Laptop live question...
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- alice automated
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 12:00 am
Laptop live question...
Is there any tricks I should be aware before I start gigging with a laptop live? Any special gear to plug the laptop into the mixer? I already have one of those Behringer desktop mixerdeals, will that suffice via the laptops stereo output?
- NickNonsense
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:00 am
- Location: NL
why aren't there more posts on this thread?
I'm also really curious about going live with a laptop.
so, what are nice vst fx for live and what hardware do you bring (next to your laptop) to a gig?
I'm also really curious about going live with a laptop.
so, what are nice vst fx for live and what hardware do you bring (next to your laptop) to a gig?
Re: Laptop live question...
alice automated wrote:Is there any tricks I should be aware before I start gigging with a laptop live? Any special gear to plug the laptop into the mixer? I already have one of those Behringer desktop mixerdeals, will that suffice via the laptops stereo output?
If you don't know the answer to this question, you shouldn't even be contemplating playing gigs. The world could honestly do without another clueless muppet taking to the stage.
- 133crazydirector
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Wed May 23, 2007 12:00 am
- Location: Russia, Moscow
What is thread?
Shit called 'live' coz it's just YOUR experience and tricks, otherwise it's not interesting.
Don't be ordinary ppl, try to invent!
Shit called 'live' coz it's just YOUR experience and tricks, otherwise it's not interesting.
Don't be ordinary ppl, try to invent!
You need a lead that plugs into the output of your soundcard with phono at the other end to plug into a mixer.
Midi controllers are fun, but it all depends on how much space there is gonna be to set up. I played a gig once where I had to use a wall for my mouse, stood on one leg coz I had my midi controller balanced on my other knee, and a torch taped to my head so I could fkn see what I was doing.
A torch is really fkn useful, tape too.
Take a multi plug adapter If you need more than 1 power socket, chances are there will not be enough other wise and It isnt fun trying to find something that can be safely unplugged.
If youre using a laptop with a fan on the bottom, its worth taking something to sit it on top off. I've seen it a few times where someone has setup some kinda fluffy cloth on the tables, and if your laptop has a fan on the bottom it can cause it to overheat really quickly.
Some kind off back up, even if its a CD player or summin, just for worst case senarios. Nohing sucks at a party more than an uncomfortable silence, especially if people are fucked and have spent money for loud music.
Someone mentioned having 2 laptops set up at once. It can be a laugh but it means twice as much stuff to go wrong. I tried it a couple times using midi and 2 instances of reaktor. Its important to have fkn low latency (the same rate) on both computers so that the midi clock will sync nicely and there wont be a noticable delay. Also, if you're planning to have more than 2 things synched up, try to avoid chaining the midi clock through anything. Have all you midi clock signals coming from one place. If you use midi through youre gonna end up adding all the latency and the further along the chain, the more the timing will be out.
Ah yeah, one last thing. I think its worth making sure that you have more than enough CPU headroom. My live setup when Im at home sits at 16%. For some reason when Im playing it goes up to 40%. I dunno why, guess its the extra heat, vibrations etc.
Midi controllers are fun, but it all depends on how much space there is gonna be to set up. I played a gig once where I had to use a wall for my mouse, stood on one leg coz I had my midi controller balanced on my other knee, and a torch taped to my head so I could fkn see what I was doing.
A torch is really fkn useful, tape too.
Take a multi plug adapter If you need more than 1 power socket, chances are there will not be enough other wise and It isnt fun trying to find something that can be safely unplugged.
If youre using a laptop with a fan on the bottom, its worth taking something to sit it on top off. I've seen it a few times where someone has setup some kinda fluffy cloth on the tables, and if your laptop has a fan on the bottom it can cause it to overheat really quickly.
Some kind off back up, even if its a CD player or summin, just for worst case senarios. Nohing sucks at a party more than an uncomfortable silence, especially if people are fucked and have spent money for loud music.
Someone mentioned having 2 laptops set up at once. It can be a laugh but it means twice as much stuff to go wrong. I tried it a couple times using midi and 2 instances of reaktor. Its important to have fkn low latency (the same rate) on both computers so that the midi clock will sync nicely and there wont be a noticable delay. Also, if you're planning to have more than 2 things synched up, try to avoid chaining the midi clock through anything. Have all you midi clock signals coming from one place. If you use midi through youre gonna end up adding all the latency and the further along the chain, the more the timing will be out.
Ah yeah, one last thing. I think its worth making sure that you have more than enough CPU headroom. My live setup when Im at home sits at 16%. For some reason when Im playing it goes up to 40%. I dunno why, guess its the extra heat, vibrations etc.
- Silent Frog
- Posts: 842
- Joined: Sat May 05, 2007 12:00 am
- Location: Bristol/Norwich, UK
TechDiff wrote:Midi controllers are fun, but it all depends on how much space there is gonna be to set up. I played a gig once where I had to use a wall for my mouse, stood on one leg coz I had my midi controller balanced on my other knee, and a torch taped to my head so I could fkn see what I was doing.
I saw Frog Pocket live a few weeks ago and that was quite an interesting set up. He plays a violin live over the top of his breaks and so cued all his samples and stuff with his knees. By the end of his set you could hardly hear him as he'd pulled most of his wires out. To be honest, considering most of what he was doing was with foot pedals, I don't know why he didn't just stick them on the floor like normal people but each to his own I guess.
- kloakatriposa
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:00 am
- Location: Almería, South Spain
If you´re planning to go live with your laptop you may need an audio interface (laptop soundcards are just crappy) compatible with Asio. I use an Alesis io/2 where I can plug all the gear which is not usb (my bass - through a cabinet, a mic, and maybe someother weird shit like old midi keys).
Always be sure to keep in mind what are you planning to do and what are your needs before falling into mindless gear purchase
Always be sure to keep in mind what are you planning to do and what are your needs before falling into mindless gear purchase
you may want to download and run RMclock to make sure your CPU isn't being over-throttled by its power-management factory defaults... this was happening to me for a while before i finally figured out what was going on. there's nothing like an intermittent pffffttzzzzcccrrrrrrkkkkkkkkmmmmppphhhhhbbbzzzzzz every 2 minutes to ruin a live set/make jamming a total displeasure on your laptop just remember not to let it go so far as to overclock and fry up
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