#1 Rule when Playing Live? Nice and Easy
I had an acoustic live set epiphany this morning.
Obviously it’s going to be me and an acoustic guitar, because it’s being billed as an acoustic set by me.
I have the Fender Highway dreadnought, and I love it. The battery-powered preamp is good. In a pinch, I can plug straight into a mixer. I can also plug straight into something like the MPC to record.
For the gig, I’ll use a DI, because it’s always better to plug into the floor. For reasons I don’t fully understand, DI even with a preamp is better. Something about impedance and the like. The part I don’t totally understand is what happens when there’s already a preamp in the guitar.
Anyway.
I’m going to run with this and the MPC.
I was originally thinking maybe I’d make one drum set for each track, but now I think I’m just going to make one project/ one kit for the whole gig.
I'll sample my TT-78, which is the Cyclone Analogic clone of the classic Roland CR-78 drum machine. Then I’ll have two synths running in pentatonic mode, and I can switch between major and minor.
That way, I can get the tempo right, get in key, get a little arp or pattern going, and then I’m off to the races. If I find something I like, I can just make that a scene; the scene is whatever song.
I think that’s the way to do it.
I know the Jura synth and the Iona synth well enough to adjust them on the fly. Or maybe there’s a keygroup synth. I just made a Minitaur keygroup that I really like. But the main thing is to keep it nice and easy. Add something cool, but not too much.
And if I need to grab a few essential samples--but only if they are essential, I’ve got seven other banks within the one drum kit. So this can be its own thing for this set. Made for this gig only.
That feels much easier than stressing out about preparing all these samples and stems for 40 songs. If I come across something awesome, great. If I don’t? Fine.
And rehearsing that way seems much easier than trying to build some giant pre-planned sample and stem setup.
It also avoids sounding anything like/ looking like the old dude in the fedora playing full backing tracks off an iPad, which is my mortal fear.
This is not that. Every show and song will be its own thing for that specific performance--and it's actually easier. Chill: acoustic guitar with some table beats and a little groove. A guy playing songs, with some sort of small machine next to him.
We’ll see how it works in rehearsal. Will report back.