[RWP] live performance question.

Wed Oct 9 20:29:45 EDT 2013

so bottom line if you can com up wit ha reliable game  plan rehearse with it to make sue it can work the way you want, and have a few back ups you can drop in when needed. Don't be afraid to try it man.
On Oct 9, 2013, at 1:08 PM, Colin McDonald <blulemon at telus.net> wrote:

> yep, and those pro touring bands have a couple guys running their tech stuff as well so they don't have to worry about it...they get on stage, pick up their instrument, play their set and leave the stage...there is allot less involvement in production at that point.
> But your point stands, reaper is powerful enough to easily perform reliably at that level as long as the supporting hardware is reliable.
> Reaper itself is the most stable audio software I've ever used anyway, so I have never had a second thought about using it live.
> I can work on something, leave the project open, come back a week later and everything is just sitting there waiting for me lol.
> Most audio software would crash, freeze or otherwise mess up after a day or less like that.
> 
> Regards
> Colin
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "TheOreoMonster" <monkeypusher69 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2013 5:14 AM
> To: "Reapers Without Peepers" <rwp at reaaccess.com>
> Subject: Re: [RWP] live performance question.
> 
>> I see scott beat me to making the point that mac mini's are actually decent little beast even at the stock configurations. And lets not get started on core audio vs ASIO. IMO ASIO tries to be core audio for windows. SO yeah if you were gonna do this, a mac mini would be the way to go. That being said yeah when a comp goes down onstage it goes down,  But plan ahead and take a few precautions and you  can avoid most hassles. Have tapper tape on you and put the computer out of the way of stage activities. Have long high quality cables and use the capper tape to tape them down so they are out of the way. But like collin says, have a back up plan, if something goes wrong, be prepared to unplug by pass and keep going, or have something else that you can patch in and keep going.  If you need to intact with the laptop between songs, thats where the most issues will come in. so try to automate as much as possible. Reaper is quite powerful with midi and they are tons of touring pro bands out there that uses one lone reaper project with the tempo of every song in their set mapped out, and midi markers to trigger different changes throughout their set.  Once they start their set the appropriate midi  markers change their channels on their mfx units, and controls the lighting rig etc. Of course these bands also tour with a second and or third laptop  clone of the first one that if one goes down they just patch in a second and keep going.
>> All that being said, Find a used POD X3 Live or something like that. It's usable with jaws to build patches and u can just use your feet to switch quickly . Oh yes, while it primarily thought of as a guitar processor,it has a mic input, mic pre amp models and tons of really nice effects.
>> 
>> On Oct 7, 2013, at 9:18 PM, Colin McDonald <blulemon at telus.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> fair enough on the mini's capabilities.
>>> but your totally right, software can be a really powerful thing when used on stage for all the things you mentioned.  It can allow a band to focus on making music and letting out whatever it is that we let out on stage, without having to worry about extra stuff.
>>> But man, when it goes wrong, it goes terribly wrong!!!
>>> with dedicated hardware stuff can, and does break, but not typically because a guy accidentally unplugged something or because the computer got confused and froze or over heated or whatever haha.
>>> One of the local bands I support at their jam, uses IPads for everyone in the band.  they are all sinked together, but even that takes a bit longer between songs for everyone to sink up and get things ready to go.  And, while they are all focused on their IPads, they are not focused on the audience in front of them.
>>> So while the technology insures that everyone has tabs, lyrics, click track, backing tracks, effects changes for the guitars or bass or vocals etc, it also takes things away from the performance.
>>> And, when the sink goes bad, or one guy has trouble, everyone gets put on hold until he can get back up to speed...and you become dependant upon that less than reliable technology to perform and function, so when it fails to work, there is no alternative or instantanious back up plan.
>>> The stage is an utterly different environment than the studio because things happen in seconds, and you are responding to, and responsible for entertaining a paying audience that expects to be entertained.
>>> In the studio, something goes side ways, and you simply fix it and move on weather it takes 10 seconds, or ten minutes.
>>> you have 3 seconds to make it happen on stage and technology, while fast, and wonderful to behold, requires minutes to make work again if something major occurs, like a firewire cord being unplugged lol.
>>> if you accidentally unplug your guitar on stage, you plug it back in and keep playing.  If a pedal goes bad, or you have a power supply issue or anything like that, again, you bypass the problem and quickly resolve it to continue playing as you need to.
>>> 
>>> regards
>>> Colin
>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>> From: "Scott Chesworth" <scottchesworth at gmail.com>
>>> Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 6:59 PM
>>> To: "Reapers Without Peepers" <rwp at reaaccess.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [RWP] live performance question.
>>> 
>>>> I wouldn't call any of the recent Mac Mini line low level machines.
>>>> There's some serious pimping that can be done, but even the stock
>>>> specs are pretty good.
>>>> 
>>>> To back up the cautionary tales of software in a live environment
>>>> though, I saw a band come a cropper fairly recently. They're very
>>>> physically active on stage, and their bassist accidentally got a
>>>> firewire cable caught on his headstock as he ran by their laptop. One
>>>> loud pop later, they were left without a click track, their triggered
>>>> drum reinforcement samples, their atmospheric backing tracks, and
>>>> their pedal changes, because it was all running from the laptop. Took
>>>> them a fair old while to reboot, reload the necessary plugs etc, and
>>>> even by the end of their set almost an hour later, the vibe on stage
