I’ve been trying to build a liveset for a while now, and I think I am stuck in a “paralysis by analysis” situation of not knowing exactly how to set everything an be satisfied with how I play. I’ve worked on two types of set for the moment: one based on the octatrack which was mostly an upgraded DJ set of my own tracks, with added loops, drums with a volca sample, sends to a delay, and it was fun but it felt a bit too much like “cheating”, so I worked on another one based entirely on patterns only on the digitone which was super playable but not very open to tracklist change, and did not allow me to play my tracks live.
So since then, I’ve had a few ideas to try a sort of “in between” setup but never ended up liking what I was doing. This leads me to my question to you:
What is your philosophy when building a live set?
More specifically, are you more on the side of pre-planning or improvisation?
Do you work with loops? Full stems? Nothing at all?
Does it involve audio files? Or is everything synthesized on the spot?
Song mode? Patterns? Looper?
What do you think of “upgraded DJ set” live shows? How much do you prepare? How much do you do on the spot?
Does it involve a computer? How much do you “audio engineer” yourself?
What do you think of the “improvised techno” movement?
I’d really love to know your approach!
Cheers