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!