The best way to route Live on stage?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
tehJESSEH
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The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by tehJESSEH » Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:38 am

Hey guys,
I'm new to Live, and I'm extremely, extremely sorry if this is an overasked question. I swear I did my research, but I couldn't find the right words to ask my question, so I found no answer.

I want to start utilizing Live on stage. Right now, I'm getting sound from Live by using my laptop's audio out line jack, going to a stereo channel on my mixer. I want to route mics and other instruments through Live, but the problem is I don't have another mixer or audio interface to connect to Live with. So now I'm stuck with connecting my laptop directly to my speakers (via the line out jack), and then connecting my mixer to my laptop through the audio in jack (in order to route mics through Live).

Now, my question is this: what is the best way to get audio from Live on stage? I can solve the mic and instrument routing problems (I think), but I want to know the best sounding way to use Live as an instrument. Is the line out jack the only way, or can I use another piece of hardware?

If you guys could give some examples of how you route Live, that would be greatly appreciated!

- Jesse

8O
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by 8O » Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:04 am

Most people use an external soundcard, connected via USB or firewire to their laptop, then the audio runs from the soundcard to the stage mixer.
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synnack
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by synnack » Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:26 pm

As 8O said, you are pretty much going to need an external sound card.

I use a MOTU Ultralite, for example, giving me many possible routings to get mics in and through Live on stage.

There are other, cheaper options.

http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite-mk3/
MBP | Live 9 Suite | Max for Live | Push | MOTU Ultralite | iPad | Analog Modular Synths | Moog Voyager
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vicz
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by vicz » Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:33 pm

There are other, cheaper options.
such as http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffi ... re_pro_24/

sunaivod
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by sunaivod » Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:43 pm

vicz wrote:
There are other, cheaper options.
such as http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffi ... re_pro_24/
It's good.

LeifonMars
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by LeifonMars » Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:53 pm

What people above suggested is good and everything, but as I understood you want to do some real time fx'ing on stage, right? In that case, you need an ultra low latency sound card such as this: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php.
MBP OSX 10.6.8, Live 8.4, MFII, Evolver, Monomachine, Octatrack, APC40, Launchpad

synnack
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by synnack » Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:02 pm

LeifonMars wrote:What people above suggested is good and everything, but as I understood you want to do some real time fx'ing on stage, right? In that case, you need an ultra low latency sound card such as this: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php.
How is this different than what we've said? You're just recommending a different brand but it's the same recommendation.

Bottom line to the poster is he/she needs a good external sound card with many in/out.
MBP | Live 9 Suite | Max for Live | Push | MOTU Ultralite | iPad | Analog Modular Synths | Moog Voyager
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LeifonMars
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by LeifonMars » Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:06 pm

tempus3r wrote:
LeifonMars wrote:What people above suggested is good and everything, but as I understood you want to do some real time fx'ing on stage, right? In that case, you need an ultra low latency sound card such as this: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php.
How is this different than what we've said? You're just recommending a different brand but it's the same recommendation.

Bottom line to the poster is he/she needs a good external sound card with many in/out.
Latency. I doubt Motu Ultralite can get it down enough (could be wrong though, had my latest experience on Motu Ultralite few years back, don't know about current drivers).
MBP OSX 10.6.8, Live 8.4, MFII, Evolver, Monomachine, Octatrack, APC40, Launchpad

Atomikat
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by Atomikat » Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:18 am

+1 for the RME's :wink:

synnack
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by synnack » Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:46 am

LeifonMars wrote:
tempus3r wrote:
LeifonMars wrote:What people above suggested is good and everything, but as I understood you want to do some real time fx'ing on stage, right? In that case, you need an ultra low latency sound card such as this: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php.
How is this different than what we've said? You're just recommending a different brand but it's the same recommendation.

Bottom line to the poster is he/she needs a good external sound card with many in/out.
Latency. I doubt Motu Ultralite can get it down enough (could be wrong though, had my latest experience on Motu Ultralite few years back, don't know about current drivers).
I route tons of shit through the MOTU in real time. No noticeable latency.
MBP | Live 9 Suite | Max for Live | Push | MOTU Ultralite | iPad | Analog Modular Synths | Moog Voyager
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LeifonMars
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by LeifonMars » Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:39 am

tempus3r wrote: I route tons of shit through the MOTU in real time. No noticeable latency.
Okay, do you actually route stuff that's been played live (eg. guitars, drums, vox)? Does your output contain only wet signal, or do you mix the wet signal with dry? (I'm genuinely interested)
MBP OSX 10.6.8, Live 8.4, MFII, Evolver, Monomachine, Octatrack, APC40, Launchpad

vicz
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by vicz » Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:30 pm

LeifonMars wrote:What people above suggested is good and everything, but as I understood you want to do some real time fx'ing on stage, right? In that case, you need an ultra low latency sound card such as this: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php.
You don't need to spend $1000 on a soundcard to play a Live set or a softsynth on stage.

synnack
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by synnack » Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:38 pm

LeifonMars wrote:
tempus3r wrote: I route tons of shit through the MOTU in real time. No noticeable latency.
Okay, do you actually route stuff that's been played live (eg. guitars, drums, vox)? Does your output contain only wet signal, or do you mix the wet signal with dry? (I'm genuinely interested)
I have used the Ultralite to effect vocals and guitar live along with music sequenced in ableton. Noticeable latency would have been a problem but I could not detect any.
MBP | Live 9 Suite | Max for Live | Push | MOTU Ultralite | iPad | Analog Modular Synths | Moog Voyager
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LeifonMars
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by LeifonMars » Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:52 pm

tempus3r wrote:I have used the Ultralite to effect vocals and guitar live along with music sequenced in ableton.
I do that too all the time, but the only way I could get rid of the noticeable latency, was with RME's MFII and HDSPe ExpressCard system (safe amount of buffer for live shows gives me under 8ms roundtrip latency according to Lives preference) and I've tried with a number of firewire interfaces (Motu Ultralite among them). But then again, I'm talking about purely wet signal, I'm not mixing any dry signal straight from audio interfaces preamps on top of that.
MBP OSX 10.6.8, Live 8.4, MFII, Evolver, Monomachine, Octatrack, APC40, Launchpad

LeifonMars
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Re: The best way to route Live on stage?

Post by LeifonMars » Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:53 pm

vicz wrote:
LeifonMars wrote:What people above suggested is good and everything, but as I understood you want to do some real time fx'ing on stage, right? In that case, you need an ultra low latency sound card such as this: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php.
You don't need to spend $1000 on a soundcard to play a Live set or a softsynth on stage.
Read the OPs post.
MBP OSX 10.6.8, Live 8.4, MFII, Evolver, Monomachine, Octatrack, APC40, Launchpad

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