Live Performance/Full Set

Hello!

I'm looking for some input on how you would structure a ~1 hour live set of house, choppy, sort of Four Tet style loop jams. Right now, I'm making lots of drum loops, textures, bass lines, etc. I'm also live playing some MIDI loops in, just jamming til I hit a groove and then pressing record.

I use an APC40 Mk1 to launch clips, control track volume, transport control if I need them, and then I have some knobs mapped for effects sends, performance effects etc. I'm then also using an Arturia Minilab Mk1 to play in my MIDI lines, chords, switch active tracks, and press record for when I'm doing the live MIDI loops.

Here's the thing, I'm really running up against some limitations when I want to play for longer than one song. I want different drum sounds, different sets of patterns, different synth presets, etc., when I go to the next song. But just loading another Drambo preset stops the music, which I don't like.

Someone on Reddit suggested putting a bunch of Drambo instances into AUM and then fading one song into the other that way. That sounds pretty good to me, and I haven't set up a whole set like this but I've put in 2-3 songs, and the MIDI mapping can be pretty finicky. I'll hit a button on the APC to open the next Drambo preset and close the first, but then there are always some MIDI mappings in the new instance that have gone unresponsive and need to be remapped, which in some cases is easy but in others is a huge pain.

I'm not super technical, I don't know much about crazy CC and PC routing and channel filtering and all that. I'm down to learn but mostly I just want it to work, and I want to touch the screen as infrequently as possible. I get super sweaty when I'm playing and the iPad screen is a minefield.

Anyway, not looking for handholding, more just inspiration, interesting ideas, resources, pointers, videos, whatever. I've searched high and low on Youtube, this forum, and the audiobus forum and there just aren't a ton of conversations about this specifically.


Thanks!

Comments

  • I'm working with a fairly similar setup, but I'm hosting AUv3s in Drambo so I can't run multiple instances in AUM. I'm using an APC 40 MKII. My approach currently is to have another piece of hardware to do brief noisy interludes between tracks, something that I don't have to switch between songs on as well.

    I've given up on the "full synced dj-style dance set" with Drambo for a few reasons:

    • A number of my projects use enough processing power that they cause the audio to glitch on the iPad when loading. This causes issues even with other apps (say, running loopy and Drambo standalone at once).
    • MIDI pain. Its just really annoying to do mappings and switch between tracks.
    • General setup pain. I spend too much time optimizing setups instead of making music.

    Previously I was looking at using an audio interface with loopback to send the Drambo standalone audio to Loopy Pro on the same device. Loopy could loop Drambo etc. This may work for setups where you are pushing the processing less, but even then I never felt like it was reliable enough in a live context.

    Another option could be to use an iConnectivity Audio 4+ or 4c to use and sync two iPads. You could then run Drambo on both devices, or send the Audio from Drambo on one to Loopy on another, etc etc. Maybe not exactly what you were thinking of, but maybe inspirational. Reminds me of a friend who use to use two Octatracks at once. You could do this without the iConnectivity potentially, using two audio interfaces with MIDI, ableton link, etc.

    All this being said, I'm going with the "noisy interlude" approach because my material is more dance-noise, and my audience/shows are often with folks doing even more noise things. Its totally reasonable in my context to have a break between tracks. Which is great because this is just so much easier. I'm currently trying to decide whether I'm going to use my Analog Four (which I also may sell) or my second older iPad (running either Borderlands/miRack/Drambo).

    Anyways, I hope this brain-dump is useful 😂

  • Btw, I'm planning to eventually upload my template for using the APC 40 with Drambo standalone. It supports lighting up the pad grid and sends the values of the knobs from Drambo to the APC 40 on project load. I'm honestly ignoring parts of my APC 40 but its enough for my needs.

  • Along the same lines.


    I have a two iPad setup.

    One is a 9.7" pro which I use as a sound module and an Air3 which I use for heavy lifting.

    The Air 3 hosts Loopy Pro and has at minimum 16 loops at the ready,

    I have tried 25 loops and it's been pretty stable.

    If you don't have Ableton set to stop/start you can easily load

    one project up on one machine, perform it and gradually bring up the other project on the second iPad.

    This way you can close a cpu heavy intensive project without audible glitches for the audience.

  • I’m still to get to the point of trying to string a set together as I haven’t performed with Drambo yet but there’s been requests for that kind of stuff in loopy pro where I currently host Drambo. There is a set list feature in loopy pro but I haven’t explored it yet

    You could also get a kaoss pad and use it for transitions.

  • From Loopy Pro


  • edited February 2023

    I've seen people create huge setlists in one loooong session view in Ableton.

    Since it's no problem to launch patterns from anywhere in the set "timeline" and mix clips from different patterns during playback, in Drambo's clip launcher, that's a good start.

    A key element for me has been the Instrument Rack with its preset select buttons. They're not MIDI mappable yet but whatever sits inside will be switchable, including Flexis with certain loops loaded. It might even be an option to hold all loops inside e.g. two Instrument Racks working complementarily so there's always something playing while you switch the loops in the other rack. Scene X-Fade might come in handy.

    If your iDevice has enough memory, you might just hold all loops for the whole set in one project.

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