My Ableton Live Setup for Red Rocks (hardware walkthru/experience/FAQs)

[@iConnectivitySupport]

This is a great video. It's super cool for people to see how all the work before allows for a great experience. Being able to rely on things being ready and working allows you to really get into performance mode. Also congrats on playing this iconic venue! So glad the PlayAUDIO12 could give you some peace of mind for your setup. We appreciate the shoutout. If you or anyone wants to know anything about our gear like the PlayAUDIO12 let us know.

[@sweetnothingscreative]

Had a blast making the illustrations!! Thank you ❤️‍🔥

[@badsnacks]

Thank YOU!!

[@aytchwastaken]

Great job on the illustrations! I was wondering where those super-clean images came from.

[@sweetnothingscreative]

@aytch thank you so much!!

[@BearbearbearbearbearbearRarrrr]

Those illustrations were great, very helpful. (I’m a person with disability, this kind of thing is invaluable).

[@OverbuiltAdventure]

Woooo the Red Rocks video, awesome!!! Thanks for the shout out; happy to have enhanced the experience, and that our Jeep made your show even if we couldn't!

[@hansolo8080]

I was going to write something among the lines "Oh great, so the most important thing is having good connections in the business." when I realized, in fact, that is very, very helpful and a good point. I always forget that, yes it's cool to know how things work and you did a great job explaining it (in a very entertaining way!), but in the end you don't get where you are as a creator, if you force everything by yourself. Contact friends and people you look up to. The worst thing that can happen is they telling you "no". Best thing that can happen is described in the video.

[@thatomathebula6494]

Honestly I didn’t think there’d be so much to consider playing live 😂 I appreciate the wisdom.

[@badsnacks]

to be fair i probably made this more complicated than i needed it to be lmao

[@chrisjeaaalbertos3802]

@@badsnacks You didn't. Making it "less complicated" makes it more complicated for the crew. It sounds like it does exactly what I, as a FOH technician, would like to see. I have seen a lot of artists who thought they made it less complicated, i.e. reducing outputs by mixing themselves (including live mics) and it was a mess 10/10 times. All I head is a super solid setup (including redundancy which makes me super happy)

[@henryinvisible]

Thank you for that breakdown! I absolutely love the build stories of producers and their live setup!

[@elliothetzer9685]

I'm the music director for my church and an audio/ music guy for a marching performing group and I've shared this video with both sides of what I do I various groups. The redundancy system is one of THE most important aspect of what we do live and your breakdown of how that works is extremely helpful. Thank you.

[@Djpuzzle]

That setup was sick. Sounded really tight and you seemed comfortable and confident with it. Glad it went smoothly for y'all.

[@kernelpaniiic]

I didn’t know this automated redundancy device existed, very clever. I remember a Björk concert with Matmos where their Macbook froze, they had to wait for it to reboot to continue the performance. Also many thanks for sharing your process, that’s a lot of prep !

[@valdir7426]

ah the good times when your computer won't boot just before a live performance (this one time it happened to me I came preparared with a backup though; it still was a shitty experience)

[@seansley]

Love the message of backup systems and redundancy... it's imperative.

[@vishwamusix6664]

Mad respect for putting so much effort in prep for live performances

[@djsoomo]

WOW- It is a privalige to get such incredible insight and detail! Thank you for sharing!

[@RedMeansRecording]

Such a dope experience.

[@AmentiaMusic]

Great content! Thanks for sharing :) But just so you know disabling tracks or individual plugins in ableton doesn't actually free up any cpu. I guess it's so that you can re-enable tracks or plugins while the song is playing and there won't be any pause since everything is already loaded up. Freezing tracks does disable all the plugins, it works to lower your cpu usage and prevent pops and clicks at lower buffer settings

[@MKS21471]

Great video. Fascinating to see behind the scenes, thanks so much for sharing.... It was interesting to see how you did it in Arrangement view rather than Session view. Hadn't thought of doing it that way. For anyone else struggling with this, Rachel K Collier's course "How to Perform with Ableton Live" is a great resource.

[@badsnacks]

RKC is dope!

[@MKS21471]

@@badsnacks …and a genuinely lovely person. Let us know if you make it to the UK or Scotland. I’ll be there to support and cheer.

[@Sarah2ill]

Wow! Very impressive!! Thanks for sharing!

[@3ricSha]

Appreciate you putting this together!

[@davidduston1611]

Ah this combined with that reverb vid is a big help in making ableton efficient! I run into x runs on my poor old laptop so this will helps heaps. Thanks

[@stephennicholas7095]

I had no idea you were playing my home town. you are the reason I got myself an SP and I love it.

