Audiovisual Live Performance
Performance Plan for a Live technology-based Audiovisual Performance
The ability to analyse industry trends and plan a technology-based audiovisual performance is a key aspect of high-level performances and an opportunity to exhibit compositional works and production skills. The planning stage is an essential part of a live performance as the planning process aids in gaining a broader view of industry practice and enhancing knowledge, skills and the live performance.
Following is a production plan to implement for a Live Technology-based Audiovisual Performance, using various MIDI technologies including; Hardware controllers, Audio triggers, MIDI effects, Control changes, Program changes, Live looping, Wired or Wireless MIDI communication.
Technology Planning
Software: Ableton Live
I have chosen to use Ableton Live for the Live Technology-based Audiovisual Performance due to its intuitive interface, extensive MIDI functions and full compatibility and integration with my two MIDI controllers. I also have MAX software and am interested in the interaction of MAX for Live with Ableton. I currently have the Ableton Live Lite version of the software but have downloaded the free trial of Ableton 9 Suite for this project.
MIDI controllers: AKAI APC40 and Novation Launchkey49
Functions: AKAI APC40
Designed in partnership with Ableton make the the APC40 simple to integrate with the software. The APC 40 has a set controls Global parameters for instant access to the main sends, pans, Channel faders, bus faders, a crossfader, Tap Tempo, Tempo Nudge, record enables and solo/cues. It also has two banks of eight knobs that I will use for effects like HP and LP filters, reverb time, reverb wet and dry, delay time, delay wet and dry, redux, and other effects. The APC40 enables special clip-status views on the matrix, which is not limited to only 40 clips, allowing scroll and shift between an unlimited number of cells, enabling versatile access, depending on how many loops I create or if I choose to mix 3 songs as the performance. The eight Global knobs can access four banks of controls and the eight Track knobs control nine different track parameters each, depending on what effects or parrameters I decide to set to each loop or instrument, the controllers are dynamically reassigned each time you switch tracks. (AKAI Pro. N.d.).
Functions: Novation Launchkey49
This controller was also designed for Ableton Live with immediate integration. The Novation Launchkey is a synth-style controller with 49 velocity-sensitive keys, pitch bend and modulation wheels, 16 RGB velocity-sensitive pads for launching clips and drums, nine faders and eight knobs for easy control over mixer, instruments and effects. I plan to use this as one of the melody instruments with live looping and set up the parameters or effects for this on the encoders, MIDI map modulation to the modulation wheel and using the pitch bend if needed. (Global Novation Music. N.d.).
This covers all the necessary software and hardware to create the Live Technology-based Audiovisual Performance. Following is a preliminary plan focusing on the musical content of the Live Audiovisual Performance.
Musical Content Planning
Earlier this year I released an Album called Fractured that I perform in collaboration with dance group Boom De Brides. Until now I have been triggering the stereo tracks live with Ableton and the APC 40, and using MIDI effects to compliment the performance. To enhance the performance and create the live aspect I would like to bounce the elements of the songs down into stems or loops. For example drums, bass, harmonies, melody, vocals, and FX, and trigger and effect these stems or loops live, effectively remixing the songs and making this an interactive and expressive Live Audiovisual Performance. Here is a link to the Album Fractured https://open.spotify.com/artist/3uqKFcemVxAK9iwUeLYPRT I plan to mix 3 songs together into a performance for this example of a Live Technology-based Audiovisual Performance.
Pitch Shifting: It is also essential for the performances to be in keys that are complimentary. For this application I will could use the free program Key Finder, to rename the samples in the relative Key. Though as these are my songs I know what key I have composed them to. From the three songs I have chosen two have complimentary keys of D min and its relative Major, F MAJ, the other song is in F# min, so this one will have to be transposed to D min.
Controllerism
Quantisation: It is necessary for performances to be on time or quantised, adequate preparation of the loops and samples is essential for this. I will put all the samples and loops of the Musical Content I plan to use for the project into a folder and open the folder in Ableton. I will go through and select each track or loop and set the warp markers, loop modes, fades if necessary, and warp modes depending on musical content, for example with basslines you would choose Tones algorithm as this is the best choice sonically for monophonic instruments, with drums you would choose Beats as this doesn’t change the pitch but works well with transient instruments, and with synths, pads or guitars you would choose Texture which has less artefacts then those associated with using other algorithms.The next step is checking the warp markers and transient markers to ensure that they are set to transients at starts and ends of the loop markers and edit these if necessary.In Ableton you can also set the warp markers and transient markers to a groove. In the search bar of Ableton type in .adr and choose a groove that will suit your musical content or loops and drag and drop into the groove chooser in the track preferences. Check the transients and WARP markers to ensure quantisation when triggering these together. Though I will not use this method in my Live Performance as all of my samples are from a song already with its own groove, though the three songs I have chosen are all at different BPM’s, two are 75 BPM and the other is 80BPM, therefore I will set a global tempo of the session to either 75 or 80BPM.
