What do I need to play ableton live

[ryanoliver]

Hi. So next month i'm doing my first gig and i'm a little inexperienced with combining my ableton project and live vocals. I need to sort out with the promoter what backline I will need; i'm going to be using a midi keyboard connected through to ableton which is playing a session and using a microphone to sing live.

Also, I've heard people say it's better to play the microphone as well through ableton as appose to playing the mic by itself.

If anyone can help me that would be great. I need to know all the wires, equipment and how everything goes together.

[marlonzuri]

Hi. So next month i'm doing my first gig and i'm a little inexperienced with combining my ableton project and live vocals. I need to sort out with the promoter what backline I will need; i'm going to be using a midi keyboard connected through to ableton which is playing a session and using a microphone to sing live.

Also, I've heard people say it's better to play the microphone as well through ableton as appose to playing the mic by itself.

If anyone can help me that would be great. I need to know all the wires, equipment and how everything goes together.

I've seen this kind of question posted a dozen times on this forum, but ill help anyway (just do a bit more research next time?)

First thing you will need is an Audio interface (I'm going to assume you already have this), which you will then need to connect to a (4 (or more) channel) mixer with a TRS Jack cable, some mixers come with a plug, others you'll need a kettle lead to power them (check what you're buying).

After this you're going to want to get (two) PA speakers, for that you're going to need (two) speaker stands, 2 XLR's and 2 Kettle leads.

For the mic, you want to make sure its a dynamic mic (just get the shure SM58 like everyone else if you don't already own one), a mic stand and an XLR Cable.

Now with regards to monitors, you have two options. Option A is to run the sound through your headphones which is easy when you have an audio interface setup. Option B is to buy stage PA monitors, this is more expensive and requires some more setup, if you choose to take this route you will need a Jack to Jack cable and a kettle lead.

Your keyboard will be plugged into your audio interface so no issues there.

With regards to where you want to play your mic through, if you play it through Ableton it will sound better however there is a higher risk of something failing and not working, if you just run it through the mixer it will sound lower quality however there's almost guaranteed to work.

Anyway that's basically the bare minimum for what you need for what you're doing, anything else is a luxury. Ill make a kit list of everything down below.

- Audio interface
- TRS jack cable
- Mixer
- 2x PA Speakers
- (Dynamic) microphone
- 3x XLR cables
- Keyboard
- 2 (or) 3 Kettle leads
- (headphones)
- (PA Monitor which also needs: Jack to Jack cable and Kettle lead)
- 2x Speaker Stands
- 1x Mic stand

If you have any questions about what specific speakers or monitors you should get, you need to be a bit more specific on the venue you are working with. Any other questions let me know.

If I missed anything, someone please point it out, I'm writing this while puling an all nighter...