It’s an electronic music mainstay, designed to not just serve as a flexible DAW for music-creation behind closed doors, but the all-in-one hub of all your live sets. It also sports slick performance-enhancing effect-automation and crowd-pleasing transition effects. MIDI controllers come in many flavours, though the most common for Live setups are usually grid-based surfaces If you’re making your first foray into the live world (or returning to it after a considerable absence), it’s best to not over-complicate your rig initially, and prioritise comfort with how everything works, where your shortcuts are, and make sure you’re very familiar with the ebb and flow of your set.įor many, having the convenience of a timeline-type digital environment keeps things logically ordered, so you’re never caught with your proverbial trousers down.Ībleton Live - the go-to performance workstation for many (Image credit: Future)Ībleton Live is the grandaddy of performance workstations, its hugely intuitive Session View allows you to break down your dense arrangements into single trigger-able elements (or even banks of tracks) which can be activated at will. If you’re making your first foray into the live world, it’s best to not over-complicate your rig initiallyįor the lion’s share of modern electronic musicians, live performance will orbit a central computer, typically running a live-tailored DAW such as Ableton Live, FL Studio or Studio One, though compact synth and sequencer setups are also fairly common.

We can broadly sort our live concerns under the following overall quarters - the gear, the performance, the gigs and the audience. OK, so let’s start by boiling things down to four fundamental factors. Our aim is to help you to make the right calls and avoid any potential mishaps, feel confident and get the best from live life. In this feature we’ll guide you through the major considerations you need to make, without overly prescribing ‘what’ to do.

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