did a weeklybeats live set last night in a friend's living room!

i just type in whatever number sounds fun to me that week, and try to avoid "pretty" numbers like 120 in favor of weird numbers like 117 or 79. I DO WHAT I WANT.

i do a live setup sort of similar to this. have a push paired with a livid alias8 now, but used to have the apc40.

i typically create a new set file for the tune to be played live, and then spend some time bouncing audio, freezing tracks, basically getting it to the point where minimal real-time plugin/fx rendering is needed for the basic mix of the track. i'll freeze all of my guitar amp emulations, bounce external instruments, etc etc. following this, i will bounce further (if needed) until i have 8 or less logical tracks with corresponding clips (one for all percussion, one for all guitar, etc etc).

this will then leave me with a session view with no more than 8 tracks (no left-right scrolling), arranged by scene so that if i were to just go top down by triggering scenes, you'd hear a very basic and acceptable (albeit uninteresting) arrangement of the song.

from here, i move on to sliders and knobs. sliders i typically leave bound to track volume, but i re-do ALL the encoders. i typically use the top eight for beat-based effects (different one-knob beat repeats, filters, delays on different percussion sounds, dub effects, etc). the bottom eight are effects for the overall mix, or for different instruments. usually a few delay and reverb sends to build up walls of sound behind the mix, filters on different things, stutter/repeat effects for the overall mix, etc. a collection of interesting tweaks and sounds set across 16 different knobs.

a few notes on midi mapping - get into multi-mapping! map multiple parameters to one knob, and set their max/min travel values in the midi window. can make one knob to plenty of interesting things by doing this.

having all of this, i'm now equipped to travel through my song live, either mixing and matching clips/scenes as i go, or playing "straight through", depending on my mood or the vibe of the crowd. i can use my 16 macros to introduce even further live manipulation and jamming to the arrangement.

i use my mopho keyboard on stage, usually set to a fairly basic mellow lead patch and hooked up to my memory man. i will use that to add texture, do little solos, or outro jams. sometimes i feed it midi from live, as well, depending on the song.

here's a photo of my live setup now:

and here's a straight board recording of a full set.

godspeed!

six weeks in, still going strong. love listening to all the other beats at work.

IDW is so incredible. did you get the extended version? the moog documentary will also make you feel good inside.

i have been trying to make myself get at least an idea sketched out by tuesday, and then try to flesh it out by friday, followed by arrangement and mixing on saturday/sunday. a cup of tea or a tall glass of ice water and perhaps a touch of herbal enhancer and i'll fall into working on it for at least a couple of hours. though i'm worried when summer comes around it will be tough to get myself to stay indoors - might be time to get better on working on the ipad!