Live set struggle

jellek · Post by **jellek** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:36 pm

Hello,

Lately i've been busy again with my liveset,

The only problem is that, when narrowing down the total tracks from about 20 audio and midi to 8 audio tracks (kick, bass, perc, synths etc), I never get the same 'fat' sounding sound as in the original form, with using sends/returns, and maybe some slight fx on the master channel of the original song.

Basically I have to re master the song into 8 channels, but like I said, it doesn't come close to the sound of the original song. What I do is render all tracks as aif files, load it up in a new .als, and then narrow it down to 8 tracks. Most of the time it also sounds very dull, missing a lot of midrange and highs.

Does anybody have some tips or ideas on how to get a better result on the liveset version of the song? If it's just a clear case of leveling/mastering, then I'll probably have to stick more time in that...

Thanks in advance!

Jellek.

laird · Post by **laird** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:28 pm

if your monitoring system isn't very good at producing bass freqs, you might be turning up the volume to compensate. meaning you have more bass frequencies than you hear/think.

So cut the bass with some EQ before you render/bounce.

Still, it ain't always an easy thing, getting a bounced audio file to sound just like it does.

mr.adl · Post by **mr.adl** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:02 pm

Have a look at this Video from Tom Cosm, he explains very nice how to go from Studio to Liveact:
http://www.cosm.co.nz/index.php?option= ... &Itemid=94

Jekblad · Post by **Jekblad** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 2:41 am

the other thing would be to make sure you route your returns into the bounced tracks as well. that way you get the sound of their effects.

if you have a bunch of things going into the return, it can be hard to decide which bus to put it on, but that's life i guess

CHARLIE! · Post by **CHARLIE!** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:50 am

I just went through this whole process.

The way I got the best results was putting sounds into categories then soloing those tracks and recording the master of those tracks.

That way it should sound more like your recording when you play it out.

I just did my show friday with great results using this method.

Then I throw a DJ eq on the master during my live set and I just use that to up the bass and I also maintain control of each part for mixing.

mr.adl · Post by **mr.adl** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:21 am

CHARLIE! wrote:I just went through this whole process.

The way I got the best results was putting sounds into categories then soloing those tracks and recording the master of those tracks.

That way it should sound more like your recording when you play it out.

Hi!
I am doing as you do. Seems the best way, cause you get the sound of the sends (reverb, delays) into the WAV file and so it sounds just as the original track.

Jekblad · Post by **Jekblad** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 4:05 pm

aha!

excellent idea. thanks guys

jellek · Post by **jellek** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:58 am

hi guys,

thanks for the replys!

I guess the last option should be the one to do!

As for an earlier reply on my post, I started out with Toms great video's, but then I stumbled across the whole send & returns mess. So I guess there's no other way to do it then just mute/solo & render the master.

cheers!

NPC · Post by **NPC** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:51 am

i've been sorting it out for the whole last week..didnt have issues with send effects as i bounce say 20-to-8tracks leaving them dry so i can add fx later in the *BIG* live set im creating.but btw i managed a much more simpler way to bounce the tracks, without the need to get through the "export audio-video" form...just FREEZE! when you freeze a track containing a vsti and some midi clips, you get those clips instantly bounced (still, the send effects are not included..) so if you just copy the clips and drag them to an audio track you get the clips, in audio, that sound pretty much as the original ones..and the workflow is way muuuuch smoother..dont know if it may be helpful,but hey these are my 2pennies..cheerz

mr.adl · Post by **mr.adl** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:00 pm

NPC wrote:i've been sorting it out for the whole last week..didnt have issues with send effects as i bounce say 20-to-8tracks leaving them dry so i can add fx later in the *BIG* live set im creating.but btw i managed a much more simpler way to bounce the tracks, without the need to get through the "export audio-video" form...just FREEZE! when you freeze a track containing a vsti and some midi clips, you get those clips instantly bounced (still, the send effects are not included..) so if you just copy the clips and drag them to an audio track you get the clips, in audio, that sound pretty much as the original ones..and the workflow is way muuuuch smoother..dont know if it may be helpful,but hey these are my 2pennies..cheerz

Thats right, but then you still have like 20 tracks, which are in a livesituation not easy to controll. The point is to break these 20 tracks down to 4-8 and to get that, you need to route them to a subtrack and records them there.
Your method is good for turning a miditrack into a WAV-File, but not for narrowing down the complete song to 4-8 tracks (Bassdrum, Synths, Percussion etc.) which contains the whole song.

NPC · Post by **NPC** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:25 pm

whoops your right, i forgot to say that i've noticed that in my songs rarely there are more than 8 or say 10-12 clips playing at the same time, so i just bounce in one the two tracks with say a pad and a poly playing together in the intro, and manage the other clips so they are into the same track but at different scenes..the onlydownturn in doing that is that if for example the synth in the intro had an HP applied to it, when i go to the next scene i have to turn the knob all the way to the left or the HP will be applied to this new clip as well..but you have to do something isn't it?still, i implemented it just a couple of days ago so there's a lot of room for improvement..i was thinking tonight about having one button to reset all the parameters of all the filters, so that just by pressing that one i have everything plain..will keep you informed!