So, I got a gig this friday. This is a recording of the practice session for it.
Analog Four, Octatrack, Ambika, Big Sky.
https://soundcloud.com/user4904810/brand-new-live-set-practice
Ah, you’re back with a complete setup of powerful toys!
The live set sounds nice, like it. I would just change one thing: Slightly reduce the volume of the hihats/cymbals or maybe apply a bit of low-pass filtering. Some club owners pronounce highs so much that the hihats/cymbals might in sum get too loud. It might also be a matter of how many people are in the club and the positions of high frequency speakers, but with some gain reduction you should be on the safe side.
Have a nice party!
Thanks for the tip, it is appreciated. The levels are a bit all over the place, as this was done entirely with headphones (and I was quite drunk half of the time). My gear and the monitors are in different locations at the moment, so I can’t make proper adjustments to the signal levels.
Thankfully, I’ll be able to do a soundcheck before the club opens, I’ll try to sort out the levels there, to match the PA and the acoustics of the place.
good work! …
the hats are indeed a bit “loug” but i probably woudnt have noticed unless mk7 had pointed that out
I enjoyed that, thanks for sharing 
Great set, Barfunkel! This may be my favorite stuff of yours I know. Listening on headphones at work, so I can’t really speak to the hats volume issue others have mentioned, but it’s sounding good this way.
Glad you got a decent setup again at last – and a gig, I’d stay and drink if I heard this 
great stuff ! I agree - notch some of the hats and cymbals down just a touch and work on the transition balances a little here and there .
other than that hope your crowd are up for it 'cos your set definitely is. 
Great stuff, man - I’d love to be there.
yea this is great love the acid near the end
Thanks for the kind comments!
The actual gig didn’t go as well as the practice session. I made a few mistakes in there, but fortunately no one but me seemed to mind.
I learned a valuable lesson too: Just because there’s an unlimited amount of free artist beer doesn’t mean you have to drink all of it.
nice set!
and this made my day 
I learned a valuable lesson too: Just because there’s an unlimited amount of free artist beer doesn’t mean you have to drink all of it.
haha nice
the most valuable lesson i learned is that drinking beer during a gig is not such a bad idea because people in a club want to enjoy the grooves and don’t need much variation except some dramatic builds. relax, enjoy the party and twist a knob/fader here and there, i think that’s what you did. 
Sounds good but to prep…you have to answer a couple of questions.
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Is this your first gig there?
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Have you ever been there and experienced the regular vibe on a good and bad nights?
(good night expectations, crowd dynamics, winner and loser sounds on their sound system) - if it is a standard club system only worry about how to get the best sound through their mixer’s inputs. Don’t shoot signal peaks to the reds; -3db levels on each club mixer channel allows headroom for EQ freaking and you might need it so test it out but make sure you’ve got the right balance of sound because things can get really harsh and overload with wild signals. Personally, I experienced really great output with the Octatrack so much so I have to trim the outputs on a real club mixer because the output at standard level can automatically peak into the reds.
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Can you figure out a back-up plan to change direction and/or pace in about 3-4 minutes once something goes on and works or doesn’t work?
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Can you have patience to let builders play-out and let the excitement occur in the right phrase moments like a DJ would when performing?
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Do you have all the cables, routing and monitoring figured out so that you can set-up your kit quickly and have the correct CUE monitoring for you to focus on the music without worrying about issues while are there?
Lastly, look up and around periodically when you are performing. If everyone is gathered around you the focus may be on what you are doing but making sure you connect with the audience - Dancers is what a DJ does so marry the two disciplines (Live performance and DJing) by having your tracks arranged to run the standard 8bar progressions (double 4bar Scale repeat X 2) . It’ll give you the freedom to know what’s coming and where to change direction so don’t goe ‘eyes down’ on your kit all night. You probably know all this but the room vibe is what tells you how to pace up and pace down…I don’t recommend pre-programmed sets but know how to throw down a change or extend a part for a bit if you have to run through the motions…
Don’t off the dancers. Don’t get intimidated by anything…do your thing and figure out a back-up if the unexpected should happen.
It sounds better when you plan around the arrangement points and phrases…things like a planned transitions over the last four of an 8 bar…bass-in of incoming/bass-out of outgoing …
I already played the gig. Never been in that club before (it wasn’t in Helsinki). The promoters who booked me liked the stuff I was doing and let me play there.
I did a proper soundcheck before the club opened, setting up all the levels and stuff precisely to match the sound system as best as I could.
Didn’t really have a backup plan. I did get some positive comments of this practice session from the promoters, so I just hoped for the best!
I did have all the cables and stuff I needed, including some extra cables just in case.
I have DJ’d for a long time, I know how a good set works. When I made this live set, I purposefully made it with the thought of having a good set, not necessarily individually amazing tracks.
I see now how my comments were misinterpreted but I really wasn’t talking down to you. It’s not my position to and I’m really curious how you pulled it off. I hope you can do a teach-back since it sounds like you’re good at it.
Personally, I’ve not gone all-machine yet but I’m using two Octatracks after years of trying to find the best portable sound for the live portion of DJ gigs….I can say that the two DPS-1s are add-on to what I mainly use because I’ve gone off the laptop concept unless I have to rely upon a DVS set-up to do my set…I use a DJ mixer and since most have four input pairs, that isn’t enough after the deck inputs. I’ve also gone back to using vinyl (not like I really stopped) so two turntables take up two input pairs and there’s only enough for two instruments…At home, we are testing running four DPS-1s to work-out an all-machine set but when hooked up and they have to be doubled up as in one DPS-1 into the other. I could use a six-channel mixer if I add anything else but honestly, that might be too much so it’s fine this way (for now)
I’ll put-up a sound demo soon but I’m waiting for a few mixer and instrument rumors to pan-out during this MusikMesse.
Why does it need to be a DJ mixer? You can get decent mixers for little money, that are way more usable for live sets than DJ mixer.
I personally have a Soundcraft EPM12 for live gigs. Small, portable (just though, the EPM8 might have actually been a wiser choice), 12 mono channels, 2 stereo channels, 2 AUXes, decent sound quality, costs 300€ new. Definitely recommend them for lives.
It doesn’t have to be but I use one because I’m mixing the Octatracks as decks to a vinyl/DVS set-up and it is integrated in a way that helps me do a lot more than what we’re talking about here. Yet, it could be anything that allows cueing, and control over volume and bands to make the set…a mix.