Since 2023 I stopped working on producing new tracks but instead worked on a new live set. I designed and programmed a live set that allows me to interactively play my style of deep or ambient techno. Some must-haves to perform in interesting ways were far from trivial and needed some thorough dev work. I ended up to also build two new controllers to reach ma aims, that you can see below.
The outcome of two years of work on hardware, software and music in an 1 hour live recording:
The Setup
The objectives for this live set were:
- fine-grained control of specifically selected parameters of sound generation
- live and time-based modulation of pre-designed progressions
- live audio synthesis that exposes these parameters and yet remains crisp and responsive
- two identical “decks” (left/right) for seamless transitions, free arrangement and mixing
- no screen on the table
With this in mind, I built and programmed advanced structures into Ableton. For example ensuring that only instruments currently playing or about to play are loaded.
On top I built two new interfaces, the first of which includes a physical prototype:
The Modulator (in the middle), which gives me track-specific access to every parameter of the live set I want, allowing me to perform the live set freely and uniquely every time.
And the ClipDeck (foremost left and right) – a software solution for the Elgato Streamdeck – which I can use to launch Ableton clips and monitor their progress, name and color. A Launchpad on steroids, so to speak.
