so.... i finally have about 16-18 set now that' i've decently happy with. Currently, i'm borrowing a friends laptop with ableton but I don't know how i feel about this. I really think a 404, 303, and a dj mixer would be fucking awesome, or trading /selling my iMac for a laptop... i cannot decide.

so, does anybody else play live? tips? suggestions? i've played live hundreds of times with bands... but this is a whole new ballgame.

i know how you feel man. i came from a funk/jazz band background and i got used to playing alot of shows. but there are a few problems i have come across with live electronic music

1. not enough control

2. margin for error

3. too much control (starting from scratch can take too long for the audience to care about it)

i played in boston at a party with a sp555 and kp3 using the loop captures on all of them, it worked pretty well but the neighbors complained within 20 minutes (we were on the roof).

but i think the key would be to have an equally versed side kick who can help you build loops or trigger sequences. easier said than done.

ableton live requires A LOT of midi in order to be used live youd be better off with your sp combo running pre made loops from each. then swap cards if you need to. planning would be the key, make sure everything is beatmatched beforehand etc.

yeah... i'm sitting here fucking with ableton.... and it's not for me. the sp seems to be the best route... i just need to find another sp. i've got some gear that i just might have to sell.... plasma to sell... and some ramen to ration.

Just imagine yourself as an audience member then imagine what you'd like to see/hear. The SP is great live. Try hooking up with a vocalist or another player, that helps a lot. Check out videos by Flying Lotus and Exile.

i've done live sets at parties using all hardware, and also played at more 'arty' performances, responding to dancers/painters/poets and improvising

both styles are great for their own reasons, and neither required a laptop. i am thinking of getting a lappy for more complex dance-oriented sets though. for the 'arty' performances i had microphones going into the SP to twist effects on movement noises, doing 'grab' echoes on poet's voices etc, good fun but not as 'musical' as just jamming out some joints you've arranged

for folks with SPs, here's one way to jam your tracks using them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYWZVCAo ... annel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ow_rbah ... annel_page

^ this is how i began 'playing' the SP last year, i've got some new techniques now involving a more gear in a MIDI-rig, videos coming soon

this morning i've been jamming with the 303, cutting loops from shit i've already recorded and it's been going really well. i def. need 1 more sampler but hell... i'll have most of my set mapped out by then.

im currently messing with a 404 and a 1200 thru a mixer. if i could find a way to throw the 1200 into the mixer and the 404- id be set!

I've got my hardware mostly together again,

started working on a set today to hopefully be plying out by october/novemberish

yamaha RM1X + waldorf Blofeld + KP3 + a delay and a reverb pedal... I'll need some kind of mixer eventually but for now I'm using a DJ mixer.

YO!!!!!!!

How's the Blofeld?

I love it!

If you're after analogue style sounds, its not really what you would want...

Its very crisp, precise, kind of 'crystalline'.. The pads are wonderful.
It suits me perfectly, because I'm going for a pretty futuristic and 'crisp' kind of sound. ..

Once the sampling upgrade comes out for it, it's going to be an absolute monster!! - I'm just imagining being able to run all sorts of things through the whole synth process. .

The character on the whole..compared to traditional analogue/virtual analogues (in my imagined visualisation) is something...

kind of like comparing an oil painting to a really great piece of digital art on a HD LCD... if that makes any sense at all.

I'm planning on buying a moogerfooger filter pedal to run it through, which should take it from 'digital art on HD LCD' to something along the lines of "Digitally altered macro-lens photograph" - still having a kind of digital feel to it, but a bit more 'real'. . ermmm.. something like that

my brain is so messed up!

As far as interface and editing and stuff goes - its really easy, I've only glanced at the manual a few times, the editing matrix is really well laid out and the parts that arent on the matrix are very easy to get to/find.

Virtually zero menu diving, the things that arent on the matrix are the sort of things you set once and dont touch after, and they're only a few turns of a knob away.

^ let us know when that set is ready, hopefully we'll have some gigs happening here in Melbs 'round then

also, how much did that Blofeld cost ya?... sounds real nice. my MC-09 is WAY too geared towards acid and harsh tones

I got it for about $750 incl. shipping, from a german store on ebay.. was the cheapest place I could find.. waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive was rather annoying though!

yup..that´s us germans...always cheap but lazy as hell