Prepping for a live set

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Patch77
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Prepping for a live set

Post by Patch77 »

Just wondering on peeps tips, habits, must do’s and donts on playing live..

As in playing their own music to an audience in whatever form that may be.


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nomadjames
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by nomadjames »

Prepare stuff that works together, lol
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by rsntr »

Practice a lot.
Keep it much simpler than you first think it needs to be.
Leave room for improvisation.
Don't overestimate the things you can do at once.
Be aware that playing live in a dark loud environment with a lot of distraction is much harder than practicing at home. You will forget about half of the things you intended to do because of the stress.

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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by P0607r0n »

I think it really depends on your setup.
What I do nowadays is on sampler I'm preparing couple of rhythmic and melodic templates, couple of kick drums which I mix, match and mangle during the show, plus one or two synths and drum machine which I program on stage.

When I started I used to bore people to death with one kick drum (don't)
I would say good balance between prepared and spontaneous is the key.

Don't bring to much, but enough to be flexible to some degree.
Practice

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Lost to the Void
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by Lost to the Void »

Practice practice practice.
Practice more.

The pressure of a club environment will make everything more difficult, so make sure you know everything and are prepared.
Don't try to do too much, been there, and it doesnt make for a fun experience as you lose the ability to read the energy, getting bogged down in the technicalities.
Make sure you have spare everything and everything works, all leads, adaptors, everything necessary for you to just hand the engineer (if there is one) your stereo out..
For the lord did say
"Though ye may a technical rider posses, foolish is the the man who assumes that all will be well. For when thou dost assume, thou maketh an ass out of u and me".

Have a good torch.......... And a small spare.
Don't let anyone have your torch....

Work on your transitions, you want them to be smooth and fast, dont let the energy drop from tune to tune.

Compression.
Your dynamic range needs to be in a similar region to records, otherwise your stuff will sound kinda lame, especially in the inevitable situation when there is no more headroom left on the rig and the DJ before you is already running in to the red.

Turn off the booth monitors if you can. They will inevitably just be loud and shit and won't really represent what is happening on the rig. Mix from the rig if possible.

Practice setting up and packing down.
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by P0607r0n »

Lost to the Void wrote:Practice practice practice.
Practice more.

The pressure of a club environment will make everything more difficult, so make sure you know everything and are prepared.
Don't try to do too much, been there, and it doesnt make for a fun experience as you lose the ability to read the energy, getting bogged down in the technicalities.
Hahaha I remember when I started whole live set journey I was genuinely asking my friends which attended my set "was any one even dancing?" as I literally didn't have a spare second to look at the floor, because of making my setup overcomplicated. My hands (and brains) where in constant action, that's quite exhaustive and I don't recommend that.

@void
could you explain more about compression to use with the live pa?
At the moment I have focusrite compounder chillin in the studio, but that's a bit too much to bring to live gig. I was thinking of something like fmr rnla for the mixbuss during live. Most of my equipment has inbuilt compressors (better or worse) and that's what I am using atm.

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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by Lost to the Void »

P0607r0n wrote: Hahaha I remember when I started whole live set journey I was genuinely asking my friends which attended my set "was any one even dancing?" as I literally didn't have a spare second to look at the floor, because of making my setup overcomplicated. My hands (and brains) where in constant action, that's quite exhaustive and I don't recommend that.
YEah, I been doing this a long time, playing live since early 00`s, so I kinda got a little bored and got to a point where I was making massively complex PA`s.
And I was proper sweating, finishing a set was a total relief, like I needed to go and sit down somewhere quiet to get my head together afterwards.
And people would ask "did you enjoy it?".

"Enjoy it? I don`t have time to enjoy it"

It was silly so I backed off and loosened up my sets, because, well, you have to enjoy it just a little bit.
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by Patch77 »

Thanks for your informed answers Sekt

Yeh compression and getting levels, bottom etc to match the dj’s was one of my head scratches considering the tunes obviously won’t be mastered..

Will software compressors and limiters suffice? Like fab C and fab L etc?

Or should I invest in a hardware compressor to take with me?

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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by nomadjames »

I just put together a portable improvisational setup that will work computerless. I have a MPC 1000, Volca Kick, Korg Monologue, and my OP-1 running through a Roland MX-1. I have a Novation Impulse 49 for a controller. Figure I can make a bunch of patterns and assign them to pads of the MPC and just go from there.
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by P0607r0n »

Lost to the Void wrote:
P0607r0n wrote: Hahaha I remember when I started whole live set journey I was genuinely asking my friends which attended my set "was any one even dancing?" as I literally didn't have a spare second to look at the floor, because of making my setup overcomplicated. My hands (and brains) where in constant action, that's quite exhaustive and I don't recommend that.
And I was proper sweating, finishing a set was a total relief, like I needed to go and sit down somewhere quiet to get my head together afterwards.
Oh yes. After those kind of sets you could find me literally rushing for a beer and fag, and then hiding in dark corner of smoking area, or actually out of the club for 15min. That's for brain to be able to switch to "lower gear".

BTW. Bring your own power extensions, always.

How about that compressor solution

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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by UntzUntz »

I picked up this mastering processor for live use. The can be had for ~$100-150 USD used. EQs, compression, limiter, exciter, etc.. MIDI controllable if you need to change settings throughout your set.

hthttp://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringe ... 96/p/P0146

Another huge benefit is its auto EQ for room balancing. It did wonders for my mixing once I was able to EQ out my room issues.

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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by Lost to the Void »

UntzUntz wrote:.
"Mastering" processor......
Better of running your audio through a shoe..


Ultracurves have never been good.
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by Lost to the Void »

Patch77 wrote:Thanks for your informed answers Sekt

Yeh compression and getting levels, bottom etc to match the dj’s was one of my head scratches considering the tunes obviously won’t be mastered..

Will software compressors and limiters suffice? Like fab C and fab L etc?

Or should I invest in a hardware compressor to take with me?

I ran compression ITB on my ableton PAs. Didn't really use limiters except purely as a peak stop, absolutely no drive, no need to use them for squashing when live, compression is more than enough. Master EQ too so you can tune for the room\rig.
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by Lost to the Void »

P0607r0n wrote:
Lost to the Void wrote: @void
could you explain more about compression to use with the live pa?
At the moment I have focusrite compounder chillin in the studio, but that's a bit too much to bring to live gig. I was thinking of something like fmr rnla for the mixbuss during live. Most of my equipment has inbuilt compressors (better or worse) and that's what I am using atm.
I use RNLA live, it's great, rounds out peaks and transients nicely and gives some movement. I also use saturation in conjunction with it (electro Harmonix) just to push things a little and also shave down the transients a little.
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by UntzUntz »

Lost to the Void wrote:
UntzUntz wrote:.
"Mastering" processor......
Better of running your audio through a shoe..


Ultracurves have never been good.
I see why this place is so active...

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Patch77
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Re: Prepping for a live set

Post by Patch77 »

Void your live PA sounds fantastic. Do you mind letting me know what gear you use live these days?

I’m assuming your the same Void as on elektronauts..

Kudos


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