Help using laptop / ableton live 7 for concert?

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Member Since: Jun 20, 2008

Hey, I am relatively new to live electronic music performance and could use some tips!

I am running Live 7 on a Fujitsu t-series laptop with lots of ram. (Music is sid-powered digital punk.)

I have arranged a Live set with all required .wav files, and I intend to run the sound from that to a Presonus Firebox, from which I think I can run an xlr with the stereo signal to a typical "snake" one finds on most stages? Will I need a xlr-to-quarterinch adapter or does a firebox have xlr ins/outs?

I am also wondering if I will be able to insert a virtual instrument track into the LIve performance set, to be controlled by qwerty keyboard, while the set is running live?

And also, I would like to know about potential problems if I want to have a bass guitar running through old-school pedals into a small amp, which will be miked and sent into the mix (totally seperate from digital signal)...feedback etc?

If anybody has insights that would be great!

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Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jun 20, 2008 09:16 pm

Well I'll start with the XLR thing. It is not a stereo connector it is only a balanced mono connection. And the Firebox only has 1/4 inch output's. You will need to run both a left and right output to get the full signal out of the laptop as Live does not supply a mono signal to the outputs of an interface.

Yes, you can run a VSTi synth and play it live as long as you set up Live to use the qwerty keyboard. But be aware it will not be very musical as far as were exactly the notes are. It will take a lot of work to get that working correctly. You can however trigger note sequences which might work better.

Yes, you can mic up a bass and run it through the FOH PA system I am sure, unless the place has a problem with that.

As for the tablet notebook, they are not known for be blazing fast. And to do what you need to do I would hope you have at least 4 gigs of some high speed ram in there or you will suffer from dropout's and possible buffer under run.

Live is not known for being absolutely stable when it comes to running multi track sets at all, or changing anything on the fly. You will experience drop outs and possible crash if you over load it.

The only software I have ever used that ran without problems live are from Cakewalk, Project 5 which knocks Live right out of the picture as far as what it can do. And Sonar can do it as well, but that is not cheap at all. P5 is at a very reasonable price. And it will not dropout at all during performance.

Member
Since: Jun 20, 2008


Jun 20, 2008 10:08 pm

Awesome, thanks Noize!

So would I run the laptop to firebox with Firewire? And then run 2 quarter inch outs from Firebox to xlr adapters to snake?

I only have 2 gigs of ram - and Ill look into Project 5 for sure.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jun 20, 2008 10:31 pm

Yes, the Firebox is a Firewire interface so make sure you have a 6 pin firewire cable and you'll be all good there.

And then yes, run out of the main outputs of the Firebox on the back. Use 1/4" to XLR balanced cables. Make sure they are Balanced cables to insure they are fairly noise free when running in a live environment. You will then have a left and right output to go to 2 channels on the house mixer and you will be good there.

2 gigs of ram may or may not be enough to insure a glitch free performance so I would try running it once through before you go live with it to make certain you are not going to have any issues.

And make absolutely certain you do not have anything else running hidden in the back ground like system operations. Turn off the screen saver and any power saving feature to avoid any bad things happening while running live.

Member
Since: Jun 20, 2008


Jun 20, 2008 11:52 pm

Wicked man, this has been a huge help already.Ill post again once I run through a rehearsal and let you know how things are running!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jun 21, 2008 12:06 am

Hey, its what we are here for. Hope it all works well for ya indeed. Live laptop shows are great when all works well and nothing blips or glitches.

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