I'm using a large Live Set for a duo gig - 450+ Scenes. I'm playing bass guitar & doing some vocals, and I have a 61-key MIDI keyboard, as well as a Behringer FCB-1010 Foot Controller, to trigger Scenes. I use the FCB-1010 primarily for hands-free control of changing and launching Scenes (with other footswitches MIDI-mapped to stop all Clips, stop the Transport, etc..) Oh, and I have one footswitch mapped to the "Tap Tempo" button, so that I can quickly get a tempo and then launch a drum beat, without touching the computer.
I have the drums for three gig sets of songs (we're doing covers in a lot of different styles) mapped out - about 35 songs. I have four tracks of drum sounds, each with a different drum or percussion sound. For most songs, I've programmed a separate Scene for each of the song parts - the Intro, Verse, Chorus, Outro, Fills, etc.. Also, on most songs, I've put the song's tempo in the first Scene of the song, i.e. "I Feel Good - Intro - 144 bpm" On some of them, I've gotten all the Scenes mapped out with Follow Actions (actually, the clips in the tracks), so that I just hit the Intro Scene, and the song plays all the way through, with the correct number of verses, choruses, etc.. typically, though, I just have the separate parts without Follow Actions, and I hit one footswitch to go up a scene, for example if I want to go back to another 'Verse' section. In many cases, I have a one- or two-bar fill with Follow Actions (Next) to a single-beat kick drum & cymbal crash for the endings. And I've programmed in many Scenes with special "stops" that are unique to a given song.
In addition to the drums programming, we're incorporating sound FX in our sets. I have separate Scenes containing Clips of various noises, i.e. thunder, gunshots, crowd noises/applause, tire squeals/car crashes, etc.. which will go along with certain theatrical bits we're working out. I have all these sound FX mapped to MIDI Channel 2 on the keyboard. I also use the keyboard's 8 fader controls to control the volumes of my Live tracks, and the keyboard knobs to control tempo and to select Scenes.
So it's not a traditional cover band, by any means- more like Vaudeville, or if Firesign Theater were a band.
So far, this has been lots of fun, and Ableton Live is definitely up to the task, in providing the flexibility I need. Although, I would welcome some additional capabilities, like the ability to quickly search the Scene titles and go to a Scene for quick launching (the other guy in the duo likes to skip around in the sets quite a bit!). It would be great to be able to type in the first three letters of a Scene name, and have Live go to that Scene, ready to launch. It would also be great for Live to have the ability to launch Scenes and then go back to the previously-launched Scene. As when I have a song's drums started, then I launch a sound effect, Live is left at the Scene of the sound FX, whereas I would like it to go back to the drum scene I just launched, to be ready for the next part of the song. In some cases, though, I can put the sound FX associated with a song in the same Scene, or the Scene immediately previous to the first drum beat, so that they're together.
My main challenge is when my partner calls a song, or just starts into one spontaneously, and it's up to me to quickly find a matching drum beat, get his tempo, and start the drums. To this end, I've put several generic beats of different styles, i.e. 4/4 rock, country "train" beat, shuffle rock, swing, etc. at the end of my Scene list, where I can quickly scroll to them and find an appropriate beat, tap the tempo in, and launch the Scene.
Eventually, I want to program other musical elements into some of the songs where appropriate, i.e. keyboard parts, steel drum, etc..
With playing bass guitar, singing, triggering drum beats, tapping in tempos, triggering sound FX, etc., I feel busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, but it's a lot of fun, too.
--Doug