One Shots & Loops: To trigger the Loops and Samples I could either use Simpler as a Virtual Instrument or Ableton Session View. If I was using Simpler I would use it in classic mode for instrument loops and one shot mode for drums. The loops are set to either 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 bars with start and end points set on transients for quantisation. The one shots are also set to bars so they are quantised on time with the loops, even if the are only a single drum hit. These are then toped and tailed and silence is added in before and after the transient. In Simpler preferences choose of you want to sample to loop or warp and add crossfades if necessary. If setting up Simpler with One Shot Drums, for example you can also drop in a drum rack and set this up accordingly. In my scenario I will use Ableton Session View and trigger the Loops and One Shots from the APC40 and Novation Launchkey MIDI Controllers. The following section covers how I will set this up to trigger the One Shots and Loops.
Trigger Linking: In Ableton there are two choices to trigger the Samples, Scene Launch and Follow Action Launch. Scene Launch allows one trigger pad to launch a whole scene, for example a phrase of a song like the intro or verse. Set Global quantisation to 1 bar and you can embed tempo and meter changes within scene changes if necessary. The Follow Action Launch feature enables the use to program a complex automated performance. The MIDI clip preferences include; setting global tempo, reverse or invert samples, set loop start and end points and choose the order of clips that you want to play in succession. The Audio clip preferences include; setting fades, transposing the key,setting warp and loop markers and Hi Quality features. For my application I will set up certain Loops to be triggered together in Scene Launch and One Shots, Drum Loops and other main elements and effects to be triggered with Follow Action Launch in Ableton Live with the APC40. The Novation Launchkey will be used to play the live loops that will be set with the APC40 and re-triggered.
The following Youtube clip is an example of how I will set up the Technology and implement them into the Live Performance with Ableton Live.
The above Youtube clip is similar to the set up I plan to use for the Live Technology-based Audiovisual Performance. This clip is a full 50 minute set, though I plan to mix 3 songs together so my Live Technology-based Audiovisual Performance will be 15 minutes maximum. Ableton Live is the software that I will use with the MIDI Keyboard used as a melodic instrument for live looping, with use of the mod and pitch bend wheels and its own parameters and effects set to the encoders. The APC40 controls the drum loops, other instrument loops and one shot drums and FX. Some of the instrument loops are set up as to Scene Launch, like melodic instruments that play together for song segments like intro or verse and drums, melodic loops and one shots set to Follow Action Launch. This will create an interactive and interesting performance.
MIDI Technology
I am discussing Controllerism again, but from a MIDI messages standpoint. MIDI controllers not only trigger data, they can also trigger Control Change and Program Change MIDI messages. While their function must be prepared in advance, they can give tremendous control over the behaviour of instruments, effects, evolving a MIDI Controller into an instrument for ultimate playability.
Control Change MIDI Messages: MIDI controllers can easily be mapped to effects in Ableton Live with the use of Control changes I can create a more in depth intuitive Live Performance. I plan to MIDI map the triggers on the APC40 to launch clips of loops, act as a Virtual Instruments to live loop or a one shot FX. Each of these sounds can have their own personalised FX chain all set up on an encoder dependent on the sound triggered and your choice of FX also known as trigger linking.
There are two ways to MIDI map control changes, the first is to check the MIDI sync in Ableton Preferences and set the pitch and mod wheels attributes. Go back into the session and hit the MIDI button in the top right hand corner, this makes everything blue. Choose any attribute or instrument clip and click on this and click on the trigger or encoder on you MIDI controller. You can many different FX to the one encoder and choose the min and max value that the encoder affects. There is a MIDI map preferences window that you can edit or delete MIDI mappings as you choose. This is CPU efficient as the FX or Virtual Instrument is only on when the clip or sound is triggered, though the problem with this way is to test the FX you have to get out of MIDI map mode and back in to change anything. Which leads to the second way of MIDI mapping using the macro mapping. To do this choose a clip and set up an audio rack. choose the FX and load this into it’s own chain in the audio rack. Do this with successive FX ensuring that you add them all on their own chain in the audio rack. On the audio rack click on chain and set up chains in a cascading order. Set the orange marker above the first chain and select blue chain and open in arrange view. In arrange view click on the envelopes, and choose chain selector, go onto the waveform and find the marker and click a node, locking the arrange selector to that clip and FX. Do the same for each chain in the audio rack, you can have multiple chains. As I am only doing a 10 minute Live Performance, I will probably use the first method, as this is quick and easy.
