Live gigs / should I get rid of some gear???

[joesapo]

I never thought it would happen, but I'm seriously considering getting rid of my X-Station 49 and my Emu XL-7.

Ever since getting my BCF2000 I've been doing less and less with the outboard gear. Also, I'm really starting to get ready to go out into the big scary world and do some live sets and I'm not liking the idea of lugging around my XL7 that weighs like 30 pounds.

So here's my assumption: When you guys go and play out, there is *always* a DJ mixer around somewhere right? Even you guys with all the outboard gear still end up plugging into a DJ mixer when you go gig somewhere.....?

I just don't want to sell myself short by not learning to use the hardware available to me. So I think I'm going to lighten the load a bit, get myself a DJ mixer (oooo and maybe a turntable... ) and see if I can go a little bit more "club friendly".

Am I dumb to be doing this? I like my current setup, it's just that's it not exactly portable, plus the XL can be replaced by VSTs and controllers, and these Command Stations are known for lots of hardware problems.

What do you guys think?

[MrSleep]

i dont play live. just a thought... if you do sell maybe buy a backup notebook and create the exact duplicate setup.

[Machinate]

I think it's a good idea. Sell the Emu and get a cool audio playback device or something, like a flash recorder, which you can plug into the house mixer for emergency stuff, transitions, whatever.

Redundancy is overrated And it's also not as good as they say it is.

[joesapo]

That was the nice thing about having another MIDI clock source/sound source. If my lappy died my XL would keep going.

I was thinking about maybe just dragging along a CD of my stuff that I can mix in if a crash were to happen. Either that, or I could get crazy and get one of those red sound loop devices. Would probably make it a little easier for beat matching too, if I ever get around to learning to mix vinyl.

On the other hand, I've been playing around with building a little Shuttle PC to host video off of. That would be excellent for redundancy.

If I go get a Denon DX300 like I'm looking at right now, is it difficult to go to a club and work on a Pioneer? I've never really used a mixer except a couple times so I don't know.

[massiveheadpain]

just bring what you need. The more gear the more chances of something messing up. I've managed to get everything down to 3 pieces of gear and a few cables plus the laptop. For me this makes troubleshooting so much easier especially in a live situation.

[joesapo]

You think I could get away with just my lappy, Korg KP2 and BCF2000?

....hmmm... gonna have to think about this one....

I always thought I'd want to bring my whole studio with me whenever I played out, but it's looking like that may be more trouble than it's worth.

For me this makes troubleshooting so much easier especially in a live situation.

Now THAT I can understand. I've had so much gear go through my home studio setup, I can totally appreciate that.

[Machinate]

You think I could get away with just my lappy, Korg KP2 and BCF2000?

....hmmm... gonna have to think about this one....

Totally back-pack friendly rig, that one!

[Atomikat]

You think I could get away with just my lappy, Korg KP2 and BCF2000?

Totally back-pack friendly rig, that one!

1+ I do it with the laptop,KP2 and the UC33e...they work fine for me

[joesapo]

I do it with the laptop,KP2 and the UC33e...they work fine for me

Have you tried using the KP2 as a MIDI controller? Think it would be worth trying? If I stop using my XL7, I'm going to be down quite a bit of control surface.... (13 pads, 16 buttons, 16 knobs, gooey center)

[sans soleil]

macbook + kp2 + uc33 + mpc1000 + ultralite.

...the mpc can be used on its own if the laptop dies.

this is the core of my live set-up, but it's basically become the core of my studio now too.

[sweetjesus]

fuck i just got the maddest idea

you could probably translate KP2 midi messages to the cc's that assign to automapped controllers.

then using that in conjunction with macro's you can cause unimaginable havoc on anything

[tomperson]

I'm with you on this one. Most of the places I've played (not that there are tons of them ) have very little space left for laptop artists and their controllers. Most of the time the place is crowded with DJ Mixer, turntables, CD players and such. Installing lots of stuff is a nightmare, not to mention power cables, etc. I'd advise you to go pretty minimalistic regarding your setup, and after a couple of gigs see if you need more stuff or not. Most of the time you're so busy that adding more gear is overkill.

A small setup lets you concentrate on the really important things , and really master your gear, avoid extra sources of problems, etc.

Remember:


The 80-20 rule http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
The Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) principle


Best of lucks and have fun!

[joesapo]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

tomperson:

A small setup lets you concentrate on the really important things , and really master your gear, avoid extra sources of problems, etc.

That is what I was looking for. Words from a wise man... It seems that the more gear I add to my studio, the less music I actually produce. All my time is wasted solving timing problems, or workflow issues that I never actually get around to doing anything.

I would imagine that this goes for doubly for a gig setup. A nightclub isn't exactly a 'controlled' environment like a studio can be....

So, i'm thinking about picking up a mixer and a cd deck. Any suggestions? I've played with both high-end Pioneer and the Denon stuff that's out, but my budget will end up dictating what I get.

Good mixer and CD deck for $700 anybody?