[@LAZYRAVE]

Great vid, just going through the process of translating our content to live, playing soft synths live scares the c*ap outta me (can get glitchy and cane the cpu) so we are going hardware and re sampling the soft synths in a sampler for live manipulation, electronic drum kit and spdx. Going to use live for vocal harmonies some midi transport and misc audio. Interesting about the foh stuff, at the moment we are using the uad Apollo for mixing everything, click and in ears monitor setup giving only a stereo mix to foh. Really useful though and I feel your pain about the complexity and challenges this brings! Thanks x

[@dragon-id5uj]

that's kinda the DREAM! used to have family out that way; recall growing up, i got to check out the stage n amphitheater during the day while not in use. so sick how the acoustics travel all the way thru the bleachers even without amplification. the climate's so sweet too! no frizzy hair haha. geez, legendary moment

[@electrolyteorchestra4214]

those illustrations by Jackelyn are great

[@sweetnothingscreative]

Thank u 🥲

[@carlosraymundomartinezesq3396]

I’m a little late to the party but so toked for you! You’re killing it Snacks!

[@Cloudjump3r]

Awesome video! Thank you so much for putting this together! 🙏

[@65Drums]

Thanks for sharing your setup, especially that part about redundancy, I've never heard of that hardware! It must help you sleep at night knowing that stressful part of the rig is rock solid

[@craigreeves5465]

I love how you're so proficient in so many things, including live sound! It's really awesome!

[@killinanmusic]

Thanks so much. Much clearer and more relevant than the usual "beginners" videos. A clear reference video that I can use over. Nice quality playing by the way.

[@Eliphosys]

yeahh stoked to see this! thanks!

[@muziqli]

I love this... I am totally music nerding out RN!!!

[@johnmcnally322]

Great job! It is great to see that you have such a robust support network to help you realize your dreams!

[@MegaCadr]

It makes me happy you played with your brother :) Great video!

[@JasonPriebe]

Thanks for sharing your techniques! I love your honesty about how challenging this was, and the help it took to get it all pulled together. Congrats on the Red Rocks show - I only dream of *seeing* a show there, and you got to play on that stage! 🤯

[@valdir7426]

that's great information; the play audio is a very cool tool. So for live sessions I work in arrangement view and I made a small tool in m4l that can trigger a loop point anywhere you want for a set length so you can either loop a part or have a silence on the track for a transition played live. very handy. I also made a tool that specify the order in which markers are played; so you can try different track lists without having to redo the entire live session. it can get a bit confusing though. made those a few years back and never look back; good compromise between using arrangement view and still having some flexibility.

[@markodesign]

This is super informative and really well done. Thank you!

[@thedakotahurley]

You are awesome! Talented, knowledgeable, and have a great personality. Congrats on Red Rocks! That's really cool!!

[@FunkyDigo]

Great video! 🤙

[@_mueve]

This was a very informative video. Great tip on the automation part as well. Thanks

[@AkborVideo]

I could watch this for hours.

[@ErichWK]

Seeing how many people helped you figure this out makes me feel better about being a little overwhelmed with me doing it alone. I think this is all supposed to be..inherently a pain in the ass sorta.. but that is kind of what makes it so fulfilling when you pull it off!

[@jimkennedy472]

Yay, bad snacks is back. I've missed you

[@fourspiralarms]

Thank you so much for sharing this..I've always wondered how I could do this..the automating of the instrument chains along with device on/off for cpu management is a game changer!

[@Inextasie]

Thank you for this very detailed rundown ! I'm on the process of going from a system where I was outputting separately most of my live instruments (around 24) to a much simple way where I bussed them to 8... Sending a lot of different stuff to the FOH is great when you have a reliable sound engineer : which is a big liability as I've learned the hard way... Most of the sound engineer I've worked with have been absolute delight but a few "bad" apples are enough to make a good case for simplying the outputs like you did. Even if it means having to spend way more time on mixing/mastering for live performance...

[@thebicycleman8062]

thank u so much for taking all this time to help us out with this amazin intricate set up!! u r jus awesome!!

[@pedrodelamigofficial]

I’m busy building a crossover between dj’ing and producing with Ableton. This is really helpful! Thank you!

[@ThePoorMusician]

New comer to your channel. I'm a "Poor" musician, well at one time I was I am moving up a little BUT still learning. The BIGGEST draw back for me getting started was learning music from KZbin believe it or not. Because, as someone new searching for "music theory", "beginner producer", "learning music", etc, etc you are taking down a HUGE RABBIT whole leading to worthless music courses people are peddling, wrong advice from people that nearly know as much as I do, etc. Basically no structure in learning. But I got through it and now I have the Full Ableton Live Suite and all. But I remember I want my channel literally for those starting out from nothing. No instruments, No Money, etc except a computer and looking for a FREE DAW to get started. I started with Ardour, which I love, and is that I'll be teaching new people with. Along with ONLY FREE plugins. By the way I found you through watching Andrew's "4 Producers 1 Sample" series. So it was good he choose you or else I probably wouldn't have found you. You don't really come up in popular searches that "beginners" will be searching for.

