Prepping a set for performance

C

Chester HC

New member
Hello all! Thanks for reading this.

So this Saturday my friends and I will be performing together for the second time. (The first time we performed was in a party setting with no sound system or DJ). This time will be in an actual concert setting with a proper sound system. We were given the option to provide our own DJ for our set and since I recently built my own custom MIDI controller, we thought it would be cool if I do it. I really don't want to stand there and just play the songs so I'm trying to figure out a configuration in which i can trigger each beat to play all the way through with a button and then assign vocal samples and ad libs to the 16 pads to play during/between songs. I use FL studio for the most part and tried out the performance mode but it seems to be geared towards the performance of a single track by splitting it into small clips that can be triggered via MIDI.

Anyway, I would really appreciate it if anyone had any advice on how to go about preparing for this endeavor or even suggestions as to what to do/not to do while up there. I did read the new first gig thread and picked up some valuable advice from there (computing related), but I would really love some possible input from someone who has DJ'ed for rappers before.

Thanks again.
 
If you're performing 'live' music, you should probably be using software like Ableton or some kind of tracker software where you can actually have a good grid of songs and clips to choose from. This gives you one-button playback for your music with the proper advanced preparation, but it's not very entertaining to watch. This is where controllers like the APC20 and APC40 shine. If you're a producer and you're not that skilled as a DJ, this would be the way to go.

The more complex way to perform with this setup would be to create a bunch of songs split into their respective parts and gradually play the parts to build the song into its full form. This gives you more pieces to add tweakable effects to, and to potentially rearrange or remix your songs on the fly. It's a lot more in terms of advance setup, and it's not something you can just stand there and fist pump to, but it's truly performing at that point.

The APCs work brilliantly for this as well, but you can also use more producer-focused controllers like the Novation SL25 or the Push, or any number of controllers with faders/knobs/trigger pads. The big time investment here is to map the controller and organize your song parts into playable 'sets' which you can load into Live. I recommend this more for producers who are performing their own songs and want detailed control over the sound. Also those that don't mind that they can't leave the controller during their set.

If you're going to actually DJ, the typical way would be to use a DJ controller with software like Serato or Traktor. In these, you're playing from 'decks' and you match up beats while playing the whole songs as single files. In this case, I don't recommend preparing in advance more than picking out the pile of songs you want to play at some point during the night.

Half the fun of DJing in this way is to pick songs to match the mood and energy of the crowd, and if you've got a specific ordered and timed playlist it's hard to do this. As long as you pick music with an all-around similar speed and energy, nothing should sound too terribly off. If you're really skilled at DJing, you can get into live remixing or key matching.

Just my two cents!

-Rob
 
Thanks Rob, this was some really helpful advice. Since I am primarily a producer, I will probably look into mapping a few MIDI controls in Live and keep it simple for now. But in the future I am going to practice splitting tracks up into pieces and playing them one by one.
 
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