Program Change MIDI Messages: Program changes can be used to switch between synthesiser patches. While a program change could be sent directly from a MIDI controller in order to control when this switch is done, this can also be programmed into MIDI clips in order to automatically switch synth presets depending on a part of the song. Set up an instrument rack in Ableton Live on the chosen clip you are working on and in this example, load NI Massive onto that clip. Go into Massive and open the presets, choose one open up programs as a list and click save as program 1. Go on and do this for the synths used in each song and save as program 2, program 3 and so on. When you trigger these clips live, Ableton follows your program changes to the next synth MIDI mapped to that track. I would use this process with the Live Looping instrument in each of the three songs that I have chosen to use in the Live Performance. So that the same clip triggers the live looping instrument in those tracks but has its own unique sound and FX mapped to trigger a on the trigger pads with its own FX mapped to the encoders or macros.
Following is a Youtube video explaining these processes.
Youtube videos of producers using similar processes as those described above, in their performances.
The above Youtube video has given me new ideas in how to approach the Live Performance. Eprom’s set up is similar to the one I plan to use, with a MAC Laptop, MIDI controller and Ableton Live. I was going to bounce all the loops into particular instruments and one shots but now am considering using the above process of keeping the stereo songs, with a few versions manipulated with warp markers, especially on the intro’s, slowed right down in complex mode with reverb and FX and increase the tempo up to the drop, and play the drop as normal on the version you haven’t processed. This creates ambient interludes that link to the next song in to set. I would also use the technique of playing one shots cut up from the original track and FX live over the top, with the ons shots own FX mapped to that particular sound. This is done by having 2 audio tracks set up with the stereo songs, like a DJ set up with two decks and another audio track set up with the one shots and FX. I also like the HP/LP filter on the one encoder for increased functionality, and the off buttons for the reverb and delay to get these timed perfect with the drops. There are many FX that I would MIDI trigger link, like filters and resonance and reverb and delay wet/dry with resonance.
The aspects of Ill Gate’s above performance that I am focusing on for use in my Live Performance are the techniques he uses with MIDI mapping to his MIDI controller with multiple trigger linking to that sound and trigger linking of FX. He does a lot of finger drumming which I am not using in my Live Performance, though I do like his options on the one shots with different, styles set up to how you play the controller, for example hit the trigger lightly and a HH will play closed, hit this trigger harder and it will play open with a resonance, hit and hold the trigger and it will appegiate the HH to the tempo chosen in the MIDI mapping. I like his far away Knobs that are a HP and LP filter and reverb set up to put things back in the mix that may get over the top and his Riser on off buttons so you time the off on time for the drop. His choke groups are a great idea too, that one sound will stop other sounds or groups of sounds. The Spin back or wind back FX to stop a loop, as Ill Gates calls it “Get outta jail free card”, is also another aspect that I will use in my Live Performance.
Live Looping
For the live loping element of the Live Performance I am planning on using the Novation Launchkey MIDI controller and the Looper plug-in in Ableton Live. I will set up two to three melody and bass VI instruments into instrument racks and chains for the two or three songs I will be performing, and MIDI map the trigger of these to trigger pads on the MIDI controller for ease of changing between instruments and songs. I will set the bar amount to record to 8 bars and drag the recorded loop into a scene ready to loop the next instrument. This method will work well for the musical content as I will not play the drums in these will be launched in scene view and some one-shots played for breaks sections and effects. I will also MIDI map control change messages to the Novation controller’s encoders so the filter and effect played on that instrument will be recorded into the loop and for ease of playing and effecting while looping live. The MIDI effects that I plan to trigger on the Live Looping elements include; reverb, delay, filtering, transposing the loop an octave up, an octave down, speed control set to an encoder, triggers with half time and double time effects. I will also set the range that I want the encoders to effect the Live Loops so that while performing live the effects don’t get out of control during the performance. I will also MIDI map a trigger to clear the Looper ready for the next instrument layer to be recorded live.
Synchronisation
To use multiple digital devices in a Live Performance, for example; two performers, interdisciplinary practices by incorporating lighting or visuals into the live performance or a redundancy set up, can all be clocked via MIDI or via Software clocking.
MIDI Clocking: The two ways to send and receive clocking information through MIDI is to use one of the following:
- MIDI Beat Clock, which sends 24 pulses per quarter note of the current tempo. This is the least accurate way of sending and receiving MIDI, but is very easily implemented in software. It is transmitted through System Real Time messages.
— MIDI Time Code, which uses absolute timing based on the SMPTE protocol. This is more accurate in terms of timing but more difficult to implement in software. It is transmitted through System Common messages.
As well as timing accuracy, positional reference must be propagated through all sequencing devices in the system to ensure that audio is started on a musical value of the current song being played. This positional reference is given through System Common messages.
