Playing Live Electronic Muisc

So this guy saw my Myspace and he books shows in my area and says that he wants me to play at a show in March. I've never played live before and I mostly use Reason to create all my music. I really would like any sort of advice for playing live electronic music; primarily in Reason. Will the crowd like me just sitting behind a computer screen the whole time, not saying anything? or is that something they wouldn't appreciate?

I've never been to a live show, and have never played live before, so I just don't know what to expect.

here is my music: http://www.myspace.com/thevlue

and my equipment:

Windows XP

Reason

a mini midi controller

Mini Kaos Pad 3

2 turntables and a mixer

and a drum set

microphone

I'd like to just be behind my computer the whole time because it would be the easiest in terms of equipment, plus I am an introvert.. so yeah.. HEH ok

Again, ANY sort of advice would help me get a better idea of this thing.

Thanks WATTM

Vlue

The crowd won't care so long as the music is bouncin and the mystique of a live act is usually enough cool factor for your average music goer to get excited and not care. The people back stage, the fellow musicians, djs and promoters, may have different sentiments depending on how far up their own asses they've stuck their head. Some will respect you (usually fellow producers), some will hage you (usually hipster djs), some won't give a fuck one way or the other as long as they got moneiz (promoters). Pay them no mind, their opinion doesn't matter and many people in this realm have inflated egos to begin with and don't have any to spare.

Above all don't let your setup hold you back from doing a live show if your really wanting to.

ignore the MM part. Chris Vrenna is awesome on his own.

If you are in introvert i suggest setting your set up beforehand so it will just play thru no matter what, and getting very intoxicated and flailing around looking like you are doing awesome stuff. This works for most people.

Beyond that,the more you play live, the more you get used to it. You realize that you can do pretty much anything and people will react to it in a good way. Just don't be awkward about it.

don't worry what people think, just do a set that you think is awesome and legit.

but if you're totally not sure what to do, why not try experimenting with what gear setup is fun to play with, what songs you want to play and how to link them (or not), listen to some live sets or dj sets from people you like and get some ideas of how it can flow.

also, your myspace says breakcore, and everybody who does breakcore has a screen in front of their face.

as brandi_b said - for your first ever live set, probably a good idea to set it all up beforehand so all you really need to do is press play and maybe do a bit of live synth tweaking if the mood takes you. get pissed, press play, stare intensely at your screen and occasionally glance up with a surprised look on your face and very occasionally nod your head a bit. when your set is done, exit the stage as quickly as humanly possible without acknowledging the crowd in any way.

^^^ that's what i basically did at my first live show. don't over complicate things for the first show, don't "rehearse", don't do anything like that. play it cool

Hey congrats!

So I think it'd be worth going to some shows first, to get a taste of what to expect, and also maybe get a bit of advide from the people playing as well.

It's a good idea to keep things relatively simple. But not excessively so. I prefer to see someone playing and you can tell their kinda riding a wave, juuust managing to keep it all going. If the person playing is bored, you can be sure that everyone will pick up on it.

You should figure out what kinda way you want to play, if you want to be running synths and stuff live inside your daw, or playing and mixing audio files, sections, parts, or whole tracks. This'll help you to work everything else in your setup together.

Maybe the best method is to get your tracks, and parts seperated out into say 3 or 4 different groups, drums, bass, chords/mels, and other. and then break these down into say 4 bar loops. And re arrange, mix and blend them for your set. If you wanna mix from one track to the next you could start by switching the drums over, then the bass.. whatever. In a kinda ableton way, since it's a pretty easy ride, but gives you space to have fun.

If you're feeling comfortable with that, then maybe think about getting your midi control in there as well. Just try assigning it to a couple insert effects, either on the master, or on each part. Easy stuff like a filter or ring mod, something interesting, but usable musically. It'll make a difference, seeing someone working some controls is way better than seeing someone clicking on a mouse. Same with the microphone, if you feel comfortable with it, its def worth taking along.

Dont worry about having the screen there, thats just the way it is.

