How do i go about performing my ambient music live? help!!

[TheButler]

As some of you may know i've got a sort of ambient project. Basically i just sit for hours in my room, playing with software synths and recording them, looping, drum beats and all kinds of stuff :P

Well, '' The Promo Guy '' that we use for the metal band i'm in has came to me asking if i can do an Ambient/Electronica gig in Edinburgh... Of course, i'd love to BUT i don't have a clue about the logistics of playing my music, which i make via my computer and a MIDI controller live I see all these massive artists with HUGE amounts of gear whereas i'd be standing there on stage with my computer and keyboard I don't even know how i'd connect it to the PA or anything

Can someone shed some light on this for me, what would i be expected to actually DO ?


Thanks, Jamie

[Bhuti]

This is what friends are for...

Find some competent musician friends, give them recordings, and play it live.

Synth Player, DJ, Drums, guitar and yourself on bass should do the trick.

[bongomania]

Here's a video of one of my last ambient performances:
http://www.ev-b.com/vids/bluecube3.mov
(warning, 18MB file)
Some things I learned while gigging in that duo:
With two people you can help each other fill dead air while patches load, files reboot, etc.
Lots and lots of delay delay delay will cover over abrupt transitions, especially if a signal drops out unexpectedly, so have a delay online at all times ready to be triggered.
Loops are good for this too, if a patch or program fails (and it will eventually) you can start playing a loop to cover the dead air and no-one will be the wiser.
Minimize your cable routing. Try to get as much as possible of your signal and control paths to go through a fat firewire cable instead of a huge snarl of RCA's, instrument cables, USB's, MIDI cables, AC adapter wires, etc. We had two rigs connected by one analog audio snake and one firewire cable, and did all processing within each of those two "hub" rigs.

As far as gear you need, just get one good-quality two-channel D/A converter/sound card. Do a complete stereo mixdown "in the box", and send the two channel output direct to the PA. Use headphones to mix in the box and cue your loops/patches.

Video helps the stage entertainment a LOT and keeps you from looking too boring or dorky.

[Deluge Of Sound]

I saw The Berg Sans Nipple live, and they had a messload of instruments on the stage, jumping between the two and what not.

So basically, as much live instrumentation as possible, and yeah, video/projected stuff/light show-y stuff will help.