Producer to Live Setup Questions
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  1. #1
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    Default Producer to Live Setup Questions

    I've been a bedroom DJ for quite awhile but due to some unfortunate prior financial issues my setup has been reduced to the following..(just starting to rebuild my equipment)

    Ableton 9 Live + Max
    Electric Guitar with Line6 pod
    2 basic midi keyboards
    Massive
    Sylenth1
    Various other VST synths and FX
    FM8
    Sony Sound Forge
    FL 10 (but don't use it much)

    I've always made my own tracks via synthesis or samples/patches/etc.. I try to make my mixes as unique as possible but recently I've had the desire to make some podcasts, mixes, remixes, etc. I want to play live, but not at events/clubs/etc.. just me and my equipment in 1 take.

    My question is this, what software/hardware would you guys recommend for making this shift from 100% production to live mixing?

    DJ Savage | www.djsavage.com

  2. #2
    Tech Guru William Gibson's Avatar
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    Live + a controller?

    If you already produce in live and have it, might as well DJ out of it. This will give you the most control over your self produced tunes as well.

  3. #3
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    that's a good point, i've thought about that.. I just want to make sure that If I say that I mixed it that i'm actually mixing it.. I don't want to arrange it prior .. cause i could chop up a setlist and do some killer fades/transitions using the arrangement view.. but I'd like to start out with a clean slate and then drop songs in, mix on the fly. what controller would you recommend?

  4. #4
    Tech Guru William Gibson's Avatar
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    What you described is exactly what I do. I have Live open and a browser window. I drop tracks in on the fly just like any DJ would.

    As for controller, the sky is the limit. Im a gear whore so I have a lot. I mix in ableton with a Midifighter pro, a VCM 100, APC40, ohmRGB, etc. All depends where Im at and what im looking to do.

    My all time favorite is an APC40 with Illgates template and my OhmRGB with Will Marshall Template.

  5. #5
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    Thanks for sharing William, I wish half of this stuff was around when I was a teenager, I would have soaked it all in so much faster. So when doing transitions/fades/builds/etc.. how do you go about that in live? do you set up pre-done fx and trigger them? and what do you use for crossfading? Also how do you Cue up the next track, can you monitor 2 different sound sources in live?

    A lot of questions I know but I'm juts anxious to try my hand at it.

  6. #6
    Tech Guru William Gibson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thedjsavage View Post
    Thanks for sharing William, I wish half of this stuff was around when I was a teenager, I would have soaked it all in so much faster. So when doing transitions/fades/builds/etc.. how do you go about that in live? do you set up pre-done fx and trigger them? and what do you use for crossfading? Also how do you Cue up the next track, can you monitor 2 different sound sources in live?

    A lot of questions I know but I'm juts anxious to try my hand at it.
    I started off simple. 2 audio track with a beat repeat, HPF, LPF and EQ3 on each channel and then a limiter on the master. I have a focusrite soudcard hooked up for cueing. Just route the channels accordingly in Live and then you can cue your different tracks. As for your question on "doing transitions/fades/builds/etc.." Well, that's basically asking me how YOU should DJ... Find your style. For crossfading I always use line faders. The crossfaders on all my templates are mapped to something other then the Live crossfader. Again, thats just how I like to do it. There is no right or wrong way. Live is so powerful and flexible you can really set it any way you like.

    Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

    If your set on using Live, I would start looking at controllers that fit your style. You can get 2 channel style controllers, 4 channel, or multiple channel like the APC40 or Vestax VCM600.

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