M
mage1
Guest
I'm an emcee who's getting ready to play some live shows but I don't have my beats on vinyl. What are some other good ways to run my beats live so I can perform at shows? Any suggestions?
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Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
For a live show and not having vinyl, the next best thing that everyone seems to use is DAT. Digital Audio Tape. Put your instrumentals on a DAT and you're good to go. I've seen some shows where there were problems with the DAT machine at the club, so make sure it's working properly before hitting the stage.
Of course it would be dope to have your stuff on vinyl, but it's so tough to get just a few copies made!
Of course it would be dope to have your stuff on vinyl, but it's so tough to get just a few copies made!
vitaminman
IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,
The hip hop act I produce played live once in a bar, here's how we set it up:
1. I made mixes of our tracks without vocals and some of the synth parts, burned them to cd, and played them on a cd player through the stage mixer.
2. I brought up a few synths with me for show and played some of the parts missing from the cd mix, these were routed into the stage mixer.
3. The rappers had mics and rapped over the music as it played, they were sent into the stage mixer.
4. The stage mixer main outs were sent to the house mixer and through the house system.
Dats are nice because they don't skip; however, they're more expensive than cd players, dat tapes are more expensive than cdr's, and not all house systems have dat players...i'm sure that ALL house systems have at least one cd player. If you bring a portable cd player, a lot of them have electronic skip protection which means you won't have too many skipping problems if the house bass shakes it up a little.
Minidisc is another option, and they're pretty cheap.
And whatever you do, BRING A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR MUSIC!!!! Otherwise you're screwed if your only copy gets ashed on or scratched...
Take care,
Nick
The hip hop act I produce played live once in a bar, here's how we set it up:
1. I made mixes of our tracks without vocals and some of the synth parts, burned them to cd, and played them on a cd player through the stage mixer.
2. I brought up a few synths with me for show and played some of the parts missing from the cd mix, these were routed into the stage mixer.
3. The rappers had mics and rapped over the music as it played, they were sent into the stage mixer.
4. The stage mixer main outs were sent to the house mixer and through the house system.
Dats are nice because they don't skip; however, they're more expensive than cd players, dat tapes are more expensive than cdr's, and not all house systems have dat players...i'm sure that ALL house systems have at least one cd player. If you bring a portable cd player, a lot of them have electronic skip protection which means you won't have too many skipping problems if the house bass shakes it up a little.
Minidisc is another option, and they're pretty cheap.
And whatever you do, BRING A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR MUSIC!!!! Otherwise you're screwed if your only copy gets ashed on or scratched...
Take care,
Nick
C
Copenhagen
Guest
MiniDisc is the cheapest way to do things...and here in Denmark most people use that now. DAT is almost out...
CD isn't a solution...a small place with a bangin' bass is doomed to skip your CD.
CD isn't a solution...a small place with a bangin' bass is doomed to skip your CD.
P
Prophet
Guest
you use hard disk. Never use a minidisc or CD. A good live hard disk player is called Instant Replay. it is expensive, but used for many live electronic shows.
vitaminman
IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,
You mean this?
http://www.360systems.com/docs/prod_ir_main.html
This is what radio guys use to fire off sounds on the air, it's like a sampler with big chunky buttons...with no MIDI!
Nick
You mean this?
http://www.360systems.com/docs/prod_ir_main.html
This is what radio guys use to fire off sounds on the air, it's like a sampler with big chunky buttons...with no MIDI!
Nick
P
Prophet
Guest
you do not need midi for live rap show. rappers do not bring synthesisers with them unless they have live band that plays behind them.
only the music does not skip is most important.
only the music does not skip is most important.
M
mage1
Guest
cool, thanx guys. I'm gonna start pricing some DAT recorders and Minidisc recorders.
A quick question though: Which sounds better DAT or Minidisc? And I'm under the impression that the minidisc doesn't skip? Is this correct?
A quick question though: Which sounds better DAT or Minidisc? And I'm under the impression that the minidisc doesn't skip? Is this correct?
C
Copenhagen
Guest
MiniDisc doesn't skip. DAT probably has the best sound but as long as the quality of your beats are good then you're not gonna hear any difference between the two...at least if you ask me.
vitaminman
IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,
In order of sonic quality:
1. DAT
2. CD
3. Minidisc.
Why?
1. DAT is recorded at 48khz, 16 bits.
2. CD's are recorded at 44.1khz, 16 bits.
3. Minidisc uses compression to get all that sound on the small disc, this will compromise the quality of the audio.
However, if your DAT player has crappy d/a convertors, it will sound like ass and you'd be better of playing your music from a normal analogue tape.
Take care,
Nick
In order of sonic quality:
1. DAT
2. CD
3. Minidisc.
Why?
1. DAT is recorded at 48khz, 16 bits.
2. CD's are recorded at 44.1khz, 16 bits.
3. Minidisc uses compression to get all that sound on the small disc, this will compromise the quality of the audio.
However, if your DAT player has crappy d/a convertors, it will sound like ass and you'd be better of playing your music from a normal analogue tape.
Take care,
Nick
M
mage1
Guest
Do you guys recommend a certain model for a DAT machine? Affordable but still sounding good? I really don't know much about DAT. Or even how to put my beats to them?
vitaminman
IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,
DAT's used to run in the thousands, nowadays they're probably in the hundreds. Tascam used to make a nice one called the DA-30, we have one at work rigged as a ghetto answering machine.
You can record to a DAT machine in one of two ways:
1. Connect the analogue outs of your source material into the analogue inputs of the DAT, just like a normal tape player.
2. Connect the spdif out of your source material into the spdif input of the DAT. This will require that your source and your DAT have special spdif (Sony-Phillips Digital InterFace) connections on it and that you have a proper 70-ohm digital cable. You can get the cable at Radio Shack for about $10.00 I think.
Take care,
Nick
PS I still think a cd or minidisc is the better solution
DAT's used to run in the thousands, nowadays they're probably in the hundreds. Tascam used to make a nice one called the DA-30, we have one at work rigged as a ghetto answering machine.
You can record to a DAT machine in one of two ways:
1. Connect the analogue outs of your source material into the analogue inputs of the DAT, just like a normal tape player.
2. Connect the spdif out of your source material into the spdif input of the DAT. This will require that your source and your DAT have special spdif (Sony-Phillips Digital InterFace) connections on it and that you have a proper 70-ohm digital cable. You can get the cable at Radio Shack for about $10.00 I think.
Take care,
Nick
PS I still think a cd or minidisc is the better solution
M
mage1
Guest
yeah, I checked out the DA-30 and it looks dope, but I don't think it comes with a remote. I also looked at the DA-20 and it does come with one. I'm just wondering what's the better buy? Especially since all I'm really using it for is playback.