The Anxious PA - LIVE - Need your input!!!

[Robin H]

I want a show when I see alive pa. I want to see the dj/producer not just the top of there head stuck in there equipment I want to see them feeding of the crowd and using that to fuel and direct the set.
I think that you need a blend of all 3 aspects of the tunes that your playing
1.tunes that every1 loves and knows as if they was playing them at home

2.remixing tunes throw the live pa, effects loops ect ect so that there is still that familiarity but you get that wow factor when you introduce something new that excites the dance floor

3. new unheard tunes/sounds always pushing the boundaries forwards you can ever go wrong with that


(but more of 2 and 3 imo )

[davethedrummer]

well either work it out so you can make it up on the fly
( which is really difficult and requires lot's of prcatise and can result in a shit set if you don't clue into the crowd)
or pre arrange it and leave filter tweaks and effects to be done by hand
plus maybe a few extra angles so you can run some stuff live( e.g. an acapella) but the set will folw a predestined path and the arrangemenst for the songs will all be there.


up to you
those are your options.
i must say , i used to write tracks and play them at the same time live a few years ago , and whilst it is extremely unnerving and requires you to do it fairly often to stay on the ball.
once you get it right it is an exhilarating experience , and you'll play the best gigs of your life.

[Heroes]

people make me laugh how they bleat on, because you dont have 10 looms and endless kilos of hardware its then less of a live because its a laptop, what a load of crap, ive done both and to be honest id take a laptop any day over hardware... ive been turned down by flight companies at the airport because of overweight, ive had to repair stuff before gigs with gaffa tape with minutes to go, ive spent endless amounts of money replacing trashed stuff. I could do easily more with a laptop and some controllers and effects than i could ever do with 200 kilos of hardware. i mean patterns are pre wrote anyway on the drum machines and various hardware sound modules, so whats the difference? you are changing the patterns, building up and down, yea and laptops can do that, lives not just about loops, theres a wicked midi side to it also which most people slatting it forget about. You can play synth stabs live in a hardware set, same in the laptop set up with the support of vsti, i can make a live by not even touching loops in ableton but just using vsti's. endless drum machines and endless 303 vsti's. So now is it a live ?

[dan the acid man]

its classed as live in my books if theres someobody there changing the sound, however they choose to do this is upto the individuals involved

[davethedrummer]

people make me laugh how they bleat on, because you dont have 10 looms and endless kilos of hardware its then less of a live because its a laptop, what a load of crap, ive done both and to be honest id take a laptop any day over hardware... ive been turned down by flight companies at the airport because of overweight, ive had to repair stuff before gigs with gaffa tape with minutes to go, ive spent endless amounts of money replacing trashed stuff. I could do easily more with a laptop and some controllers and effects than i could ever do with 200 kilos of hardware. i mean patterns are pre wrote anyway on the drum machines and various hardware sound modules, so whats the difference? you are changing the patterns, building up and down, yea and laptops can do that, lives not just about loops, theres a wicked midi side to it also which most people slatting it forget about. You can play synth stabs live in a hardware set, same in the laptop set up with the support of vsti, i can make a live by not even touching loops in ableton but just using vsti's. endless drum machines and endless 303 vsti's. So now is it a live ?

:clap:

100%

"live" just means you are doing it "live" as opposed to " prerecorded"
simple really isn't it.

[dirty_bass]

I agree.
Just get on with it, and make it sound good.
As long as your not miming to a DAT then it`s cool beans.

[SlavikSvensk]

i'm gonna give some highly technical advice...

make sure the set kicks maximum watts of @ss...

;)

[MARKEG]

this is brilliant guys, amazing advice. thank you so much :clap:

really, i wanted this post to tell me what ppl expect out of a PA. i would never, ever do that whole DAT thing, it's just not an option. this PA has to be live, but yeah, you can't be expected to make tracks up on the fly cause that's impo0ssible - my god how much of a genius would you have to be to do this?!?!!!

basically i know the effort I put in as a DJ, and as long as the PA matches that effort, I don't think you can go wrong. i think i'm gonna go with a mixture of new and old tracks, bunging loops in and creating riffs on the fly and making sure it's just not a simply 'laptop' show. sure we'll use laptops, but there'll be keyboards, effects, a mixing desk and all that sets a PA apart from the DJ experience.

respect to everyone who replied here, loooking forward to hearing some more!!!

