Unpopular Opinion: All DAWS suck (for playing live)

[clipnotic]

Perhaps 2 DAWs on 2 laptops could work?

[whyterabbyt]

I'm a bit amazed how little concern goes into DAWs when it comes to performing music live.

Im not. Similar to how Im not amazed about little concern goes into motorbikes when it comes to trailer attachments.

[Tony Ostinato]

i've explanded this setup by running 4 tabs with similar setups but different vsti's/sampled instruments

[pdxindy]

So while older VSTs like Sylenth1 at least have superb preset implementation, meaning you can switch presets by simply sending a midi program change message as you would/could do on a hardware setup, it's not possible to do this with any native devices of any DAW

You can do it with Bitwig and native devices (or vsts) using the instrument selector and a user selected range of midi notes

[pdxindy]

And it's not just DAWs, VST devs have also become lazy and just started ignoring proper preset VST implementation, so while older synth like Dune, Synth1, Sylenth1 let you switch presets on the fly via Midi Program Change, none of the fancy new wavetable ones will let you do this.

Hive can... along with the other u-he synths...

[rod_zero]

Somehow thousands of artist perform live with the current offerings.

As for changing presets, in ableton one good way to change between sounds is to use a an instrument rack with several instruments in it and use a macro control for selection, you can automate it.

[wuworld]

You got 20 and 21 years old doing live performances in Ableton, FL Studio etc. So live performance can be done with what's out.

[Protocol_b]

One (two?) word(s) (plus a numeral) - LIVEPROFESSOR 2. It's like MainStage except that it's good.

[docbot]

And it's not just DAWs, VST devs have also become lazy and just started ignoring proper preset VST implementation, so while older synth like Dune, Synth1, Sylenth1 let you switch presets on the fly via Midi Program Change, none of the fancy new wavetable ones will let you do this.

Hive can... along with the other u-he synths...

Actually Hive can't do this. I just tried it with the Demo in Ableton, changing the Program Number in an Ableton clip doesn't do anything.

[docbot]

One (two?) word(s) (plus a numeral) - LIVEPROFESSOR 2. It's like MainStage except that it's good.

thanks, didn't know about this one looks interesting.

Studio Ones new feature isn't really useful to me, it's more geared torwards traditional live sets where you need backing tracks and then you can play a synth on top of it with a keyboard. I think electronic music can be more about adjust parameters of a synth live while preprogrammed notes are playing, which doesn't quit seem the workflow of the show feature in s1.

[ATS]

You got 20 and 21 years old doing live performances in Ableton, FL Studio etc. So live performance can be done with what's out.

can you really call them performances though? A lot of these live shows are them pressing one button and bobbing their head.

[pdxindy]

And it's not just DAWs, VST devs have also become lazy and just started ignoring proper preset VST implementation, so while older synth like Dune, Synth1, Sylenth1 let you switch presets on the fly via Midi Program Change, none of the fancy new wavetable ones will let you do this.

Hive can... along with the other u-he synths...

Actually Hive can't do this. I just tried it with the Demo in Ableton, changing the Program Number in an Ableton clip doesn't do anything.

Most likely user error... did you follow the u-he instructions?

[BONES]

I think electronic music can be more about adjust parameters of a synth live while preprogrammed notes are playing

Sure, it can be but I think we can all agree that's not what it should be. Nobody wants to go to a gig to watch someone twiddle knobs (unless it's ladies' night at Bada-Bing!), it's not what makes live music great.

[machinesworking]

This is a real head scratcher isn't it?

I've used Ableton Live off an on for years for live performance, backing tracks with Kore as the brain for live synths and FX etc. Everything in one Set, no need to switch projects etc. Kore is no more, but the idea lives on with other things like Freestyle. The thing about using Live though is it makes more sense to use the Session View, this in band practice can be a pain. If you're going over a part you need to either toss it into the Arrangement or open the original project etc. etc. Bitwig would be very similar for live uses, and one advantage of both of them is less chances of audio glitches when messing with things in a live environment.

Digital Performer is near ideal for Live use if you set up audio tracks in various Chunks and VSTs in their V-Racks. It queues the next song for you automatically, or you can program the change to any length you want, pausing doesn't affect it, and it's dead easy to rearrange the live set on the fly if you need to. I think it's especially appealing if you're a guitar player live, since setting up Amplitube etc. and having DP change presets with program change messages is pretty flawless, and in practice you're looking at the full linear arrange sequencer. My only drawback at this point is Clips aren't as advanced as any of the other Launchers out there, with no real hardware support, just dumb MIDI learn. MPE is still a 16 channel affair as well.

Logic is looking really good for live use these days, the clip launching feature is pretty solid, but changing synths on the fly is up and down arrows from what I can tell. I find the whole way record is armed in Logic slightly more frightening to trust in Logic than Live or DP, but the Marker switching of parts of a song is pretty cool.


I'm working in Logic a lot more these days, but I'm probably going to be using DP10 for Live use, it's just a cleaner experience for the way I set things up.

[zerocrossing]

How many times does one need to change a preset during a song?