Question regarding LIVE Dubstep shows

[I Was a UFO]

I went to a Rusko show once but it was too crowded to see what was actually going on. How do Producers perform live exactly? I worry that once my tracks are ready for mass consumption I won't be able to pull off a live set because it takes me so much time to build my tracks from the ground up. I've watched videos of Rusko producing tracks and it looks like he slowly pieces his shit together as well rather than actually 'performing' his tracks. I've heard that some DJs pretend to mix their stuff live but I have a hard time imagining that the big names in the game do this same thing.

[prisoner]

it's called "DJing"

look it up.

[I Was a UFO]

Well I guess my next question would be...are most of the top producers also DJs? or do they get DJs to play their shit for them?

Sorry if these seem like dumb questions. I am experienced in creating music but not in 'real world' stuff like shows...because I spend all my time hiding inside working my synths lol

[BASED]

Most producers are forced to DJ as a way of making a living..... touring accounts for a large % of money to be made in the industry these days, they also go hand in hand... although many producers are shitty djs and vise versa, also many get their start as DJ's then start making edits and produce ect ect. Most people want to see someone who produces songs they like perform wouldn't they just not some dude playing other peoples songs.

Their are also live performances which I find breathtaking.... Pretty much taking your studio onstage and producing a song live. For example jacques greene has done this, addison groove brings his 808 machine live, kode 9, among many others

[I Was a UFO]

OK thanks...that makes sense. I guess I won't really worry about it until I find out whether people want to hear my music or not. For now...it will be kept a secret haha


I work with an MPD so I guess I got what I need to fake a performance(not that I would actually do that)

I realize that Justice responded to the controversy over them faking their shows by posting pictures with the MPD plugged in...but that isn't really proof that they were performing the songs...could have just been that they realized their 'magic trick' was being exposed during the show and decided to make it look more real...I doubt anyone in the audience really cared either way though haha

[Dub_freak]

What do you mean by a fake performance?

[I Was a UFO]

What do you mean by a fake performance?

I mean the music isn't being 'performed'

Apparently a lot of people just hit play on their laptop or put a cd in and play it.

Just because someone is moving faders around and twisting knobs doesn't mean they are affecting the music in any sort of way.

[Dub_freak]

Just because someone is moving faders around and twisting knobs doesn't mean they are affecting the music in any sort of way.

It does, its called dj'ing, they mix and blend tracks into each other and add effects, that's what most people do in electronic music but there are people out there who perform live sets.

[BASED]

it is one thing to DJ and mix two or 3 or 4 tracks......

it is another thing to make shit up on the fly


what is sad and disgusting are people with pre made sets that add a couple samples and press some buttons like skrillex and others which takes no talent what so ever

[I Was a UFO]

Just because someone is moving faders around and twisting knobs doesn't mean they are affecting the music in any sort of way.

It does, its called dj'ing, they mix and blend tracks into each other and add effects, that's what most people do in electronic music but there are people out there who perform live sets.

We've already touched on that in this thread. Someone asked me what a 'fake performance' was...I was talking about things such as Justice moving faders on an MPD that isn't even plugged into anything.

[Omega Dub]

It all depends on what you consider "live". some people will call it a live show if it's a producer playing all original music, even if they are basically just DJing their own songs. But there's a whole spectrum of possibilities for playing electronic music live - though there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of it in the dubstep scene. One of the approaches that is common in the America glitch-hop/dubstep scene is using a program like ableton live and midi controllers (like the APC-40). There are countless variations to this approach, because ableton is so endlessly customizable, but the basic idea is having your songs rendered as groups of separate stems (drums, bass, leads, vocals, etc.) and then playing them so that you can do effects on each stem independently, as well as re-combine, re-sequence, re-arrange etc. the parts of all of your songs. Tom Cosm has a really nice video about this approach: http://vimeo.com/1701545 (Granted he is doing it with a more minimal techno type track, but you can apply that approach to any style.) The major obstacle in this case is that you will never have the same loudness that playing a single mastered track will have - unless you take the time to master each stem, and have a nice multiband compressor and limiter on your ableton master channel. I used to play like that, but the amount of time that goes into getting all of the tracks stem mastered to just the right levels so that everything sound even when you play live was just waaay to tedious for me - especially when 99.9% of the people in the crowd will never know nor care.

another approach is to have your track rendered as a single stereo master, but have a special version that has certain parts muted, and when you play that tune live, you physically play those parts on a synthesizer, or drum machine, or guitar, or whatever. And still another approach (this one is definitely common in the glitch-hop scene) is to have a normal stereo master playing, but have additional parts that you only add live - frequently glitch-hop producers release their tracks without any vocals, but have acapellas that they mix with each tune live, and have lots of glitching effects that they can do live.

Regardless of the approach, I do wish there was more people pushing the envelope with live dubstep performances. I enjoy a good DJ set, but I would almost always rather see someone play music that they created themselves, especially when they can add some unique live elements to it.

[Mammoth]

What do you mean by a fake performance?

I mean the music isn't being 'performed'

Apparently a lot of people just hit play on their laptop or put a cd in and play it.

Just because someone is moving faders around and twisting knobs doesn't mean they are affecting the music in any sort of way.

I saw skrillex at a music festival (it was that or coldplay) and he was turning all These knobs that didn't do Jack shit.

[fractal]

Saw Shackleton rock an 808 live. Was really good!

Out to Omega

[Shum]

Saw Shackleton rock an 808 live. Was really good!

That sounds really really awesome.

[I Was a UFO]

It all depends on what you consider "live". some people will call it a live show if it's a producer playing all original music, even if they are basically just DJing their own songs. But there's a whole spectrum of possibilities for playing electronic music live - though there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of it in the dubstep scene. One of the approaches that is common in the America glitch-hop/dubstep scene is using a program like ableton live and midi controllers (like the APC-40). There are countless variations to this approach, because ableton is so endlessly customizable, but the basic idea is having your songs rendered as groups of separate stems (drums, bass, leads, vocals, etc.) and then playing them so that you can do effects on each stem independently, as well as re-combine, re-sequence, re-arrange etc. the parts of all of your songs. Tom Cosm has a really nice video about this approach: http://vimeo.com/1701545 (Granted he is doing it with a more minimal techno type track, but you can apply that approach to any style.) The major obstacle in this case is that you will never have the same loudness that playing a single mastered track will have - unless you take the time to master each stem, and have a nice multiband compressor and limiter on your ableton master channel. I used to play like that, but the amount of time that goes into getting all of the tracks stem mastered to just the right levels so that everything sound even when you play live was just waaay to tedious for me - especially when 99.9% of the people in the crowd will never know nor care.

another approach is to have your track rendered as a single stereo master, but have a special version that has certain parts muted, and when you play that tune live, you physically play those parts on a synthesizer, or drum machine, or guitar, or whatever. And still another approach (this one is definitely common in the glitch-hop scene) is to have a normal stereo master playing, but have additional parts that you only add live - frequently glitch-hop producers release their tracks without any vocals, but have acapellas that they mix with each tune live, and have lots of glitching effects that they can do live.

Regardless of the approach, I do wish there was more people pushing the envelope with live dubstep performances. I enjoy a good DJ set, but I would almost always rather see someone play music that they created themselves, especially when they can add some unique live elements to it.

Thanks for the post! This was exactly what I was looking for. For now I think I will worry about making dope tracks...and if people respond...I think getting and learning Ableton will be the next step.