The building of a liveset is both an art and a science. Artists can see sounds as colors, shapes, textures, emotions. The artist takes all the building blocks that make up their liveset- melodies, rhythms, basslines- and builds them into something greater than the sum of its parts.
But what does it take for this building process to happen? What makes one producer’s sound so different from another’s? And how do they know when their liveset is finished? We spoke with six producers about their creative processes behind building a liveset.
In interviews with these artists, they share their insights on how they build their livesets. They also mention what is important to them when building a set and the ways in which they prefer to create.
I’m Rufes Live and I’ve been producing techno music since 1996. In the first 14 years I founded a techno live act (“AG Stromstärke”) with my best friends and played live in many clubs and open airs all over Germany. I regularly publish new live sessions on my YouTube channel.
My sets are all very different, and vary between Deep Techno and Club Techno. My channel should inspire to work with hardware equipment and spread a good mood.
My motto is: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. Because only we, as artists, can limit or free ourselves.
My approach to how and with which equipment I work in my next performance depends on the musical direction. Every hardware synth or sampler has its strengths, its own way of working and its own sound character, which significantly influences the session.
Even if I work a lot with Elektron hardware, each device has something very special. It is important for me to have a relatively clear idea of the topic beforehand. So which direction I want to try out in my session. So e.g. club techno or a deep techno session. That helps me with the selection of the devices and gives me a central theme for my performance.
I use a Mackie digital mixer (DL1608) because it has very good EQs and compressors. All hardware devices go into this mixer with the master out and the sum is a completely mastered signal. EQing the individual channels is extremely important! All devices are connected via MIDI.
Rufes’s Philosophy In Liveset Building
I think the most important thing is to give yourself completely to the music. To become one with the machines, so to speak, and to merge. The better I know my equipment, the better I can let it flow. I have an idea beforehand which direction the session should have, but never an idea of my tracks. Until the point in time when the tracks are created.
That gives me the freedom to just let it flow and to be an observer at the same time. And in this flow state I see what story the track wants to tell me. I am following this story and working it out. This is so important to me because the live performance has to tell a story. Because only the story reaches the listener.
Rufes’s Advices for New Liveset Performers
I would say less is more. So it’s better to start with less equipment until you can operate it 100%. And that also helps to better explore the sound potential of his synthesizers and samplers. Too much equipment can also block, that’s my experience, especially in the beginning. And don’t forget: ENJOY MUSIC AND TRY NEW THINGS. 🙂 A deep passion for music can unleash incredible potential in artists.
Jason Adams is a sound engineer and artist based in Los Angeles, CA, where he has been an active part of the music scene for nearly a decade. He performs as Rumori and as part of the Danketsu 10 ensemble. He also runs the long-running concert series Late Breakfast, dedicated to promoting experimental music and art.
I believe live performances should embrace the “live” aspect. Each show should contain things that can never be recreated in precisely the same way, some component that makes it worth coming to see you perform instead of listening to your recordings.
If playing a synth, drum machine, or other instrument doesn’t make sense for your music, find a tactile way to manipulate certain parameters, whether those are notes, effects, or rhythmic elements. Dub mixing, where you control volume and FX sends for your tracks and stems, can unlock a lot of fun possibilities for a live show and give you a way to use familiar elements to create something totally unique.
No matter how you incorporate performance, you’ll need to figure out how to make all the hardware & software in your set communicate with each other. Paying attention to what is sending or receiving clocking information and audio signal through what protocols is crucial.
For that reason, I find it helpful to limit the amount of gear (or software, or plugins) that you’re using as much as possible. The more elements involved, the more places where something can go wrong. Maximize the possibilities of each piece of equipment before adding more boxes or processing to your set. A minimal setup will save you countless headaches, reduce your load-in and strike time, and it will ultimately make you a better artist.
The first thing I consider when building a live set is what gear would I like to perform with for that occasion. Is it going to be a super involved six synth orchestra, or a more laid back groove box setup? I recommend choosing gear that you are experienced with. This builds confidence and ensures that you have immediate control over your setup.
A typical live setup for me would contain: a monophonic bass synth, a polyphonic lead, a monophonic voice playing a counter rhythm, a drum machine, a small performance mixer and perhaps some outboard effects. Every voice is tempo synced through MIDI with the drum machine acting as the master clock.
Essvus combines elements of noise, ambience, and drone in experimental electronic and electroacoustic music that channels avant-garde strains of rock.
Under this name, Gen Morigami explores musical influences such as UK techno, the LA beat scene, no wave, and academic music. Psychological, philosophical, and personal thoughts and experiences often inform the semantic content of his work, including topics such as trauma and therapy.