>>>> still hadn't quite recovered. So yeah, don't put all your eggs in a
>>>> single basket peeps.
>>>> 
>>>> Scott
>>>> 
>>>> On 10/8/13, Colin McDonald <blulemon at telus.net> wrote:
>>>>> true.
>>>>> in fact, personally, I would never use any software based fx processor for
>>>>> live vocals at apaying gig.
>>>>> Mostly because computers are nitoriously unreliable and will crash, freeze
>>>>> or otherwise not function in the manner you wish when it is vital that they
>>>>> 
>>>>> do what they are supposed to do.
>>>>> You cannot have a crash or freeze in the middle of a song right.
>>>>> Much better to buy a piece of hardware design to add fx to your signal which
>>>>> 
>>>>> is reliable and will not depend upon something as flaky as software, and
>>>>> operating system etc.
>>>>> Especially when you are asking a fairly low powered machine to provide high
>>>>> 
>>>>> level processor intensive functions such as what is required for realtime fx
>>>>> 
>>>>> processing.
>>>>> Now if you had a quad core laptop, or something with allot of horse power,
>>>>> you wouldn't have to worry much, but a mini? Probably not the best plan.
>>>>> check your local kijiji or craigslist for cheap used fx processors and go
>>>>> that route instead of trying to use realtime software fx.
>>>>> Then again, if your not being payed, and it's for short performances,
>>>>> perhaps it'll work just fine.
>>>>> But a payed 4 hour gig where you absolutely need things to work right now
>>>>> and work perfectly the first time without a bunch of searching, and
>>>>> resetting and allot of buggering about, then you need hardware.
>>>>> While we all may love the IOs devices, they are not quick, flawless and
>>>>> simple to make happen what you need to happen in a matter of seconds rather
>>>>> 
>>>>> than minutes.
>>>>> You can't just turn a knob or two to make the effect happen, it takes allot
>>>>> 
>>>>> of voiceover blabber to make it work lol.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Regards
>>>>> Colin
>>>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>>>> From: "Drew" <amockery at gmail.com>
>>>>> Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 5:13 PM
>>>>> To: "Reapers Without Peepers" <rwp at reaaccess.com>
>>>>> Subject: Re: [RWP] live performance question.
>>>>> 
>>>>>> If you're using hardware in a live performance setting you should be using
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> something with ASIO which has as close to 0 latency as you're going to get
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> out of a computer.
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: "Colin McDonald" <blulemon at telus.net>
>>>>>> To: "Reapers Without Peepers" <rwp at reaaccess.com>
>>>>>> Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 11:57 AM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [RWP] live performance question.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> absolutely you can use fx plugs in real time.
>>>>>>> and, depending on the horse power of the computer, you can use as many as
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> the processor will support in realtime.
>>>>>>> On a mac mini, I have no idea how powerful it is.
>>>>>>> For instance, my netbook, running a 1.7GHZ processor and 1 gig of ram, I
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> can run probably 4 vocal fx at once before things start breaking up or
>>>>>>> before processor lag becomes an issue.
>>>>>>> if you want to run reverb, delay, equalization etc it's no problem.
>>>>>>> Just open a track, arm it, and select your fx with record monitor turned
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> on so you can hear the changes as you set the parameters of the effect.
>>>>>>> You may experience latency on a small computer like that though, so just
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> be aware of that issue if you are trying to use the computer with reaper
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> live.
>>>>>>> BTW, a digitech vocal processor with all the vocal effects you can handle
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> is not much more than 100 bucks these days.
>>>>>>> You can find a lexicon mx200 for less than that on the used market...the
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> mx200 is fairly accessible and has extremely good quality fx.
>>>>>>> Even a small behringer mixer with onboard vocal fx would run you 100
>>>>>>> bucks or under brand new.
>>>>>>> then you wouldn't have to deal with latency.
>>>>>>> Regards
>>>>>>> Colin
>>>>>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>> From: "Indigo" <33indigo at charter.net>
>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 11:43 AM
>>>>>>> To: "Reapers Without Peepers" <rwp at reaaccess.com>
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [RWP] live performance question.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> I haven't used Reaper in a mac, but in Windows, when you have input
>>>>>>>> going to a track and assign effects to that track, you certainly can
>>>>>>>> hear changes in the effect realtime; at least on some plugs.
>>>>>>>> To test that, just insert a track, press F to load an effect, navigate
>>>>>>>> to an effect like ReaEQ, then change one of its parameters, like a high
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> pass filter, and you'll immediately hear the bass all go away, so you'll
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> get the typical telephone sound.
>>>>>>>> Maybe you can find vocal plugs that also work in realtime; as the
>>>>>>>> bundled Rea effects do.
>>>>>>>> Indi
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On 10/7/2013 12:26 PM, Jim Noseworthy wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Hello Folks:
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I was looking for a good accessible hardware vocal effects processor
>>>>>>>>> however
>>>>>>>>> I am unable to locate one; at least, that I could afford.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> My question is:  using Reaper, along with a Mac Mini, could I assign
>>>>>>>>> Reapers
>>>>>>>>> various processing effects to individual empty tracks and then choose
>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>> particular track that contained the effects processor and use it in
>>>>>>>>> real
>>>>>>>>> time for live performances?
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Thanks all over the place gang.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
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