Ableton Forum

This is a bit of a dupe thread but I seem to be failing to ask the right questions.

Has anyone every tried to run a Live set as part of a pedalboard when on stage? Like in a super small box with USB for IO that fits on the pedalboard?

The delicate clutter of a laptop just doesn't seem right on stage, and brings too much brain into the experience of playing music.

Thanks!

Maybe something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6856102054

or this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6856102052

I think it would be a challenge. Firstly you need enough SD storage for Live and whatever stuff you need. Then you will have the limitation of the CPU/Ram speeds which may or may not be an issue depending on what you are doing. But then there is the case of a poor audio interface so you would need to look at an EXT interface to get lower latency. You will need some kind of screen somewhere to see something and by the time you have all these extras and addons just to make it capable you would be better off using a laptop.

No need for a screen, i will Remote Desktop just to troubleshoot. Also I already have an RME UC. I will automate it to load a set at boot, even change sets on midi foot pedal. Just copy the sets over via wifi.

I just bought one with 120GB/4GB and i5 dual core 2.6Ghz. I think this is going to be aesome!

Cool. Let us know how it turns out. Sounds like an interesting project.

jestermgee wrote:Cool. Let us know how it turns out. Sounds like an interesting project.

+1

I bought this one and it should be here soon:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-D54250WYK ... TQ:US:1123

I'm thinking about writing all the pedals and computer up to this 12V 20A power supply:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-20A-240W-Sw ... 3cd0b1f19a

Here are the items on my pedal board, probably typical for a guitar / electro / looper performance:

• - Intel NUC i5 1.3-2.6GHz
  - RME Fireface UCX (basically no latency in Live)
  - Behringer FCB1010 midi foot pedal
  - PG 2 octave pedal - for violin
  - Eden WDTI bass preamp
  - Volume pedal

I think this is and idea that lot of people could benefit from so I'll definitely write about my experiences.

I thought I would give an update on my progress. Parts are ordered, and here are the threads I created:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/geekslu ... s-etc.html
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q ... ower-fails
https://communities.intel.com/message/252427#252427

I ordered:
- Intel NUC i5 dual core (4"x4" w/ SSD)
- 12V switching fanless power supply (to power PC + effect pedals)
- AC switch with LED, C13 outlet
- 5V, 9V voltage regulators + capacitors
- OpenUPS (tiny; safely shuts down PC when unplugged from wall)
- 6 x Li-Ion battery cells for OpenUPS

It wasn't cheap and will take some soldering, but the end result will be a guitar pedalboard that runs Ableton Live without even being able to see the PC. I can't believe no one has tried this before!

More to come...

you should try to get it to run on Windows Embedded!

sounds interesting.... but perhaps a little fraught with potential on-stage problems?

it may have been easier (and probably a little more expensive) to get a macbook air and find a way to mount it underneath the pedal board safely?

We'll see, I've done a lot of system integration work like this professionally, as well as a few personal projects like car PC's (pre-iPod) that have a similar power use case. The PC config itself shouldn't be a problem, including reliability and troubleshooting. I'll be sure to document everything so others can reproduce it too.

Well, the board is finally built (rather involved power supply project) and most of the PC config is done. Lots of Windows automation scripting. So far it looks great, and no line noise! Lessons learned and blog post to come soon. Will post back. Peace

Here is a comprehensive writeup on the completed board! Have fun!

http://vedanamedia.com/2015/01/ableton-pedalboard/