The tips I have regarding live sets are pretty straightforward—rehearse, know your gear, rehearse again, figure out the logistics of how you’re getting your gear to the venue and back, speak with other people involved beforehand regarding anything that needs to be arranged, make sure you help promote the show properly (although that should not just fall on the shoulders of the performers themselves), prepare for any last minute problems, hold your cool on stage, and make sure you get paid (if it’s a paid gig), etc. And make this a system that you can regularly do.
I think it’s best not to just have Ableton Live open with one MIDI controller, playing through pre-made clips and loops one after another, because it’s not that engaging. As an electronic music producer, you have to go out of your way to make your music translate to a live setting (unless it’s composed specifically for live performance), and I think a useful way to do that is to break your music down to its component parts, and see how they work in tandem—see why each part works, how they can be rearranged or improvised, and so on.
Balancing this with your own physical dexterity (eg. Can you play instruments? Finger drum? Sing?), you can hit on a personalized system that works for you and your music specifically. Of course, if you can DJ, you can just DJ—nothing really wrong with that.
One thing I would suggest in general is to not have a live set too reliant on lots of plugins/software on your laptop. That’s one way to have your plugins overload the CPU or something happen to the computer, preventing you from performing due to technical issues.
One way to avoid one piece of gear failing and ruining your live set completely is to have multiple pieces of gear running in tandem, but then you have to work out the logistics of running all that as well as transporting them to and from the venue (not to mention the cost of all that gear!).
For visuals, a handy tip I heard from my friend Ben (on Instagram as @saxofshaolin) is that you can just stream/loop long videos or movies from a projector (assuming you or the venue has one and the necessary cables, computers, etc.; again, figure this out beforehand!) that fits the aesthetic of your music.
It’s a quick and dirty way to get visuals if you haven’t prepared more complex solutions, and your live show is just days or even hours away. Another idea is to network beforehand and find a visual artist in your area who can work with your aesthetics and project something for you while you play.
Richard Paske is a musician, multi-mediator and writer born in Minneapolis and living in Los Angeles since 2004. Since the 1970s he has performed his music around the world – Los Angeles, New York City, London, Paris, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. One week before lockdown in March, 2020 he performed his 4-part AnnArbor73 inspired by Sun Ra at Live House Hollywood.
His music videos were on display throughout 2019 at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art in downtown Los Angeles. His music – both acoustic and electronic – is available on Spotify and his music videos are on Instagram and YouTube. Derivative modulations of his music videos are available as NFTs on OpenSea. His podcast Notes from the Western Edge featuring profiles and interviews with dozens of visionary musicians is on Spotify.
It might seem strange to begin an essay on building a setup for live musicvideo performance by talking about stands, shelves, and tables but that’s what I’m going to do. As a performer, there’s nothing more important than the physical setup of my instruments. If I can’t play comfortably, my performance is going to suffer.
My performance system has come together in stages and has morphed over the years as my music has changed. The bedrock of my system, the one thing that hasn’t changed is my keyboard stand. It’s a rock solid Quik Lok On-Stage Heavy-Duty T-stand and I couldn’t live without it. Two shelves attached to the stand hold my two laptops – one for Ableton Live, one for Resolume. The Resolume shelf used to hold my audio mixer before I got into audiovisual performance in which I control both the music and the video. So now where is my mixer going to go?
I searched long and hard for a small foldable table that could sit next to my keyboard stand at just the right height so that on the gig I can reach analog audio controls immediately if need be. It had to be compact, too, for transporting in the car to and from gigs. Target had just what I needed – an inexpensive PDG adjustable table. Problem solved.
So now for the tech part: two identical Acer Predator Helios 500 laptops, Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 interface, NI Komplete Kontrol S61 keyboard, DJ Tech Tools MIDI Fighter (what a strange name!) 16-knob MIDI controller, two Yamaha FC7 foot pedals (super heavy duty!), ancient Sequential Circuits PS 100 foot switch (love the feel! I think Fatar makes these now), MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller to deliver one of the Yamaha pedals to the S61 via MIDI because the other two pedal inputs on the S61 are already taken.
I carry a paper copy of my system setup connections to each gig as well as having digital copies on my phone, on my laptops, and online (redundancy!). Lots of connections to remember and in the heat of the moment having easy-to-follow setup instructions allows me to start each gig on time and in a state of relaxation. On to the music!
When preparing tracks for my live set, I usually start by playing a bass line or melodic pattern into Ableton Live first. This helps me identify the main idea of the track and gives me room to build other elements from there like percussion or counter rhythms.
When I have an arrangement I like, I’ll save the patches to a user preset slot inside of each synth. I’ll repeat this process until I have enough tracks to play during my performance slot.