[BloodStar]

when i'm hearing to some live pa, i don't want to hear something too complicated, especially from guys like you, i mean your music is straightgforward, so i expect your live pa will be something similar,. i think it's not too good for crowds when you're too busy with equipment making some riffs, stabs or whatever on the fly. and stick too much to it..
when i'm there for dancing, i want to dance, no matter if it's djset or livepa,. so, i want to hear it simple and effective instead of some pointless complicated structures..
i heard some artist who tend to do things too complicated, which is good in way of experimenting on fly,and so,,but i found it boring, because even the one element was perfectly reworked on fly,,rest was stillthe same and very boring,,hope you got my point...
i also think playing the tracks in the set,,is much much better than play them sepparatelly..
i'd advice your live pa shouldn't be too different than your djset. it has to bring something new,it's without a doubt,,but when we all love Mark EG making some crazy things behind the decks,,, what we'll do when you'll be just covered by some laptop sticked to some brand new perfect onfly riffs??
i think your djing is always gr8 show,,and my opinion is that it has to stay so,,no matter you're playing live or on decks...
i wish u good good luck,,,and looking forward to this new live pa show... cheers

[ReakZ]

heheh,i would expect hard,anxious tehno remix
i think live Pa must include everything but not too much(original tracks,remixes,unreleased ones..well all together)

[Dorian Hunter]

Not sure how this is in UK, here in Austria only guys who are DJs themselves would recognize if you play released tracks or non-released.
95 % of the party-crowd just knows some tunes like for example Hardcore Salsa or Schranz Slippy :lol:
I allways love to hear tracks I allready know when I`m visiting an event just as guest. I played together with Speedy J. 2 weeks ago and he played a track where I thought to myself, man, you got that tune, what`s that, and finally I recognized it and it was somehow really amazing.
Although I`m not such a big fan of Live-PAs, The Anxious LIVE would be something to look for, hope you`ll come to Austria one day ;)

[twieq]

When I go to a live PA, I expect tracks that are released allready so I have a feeling of "hmm, I know this tune, it rocks". But I also expect newt things so that I can think "hmmm, brilliant things to follow in the future" ;)
I also allways expect something "extra", in the means of samples, remixes, whatever, so that the live stays interesting.
I surely don't expect only a collection of self produced tracks nicely fitted together in a one hour set.

I've seen a lot of live PA's that are actually a bit boring after a while. So avoid being boring :lol:

a live PA also should have energy, intensity, imo.

good live PA's I saw are f.e. Patrick DSP's, Speedy J, the Advent, ... .

they all had just that little bit of "extra" I mentioned.

[TechMouse]

but yeah, you can't be expected to make tracks up on the fly cause that's impo0ssible - my god how much of a genius would you have to be to do this?!?!!!

Matthew Herbert?

I dunno - some people get quite close.

[schlongfingers]

Jamie Liddell as well

[schlongfingers]

But yes, they are both in genius territory :D

[TechMouse]

Neil Landstrumm was doing some very cool stuff last time I saw him.

[crime]

In the end though I think you are best just telling everyone else to **** off and doing what you want to. No point really going out of your way to appease someone, if they are coming to you then they are interested in what you are doing

This is the most bang on thing anyone has said in this thread....

[eyes without a face]

i agree... i think when u start asking people what they'd like to hear etc within ur own PA then it all gets a bit "techno jukebox"..... just do your thing, if people dig it sweet, if they dont, their loss!

[Rog]

all depends on the edge you want?

keeping it clean and fresh, or taking it dirty and "illegal style"

for me, the man seb marx has an amazin live pa sound - he made noises i've never heard before.

we like to hear a few tracks we know.. mashed up (for instance opal's live performance of drok is insane compared to the vinyl) sorry more acid trance/techno..

and new material, and your energy - it will rock :clap:

good luck

[gary_human]

If you did a 30 minute megamix of Stimulus on Planet Rhythm 41 that would keep me and my bro happy ;)