Performing electronic music

Hey there,

Long before I produced music, I performed music. My earliest musical experiences were singing in school choirs and my most formative were the years I spent playing in bands. Until I moved to Seattle, playing music with others was a weekly constant in my life.

I only ever performed electronic music once in all that time, for a festival during grad school in the fall of 2018. I had written a batch of half finished songs for that performance and I remember how thrilling it was figuring out how to bring them to life in real time in front of an audience. I remember only experiencing one major screw up which, given how little I knew about music production at the time, was pretty impressive.

I distinctly remember being overwhelmed by the endless ways in which I could organize a live performance in Ableton Live. I could map whatever I wanted to anything I wanted. I could play whatever part I wanted or none at all. I could sequence MIDI in realtime or loop audio clips. It was too much to think about after that one performance, I had a master's degree to finish.

But the itch to perform has never gone away. It sat dormant for half a decade and in the last year it has come back with a vengeance. One major part of that resurgence is that I've continued to learn Ableton Live and as my expertise with the software has increased so has my understanding of best practices for Live performance.

After mentioning this itch here and there in this newsletter, I'm finally taking action. I'm going to start incorporating live performance videos into my YouTube channel as well as breakdowns of what's happening (many of which will live on my Patreon). I'm excited to take my Push 3 Standalone and Move out into the nature surrounding Seattle.

Additionally, I'm starting an electronic music ensemble that will meet on Thursday at Edmonds College here in the Seattle area. This ensemble will be entirely focused on using Ableton Live and Link to create exciting and evolving musical performances. I'm already starting to put the curriculum together. If you're in the area, you should consider signing up!

You should perform for yourself in the studio even if you never make it to a stage

A lot of people get into music production because it is a facet of music making that doesn't require getting onstage. If that's you then I would encourage you to still practice performing within your own studio. Why? Simply put, performance requires you to focus on what's most essential to a production. It requires you to focus on what has the greatest impact on the music. It forces you to be as efficient with Ableton Live and signal flow as possible. It forces you to focus on gesture and interaction.

In short, it makes you a far better producer.

If you can't finish a song or you're stuck with an 8 bar loop, then transform the set into a performance and see if you find your way to an arrangement with it.

Music is a uniquely human thing and we can't forget that even if the sound comes from our computer, the music only ever comes from us.

Til next time,

ZW