Although some of these tips relate specifically to my individual setup, they can be implemented for a variety of different setups. I hope my live setup philosophy has given you some ideas when constructing your own live set!
BURG (Jouni Ollila) hailing from Sweden/Europe. I started out my musical career in the late 80s co-founding the pioneers of modern EBM and industrial music, Pouppée Fabrikk and mz.412. I have a long and winding back catalogue in the electronic music scene both as an artist, producer, mixer and mastering engineer.
The project BURG was born when moving to Malaysia in 2011 from Europe. It started out as a one man project which evolved into building soundscapes around live analogue synths and electronic instruments, tweaking everything live. In 2013 I started documenting these live sessions on video which all can be found on my youtube channel today.
I have been back in Europe / Sweden since 2019, currently working on a new album release which is expected to come out early 2022.
When It comes to building a liveset, I will first figure out what gears to bring. This depends solely on the location of the venue and how am I going to travel there and the type of music to be performed. For me there are two weight levels. The lighter commuting setup (train, bus and/or flight) or the drive with car setup (only in home country).
I have a set of flight cases that are suitable for hauling gear in various sizes … so having dedicated cases are very important, esp if you are expected to check instruments in on a flight ( pretty scary ) And remember, be smart about the weight as you also need to bring your own stuff, like clothes and toothbrush 🙂
Based on the size of the gear selection, I will build that setup in my studio (like it would look in the DJ booth and/or stage) and start writing a liveset with those instruments only. I don’t have anything saved from when I have made my previous tracks, so I normally just resort to making remixes with completely new sounds. I have found that this helps to make the renditions fresh and not feel like boring carbon copies of the songs.
Key for writing and also selecting the tracks is the style of venue and expected crowd. Are they there to see me, or am I just a warming up act? Is it a DJ setting and/or a live stage … if DJ setting I try and adapt as much as possible my live set to allow smooth transitions. If it’s on a live stage, festival venue I can be more flexible with adlibs and ambient gaps if needed. On a dancefloor I would ensure bpm matching and also be more cautious when I write/select music to ensure that matches the theme of the evening.
If possible, I will bring a compressor/limiter with me to help normalize the sound a bit. For example if you play together with DJs, they will always be louder than you. So having a limiter and/or compressor at hand is important so that the energy of the floor does not get lost just because you have a poorly mastered soundstage.
I try to use the same kick, and lowend bass on all tracks (where applicable ) so I can quickly tune them during soundcheck. The kick and lowend will most definitely sound completely different on the venue in comparison with your home speakers. For me it is important to be able to quickly adjust this, and not having to go into 10 separate tracks and change for every new tune. This will help to keep the focus on the performance.
Once you have a clear view on the track selection start working on making the transitions between tracks, and rehearse the gig, several times. Pro tip is to record the set, with video if possible too to help get an idea of where things sound good and where things get boring.
In general, I prefer the less is more approach. I try and not overlap too many sounds. Make space for the sounds and use the gaps to build tension… also the less sounds you use, the easier it will be to create variations in your set.
Burg’s Philosophy In Building A Liveset
If the crowd is there to see me, I will do 100% of my own stuff with all the artistic creativity with no limitations to what I will allow myself to do and/or play on the set. However if i am playing back to back with a DJ and/or in the middle of a lineup i will adapt my song choices to match the theme of the night and the music my peers will be playing.
Important note, the crowd will notice you when you have fun. So ensure to let go and have as much fun as possible, just staring into an instrument is not always the best thing to do. Ensure to plan your tracks and sound selections to leave space for improvisations.
For this you can use randomisation, conditional trigger and such on percussion, arpeggios and sequences to buy yourself time .. eg things need to stay interesting even if you decide to jam something and/or do sound design.. or simply if you get lost, when the music plays it needs to have some organic movements. Try and stay away from 16 bar loops only, unless this is your musical style of-course.
I always try to listen to the main theme in each song and make sure that it has energy. If you can loop the main theme for several minutes, this means that it has what it needs to keep the crowd engaged.
Burg’s Advices for Music Producer Who Is New to Liveset Building
Build space, a lot of space. Time moves much slower on the dancefloor, take your time, don’t rush transitions and song changes. Also, remember these are just my personal opinions. Most important is to do your own stuff, and be 100% yourself, as this is in the end what people want to see!
To Wrap Up
Hopefully this article has given you new ideas on building your liveset so you can start creating better tracks! If you want help with any other aspects of your track or business, let us know. We are always ready and waiting to partner up with people who love what they do just as much as we do. Which of the following did YOU find most helpful? Tell us in the comment section!
