this thread only for passionate live electronic performers.

[tian_]

MAIN PROBLEM:
i'm in a party electro hip hop group and we've produced all these simple (minimally layered) tracks in logic. PROBLEM: i have no idea how to perform these live. i will have a partner to control gear on stage and we got 2 rappers that may have their hands free every now and then.

i do not want to jus DJ, play backing tracks or simply trigger audio samples and would love to avoid the laptop option. i would LOVE to play hardware live with midi. i'm not great at keys so when i say play i mainly mean trigger/mix. (we can all DJ well, tho we're all predominantly from a rock band background.)
we have a blofeld and an access snow.

not only would i like to know what products to get to solve this (mpc1000/rs7000/electribes?) but how they are routed and used. i know i'd use the mpc to trigger the drum loops but how do i control (LIVE!) the midi patterns for the synths?

i basically jus want to be able to fully control the arrangement (and possibly mangle sounds) of the songs so i can control the crowd. i want to have the essential parts of the song in control and have the synths auto-play them.

in the world of sequencers and samplers and live midi (clocks/routing) my mind is fairly novice in practice. however, please presume i'm smart so please get into detail. assume my budget is unlimited but not on the level of established artists (like daft punk or chem bros).

also if there's a better forum for this. please let me know.

**IF YOU CAN ANSWER NOW. YOU NEED NOT READ ON.**


POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN BUGGING ME:

i would like to trigger midi patterns for multiple synths instead of audio samples of the synths. so would i need a hardware midi sequencer for each synth/layer and then jus use a mixer to fade in and out the different layers? how do i beat sync each hardware device? i'm happy with this conclusion if you can direct me on the best gear combo and how to use in my situation.

but im also tempted to ask....

is there one piece of hardware that can control multiple pieces of midi-controlled hardware and can control each individually (i.e. fades/midi patterns/fx automation)??? (if your only answer is laptop ... how can it do this? ensemble + ableton?)


>>>>THE KIND OF PERFORMANCE I'D DREAM OF EMULATING:
i loved watching simian mobile disco at big day out.
how they had a lot of their hardware gear (synths/samplers/sequencers) out and they were tweaking their sounds live with what looked like moog controllers and live cable patching. my main praise has to go to these guys because it seemed that because their setup allowed improv arrangement, they had great control of the crowd. it was like watching an electronic act with the thrill you get when watching a rock band knowing they're playing EVERYTHING LIVE.

i also love DAFT PUNK's method.

anyone know what these artists use live and how?

OPTIONAL QUESTION FOR INTEREST: (your a champ if you answer)
what do you use for your live performances, how and why?
what artists do you love watching, why and how do they setup/use their gear?

[Simon The Gooch]

Ableton Live is probably just what you're looking for. You can trigger audio tracks and midi sequences via a midi controller in Ableton and they will sync right up to tempo. Set up your knobs/sliders to control FX and you're good to go.

[Lectra]

Originally Posted by tian_

i also love DAFT PUNK's method.
anyone know what these artists use live and how?

Minimoog Voyagers, Lemur & Behringer controllers, Ableton live.....

Daft Punk's use of ableton and synths

[nofi]

almost any hardware sequencer is multitimbral, so will run multiple synths at once. but I only really know the mpc - the mpc works in Sequences, which you can set to different lengths and to loop or not. then you can jump between sequences on the fly, and mute/unmute tracks in a sequence. one fun thing go play with is have multiple tracks set to a single midi channel, that make up a single synth line, and then you can mute/unmute parts of that synth line to pull it down and bring it up.


fwiw, when we play live now, we have a core setup (909, 808 2x303, 101 - we've gone a bit acid in our live setup lately) that runs all the time, and provides most of the sound you hear. then we sync a laptop running ableton live to that, with various clips and samples from our tracks that the live gear can't do, and it can play those parts in sync with whatever tempo the rest of the gear happens to be running at.




simian mobile disco sounds like it was a fun gig. would have liked to see that.



as for daft punk - well last time I saw them, they looked to me like they pretty much press play and then peer around while the music and synchronised lightshow do their thing. maybe tweak a filter or 2 and do some breakdowns/buildups... but thats cool - it's a good show. sometimes especially with the big polished acts the audience's perception of it being totally live is more important than it actually being live, you know?

[crufty]

funny thing about daft punk and the appearance of improv.

I think it was chris rock who said that when people pay $75 a ticket they expect a show, not $10 improv and a few beers.

[alexp]

Originally Posted by crufty

funny thing about daft punk and the appearance of improv.

I think it was chris rock who said that when people pay $75 a ticket they expect a show, not $10 improv and a few beers.

Isnt that the truth.... Justice is more like 10 cents.


alexP

[Konketsu]

Ableton Live is pretty hard to beat for the level of control that you are looking for, but if you absolutely must use hardware you could do a lot worse than an MPC1000 with the JJ OS installed on it.

Also, try livepa.org/board.

[tian_]

thanks so much guys!

this has helped soooo much...

we probly will do what one of the guys said and use a laptop for things that hardware cannot do at all... it looks like i've decided to do a bit of both (hard and software)...

one more thing... with ableton... what controllers seem to 'feel' better for live performance?

also i've decided to get an mpc1000 and an rs7000 combined with a mixer and the snow and blofelds. which one should i use as the master? how would you route these pieces ? lets forget about the laptop just for now and keep in mind our tracks are quite simple and we have rappers to get away with this.

[FeatheredSerpent]

I hate to piss on your chips but you said you didn't want to just trigger sounds and play samples, but that's stil what you're doing, using fancy tools to do it rather than a laptop doesn't mnake what your doing different.

When you can play the riffs live then you're playing live, otherwise, youøre just a human trigger.

[tian_]

i find that if i trigger midi patterns rather than audio samples i have more control over the parts. and from there i can convert to audio samples anyways which is more control. if i just have audio samples loaded on stage then all i can do really is effect them and not change the notes of the parts themselves.

does this make sense?

[FeatheredSerpent]

Yes it does, I'm sorry for the post, in my defense I haven't slept yet and it's 3pm here so I'm getting tetchy, just ignore me

You should look into the arpeggio transpose functions for your synths too, you should be able to have an arpeggiator running which sends out the arp data over its own midi channel, which you can then assign to parts and transpose in real time, cool effect that Orbital used a lot live.

[crufty]

I will say this

the mc 808 is a great sequencer if you have only 16 tracks.

that is something worth looking into.


however it is not the most stable piece of hw in the world. so I hesitate in recommending it.

The rs7k might be good i have never used it. stay away from the tribes. they have good arps but they are only mono so...