You got loads of time tho, and its worth getting started, and get practicing. If you can get to a point where you have everthing running in a kinda way you can work with. The just jam around with your loops and tracks, and you'll soon find bits that work nicely together, and your set order will emerge really easily.

don't acknowledge the crowd before or after my set in anyway huh?

thanks for all the advice guys!

I like to make mine a mix of live synth/guitar/drum/anything sometimes looping that, and having loops triggered by MIDI, and done automatically.

wait what, nooooo

Sorry if what I wrote gave you that impression, didnt intend for it to.

Aknoledging the crowd and reading them is def an important skill, but dont expect to be very good at it first time round. Besides, what Im tryingto put across is that its important to have a setup which you're comfortable with, and used to. Makes switching it up much easier. If you're working with loops and sections it'll make this easier, if you see people drop off in one section you can change it up quickly, or if you see people digging a bassline you can keep it going for longer etc.

It is worth remembering that being quick to adapt, and alter your set is all well and good, but it requires a bit of skill and comfort in your methods. If the partys awesome, good crowd, good PA etc etc. Its very easy to get all buzzed up and as a result be less considered and acurate with what you're doing, or even can just cause mental collapse

a lot of pretty good advice in here, starting off its pretty smart to have a simple approach were it would be hard to get lost and lose control but in the end usually works out to if your not having fun on stage the crowd wont either. So however you can make your set as fun as possible for yourself(interesting combination's of live instruments, funny stage setup or whatever) things will work out a lot better in the long run.

yeah I would advise having a lot of contact with the crowd and letting them know you are comfortable and at ease even if you aren't. People don't know you are uncomfortable until you tell them.

I recommend setting everything up first, hitting play then just fucking join the crowd and dance like a lunatic to your own set. occasionally turn round and inquire as to who is playing coz they're awesome.

Yeah and show up insanely early to set up. I used to play out with a friend and we had like 5 synths, a sampler, electribes, and computer and it took forever and there were always delays. SO even if your setup is simple it's always best to get it worked out early so you aren't delayed going on. And if possible do a soundcheck, leave the audio running and go out on the dance floor/standing area and see what it sounds like. Most club can be very unforgiving for electronic music. Also best to run a limiter or compressor with light compression over the mix so you don't have distortion, b/c whoever the sound person is, they are likely used to doing bands. If there is no sound person make sure you aren't clipping.

take a clipboard with you

tally how many people are on drugs, and see if they will give you some.

turn up naked

don't drink too much. This can happen easily if you are nervous and pounding down drinks. Take it easy.

Talk to girls. Let them know you are awesome without having to say it.

edit: i Just read your first post again. If you haven't beento any shows what have you been doing? As a drummer you've certainly been to some rock shows right?

all the house wants is usually 1 1/4" input. if you have that you're all set :)

we play out very sparingly but when we started it was just us (2 of us) with a PC and a US-122. All we had was the onboard sound on my PC (desktop, mind you) since we just got into the whole thing. as long as there is some sort of interesting sound going on, just do your thing. keep it hoppin and don't play a lot of ambience.

i've never been to a rock show, or any kind of "youth" show. only a few classical concerts

i am on a desktop too theSun, it sucks that i have to set that up out there, a laptop would be easier

i have 2 of the same aphex twin shirts (it's the kind with the glitched up font)

pre record everything - all your effects and save it to mp3....play it then twiddle some knobs like you know what you're doing...piece of pish!

I've played out a handful of times, and I agree with most here on recording the mix beforehand. I did not do that on my first gig and it was subpar, not horrible but not great either. It just takes a while to learn how to switch up things on the fly, gauge how the audience is responding to the current sounds, not drinking too much, ignoring requests from hipsters :D

So for this time try pre-recording the mix, and mess around with stuff, use lots of hand gestures and fist-pumping, etc. You should be fine :P

Are people being serious when they say prerecord? Fuck that shit. Do it on the fly, it's more proper and much more fun. If things go wrong, then so be it!

it seems a lot less fun, i will admit. i've never done it before, but I see your point, learning from your mistakes and all that