Ableton Live P.A.
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CullenMono
- mnml newbie
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:36 pm
Ableton Live P.A.
I am using ableton for live pa and am curious to know the various approaches to that you take for live performance. How is your set structured/layed out? What does "live" mean to you and what extent of "liveness" is actually possible(for one person)? How much of your set is a complete surprise when you perform?
http://www.dailymotion.com/cosm/video/x ... onic-music
This shoud give you an idea or 2
This shoud give you an idea or 2
"only so many songs can be sung with two lips two lungs and one tongue" NOMEANSNO
http://soundcloud.com/wyrl
http://soundcloud.com/wyrl
Those are helpful links. For what it's worth I had two days to organise a live set, and I'd never even used the software before. What I did was take tunes I know really well (my own in this case) and then chop up important parts and song sections (intro, breakdown, main part, outro) and load them into ableton so I could move through them.
I also made sure I had some pads and textures just incase I screwed up, along with some fun sounds to just place in there (percussion, cymbals, vocal snippets, synth sounds). I then basically treated it like a dj set - start off mellow and deep and then build it up along with the bpms, according to how the crowd responded.
I was more worried about my cuputer or midi controller screwing up, so I spent a bit of time making sure my controller was set up properly. I kept fx pretty simple 'cos I didn't have much time to do it, with just some delays and filters mapped to the master channel.
After really enjoying my first ever gig in front of real dancing people I can say that it's a good idea to not over complicate things too much. Enjoy yourself, have a dance, play with your controller. Don't stress too much about not recreating entire tunes live - people are more interesting in good music than all your tricks.
Good luck with it!
I also made sure I had some pads and textures just incase I screwed up, along with some fun sounds to just place in there (percussion, cymbals, vocal snippets, synth sounds). I then basically treated it like a dj set - start off mellow and deep and then build it up along with the bpms, according to how the crowd responded.
I was more worried about my cuputer or midi controller screwing up, so I spent a bit of time making sure my controller was set up properly. I kept fx pretty simple 'cos I didn't have much time to do it, with just some delays and filters mapped to the master channel.
After really enjoying my first ever gig in front of real dancing people I can say that it's a good idea to not over complicate things too much. Enjoy yourself, have a dance, play with your controller. Don't stress too much about not recreating entire tunes live - people are more interesting in good music than all your tricks.
Good luck with it!
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livecollective
- mnml maxi
- Posts: 1150
- Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:23 pm
I don't think the OP was looking for tips on how to DJ on ableton, or how to be calm before a show, or what people at shows are looking for...
glad you had fun at your first gig, with "real dancing people", but when the OP plays people know they are going to see HIM and do care about HIS tricks...
I think this is an interesting question, so far most of the live pa sets I have seen, participated in and heard about either go one of two ways in ableton...
a whole collection of kicks, snares, pads, etc etc. or a bunch of scene's layed out...
I am thinking the collection of kicks and snares is the best for me, the response I get is the best in that style, also seems to have the most room for freedom...
glad you had fun at your first gig, with "real dancing people", but when the OP plays people know they are going to see HIM and do care about HIS tricks...
I think this is an interesting question, so far most of the live pa sets I have seen, participated in and heard about either go one of two ways in ableton...
a whole collection of kicks, snares, pads, etc etc. or a bunch of scene's layed out...
I am thinking the collection of kicks and snares is the best for me, the response I get is the best in that style, also seems to have the most room for freedom...
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CullenMono
- mnml newbie
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:36 pm
yeah. thanks for the links. i am actually more curious as to the layout approach that people are taking. what are the advantages and reasons that people choose to layout a set in a completely structured scene by scene way vs. a divided approach where one would take a column assigned to kicks/snares/hats/percussion/stabs/bass/etc... or are you using the arrangement view for a more linear approach? why do YOU chose to structure your sets in the manner you do as opposed to the other? also, what kinds of effects chains are you creating for your bus channels? i understand that every magician has their secrets, but if you could divulge a few i think it could help live artists from painting themselves into a corner. thanks.
Cheers for this!eryx666 wrote:http://www.livepa.org/
Drop the idea of becoming someone else, because you are already a masterpiece.
Ugh... This is got to be some of the worst advice is the problems with most live pas... they just aren't live. Instead they are dj tracks mixed in together with a couple of knob twiddles. I laugh at live artists that pull their hands away from the controllers during breakdowns.kwality wrote:Don't stress too much about not recreating entire tunes live - people are more interesting in good music than all your tricks.
Good luck with it!
Honestly if your going to do this leave your live set at home and start djing.
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http://soundcloud.com/kirkwoodwest
http://soundcloud.com/kirkwoodwest