How to Use Ableton Live During a Live Set Having your computer crash during a live set is one of the worst things that can happen to a live performer. Fortunately Ableton is a completely stable program when used properly and it’s unlikely that your Ableton will crash during one of your sets and leave your crowd standing in silence. Ensuring your Ableton runs smoothly and is completely optimized for your live performance can keep any problems from happening while you’re Djing a live set.
Having your sets organized and clean before you go on stage is one of the best things you can do so that your set runs smoothly. Many people don’t have an organized track list and have infinite clips and tracks that they might be using. This isn’t a good way to perform and could lead to quality issues during your set. Before the show it’s important to go through the tracks and clips you’re going to use and make sure that anything you’re not using is removed. Making a habit to be organized goes a long way in improving your live sets and streamlining the entire performance.Plug-ins are another area where people forget to follow the less is more adage. While outside plug-ins are great they really aren’t needed and the native plug-ins that come with Ableton are all anyone needs. The native plug-ins are stable, efficient, and all you need for any live set. It’s easy to get hung up on choosing the right plug-in but if you stick to the ones Ableton provides and keep a basic set list and performance than it’s less likely that anything will go wrong. For the plug-ins that you use regularly make sure you know which ones are effective and stop using any of the plug-ins you don’t think you need. Another thing to consider when you’re performing a live set and you want Ableton to run smoothly is to always be aware of your CPU meter. Depending on the settings Ableton can be quite power intensive and use up a lot of the resources on your computer. Cleaning up the audio and plug-ins will make sure that too much power isn’t used or wasted and by keeping an eye on the CPU meter you can be well aware of what the status of your computer is.
Finally, during a live performance you need to keep your computer dedicated to music. Running any applications that aren’t needed, such as Facebook, during a live set could cause your computer to lag or slow down during your performance. You could even crash your computer if you’re utilizing Ableton and running many different applications at the same time. When it comes to your live set just stick to Ableton and leave everything else alone until your performance is over. Following these suggestions will ensure your Ableton sets run smoothly and reduce your chance of experiencing any issues along the way. To learn online music theory Click here.