Live or DJ set: live acts, modular synths and the laptop

DJ set vs live act

A DJ plays tracks that already exist, their own and other people's, joining them into one story. A live act is something else. The artist arrives with gear or their own stems and creates music on stage: bringing parts in and out, turning filters, changing the rhythm. Every show sounds a little different, and sometimes something goes wrong, which is part of the charm.

Machines on stage

Live playing has been part of techno from the start. In the Underground Resistance lesson we mentioned Jeff Mills programming beats on a TR-909 during his sets. Britain's Blawan and Pariah have performed as Karenn since 2011, using analogue hardware only, with no computer. Some of their tracks grow out of improvisation at shows, and in 2019 they founded the Voam label, which also releases recordings from their sets.

Modular synthesizers

A regular synth has fixed connections inside. A modular synth is a set of separate modules, such as oscillators, filters and envelope generators, which you connect with cables any way you like. The first such systems appeared in the 1960s. In 1995 the German company Doepfer specified the Eurorack format, and in 1996 it released the first modules of its A-100 system. Today Eurorack is a standard, with modules made by hundreds of companies. Luke Slater, as Planetary Assault Systems, even called one of his records "Future Modular".

The laptop that changed live shows

In 2001 the Berlin company Ableton released Live, co-created by Robert Henke, whom you know from the dub techno lesson as Monolake. Unlike older software, Live was designed for the stage: loops and sections can be launched in any order and changed on the fly. As a result many producers started playing shows with a laptop and a controller instead of a truck full of gear.

What to choose as a listener

At a festival, check out a live act at least once: you'll see techno being made by machines in front of you. Try it yourself in our Studio too. Switching tracks on and off while the beat plays is, on a small scale, exactly what a live performance is.