When synchronizing software on two separate computers, MIDI needs to be transmitted from one to the other, with one acting as the “master” device, and the other acting as the “slave” device. The master computer will have control over the global BPM and transport functions. You can connect as many computers as your interface can handle. The master sends MIDI out and the slave received MIDI in. This is set up on the interface and in Ableton Preferences. In the preferences choose the interface and set up the master to send and the slave to receive the MIDI information.
Software Clocking: In Ableton Live, the synchronization process has been greatly reduced and is very simple to implement. MIDI can be transmitted over Wifi, MIDI or USB cables, which is a good option when working with MIDI capable hardware. When synchronizing different software on the same computer, “virtual MIDI connection” is necessary in order for both software to see MIDI going in and out. On Macs, this makes use of the IAC driver. This is set up via the audio and MIDI set up application, which send messages out of your computer and back into Ableton. Here is a clip explaining the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpIFgsCgvKY Another way to use software clocking to link Ableton to a Synthesizer software, open Ableton preferences, enable sync and remote on the Synthesizer MIDI input in the preferences, close preferences and click the EXT button in Ableton software and play the synthesizer, this links the software’s together for the global transport and BPM functions for tempo and timing. You can set Ableton up as the master as well. To do this open Ableton Preferences and enable sync and remote for the Synthesizers MIDI output, close preferences and set the track audio input channel, set monitor to auto and arm the track, and press play in Ableton live.
As a different approach to using MIDI clock to synchronize computers together I could also use a Wifi network, set up in the Mac’s audio and MIDI set up application. Choose MIDI and Wifi network and set up a unique network called an ad hoc network. Create a new session on both computers then go into Ableton Live DAW preferences and set up the master and slave computer in the midi sync tab. Then the slave computer enables the EXT button.
If there are any latency between computers via MIDI sync or computer and software devices using software sync, adjust in the preferences menu on the MIDI clock sync delay to remedy this.
In regards to my Live Performance project I will not be using any of the mentioned synchronisation applications as I have a simple set up with my two MIDI controllers and myself. I will use VI synths within the program but these will be sent via control change and program change messages via Ableton live software.
Redundancy
As with any technology device and software there is a chance of them failing, making the whole system troublesome and destroying the live performance. While you can never really plan for every scenario possible, this is a consideration, which must be made when planning a MIDI assisted live performance. The redundancy system that I plan to implement as my plan B is if the Ableton software crashes, I will have the tracks set up to play in iTunes or Virtual DJ in the background ready to press play if issues arise and open with a wind up FX so it looks like part of the performance. If the whole computer crashes I can use my phone with a Virtual DJ app and the song set to finish the musical performance for professionalism.
To finalise the Live Performance Plan I have mapped out images of my controllers with FX and triggers to get a visual of what I have mentioned throughout the Live Performance Plan.
MIDI Controller Map Plan Images
AKAI APC40 MIDI Controller
Novation Launchkey49 MIDI Controller
References:
AKAI Pro. (N.d.). AKAI: APC40 Ableton live performance Controller Information [Website]. Retrieved from http://www.akaipro.com/products/pad-controllers/apc-40
Guillaume Olivier. (July 11, 2015.). Live atmospheric techno: Ultranova, Mopho, APC 40 & Ableton [Youtube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02TON-H1Th4&list=RD02TON-H1Th4&t=12
Global Novation Music. (N.d.). Novation: Launchkey Controller Information [Website].Retrieved from http://global.novationmusic.com/keys/launchkey#
DJ TechTools. (Febuary 4, 2016.). How I Play: EPROM Interview + Live Setup Walkthrough [Youtube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEIdFZrgkqU
DJ TechTools. (October 2, 2014.). How I Play: ill.Gates DJ/Fingerdrumming Setup + Performance Soundpack [Youtube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-mpVLPQOCk
Tidal Creations Photography. (2017). Orthentix live performance with fractured at earth frequency festival [Image]. Tidal Creations Photography: Australia.
Point Blank Music School. (May 2, 2014.). Ableton Live 9: advanced controller mapping (FFL!) [Youtube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=122&v=5A_A8tdmhyU
Orthentix. (2017). MIDI Controllers [Movie]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/242182070/4991cbc9e6
Novation Launchkey49 MIDI Controller [Image]. Retrieved from https://c1.zzounds.com/media/fit,2018by3200/quality,85/Launchkey-49-elevated-RGB-HR-ce5b780263ce4f296b16f426c52f251e.jpg
AKAI APC 40 MIDI Controller [Image]. Retrieved from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9zS9x1UVfc/TIWa3w-5okI/AAAAAAAAAMA/N3uPfAHHWJo/s1600/APC40_layout.jpg
