NancyJohnson Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Unsure whether this is the right forum area, but here goes. With the new band, we're up to around 20 songs tracked, about half mixed. All good. What has grown out of a couple of initial ideas is now this proggypunky monster of a thing; at present this is a studio based project, but we want to take it out live, but there's a ton of stuff going on besides vocals/guitar/bass/drums. Lots of loops, samples etc. How would be the best way of doing things live? We're considering two things. First off is taking the recorded tracks and stripping out the instrumentation and just playing with the backing recordings either with a drummer or without. The next idea was to get someone in who could trigger the non-instrumentation elements in a live context; this doesn't have to be a keyboard player or a musician, moreover someone who has a grasp of the technology side of things and could just push pads on a midi controller to fire off the at the appropriate times. I think it would need to be an extra person as there's simply going to be too much going on to be able to stop playing guitar/bass and start hitting buttons. I can't really put it any more succinctly really. Any help appreciated. If you want an idea of what's going on here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 I'm sure the easiest way is to just mute the instruments you want to play live and then export that as a backing track. I did this with a band I play drums in. I muted all of the guitars and lead vocals, panned the entire thing hard right, put a click in hard left, then exported the album. I put these exported mp3s into a play list, give the soundman the right output through a DI, and listen to both left and right through my headphones while I play drums The problem with triggering sounds is that the tempo might have shifted, and if some of your sounds/samples are quite long they could then sound out of time, even if triggered at the right point 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 52 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: How would be the best way of doing things live? We're considering two things. First off is taking the recorded tracks and stripping out the instrumentation and just playing with the backing recordings either with a drummer or without. The next idea was to get someone in who could trigger the non-instrumentation elements in a live context... If you're having to ask this question, then your first option - using a backing track - is going to be by far the simplest and less 'risky' solution. Setting up a live rig for triggering loops and samples is of course very achievable (some good advice in this thread here), but it obviously takes some know-how and practice to do so confidently. If you know (or hire) someone who can set this up on your behalf, then great. You're away. If not then the learning curve can be steep at first, depending on how familiar you are with music software. If you're new to digital music tech, then be prepared to dedicate at least a few months of regular learning/practice to become sufficiently adept at performing live. There's no shortcut here, unfortunately. It's the time-honoured requirement of hours invested = confidence gained; exactly the same as learning to play an instrument. Hence a backing track may be the quickest and easiest route in this instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 I think live we'd be well drilled, but there'd be an expectation for the shambolic. I do like the idea of getting in a non-muso just to handle the quirky stuff. Good thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamg67 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 What does the drummer think about playing to a click? Some don't like it, and I get why (although occasionally it's because they can't play to a click). You can get a different feel when it's live and a real drummer maybe, which would lean you towards someone with a controller triggering things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 4 hours ago, adamg67 said: What does the drummer think about playing to a click? Some don't like it, and I get why (although occasionally it's because they can't play to a click). You can get a different feel when it's live and a real drummer maybe, which would lean you towards someone with a controller triggering things. We've tried a couple of drummers who immediately said they were going to struggle. We have another guy (who maintains a click isn't an issue), but logistically it's problematic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford13 Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 I’d recommend using a live drummer playing to a click and triggering backing tracks on a Roland spx. It will make for a tight band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Live drummer and trigger the samples from a couple of midi foot controllers, that way, you can share the duties between you and the guitarist whilst still playing (maybe even the drummer too with an SPX as above). Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 I can't help with your problem but I do like the ideas and music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 25 minutes ago, bertbass said: I can't help with your problem but I do like the ideas and music. Thank you, that's very kind. If you want more, you sound be able to navigate through to the other material we've uploaded to Soundcloud. You can like us on Facebook (search 'Lutz Official') too (hint hint). Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 (edited) On 01/08/2018 at 15:19, NancyJohnson said: Unsure whether this is the right forum area, but here goes. With the new band, we're up to around 20 songs tracked, about half mixed. All good. What has grown out of a couple of initial ideas is now this proggypunky monster of a thing; at present this is a studio based project, but we want to take it out live, but there's a ton of stuff going on besides vocals/guitar/bass/drums. Lots of loops, samples etc. How would be the best way of doing things live? We're considering two things. First off is taking the recorded tracks and stripping out the instrumentation and just playing with the backing recordings either with a drummer or without. The next idea was to get someone in who could trigger the non-instrumentation elements in a live context; this doesn't have to be a keyboard player or a musician, moreover someone who has a grasp of the technology side of things and could just push pads on a midi controller to fire off the at the appropriate times. I think it would need to be an extra person as there's simply going to be too much going on to be able to stop playing guitar/bass and start hitting buttons. I can't really put it any more succinctly really. Any help appreciated. If you want an idea of what's going on here: Your mate drums for Tesseract doesn't he? From about 15 or 16 minutes in with the rather awesome Amos.... Edited August 3, 2018 by Bigwan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 35 minutes ago, Bigwan said: Your mate drums for Tesseract doesn't he? From about 15 or 16 minutes in with the rather awesome Amos.... Yeah, I've known Jay for over ten years, but our paths don't cross that much now. He's moved back up to Wolverhampton and I haven't needed to use his studios for a while (he obviously comes down this way as he blocks out days at the facility periodically). I think I've seen that video before, but to be honest, I have no memory of it. I'll forward it on to our guitarist as he's the guy driving this; we're recording again next week. Ultimately, it's down to discipline and the band being on point; using the stuff AW is going through shouldn't be an issue, but you clearly have no place to hide if you screw up and I really fear screw-uppage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 32 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: Yeah, I've known Jay for over ten years, but our paths don't cross that much now. He's moved back up to Wolverhampton and I haven't needed to use his studios for a while (he obviously comes down this way as he blocks out days at the facility periodically). I think I've seen that video before, but to be honest, I have no memory of it. I'll forward it on to our guitarist as he's the guy driving this; we're recording again next week. Ultimately, it's down to discipline and the band being on point; using the stuff AW is going through shouldn't be an issue, but you clearly have no place to hide if you screw up and I really fear screw-uppage! Yes, and it's sods law that there will ALWAYS be screw-uppage at some point... usually at the most inconvenient moment possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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