synth sound during live gigs

[idontreallylikepapayas]

Hi sexy people of soft.

I'm thinking of adding some synths to my band sound
(something like enter shikari http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ytR91FW3tk.)
Is it possible to record the synth parts at home using just software alone, and play them live during gigs with the touch of a button? What do I need for that? A synth? kaoss pad?

I'm completely clueless. Please help!

 

[squarehero]

Use a midi controller with any sequencer on a laptop. I recommend Ableton Live.

 

[idontreallylikepapayas]

i did some googling and found these two. Korg NanoKontrol and Korg MicroKontrol? Which one do you recommend?

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

for portability wise, the nanokontrol is better. Since you are just triggering the samples. Using midi, you can assign the functions to any knobs, faders, buttons etc, you wont need the keyboard side of the microcontrol.

If for extra useful features wise, the microcontrol is more suitable.

End of the day, you have to decide, whether just need something small to trigger samples(nanoknotral) for live show or using the midi keyboard controller(for playing vsti and other sort of extra thiings)

kaoss pad, is a sound processor, it processed sound. Even though theres a looping function within and able to store samples in sd card, imho, theres other better alternative to what you want. One example is the one mentioned by squarehero liao

another way, get a dedicated effect looper(boss rc 2, digitech jamman etc). Prelooped the samples into the looper. For show time, bassically just step on the thing to playback the samples and stop it when needed.

 

[idontreallylikepapayas]

PatheinRaindropMoe, that's alot of useful information!
Okay just a few more questions before i go on with my purchase.

Can i use a midi controller with an ipod(or anything smaller) instead of a laptop? cos laptop is really heavy to carry about.

Can the NanoKontrol play voice clips like wav files?

Can Kaoss pad be used as a standalone for live gigs, without a laptop?

 

[teokiatuan]

bro i have a brand new in box nanocontrol for sale, so let me me know if you need it ya.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

Can i use a midi controller with an ipod(or anything smaller) instead of a laptop? cos laptop is really heavy to carry about.

nope, ipod doesnt suport midi. So you cant connect midi controller to it


Can the NanoKontrol play voice clips like wav files?


Midi devices/controller usually dont have sound. Midi is a computer language made up of binaries numbers. These numbers are sent between machines/musical instrument that support midi and translate into instruction to "ask" to play sound, shut off certain parameters or control volume etc.

All the faders, buttons, knobs etc on the nanokontrol, can be assigned to trigger sound samples within the software you are using, where the sound samples are stored. If without this software to store your smaples, the nanokontrol will no work.

The nano is a communication device that allow you(user) to interact with the computer(where the software that hold the sound sample) and thus able to playback, stop and do all sort of things, via midi.


Can Kaoss pad be used as a standalone for live gigs, without a laptop?

yup, you can put a mic, kaossilator, cd player, ipod(via the earphone out jack) etc thru it and play around.

 

[Dinky]

sorry i have no experiences in this field but
yes there are some qns i would like to ask.

1)can the nano kontrol control garageband tracks?(individual tracks)
2)so you just press "play" on the kontrol and the sequence plays?
3)will it play individually or as a whole song?

sorry if the qns seems unclear.

 

[ikilledkenny!]

maybe try a netbook with the renoise program?

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

1)can the nano kontrol control garageband tracks?(individual tracks)
2)so you just press "play" on the kontrol and the sequence plays?
3)will it play individually or as a whole song?

as long the program support midi, you shud be able to assign/map the various controls(play, stop, armed, volume, mute channel, solo channel etc) from the program, into the hardware(nanokontrol)

with the hardware/software and midi, users will be the one to define how you want the software to react.

other then controlling the various functions in daw, midi controller can be set to play virtual instrument in computer, lighting controls, visuals manipulation as well.

Anyway, for more info, just go here http://www.midi.org/aboutmidi/index.php

 

[idontreallylikepapayas]

thanks pathein and guys, you've been a great help.

 

[squarehero]

A laptop is still the way to go in terms on flexibility. It has more sample capacity than a kaoss pad and with software like Ableton Live, also made for performance. Do try a netbook like others suggested if you don't need too complex a setup that will kill the cpu.

I recommend that you try out the 14 day Ableton Live Free Demo. You can trigger samples very easily in the Live Session View and there are features to nudge the tempo to the band if that is needed.

If you don't have a midi controller, you can trigger direct from computer keyboard or by clicking.