How to efficiently integrate computers in a live situation?

[lowkey]

Hi all,

 

I'm part of a two-man-band project, where both of us do the vocals and play the guitar. Now, in our studio, we usually do a lot of additional harmonies, synthlines and atmosounds in the computer to create our final songs, but we haven't had no live experience with this material yet.

 

We try to keep the additonal stuff down to a minimun, so that only one different instrument accompanies us at a time (piano, synthbass, pad, etc.), but I'd really love to have some extras triggered by a sequencer in a live situation.

 

How would you do this? I mean, the cheapest solution would be hiring a third musician, but we'd really love to remain a duo. I thought about footcontrolling everything or maybe using a click to get into the timing of a playback. But how would I realize a click during a show, without having in-ear monitoring and other fancy stuff? What about software like Ableton Live? Does it suit the needs of 'non-pattern-oriented'-music as well?

 

Please share some experience reports! Thanks

[dahkter]

Hi Lowkey,

From my own experiences playing and seeing other bands play out recently, you have two choices:

- a laptop with a midi controller

- a sampler which has an onboard sequencer

Depends on what you already own, or how much you want to spend, you should be able to work it out fairly easily.

 

If going the computer route (live or acid), you'd need multiple outs, one for playback, and one for cueing sounds or listening to the click track. I mention acid and live because both can change the tempo while keeping the pitch constant, which sounds like something you are trying to accomplish.

 

If going the sampler route, my personal recommendation would be the MPC1000. I have one of my own, and in the last three months I've seen Linkin Park and Theivery Corporation using it on stage to play the backing track of their songs. It has 16 pads which double as track mute buttons, so each pad can represent one instrument track (piano/synth/drums/etc) and you can drop them in and out live during play back. The learning curve is a bit steeper than the computer programs listed above, however once you do it can be a very effective tool. It also does not time stretch automatically (unlike acid or live), the workaround is to chop your samples into smaller pieces so they can be played back slower or faster.

 

Hope this helps as a good starting point, good luck to you, your friend and your music.

 

EZ

Jason

[lowkey]

Hey, thanks for your reply!

 

I think the computer/midi-route is the way I wanna go, because I already have most of the requirements available (footcontroller/interface/software). The Question still remains: if we used a clicktrack live, we'd need some in-ear monitoring, right? Or are there e.g. visual indicators available like metronomes based on LEDs? Or maybe the best way to do it, would be including some sort of rhytmic intro to each song in question?

[dahkter]

Hi Lowkey,

I think your best solution is to use your midi footswitch to control tempo (often refered to as "tap tempo"). I'm fairly certain live and acid will do this, you basically tap quarter notes with your foot, and the sequencer will play at that speed.

The other option that you mention is cueing a click or backing track in some in ear monitors, you would need a second soundcard (or one with multiple outs) to do this.

Finally, you could get a nice feel by using a midi keyboard or midi foot controller to mute/unmute tracks and bring elements in and out on the fly. As you get familiar with your songs, you may not even need a click, an occasional hi hat should be enough for you to stay in the pocket....

Take care

Jason

[lowkey]

Ahh, yes... I did not think about tapping in the required tempo by foot, that should work nicely! Thanks alot for your feedback!

[dahkter]

Happy to help out

take care

Jason