Hi…

A few friends and myself are preparing to do a live set at the end of this month and I was wondering if I could get some advice?

How do you go about doing your live sets using a Motif?

We are planning on doing a live improvised beat showcase and where we play most of the melodies and drums live while out DJ’s put the icing on the cake. We also want to be able to record and build a beat live on stage.

There will be two MPC’s… One is an MPC1000 and one is an MPC2000XL which will be synced via MIDI to the Motif. We will also have some pre-recorder parts on the Motif to save ourselves in case something happens of the improvising takes a brain fart on us. Hehehehehehe… This is our first time and attempt at anything like this and to be honest this will be my first time doing anything live on a stage in front of anyone. So I want to have myself covered because we only have one chance to make a good first impression.

Now, does anyone have any advice on this?

What MODE I should work in? Should I prepare everything in PATTERN MODE and then put it in MASTER MODE? I have never worked with MASTER MODE before?

Please, any advice would be great!

Don’t outsmart yourself with too much complexity. You should be practicing your fingers off right now and solving these questions for yourself based on what’s working for you. There will be no magic that will save you -work everything out in advance and practice until you can do it with your eyes closed.

Bob

Sponge Bob’s right.  Practice this stuff till you’re blind.  However, you asked for advice…

Get all of your Patterns worked out, and if you like, assign your patterns to Masters, in order.  If you plan to do the show in a specific order, Master Mode can be cool.  Master Mode is a little like a set list.  It is just a way to call up certain Songs, Patterns, Voices, or Performances, all from one mode.  If you do the same show all the time, it’s great.  If you mix it up, or don’t play from a set list, then it’s kind of a pain to redo the Master assignments every show.  Like Sponge Bob said, don’t over complicate it.

It’s good to have your favorite Voices assigned to your “Favorites” for easy look up.  When I first started performing with the Motif, the most challenging thing was (with thousands of sounds), finding the right Voice/Performance while minimizing the dead air between songs.  If you’re doing everything in Pattern Mode, you may not have that problem since your Voices are attached to your Patterns (though you’ll still have to remember what Pattern to go to next...Master Mode!!!).

Do a full backup to a USB memory stick before you leave the house.  Keep the most recent backup in the case with your Motif.  Oh yeah, get a case.  That way if Murphy’s Law comes around, you’ll have a backup for all of your hard work on the Patterns.

Now days I make custom Voices for songs and try to stay out of Performance Mode (not always), because if you’re doing Patterns or Songs live, it’s nice to have everything you need in a single Voice, spread out across the keyboard, or accessible via the AF1 or AF2 buttons (assuming you have an XS).  As far as I know, you can’t play a Performance while in Pattern or Song mode.  Just my take on it.  Everybody’s different.

Probably your biggest issue will be the distraction you’ll have from the crowd you’re not used to.  It can make you forget simple things, like what section in your Pattern comes next, etc.  Thus, practice, practice, practice, and not just the music.  Practice the technical switching from one part to the next.

If you’re on a dark stage, it might be nice to have some minimal lighting for key presses, etc.  If it will be bright, then you’ll be fine.

Let us know how your show goes.  Break a leg!

I agree… Practice makes perfect and me and the guys are meeting up tomorrow to get everything together as far as concepts. We are actually going to do a live improvised set… But I still want to know my options with the Motif ES. I think Master Mode might be my way to go? Maybe have some patterns set up in Pattern mode as well just to back me up… Can the Motif ES backup to USB memory stick? never done it?

Its basically two and half DJ’s, I’m the half. Hehehehe! Two beat makers, including myself included there and me on the keys too. Also an emcee to do some freestyles here and there…

We will basically be making beats live on the fly…

My buddy will start on the MPC with a kick snare loop, Ill add some bass and some keys while the DJ’s share between scratching and adding some samples, etc… and we will build a song up on the fly that way. It should be interesting. To be 100% honest, I don’t think we have enough time to work out all the kinks and I am very nervous to take this on but I have been waiting for my chance to perform and hit the stage for years and I feel like its finally here and I can’t let the opportunity slip me by.

I really appreciate your feedback here and any more would be great too. Any ideas on how to hide the metronome from the listeners so everything just sounds fluid like we just really good at what we do? Hehehehe? Maybe send it to head phones or something? so only we can here it? Only two of us need to hear it and I do have a headphone preamp with four outputs…

Another obstacle I am facing is that when my friend wants to lay tracks on his MPC I have to switch the settings under midi on the Motif from internal to MIDI which requires a stop. Then when I want to lay parts I have to switch it back from MIDI to Internal which again requires a stop… Which we try to do on beat and let the DJ’s cover us while we do this. Then hit play on beat again.... Unless I am missing something? Or maybe we should sequence everything out on the MPC… That way all I have to do is switch voices, etc...? And everything records on the MPC without the need to Switch any settings on the Motif?

Any more ideas? I know I am biting off more than I can chew and I am the one responsible here because honestly none of them know anything about MIDI, syncing gear etc… The DJ’s just rock the tables and my friend on the MPC just knows how to use an MPC on its own. I know how to sync it all up to get the beat making job done but as far as live stuff goes… I am stepping into a whole new world. I guess I am blind already… Hehehehehe! Thanks again!

I’ll say it again: Practice doing exactly what you want to do on stage, and you will uncover any problems which you’ll then be able to either solve or work around.

What you might try for your first outing, is to let the MPC guy and DJ carry the beat parts while you play any instrument based stuff or additional percussion sounds live. No worries about midi or click tracks.  Just play off of what you hear your friends doing. Set up the voices you’ll use as Masters, or inside Pattern/song files, or as prearranged USER banks or as favorites. Whatever works for you.

It might not be as fancy as you originally envision, but you want to get invited back. :) If you are in a club type setting, the most important thing is to keep things moving. Stopping while you scratch your head will not be viewed in a positive way. Playing something less complex, but done smoothly and without problems, will get the kind of notice you’re looking for.

Bob