Live PA's methods

[AcidTrash]

I have 2 options. Option 1 allows me to get EXACTLY what I wanty accross but doesn't require me doing that much. Option 2 is much more live but is VERY prone to f*cking up in unpleasant ways. What would you go for?

[alsynthe]

i think aslong as u get the disired effect to show off ur productions u want its doesnt matter

[TechMouse]

Probably start off doing 1, and then slowly introduce elements of 2, as you become more confident?

Any possibility of some specifics, or is it hush hush?

I'd love to do live PAs.

[paulcortex]

when i first started playing live i used to use my pc running sonic foundry vegas to play the full audio file of each track that id wrote in orion...each wav file would then be arranged into a set with all the edits, fades, twiddly bits pre programed...this left me to play my synths or trigger samples over the top...with a little dj style eqing it didnt sound bad...and was pretty fail safe, but now i use a pc with a tascam u122 external usb card and cubase vst midi synced up to my korg esx1 sampler(which i use for drums....with the hi and low parts seperated and eqed through my mackie mixer) then cubase is used to put the set together using vstis (Audiorealism bassline (top 303's!!!),junox,minimoog,arp,slayer etc) and other plugins...i have an oxy8 midi controller for playing riffs on and i have no problems using this set up...unless the pc decides to be a bugger and crash of course!!!
...touch tonnes of wood that this doesnt happen!!!!

[massplanck]

option two.

hands down.

[slavestudios]

I have 2 options. Option 1 allows me to get EXACTLY what I wanty accross but doesn't require me doing that much. Option 2 is much more live but is VERY prone to f*cking up in unpleasant ways. What would you go for?

take the chance.. if you dont have any room for error you may as well press play on a cd & have a w**k imo

[TechMouse]

take the chance.. if you dont have any room for error you may as well press play on a cd & have a w**k imo

Not without it's charm...

+ an excellent floor show, some might say...

[professor]

option 2. take a bag of records for if sh-t goes way south.

[Larney]

Definitely option 1. I would be pretty pissed off if I paid money to hear a great set and it ended up a shambles. Always remember people pay their hard earned money and they deserve a good show!

[slavestudios]

take the chance.. if you dont have any room for error you may as well press play on a cd & have a w**k imo

Not without it's charm...

+ an excellent floor show, some might say...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

excellent retort lol

[slavestudios]

Definitely option 1. I would be pretty pissed off if I paid money to hear a great set and it ended up a shambles. Always remember people pay their hard earned money and they deserve a good show!

they also deserve someone workin & pushing themselves.

i'll happily forgive a few mistakes if someone is workin hard & pushing it to the edge

[FIK]

Option 2 I'd say. Look at a guitar player: he has to study his chords and parts in order to bring it live. If you rehearse it well, it shouldn't be a problem

[RDR]

of course the answer is to do both, as long as they work together.

you can always use ableton to remiz full trax. there is always another way of working.

show satisfaction and stability = 100%
Ad libbing and audience recation capabilty = 100%

those are the figures you want.

total control gives you all of that. work with the knowledge you can do anything with anything and nothing is sacred, but somethings are essentail.

[acidsaturation]

Option 2.

You know my set up pete - MC303 playing the drums on my Akai sampler and 2 synths (hardly use it's own sounds at all) with Korg ES-1 and EA-1 sync'ed to it and 4 or 8 bar patterns on each that I can mix between.

I used to sequence whole tracks on the 303 and the korgs and just twiddle knobs and drop samples and it was a) less fun, and b) I was actually more prone to cockups 'cos I lost concentration from doing less.

The advantage of how I do it now is that If I do cock up and miss something I can just carry on for another 8 or 16 bars and do it again. Before If I missed a cue it could throw the whole track out.

[anode]

assuming...

option 1 = computer software setup - more prone to crashes and boring check ya email styles...

option 2 = well'ardware setup - twiddlin' solid keep ya busy on the fly fun!

;)

[acidchild]

Perhaps a deeper explanation of said methods would help. Here's how i do it:

Everything is pattern based. All my shit has it's own sequencer, and for the rack modules, i use an MMT-8. Here is a list of what i have how it's used...

TB-303 (duh)
TR-505 (sequences the Drum Station)
Novation Drum Station (808/909 sounds)
Emu ESI-2000 sampler (various drum/vocal samples, and loops)
Alesis MMT-8 (sequences the sampler and sometimes the D.S.)
Korg ER-1mkII (other drum sounds and various zips zaps and fwips)

I write everything down ahead of time. What patterns on each piece go with each other, what waveform the 303 uses, if the pattern is tuned up or down. What sounds in the sampler are assigned to each track on the MMT-8, etc. This works wonders and there's really no chance of a fuk up cause no computers are involved. Also, when i had a 707, i almost always kept that in write mode to change it up on the fly.

[eyes without a face]

no 2 method for me, i dont dig all these ableton "live" pa's everyones suddenly knocking out

[JohnnySideways]

ableton seems to be the best option for ya pete ;)
playin off tractor etc isnt really any more live than a dj set...if people are payin to see a 'live pa' they deserve to have a live pa...
the other side of it i suppose is most punters dont know the diference so why bother?...but you got your own self respect to consider...
mistakes are what makes it live..(or part of it anyway!)
in my experience ya get maximum respect from people when things go a little bit wrong ...then ya get it sorted ...n everyones with ya :clap: coz they can relate..and they KNOW its live then!
one last point..
when doin it live you can actually respond to the crowd better and judge the changes and subtleties of the set according to the vibe and reaction at the time..

[Mac the Blade]

I read in an interview with K90 that his live PAs are always prerecorded onto DAT. When he starts playing his live set he'll also start the DAT running. That way, if the live stuff goes pear shaped he can fade in the DAT and let the prerecorded set take over. Sounds like a good failsafe to me.

[TechMouse]

I read in an interview with K90 that his live PAs are always prerecorded onto DAT. When he starts playing his live set he'll also start the DAT running. That way, if the live stuff goes pear shaped he can fade in the DAT and let the prerecorded set take over. Sounds like a good failsafe to me.

Interesting point.

When you go to see an acrobat, do you care if they have a safety net?