Iāll speak on both the modular side and the laptop side of things.
One of the big reasons I got into electronic music was to perform live. Most (but not all) of my performances have been done with modular. Like a lot of people, when I got into modular (early 2016) it was super exciting, and within a year and a half I spent lots of money and had built up a 12U system. But at that point, it was like I had built up a large collection of modules, not a cohesive instrument, and it became unwieldy for performances. But one day in the Trade section of this forum, an isms popped up for sale and I jumped on that ASAP, and began to downsize.
I think a lot of people might think of a large modular system like an orchestra, but right now Iām more interested in treating mine as a solo performer or chamber ensemble. The limitations can be frustrating sometimes when listening to others and wishing I could have more independent voices playing at once, but then I remember my approach is just
different, not better or worse than others.
The core of my system is the Teletype/Just Friends power combo and 2 W/. Often, Iām using the grid through Teletype as a playing surface to play Just Friends in real time. Then Iām often layering and building up parts with W/ to build up larger textures. I also love to throw in other things like guitar into it as well. I made an album with a similar approach.
The rest of the modules in the system shift in and out, but recently itās been more consistent. Itās mostly settled into a set of monome, Mannequins, and Make Noise modules:
- the monome modules offer the flexibility in sequencing and modulation, as well as letting me plug in grid/arc/midi etc etc
- I love the sound and aesthetic of the Mannequins modules. Theyāre so packed with features and highly flexible. I actually have been using Mangrove and Sisters a lot as LFOs recently. The relationship between square/formant and the three filters leads to interesting modulation shapes. Sisters ALL as a pan control is pretty crazy!
- To me, the coolest things about Make Noise modules (besides the DPO and Rene etc which are awesome too!), the filters and ā-mixā modules are incredible. The MMG is my other favorite filter besides Sisters. And to me, the flexibility of the Optomix and Moddemix plus their own sonic charm make them incredibly useful and indispensable to me. I have 20hp left and I might pick up a Maths again for some envelope generation and CV mixing duties.
/modular-rant
Somewhat parallel to my modular journey was my journey into Max. This was the original reason I got a grid in the first place. (I actually remember having no intention to own any monome modules, and to keep things totally separate.)
But for me, suddenly having the power to define the function of my instruments and system was a game-changer. I had a Push for awhile and it didnāt gel with me for this reason, although there were many things about that design which I appreciated and admired. It can be a struggle to balance between programming and actually making music with what you create/design. Thankfully, a lot of great instruments and devices are being shared with the world. Gridlab and re:mix are big ones for me. I donāt really like programming synthesis in Max, but I do love building sampling/looping/delay systems.
At some point tho, doing visual work became my primary use of Max. These days, my Max work is almost entirely Jitter visual stuff, and while I use the grid and arc as my āVJā controllers, that isnāt super relevant here. Any other time Iām using Max or Max for Live, itās being used in a studio/production way, which again isnāt the point of discussion.
I only have one recording of me using a laptop/monome system, and it was actually sandwiched between 2 modular pieces (so ironically it wasnāt quite a minimal setup that night). I recorded some guitar lines in Ableton and layered/looped them with re:mix. That portion starts around 15:45 in the recording
Some general responses to your points that arenāt exclusive to modular or laptop:
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Whether I play long form or short form pieces partially depends on not just the expected length of the set, but also just whatever I come up with in preparation. First, I spend time coming up with general ideas to perform with. This could just be a modular patch, or in the case of laptop music, I have some some beat or cell of a musical idea that could be explored with effects processing and creative mixing. Live performances to me are about exploration/improvisation, so repeatability isnāt important to me, but having a broad starting place to explore from is. Even I was primarily gigging as a rock guitarist, I never played my own solos the same way twice.
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I donāt perform music Iāve recorded or vice versa. For me itās important to keep things separate. Even my album linked above, I didnāt just record myself improvising as if it were a show, otherwise each track wouldāve been over 10 minutes in length. I love recording live performances, and embrace mistakes etc by presenting those recordings that way. But I also love editing and DAW workflow, and I personally donāt feel my recorded/released music would feel as authentic if it were recording it like a performance but not really a performance. Thereās no āpressureā or audience or vibes to interact with, which I think is important for how a live piece ultimately feels for me. Maybe this works for other people, but for me I just get bored listening to myself without seeing myself (or without edits).
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When I first got my 2 W/ modules, I used one for looping what I was playing, and one for playing back field recordings. I had like an hour of Boston city sounds I recorded into the module one day, and would jump around cue points as a background layer, dynamically shifting the placement of sounds in relation to each other and breaking linearity. Since the newest firmware came out I havenāt done this so much, but Iām learning to integrate a 4 track with my modular, so field recording might make a comeback in some form.
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PAs are always a tricky part of gigging, so I just advise being prepared for anything. The mixer might be inconveniently far from the stage, or other performers forget a crucial part of their setup (like an interface or something), so you end up sharing things with others. Weāve also had to be our own sound-people many times. I played a show once where a speaker cable had busted, and the PA was rigged up in no convenient way to fix it that night, so we ended up having to play in mono which was a huge bummer.
DI boxes and loooong cables are a good thing to have on hand, as are power strips and extension cables. If itās a local show, scouting out the venue some time before the show is something Iāve done a lot, but I know thatās not always possible.
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