Ableton Forum

Hi peeps,

Since I dont have patience anymore to start a band, I am going to play live my songs with me on bass and singing, and with everything else pre arranged on Ableton (i guess its karaoke style).

Wondering what is the best way to get best sound from My Macbook Pro with Ableton onto a PA system or in house PA/mixer?

Would appreciate any type of rules of thumb tips and tricks. I am guessing there must be some typical pitfalls/challenges you may have encountered? Of course, some trial and error + the sound of the room are always variables. I have never done this before but Im guessing some of the elements to work with are probably:

-How to set the proper Abletons Master Volume?

-Use 1/8 cable vs a portable sound interface?

-Any instructions to mixer board person?

-How should the mix of the pre recorded tracks be so it sounds nice in stereo, not shrilly/computery, any recommended fx that help in a live situation?

Thank you!

Sebastian

if it's really karaoke-style you could even use an ipod.
but if you are using ableton get the opportunity of using an interface with more than just one pair of outputs. if possible: music(stereo)- drums(stereo) - kick(mono). so the live mixer (the real life live mixer, not ableton!) can mix a good punchy bass/kick base and put the rest around it. in a live-situation the voice and bass/kick is normally mixed much louder than in a studio-mix.
best professional choice are di-boxes for all your ableton channels and your bass (if you're not using a bass amp w/microphone or di-out).

thank you!!

Ditto to Saxer's post for the most part, however balanced outputs from the interface is far preferable to DI boxes. Your FOH sound mixer will thank you!

thanks.
Do i need to get a interface with 2 balanced outputs? or 1 output is enough?

keep in mind I would get a portable one

Depends on what you're doing. If you can just monitor your main stereo out, then any stereo analog output will do just fine. If you need to monitor parts prior to adding them into your live set, you'll need two stereo pairs.