Studio producer to stage performance

[mess]

Hi Guys,

This is something that ive been pondering over for quite some time now but have never really been able to figure out...as a studio producer, what would you do on stage?

i look at producers like Magnetic Man and Booka Shade and wonder what they're doing on stage...im at that stage where I want to get out of my bedroom and start performing live but i have no idea how or what to do to make my performances interesting. i do play an instrument (i play the piano/keyboard).

I could really use some advice from you guys.

Thanks
Mess

---------- Post added 03-14-2012 at 11:28 AM ---------- Previous post was 03-13-2012 at 10:04 PM ----------

Is there any advice floating about?

even if its a resource, like maybe a youtube link or any kind of link to help put me on the right track. I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Jslavin]

Basically, you're an engineer musician. That's what kraftwork considered themselves. Get yourself a DAW controller/mixer like an apc 40 and think about how you'd like your music to effect people. I personally have more of an entertainer's mindset when performing. I do most of the knob tweakin in the studio. It all just depends on what your music is supposed to do and the audience you think you will attract. Dance dj/producers often play with fx live such as filters, delays, mods, beat slicing, etc...I prefer to sing live and interact with the audience as much as possible. I don't want to go some public place and just mash buttons and touch knobs cause to me that's like public masturbation. It's great sparingly but there are so many things you could do. Check out fischerspooner. They are a great example of a fun electronic show. What does your music say? Also, dada life know how to make a show fun. Live performances are tricky but to me that's the best part. That's when you find out if you really are any good. Keep it as simple as possible and you'll figure out what works in time.

 

[mess]

I should've probably mentioned my currently setup so i'll do that now

Operating system: Windows XP
DAW: Reason 5
Controler: CME VX8

I currently produce a variety of different music but i've been asked to perform at a charity event, but its for a young crowd at a one of these underground shisha places.

Now i want to perform my music live but i dont want to just hit play i want to get involved. I'm thinking of performing the follwoing:

a hiphop track with some minor effect
a dubstep track and just
an acoustic piano piece.

the acoustic piano pieace isnt a problem because i'm already heavily involved since its all live. Im just having trouble with performing a hiphop and dubstep track that i have produced in the studio but now i want to take that to a performance but still engage the audiance. hers a sample of the dubstep'ish track that i intend to perform ( snd . sc / ecuePm) just remove the spaces and put that in the browser without the www

If you could offer some advice on what i should do with it on stage i would greatly appreciate it. i dont sing so thats not an option for me lol.Thanks for you advice so far i'll defo check those guys out.

 

[Jslavin]

You'll want some kind of hardware device to trigger samples in midi. I use an apc40 and a Korg pad Kontrol to trigger samples, control eq and multiple fx paramaters. You will most likely want to get a bare bones song(Backing track) playing for each song going on the whole time. Sometimes I'll play with plug ins like effectrix or artillery by sugarbytes. Other times you will be busy getting the audience excited about your music. I'll sometimes loop a part of a song and demand that the audience bring their energy level up and start clapping before I let the show continue. I think that Ableton live provides a much better platform for performance then reason so I'd suggest you get yourself that DAW. Once you get that software then I think you will finally feel less confused as to what you should be doing live. Lots of producers won't do much live at all. Look at Skrillex. 1.Press play 2.smoke a cig/twist cutoff knob 3.wait for it....4.Stage dive. I'm not saying not to challenge yourself but unless you've got a crew of people who have your back, you need to keep it really streamlined. Otherwise you will hate performing and will associate it with a nasty feeling in your stomach. I know because that's what happened to one of my former bandmates. He was too focused on the technical aspects and concerned with things that were out of his hands and he ultimately stopped performing after a very short stint in doing shows. Now he's back in his bedroom playing with himself again. I decided to have fun and not get too hung up on any one thing so I'm still out there giving the audience somethings to think about and a place to be. It's your job to breathe life into the party so do whatever it is that you think you need to make that happen. I can't emphasize how important crowd interaction is. If you can't do the MC thing while performing then find someone who can. Ableton live, triggers, interaction. Hope this helps.
soundcloud dot com /josh-slavin/the-nightlife-by-v-loves :That's me if you're curious.

 

[mess]

You'll want some kind of hardware device to trigger samples in midi. I use an apc40 and a Korg pad Kontrol to trigger samples, control eq and multiple fx paramaters. You will most likely want to get a bare bones song(Backing track) playing for each song going on the whole time. Sometimes I'll play with plug ins like effectrix or artillery by sugarbytes. Other times you will be busy getting the audience excited about your music. I'll sometimes loop a part of a song and demand that the audience bring their energy level up and start clapping before I let the show continue. I think that Ableton live provides a much better platform for performance then reason so I'd suggest you get yourself that DAW. Once you get that software then I think you will finally feel less confused as to what you should be doing live. Lots of producers won't do much live at all. Look at Skrillex. 1.Press play 2.smoke a cig/twist cutoff knob 3.wait for it....4.Stage dive. I'm not saying not to challenge yourself but unless you've got a crew of people who have your back, you need to keep it really streamlined. Otherwise you will hate performing and will associate it with a nasty feeling in your stomach. I know because that's what happened to one of my former bandmates.

Thanks man! you seem like you've had some experience performing live. How would you structure your performance? like if you had a completed track like mine snd.sc/ecuePm (thats a shortend soundcloud link by the way, just plonk it into the browser as is) how would you kick start the track/performance?

I'm just trying to get an idea of what an experienced person would do to it. If anyone else out there wanted to offer their two penny's worth i'd take all the help i can get right now