Live-performances!

[Alojzy Kowalczyk]

I'm curious! How do you guys perfom when you're out pleasing the crowd (or making them hate you)?
I'm pretty new to the whole 'live-act' thing, so I just mix some tracks together in Live 8 and press play (and twist some knobs that do absolutely nothing, but don't tell anyone ).

tl;dr: HOW U GUYZ PLAY LIEV?

[Orca]

I'm curious! How do you guys perfom when you're out pleasing the crowd (or making them hate you)?
I'm pretty new to the whole 'live-act' thing, so I just mix some tracks together in Live 8 and press play (and twist some knobs that do absolutely nothing, but don't tell anyone ).

tl;dr: HOW U GUYZ PLAY LIEV?

I've heard of at least a couple big names that do that and call it "Live PA", and I've been forced to do a show with out my trigger finger that way before. I just threw together a playlist that I was confident in, mashed up the tracks in live's arrangement view, and used the mouse and keyboard to mix/cut between tracks and trigger effects.

The way I'm doing things now is similar to Bassnectar or ill.gate's.



I don't have the cash to shell out the for the mixer, so I just use a trigger finger to punch in all of my effects and mix. I also swear at the crowd and head bang profusely.

[Cheomap]

my last live set was like this:

in ableton, i break down the songs i wanna play in a set into tiny clips, short loops-long loops.. and have it all separate so i could rebuild the song, but play it different or certain parts longer.. or just mesh shit up.. it's not arranged exactly as the song goes.. (all separate and cut up like that is just loops really, so you gotta play 'em juuuuuuuust right )
while in the mix of two tracks, i'll throw in a sound from a song that won't be played until another two tracks later.. to plant the seed of that familiar sound that will eventually build up to song version. i use a midi controller that has volume sliders for 8 tracks.. and i set the individual buttons on each track as triggers.. i'll usually be lazy and assign the 3 far right keys on the keyboard to act as my mouse and additional over-all trigger for clips. Assigning the rest for loop triggers and pads.. then set up some over all effects i'm gonna wanna use on the other free knobs..
i'm a little weird when it comes to the clip colors... i'll color code the samples in such a way, for an easy visual.
i'll set a clip that i don't want to come in loud, white. then i know when i get to it, i'm gonna want to fade it in..
or if it's set to black, i'll know that is the clip that i'm gonna do like a straight-cut out of..
breaks one color.... kicks another. stuff like that. i'll sometimes reserve the black keys on the keyboard for straight sample hits.. (visually easy to remember where all this stuff is)

i'm just kinda all over the place.. but i'm sure the next live set i do will be all different too

[Orca]

while in the mix of two tracks, i'll throw in a sound from a song that won't be played until another two tracks later

I hate when DJs do this, especially if they never play the fucking track!

[Kyesos]

Lives... aaaah ^^.

2 versions :

- Live planned performance :
It's really cool as it sounds near perfection, but since everything is planned as a cooking receipe, sometimes you dream of having a robot taking your place and go dance with the crowd. This doesn't mean there's no place for improvising, but if well done, planned playlist should do the work with very little intereference. I like it, it makes you pro, and can also involve other media creators (video, dance, etc.), but this is a show as state of the art define it only.

- Plug hardware & play moth*rfuck*r :
My preference goes there ^^. I plug the NS7, start the laptop, and have a fast visual scan of the audience. Then, it starts... no defined playlist, just directories sorted by styles and a huge memory game to spontaneously create the ambiance that could reach people. That's how my "Razor Blade Audio Soup" sets are made and I love playing this way. Well, some parts may not achieve as planned, but the audience gives tolerance just because they lead the mix finally ^^.

In conclusion, I think the ideal way to mix live is to give a serious planned mix session some breaks to allow some improvisation, even if this way of mixing can lead you to total impro' 'till the end of the set ! ^^


PS: technically, I'm convinced that sorting track by "directory style" is a smart way to allow full improvisation. Personal trick : there's an "instrumental only" directory I use that may spice any mix session ;).


A live mix session (in "planned mode") can be watched here (sorry for poor quality) : http://youtu.be/U9gZlw7Gizs

[Cheomap]

while in the mix of two tracks, i'll throw in a sound from a song that won't be played until another two tracks later

I hate when DJs do this, especially if they never play the fucking track!

ahhhh.. but i play 'em... and in rebuilding the song... don't really matter anywho's

[Orca]

ahhhh.. but i play 'em... and in rebuilding the song... don't really matter anywho's

Then you are a good man in my book! :)

[Cheomap]

you know what tho? people wouldn't know the difference when i play anyway.... cause i'm not a rockstar & people don't know my tracks anyway.... hahaha i suck..