Playing Modular Synth in a Club
A couple of weeks ago I played my modular synth in a night club (as opposed to bar, old church tower or other eclectic venue!).
This brought a big difference to the kind of set I had to play which I was at least a teeny bit anxious about:
The main purpose of the music was to keep people dancing!
It was also billed a a minimal/deep house night - and although my music may touch on that at times, it probably wouldn't be how you'd classify the majority of it.
The other challenge is that although modular synths are great for creating a huge variety of sounds, they really are not good at all for being about to recall stuff. My sets for example on my Twitch channel are typically quite explorative and may well reach a place where they are very danceable - but sometimes it takes me quite a while to get there. And that wasn't going to work for a night club.
So my strategy for this was to use more samples, and be a little bit more pre-planned than normal whilst still keeping it all in the modular and keeping the elements that make a TDC Tunes set a TDC Tunes set!
I spent several weeks prepping for this gig - carefully selecting samples, and building the modular patch (the module selection and the way they are wired together) to create a system where I was still free to improvise and create but whilst also being able to have elements (including some loops) that moved my music in a more deep/minimal house direction and above all allowed me something to fall back on to keep the beat going and hopefully keep people dancing! And I practiced this over the course of several of my Twitch streams.
So I guess that's my way - when faced with a challenge - prepare, practice and prepare some more!
It worked and although there could have been more people in the club, there was a core group at the front that clearly enjoyed dancing to my set (and kept dancing too!)
Would I play a club again? Probably - if asked - I did have loads of fun doing it and I will still use those sample sets from time to time in my Twitch streams. I think on balance my music and setup are more suited to experimental/experiential gigs and events though (like my Electronic in the Tower nights) so in terms of pursuing gigging opportunities I'll continue to prioritise those.
Thanks for reading and I hope everyone on Hive is having an awesome week!
You can watch a highlight video of my set here:
(NB: the audio is actually taken from my final practice set the night before on Twitch - but it is highly reflective of what the actual set was on the night - I just didn't have a direct recording of that).
In case you're interested the club was Club Makossa in Dalston, East London, UK!
TDC Tunes
TDC Tunes is a Live Modular Artist and experimenter with sound. He plays several times a week on Twitch and gigs around London.
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Dude that's awesome! I would imagine it would be a complete pain to bring all that and set it up in a club, lol. I used to bring my full live setup and it was always a nightmare to setup around all the house gear, haha. Now my live setup is an iPad, small controller, and a portable turntable for scratching, haha. I used to lug around all kind of stuff, so I have earned the light weight gear, haha.
That rings so true!
The journey to create a reasonably portable version of my studio setup has been a convoluted one. I've also tried using iPad with the idea I'd take that plus a very small modular - but I so far haven't gelled with that setup as 95% of what I do is on Twitch with my big setup and that's 3 times a week. So it's almost like creating a different version of my music/performance with primarily iPad and I feel like I lose all that learning/experience I have with my main setup (like almost starting again basically) That being said haven't given up on the iPad and will probably try again with it.
The setup you see here is just about portable - it splits into two cases - one case goes in a specially designed backpack, the other goes in a hard case I can carry in one hand and the keystep pro goes in another small keyboard bag. So it's all luggable by one person - comfortably in a taxi or I reckon I could do it on public transport with a bit of an effort. I also have 2x Cat5 based connections between the cases so once I make those the only additional patching I have to do is the keystep.
All in it's about 30 mins to setup and check tuning/sound etc. Not ideal but do-able.
Thanks for your comment!
Oh yeah, I wouldn't want to replicate something like you are running on an iPad. I would at least have a Macbook running Mainstage, or now Logic Pro 11 because they pretty much made it all into one app now, and a controller or 2.
That's awesome though. I completely respect the analog live setups in a world of push button DJs and producers. I'm old school, lol.
I mean I think I COULD replicate it on an iPAd (or in Ableton which I use too). But then I feel it would be a completely different instrument/performance and I'd have to redo all the years of practice for that instrument...
Anyway it's a journey - and no equipment/setup is right or wrong as we know - it's what you make of it!
Exactly!
Yeah, I used to take my whole freaking studio setup to a gig almost but then I finally started separating my production from my performances and it got much easier to deal with. Ableton changed the game for me for sure, but yeah, if you are used to actual gear and the sounds that come through that, digital is just not the same.
Cool! It's a journey for everyone!
Ironically when I play live I actually mostly use digital oscillators in my modular because of tuning/reliability - but ofc I do have many other analog components (esp filters) as part of each patch.
I am not opposed to combining modular/analog with Ableton/iPad based setups - it's ALL perfectly valid. In fact I love some of the sounds I've used in VSTs in production tracks and have used them live too - more when I perform in a duo with a singer than with my modular sets.
What I'd actually really love would be able to have a soft synth version of my Prophet Rev 2 because my favourite PAD sound on it I use ALL the time in the studio/in my Twitch streams but I haven't been able to find anything like it that I can take to gigs (without taking my Rev 2).
Do you play live these days? If so what kind of stuff?
Na, I don’t play out anymore. Those days are over. If anything I bring my portable 7 inch turntable so instead of a guy with the guitar at a camp out, I am the fireside scratch dude, lol.😂
If people are dancing then you are doing it right. Your rig should impress them anyway.
Haha right - ideally I would play with my back to the crowd so they can see the modular. That wasn't possible at this venue but it was also small enough that most people wandered over and took a good look/photos!
If I was in that club, my event would have been watching you doing your things all night ahah
The modular synth world is so fascinating for me. Too bad I had not time, nor money to get into it 🥲
hahah right - next time I'm really going to have to get the modular facing the crowd and me away from it. Thanks for dropping by!