PleaseLoseBattle
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Clermont-Ferrand, France

Hi guys,

I did my first live show last saturday with a drummer. It went great, some things worked, but there also were some issues.

I did as following :
I have extracted each track on Famitracker that I want live (mostly Pulse tracks), in .wav, mixed them in a unique .wav file (via Cubase), then loaded them on a software created by a friend (for the needs of an old band). This software assigns .wav files to slots, corresponding to pads on a midi pedalboard. So when I push on a pad of the pedalboard, the midi signal goes to my laptop through on external soundcard (alesis iO2), and the program launches the .wav sample back in the soundcard, and then in the PA.
Yes, it looks quite complicated for a simple task (here is a video to show how we did it better than with words). I don't have many hardware, and I used to do that with an old band as I said. As we had not much time to prepare the show, we chose this because that was the only way we knew of.
But, there were some bugs (you can hear a little one at the beginning of the video). These bugs messed a lot with the live, as the drummer and myself were lost at some point.

tl;dr We launch Famitracker samples with a midi pedalboard via an amateur program on a laptop, but there were some issues (big lags).

My question is : What would you recommand to improve the show (harware/software/methods) ? I'd like if it's possible to keep on launching the samples with the foot because that's what gives the 'live' thing, on he other hand my drummer would like to have the click in the ears. So I'd like to launch samples via my midi pedalboard in a more reliable way, and with a click track which goes to the headphones of my drummer, and the melodies tracks which go in the PA. Is it possible ? What hardware/software would you recommand (we made a little money with this show).

Thanks guys !

P.S. : Please don't take in consideration the many mistakes we do on the live video... smile

herr_prof
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This kind of thing is really simple to do with ableton live, you would probably be able to even manage with the intro version for your needs. You can even keep the same pedalboard interface should you so wish.

Im working on a similar set in live suite, where a keyboard has the songs start as scenes ( a live term that plays a combination of audio and midi clips at the same tme) and then a switch can advance in time to the next section when I want to. This way I can have group of clips together and have songs end, then have live bridges that I play myself in the middle and then one click and im into the next section (or song). Live also does all the preset management of my external gear, and routes my midi keyboard or guitar to whatever instrument I want to play live.

PleaseLoseBattle
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Clermont-Ferrand, France

Thanks, I thought that I might learn to use ableton live, but now that you dig it, I'll definitely do that. I didn't have enough time for this show, but it appears to be the best solution.
Excuse the noobish questions, but will I need some more hardware to make this work ? (in addition to the pedalboard I mean)? Like a mixer, or something else ? I'm completely new to this kind of things...

To bad there is an ocean between France and USA, I'd come see your live show if it wasn't the case.

Last edited by PleaseLoseBattle (Nov 26, 2013 10:01 pm)

herr_prof
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you only need a mixer if you plan to play stuff to the pa besides the ableton live output and beyond using the soundcards inputs as a mixer. With the alesis you can use its two inputs to mix a two mono inputs alongside the stereo mix of your ableton live tracks and send the whole thing in stereo to the clubs pa. You can also go mono and send them two separate mono signals, say mixed chip to one channel and synthesizers to another, which makes things much more flexible with your bands monitor mix.

For example you might want to send mixed everything in mono to the pa, and only the chiptune rhythm sounds to your drummer for his monitor so he can keep time easily.

PleaseLoseBattle
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Clermont-Ferrand, France

Thanks a lot, things seem a lot easier now !

herr_prof
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yea live can be a real life saver, although there are a few other products out there that can do it as well, there much more help on getting it done in live.

ps: your band sounds cool too!

Calavera
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Melbourne, Australia

I don't have any answers, but I just want to say you guys sound kickass. Really enjoyed that.

ryba
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Czech Republic

It doesn't seem, that drummer have to use a click. I think famitracker wavs are good for him enough. but if he wants it, the solution depends on your soundcard (number of outputs). if you have only stereo output, you have to send famitracker to one (left), click to the other (right) and you will lose stereo panning (if you like to use it). So, with the click, you can record click in the same tempo, as famitracker wavs and then play these two simultaneously by mapping them to same midi note, maybee. or you can learn how to create music in ableton (and create it with a click here).
But I play C64 in my band, sending it to mixer, then to PA and with aux output of the mixer I am sending it to drummer's right headphone. He plays according to this. And he has monitor with my C64 and other instruments and voice from the left side. I think it's usable this way. without click.

kineticturtle
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Matthew Joseph Payne

Similarly, I've been totally fine playing drums in The Glowing Stars without a click for awhile. I wear in-ears and have learned the best parts to listen to for time in each song.

I also think Ableton is probably overkill for you in that respect. You really just need stereo playback from any device (if you're using panning).

You guys sound really great! I can't wait to hear more.

herr_prof
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kineticturtle wrote:

Similarly, I've been totally fine playing drums in The Glowing Stars without a click for awhile. I wear in-ears and have learned the best parts to listen to for time in each song.

every drummer is different, at least the run of 6-7 I ran with in 2005-7 where. Plus you wrote the songs, so that may be a factor in anticipating the song on some level. For us, some needed an isolated click, some where great off the mix, some where terrible no matter what (but still great drummers outside the box!). The nice thing about ableton is its really made for live control, and the more you can do by not touching a computer the greater a crowd will be convinced that its all you up there, and you arent playing to a cd or something. You can even get into live effects of your stems or other such creativity as the songs get developed.

barbeque
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detroit

im just here to say the 3:10 mark is fucking illll

kineticturtle
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Matthew Joseph Payne
herr_prof wrote:
kineticturtle wrote:

Similarly, I've been totally fine playing drums in The Glowing Stars without a click for awhile. I wear in-ears and have learned the best parts to listen to for time in each song.

every drummer is different,

That's very true. I'm not saying Ableton is to be avoided, just that there are easier and cheaper ways to do basic playback, even multichannel (to make room for a click) than ableton. If you really want to get into live fx, dynamic roadmaps and the like, that's a whole other ballgame worth the investment.

herr_prof
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basic playback with midi controllable playlist of mulitrack stems per the op, limits the options some. I think live intro would suit him fine, and be cheap/free if he can find a copy. Sure there are other daws, but thats the first one that came to mind that fits all his options as elegantly. I imagine you can do it with a midi sampler software, or standalone versions of programs like kontakt but thats probably as much as live.

PleaseLoseBattle
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Clermont-Ferrand, France

Thanks for all the info here guys, I'm going to discuss this with my pal and see what we can do. I think we'll try several options, and see what fits us best.
But thank you all for explaining me these very options.

Also, thanks for the kind words !