Ableton Forum

My stage set can run with the laptop lid down, so where does everyone else hide or otherwise hold your laptop when using a pedalboard? Seems like a logical place for improvement.

I tend to go with under the floorboards, but in the rare case that the boards don't come up easily I'll settle for the classic "inside the air vent" technique. If no air vents are available, consider hiding it in a hollowed-out watermelon. Like, "No worries guys... no computers here. Oh you want some of this watermelon? Um... I don't really have enough to go around, and once I give watermelon to one guy.. you know it's just.. uh.. you know how it is."

infernal.machine wrote:I tend to go with under the floorboards, but in the rare case that the boards don't come up easily I'll settle for the classic "inside the air vent" technique. If no air vents are available, consider hiding it in a hollowed-out watermelon. Like, "No worries guys... no computers here. Oh you want some of this watermelon? Um... I don't really have enough to go around, and once I give watermelon to one guy.. you know it's just.. uh.. you know how it is."

That is hilarious. I wish there was an acronym to say that I am *actually* laughing out loud.

Hide?! Are you crazy!
The white Apple logo is the only thing my show has going for it...

I typically disguise mine as a slab of aluminum on top of my crane stand, I don't think anyone has caught on yet.

I guess I should have used a different word than "hide". I'm more looking for a device like a fold-up magazine holder or dorm thing to "hold" it somehwere so it won't get damaged but it also isn't a central focus of the gear. I have a power supply and USB and audio interface in the pedal board so I'm also trying to minimize setup and teardpwn times. I worked hard with M4L to move all the interface stuff I need into Push so I'm not fiddling with the computer and now I just want to focus on the music.

See also:

^ oh that's pure fucking genius right there!


running with it anyway: you could get a guitar body with 24 pots and a monitor on the back.

TomViolenz wrote:Hide?! Are you crazy!
The white Apple logo is the only thing my show has going for it...

A couple of months of work and I have finished building an Ableton Pedalboard. It's an Ableton Live-Powered pedalboard that just has an on-off switch. Throw it on the stage, turn it on, play set 1, play set 2, unplug and take home. Works great!

Complete write-up is here: http://vedanamedia.com/2015/01/ableton-pedalboard/

On the stage in the dark behind my screens. Audio and video laptops on lower left.

what's wrong with using a laptop? Why hide the fact you are?

I truly don't get the whole hide the laptop, don't look at the screen aesthetic?
I don't work with computers at the day job though, and I don't give a fuck what rock bands think of the laptop thing.
I've played in plenty of straightforward bass, guitar, drums, outfits and it doesn't matter that much.

Seriously though, if you hate the laptop thing that much there's plenty of hardware synths and samplers out there, why pretend you're playing them?