running, which he says is simpler than many assume; or rescheduling. His core argument: live music is culturally essential to contra dancing. He does offer one practical caveat for anyone tempted by recordings: verify that tracks are properly edited for dancing, as some albums have unsuitable sections.

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