Hi, next month I will make a live set, I have now plenty of time this month to prepare it but I don’t want to make a boring live arrangement with a limited sound palette. I have tons of hardware devices but I want to simplify…
I want a powerful sound so I’ve choose drumbrute impact for the drums and behringer TD3 or Ericasynths DB01 for the acid part (I don’t know right now if DB01 can do acid lines…) and finally a sampler (sp404mk2 for voices and some chords).
What I would love to hear is your advice to make an engaging and fun live set because the sound palette of drumbrute and TD3/DB01 is a little bit limited. Thanks!
I think that comes down to how engaging and fun the music is. If you are aiming to do something engaging and fun for yourself, then I guess you could go any way you like. If you have an audience, and you want them to dance, move, and have a good time, then focus on the music first, second, and third.
One concrete thing I can say is that for me and for a lot of other people I have been with at live electronic shows, is that once a loop repeats for more than 2 minutes, we, the audience, start to lose energy. It is not until the next loop plays that we the audience go back to giving more. Often times electronic performers get stuck in a loop for more than 5 minutes with a minimal degree of change and that gets boring. So I would suggest a live setup approach where the music is constantly flowing quickly, with good momentum.
Thank you very much. Good tip. I think the problem is that when Im in a live performance I lost notion of time, number of bars, etc. it’s difficult, I don’t know when things are becoming boring…
For sound design maybe I would need an effect box for spice up things a little bit… Do you let kick untouched without effects??
I agree with what have been said above.
I would suggest as well to bring variations between songs, not only within a song. Bring 2 different drum machines, people don’t want to listen to the same ride for hours. Switch between square and sawtooth on the 303, use 2 different saturation pedals…
DB01 can do acid lines, but it’s not what it’s best at and what I would use it for.
There’s been a lot of discussion in other threads about live sets that apply directly to a live acid set. I’d sort through some of those discussions and see what is relevant to you. However these are the questions I’d focus on answering- do you have the songs / musical ideas already? Do you have transitions worked out? Do you have a set list to practice? Have you recorded any practice sets?
How long is the Live set, how much idea/tracks you already have and intend to put into this performance (is it full improvisation ? i ask because i know some people here that accept Live set and have nothing prepared at all, they compose for it or go improvisation…)
But i would record some acid bump stab (few different processed, distortion/delay/reverb think emmanuel top) and put it in your sp404mk2
Don’t forget as long as you go acid (filter resonance) you loose the bass so the TB become more of a lead/pluck than a bass. An obvious thing that come to mind is don’t modulate the TB like Acid all the time. Use it as a Bass line that doesn’t move much and try to acidish with something else. (from time to time)
alternate square / saw
alternate simple pattern to more busy patterns
(if you can depend on your midi config /acme4, erm multiclock, go polyrhythm)
few set of pedals to process the TB differently can really help
shut the mouth of Acid TB from time to time, don’t let the TB be the master of your live performance, don’t focus on it more than the rest of your devices. find the right balance
Be very dynamic with your drums, modulate what’s cool to modulate in drums, do comfortable breaks so the performance is not too nervous nor too shy, find the right balance.
if you have time to play the live in front of 2-3 persons before the real performance as training to get their feeling and adjust your live performance it could be safe
Note: 2 capable Acid Devices that you swap, put in parralel, or use one as a Bass backup along the other one – do magic in acid live set.
Be gentle in your modulations (so it’s more hypnotic acid than a growling dubstep thing)
Don’t be tempted to go too fast in the modulations… people usually goes too fast as one cycle of modulations before to reset for a second cycle again … use all the range of possibilities your have… (envelope-decay-accent-tone-disto-volume-slide)
And if you confortable revisit your pattern with slide (tie) and accent while playing
Thanks all for the good tips. My idea is to write some drum patterns, I already have my TD3 full of my own patterns, and make a live set without songs, 45min/1hour. If love to keep my setup as simple as possible, after owning lots of gear and make larger setups it seems impossible to handle that amount of knobs…
My idea is to have a lot of patterns ready to go and flow with some samples from 404 and not to sound boring.
The lack of bass that @William_WiLD says is discouraging but the lows of the drumbrute impact are awesome so knowing this maybe it’s better to use kick as a bass. Another drum machine is bring more gear… Maybe a little volca drum.
Muy idea is to maintain setup as little as possible to be able to play live better without being lost.
Consider how you want the energy and tension to vary through your set.
Intense sections into chill sections and back to intense, intro/outro, transitions between sections, fills and breaks.
What sections do you plan to visit and how can you move between them?
Small changes can be effective. Don’t stress, evolve slowly.
Last sentence is the key. If you have a very limited sound palette you need those small changes.
Thinking in use LXR02 instead drumbrute. The amount of sounds is way more than DBimpact.
But yesterday I had this conversation:
What do you prefer, less sounds but with a powerful analog lows or more sounds with an overall decent sound quality?
And the answer was less sounds and more power.
The problem with live synth performances is that there are only two hands and you only can tweak a limited amount of knobs, and my brain isn’t young anymore.
I want to make a live set, minimal amount of synths and fun for the people to dance. I have made killer acid basslines on TD3, in fact the user memory is full, but maintain a 45min/1h set with acid basslines is difficult if you only have drums, acid box and a sampler. Thanks for the advice!!
People in a club dancing care much less about transitions, variation and all that jazz than we do. Perform with the tools and setup you feel will get the best out of you in terms of both enjoyment and energy. If you give people a steady beat and a bassline, they’ll dance.
Thanks all… One question… what is the function of another acid box?? I have an Twisted electrons Acid8 under the dest and its been a while since I use it…
A good aid is aim for a piece of music to only run for at most around 2 minutes if they are going to have just a few variations. The more variations the piece has, the longer it can be played because assuming that it will keep evolving and being interesting.
Do keep in mind that is not a rule, just something to try.
The problem here is that jamming with and acid box I so so so fun for me that I could spent hours around an idea. I think that a sampler with drones and pads and vocal takes can make the difference.
Yeah, I totally get that. That said, imagine being in an audience and hearing a 3 minute rock song extended to 7 because the guitar player is having fun playing a 4 minute guitar solo.
Again, you do you. I’m just throwing some things to think about.
I totally agree with you, the problem with this type of jams is that you are so concentrated in one machine that you forget the others, so it’s indispensable to maintain focus and change every 30sec/1min from one machine to other.
At least that’s the logic in my mind. But in practice it’s difficult.
Anything with a resonant filter can be coerced into an approximation of acid lines. Distortion is often a part of the Acide Sound, so the Erica stuff should be great. (my Mk1 Syntrx can certainly Acid)
Had a twisted electrons Acid8 mk2 in combo with TD3 but it doesn’t work. This afternoon I’ve swapped Acid 8 for DB01 and works perfect. Absolutely brilliant to make drones and other basslines. Amazing combo.
