Gear planning
With
Brian FunkAfroDJMac walks through his live rig - OP-1, synths, guitar, melodica and audio interface - and how the gear he chooses shapes the way he builds a live set.
What's in the course
30 lessons (2h 20m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
Planning Your Live Performance Gear
Okay, so let me walk you through this process of planning a little bit. I want to talk about the gear I'm using and how it helps govern some of the decisions I make as far as live performance goes. Here are some of the real instruments I might use:
- OP1: I couldn't recommend this more.
- iPad: I run various synths and MIDI controllers on this.
- Synths:
- Mog Slim Fatty
- Minibroot (might bring this as well)
- Guitar: Sometimes, I might plug this straight in.
I also have vocals that I want to use:
- Microphone: In case you're wondering about my funny little pink mic Afro windscreen, there's a reason for that. It's not just to prevent vocal pops; it's also a safety measure.
- The microphone screens underneath are very hard, and in the excitement of a live performance, you could easily smash your teeth on it.
- So, I like to give myself a little cushion to avoid knocking out any of my teeth.
Additionally, I have a melodica I like to play. All of this gets routed into my audio interface:
- Motu Ultralight 2: What I like about this interface is that it has a lot of audio inputs and outputs, which governs what I can do live. Since there's a limited number of ins and outs, you have to work with that.
Consider Your Audio Interface
Think about your audio interface:
- How much can you route into it and out of it?
I also have some virtual instruments, primarily played through:
- MPK Mini
- Launchpad
These are the main things I'm working with. The actual MIDI gear I have includes:
- APC40: A great piece that works well.
- Soft Step Foot Controller: It's on the floor; we'll get to that a little bit later.
The MPK Mini is nice because:
- It has pads,
- It has knobs,
- It has keys,
- You can change the particular messages each of these sends out.
And of course, I have the Launchpad.
Gathering Your Gear
So, I'm using this gear to govern how I play live. It's a good idea to gather your gear together and think about what you can do with it, as you will run into both possibilities and limitations. These are important to consider!
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Brian Funk is a musician, producer, songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer. Since 2014 he has taught the Advanced Music Production with Ableton Live course for Berklee College of Music. He has played guitar, bass, drums, synths and sung in touring rock bands, and these days focuses on his solo electronic set - taking his studio experiments to the stage.
Brian loves writing, teaching and sound design. He produces Ableton Live tutorials and Sound Packs, and has released free Ableton Live Packs since 2011 - over 125 so far. As an Ableton Certified Trainer he has given lessons and seminars covering every stage of the production process, and writes regularly on his blog and for other publications.
Influenced by rock and roll, video games, early hip hop, punk and electronica - from The Beatles, Neil Young, Nirvana and Aerosmith to Neon Indian - he describes his own sound as 'futuristic, yet nostalgic'. In his MusicGurus course, Live Performance in Ableton Live, he shows you how he turns studio ideas into a real, hands-on live set: sampling sounds and turning them into playable instruments, running guitars and synths through electronic gear, and mixing and composing on the fly while playing live and singing. You'll come away able to build and perform your own electronic set with confidence.
