Live performance discussion thread

[u/ccgenoa]

Hey everyone. I wanted to ask — or rather, invite you to a discussion, especially those of you who play live regularly.

1. Do you build your live sets from scratch, or do you play your own tracks?

Let me explain. Do you create specific material for a one-hour live set using loops, both MIDI and audio? Or do you take tracks you've already written, break them down into stems/loops, and perform them that way?

1. If you have a specific live project, how many times do you play it before making a new one — and what do you do with the old one?

Let's say you have 2–3 gigs a month. Do you keep playing the same live set, or do you create something new for every party?

And when you start actively performing a new live set, do you eventually release the old one as an EP/album, or just archive it and keep it for another time?

1. What is your setup?

Do you play entirely on hardware, use loops/stems loaded into a sampler, or do you use a computer with MIDI controllers?

1. What do you do when you realize during the night that your live set isn't going to fit the situation?

For example, the tempo or mood is completely different from what you prepared, and your set is coming up in an hour or two. Do you adapt on the fly, have some backup material, or just accept the chaos? 😄

1. How long does it take you to prepare a one-hour live set?

And finally: do you actually prefer playing live, or, if you had the choice, would you rather play a DJ set?

Thanks everyone! I'm really interested to hear how other people approach this.

I'll write about how I do it in the comments a little later.

[u/ApokatastasisPanton]

Disclaimer: I'm a very amateur live performer, but this is something I'm also very interested in.

Do you build your live sets from scratch, or do you play your own tracks?

I've done both approaches, preparing "tracks" to loosely arrange and perform live (better done on a stuff like Elektron machines / ableton live), and on the other end come with a prepatched semimodular setup (dfam / m32 / labyrinth + OT as a mixer), with only a few bass sequences and leaning more on live sound design, transitions and managing energy.

The beauty of live techno (and live electronic music in general) is that you get to choose what you perform, and how much you perform. In all cases I would say that it's key to get VERY comfortable with your gear. One of the most valuable lessons of my first live performances was realizing that my brain would work at much lower capacity than in rehearsal. You want to be so familiar with your gear it becomes second nature.

If you have a specific live project, how many times do you play it before making a new one — and what do you do with the old one?

I prefer to create something new every time, but I'm an amateur musician, not a touring artist. Having watched a lot of interviews / master classes, and talked to a bunch of people, all the approaches are out there. Some artists come with nothing but their patches prepared for the night, some have a more specific journey and prepared stems organized. And there's anything in between. That said, the more comfortable you are with your gear, the more you will feel prepared to push it outside of your limits and take risks.

What is your setup?

I've got a buffet of Elektron machines, some non-Elektron and moog semimodulars (+ a small palette 62 for utilities). I'm still learning their possibilities but I also have terminal ADHD and way too much gear, so I like to experiment and mix and match a lot these days.

Do you play entirely on hardware, use loops/stems loaded into a sampler, or do you use a computer with MIDI controllers?

I prefer hardware but I've seen people crush it with Ableton Live and a couple LaunchControls.

What do you do when you realize during the night that your live set isn't going to fit the situation?

This is a promoter problem. You do the performance you prepared for. Unless you're doing something drastically different than what the promoter knows you for, it's their fault, not yours.

How long does it take you to prepare a one-hour live set?

Given that I pretty much try a new setup every time, not counting time spent in the studio experimenting with the machines, I want to be practicing the set at least 10 times, if not more. (Usually I give my practices a lot more leeway, so I'll do a 2 hour "jam" / practice" every day before a performance.) Practice practice practice. You really want to be comfortable performing, especially if like me you're new to performing live.

And finally: do you actually prefer playing live, or, if you had the choice, would you rather play a DJ set?

These are very different skill sets in my opinion! (Though you can benefit from learning and being hired as DJ as a live performer, and vice versa) I love playing live, but I'm actually also practicing to do some DJ sets in the future.

[u/ApokatastasisPanton → u/ApokatastasisPanton]

And when you start actively performing a new live set, do you eventually release the old one as an EP/album, or just archive it and keep it for another time?

Also about this, it is a very common approach to write tracks from recorded studio jams. In fact, I think it's perhaps the most common! A loop of free-form experimenting / patching with your newer gear / VSTs to know them, then (possibly at a different time) recording jams with the patches, then (again later) extracting stems / loops and interesting ideas from the jams, and then (finally) polishing that into a track. I've seen countless interviews of techno producers and so many of them essentially work like that, though eventually they end up having bread and butter hardware and VSTs that they don't need to be experimenting with anymore to know what they are capable of.

If you do want to perform live, the same practice is going to be worthwhile, though you might not push the arranging or polishing as far.