[@majesticpillowmusic]

The amount of time and effort you put into this really shows, thank you so much for sharing; I mean I wanna cry just watching haha

[@SteveMaggioncalda]

so insightful and helpful. great dive. thx

[@julianshowalter7001]

Thank you awfully for explaining this. There is so much more management in being a musician than folks realize, this is one of the most concise run throughs of the fail safes needed in place. Love the work, always a fan

[@Diego_Estes]

Wow that’s awesome! Happy for you !

[@OLANSOUND]

Seriously thank you

[@johanngrillenbeck]

thank you so much for this breakdown! this is the nerdy content I signed up for and it is so inspiring 😁

[@dannydigtl]

Super interesting, and practical! Thank you!

[@fenschmen2795]

This was an AMAZING video. So much info, TY for sharing!

[@finncallinanmusic8936]

thankyou for this video!!!! its really saving me from the loop of many headaches

[@NemoCee]

Thanks a bunch for breaking it down for us! Very very useful information. Quick question: do you put the virtual instruments in the instrument rack (keys stack) or in the midi track itself (e.g. Jup-8)? Thanks.

[@ThatViolaKid]

That's so cool that Adam performed with you! I loved this intro!!!

[@johnsaunders6510]

That was very good and helpful. Thanks.

[@taiyassa]

very insightful! thank you so much

[@theboywhochosethesea]

Great breakdown, even as a non-Ableton user. Are you going to be putting more of the set up?

[@BuenoLaidley]

The way Anomalie sets ups his Ableton Live sets is basically the best way to do it, and that how I also do my live sets. I've never found the need for two computers (as my sets never crash or give me any problems), just get as much RAM as possible (32 or 64 GB) as that is what will most likely give you problems with very large sets (other than a fast CPU).

[@hotdubtm]

Never 100% trust a computer on stage :)

[@badsnacks]

The likelihood of a computer crashing is very low, although Anomalie and I talked about this very thing and he even expressed interest in having a second computer. I think backups are just the ultimate safety net even if they're hardly needed. That's why it's called a redundant system I suppose!

[@inarahmusic3369]

This was so dope! I'm curious - why did you opt for arrangement instead of session view?

[@67Jimbob]

I'm new to Ableton and this is really helpful, thanks!

[@jasongravely7217]

I’m a nerd and I love this.

[@shannonlee4125]

Very informative on live performances love your work stay humble🖖

[@JustinKimball]

Dope video! Wish I could have seen the show!

[@electrolyteorchestra4214]

awesome breakdown, everything is super well layed out and understandable!

[@sunglint]

This is soooo cool! And super inspiring. Thanks!!!

[@austresenrelaxationmusic]

Great job, love your work!

[@wyattalexander4041]

Super awesome!!!

[@ZapAndersson]

Hah, I saw a Bad Snacks caverns on the pedalboard. How insanely appropriate :P

[@Rock1290T]

That's sick!

[@FarrinD12]

Such an awesome video!! My band recently had an outdoor gig and had to figure out some logistics like this, I wish we could have seen this video first 😂

[@1dkappe]

Thanks for this. Congratulations.

[@tamirmeirraz7522]

Thanks for sharing, theres some M4L that can make setting up simpler

[@meticmusic]

love this as a follow up on the Anomalie video - both have been absolutely immensely helpful so really appreciate the work you put in for this! i still run everything in session view + dummy clips and was wondering if there were any decisive advantages that arrangement view has over session view? for one, drawing out automations in arrangment view seems to be MUCH more intuitive than in session view w/ dummy clips, but are there some other factors (perhaps CPU or sth else) that tip the scales?

[@badsnacks]

Honestly for me I defaulted to arrangement view because that's just the view I produce in and am the most comfortable reading/understanding. I think the long-form automation is absolutely a factor though and basically the whole MIDI stack/instrument rack method would be incredibly hard to work with in clip mode for me personally. Clip mode absolutely has its own advantages too though, so it just really depends on what you're comfortable and down with.

[@meticmusic]

@@badsnacks yeh makes a ton of sense - thanks for the lowdown!!

[@echoes4660]

Great video,will be helpfull for my next live sets, thanks :)

[@BrandonWells]

why does it always take earning a degree in sound engineering to figure out how to play live these days lol. I have been neck-deep in this for months, trying to figure out my own live rig setup for playback and IEM things. it's so much work for a crowd of people who literally don't notice anything hahahah. thanks for this deep dive.

[@FVDaudio]

Excelente. Thanks for sharing all of this.

[@LazedMusic]

Great video, was always curious as to how to approach a live set

[@syruplease]

thanks for alllllll the detail i learned a lot

[@freyafoxmusic]

Thank you 🙏 been needing to know more on how to perform with live

[@VioletPrism]

Awesome thankyou!!

[@MacelDrums]

Fantastic, thank you

[@MikeMaz1022]

Look up Will Marshall. He pretty much has a template that does this but some things are simplified (turning off the synths can be done in an easier way with out automation and with in a rack)

[@DarioMoog]

Great video! Thanks

[@winter_inter]

@badsnacks What’s the main difference in approach for mastering for live? My guess is to ensure each stem sounds good and loud enough on its own if needed to be Solo’d.

[@AsRiversRunDry]

I too am also super curious about this @badsnacks

[@LillianFrances]

This is truly amazing!! Got a lil' aneurysm just watching it so can't imagine what it was like putting it together. Would LOVE to have a few things clarified if anyone has an idea: 1) Why are there two MIDI tracks bringing in MIDI from channel 3 & 4 (keys & drums), just to have the signal be passed to the synth & drum stacks? Why not just set the synth stacks & drum stacks MIDI inputs to be channel 3 & 4 respectively? 2) Why have the drum stacks & synth stacks have instrument racks but without the actual instrument on them? And instead they're just sending signal through to the right synth/sample in the "synths" and "samples" MIDI tracks? As you can see at 15:03, the actual synths aren't on the chains, but instead an external instruent with no output... so essentially just empty. In my live set I switch between instruments by just using an instrument rack with the actual instruments in the chains & distributed equally... Would love to hear thoughts on this!

[@LillianFrances]

2) Ok the Anamolie video answered my question. It's because having all the instruments on one track makes it so your computer only uses one of its core processors. Spreading out the instruments onto other tracks, your computer will use all your processors. Still looking for the answer to no. 1 if anyone has ideas!

[@mistergorgonmusic]

Cool setup

[@Roses_R_redeR]

I've wanted this sents I was put on this planet....🥀

[@MaylorTaylor]

I would love a more in-depth look at how to setup yours (and Anonamlie's) live setup. I downloaded his template but got confused on what was happening lol

[@Sadsoft]

Your there there cover is haunting. Also what is the brand that multi tier keyboard stand.

[@piccoloblack]

Damn, I wish I couldve been there

[@marcushawkinsmusic]

Very nice!!!

[@onemanleft1312]

This is a really interesting way to organize a session! Also a very informative and insightful video. Thanks for the great content! It's always interesting to see how other artists approach things! You mentioned improvising your solo's, which I do as well, but I also tend to improvise my arrangements, which makes it essentially Impossible for me to run as much automation as you are using here. When performing live I stay in clip/session view, mainly because I am recording and looping a lot of my samples live. I do use pre-recorded samples, but I trigger them live, on the fly. If my samples are triggered by automation I have to be committed to a rigid time frame which gives me anxiety. Not to mention that if a lot of samples are being automated, it feels more like I'm just jamming to a backing track rather than performing live music. I guess a lot more can go wrong with the way I do it. But even though my approach requires a lot of intensive mapping that varies wildly from one song to the next, and each song's unique mapping must be committed to memory.. it affords me a great deal of freedom while performing, allows me to keep things fresh, keeps me from getting bored, and keeps an audience guessing. Lol I also use a launchkey 49 but mkII, and the Launchpad X, but also employ an Alesis VX49, an M-Audio prokeys88, electric guitar, bass, acoustic electric, vocals, and a full drum kit. I use the Tascam Model 12 for all my routing and live mixing.

[@luisspivacow5344]

amazing.

[@lillianfrances754]

Thanks so much for this! Did you have any issue seeing the lit buttons of your Novation Launchpad? I perform with the PUSH and am always running into the issue of: you can't see the pads in the sunlight.

[@thacrashdummy_]

so sick.

[@danielpirone8028]

Mo nerdy - mo betta

[@games.music.tech.3560]

What keyboard rack is that in the back of your studio?! That thing looks awesome, like I could rig anything to it.

[@brianhoffmann2403]

You might want to show people what it was really like to prepare for a live show and the realities... all good stuff...and looks like you are . OKe concerning play audio; Do i need 2 of the same type of computers... meaning. M1 mac with another m1 mac?