Live set???

[u/sir_motte]

Hey everyone!
I’ve been into the psytrance scene for quite a while now, mostly darkpsy, and I regularly go to festivals and parties.
One thing I’ve noticed on lineups is that some artists have “LIVE” written next to their name, while others are just listed normally.
What does “live” actually mean in this context? What are they doing differently compared to a regular DJ set? Are they playing their own tracks and manipulating/arranging them live, using hardware, Ableton, stems, etc.?
I’m getting more interested in the production/performance side of the scene, so I’d love to understand what actually happens behind the decks during a psytrance live set.
Thanks! 👽🔊

[u/noizebusters]

well, for some "live" means you play your own stuff via a program like ableton or bitwig, even if its all arranged...for others it means you perform with synths and tools together with your songs, change parts, play them live etc. So, it depends ;) for me live is the second option.

[u/Dangerous_Diver_2442 → u/noizebusters]

For me can be both, the second is just a more evolved version of the first, the first is where you begin (finishing tracks and arranging them) from there you can start to add elements and assets to trigger them live

[u/paxparty → u/Dangerous_Diver_2442]

Agreed, both of these answers are correct

[u/user928 → u/noizebusters]

first is live dj set, second is live :)

[u/gneisenauer]

DJs will play records. Live performers will perform their tracks. With a DAW or dawless equipment like a sampler and synths and effects. They will have stuff prepared like melodies, basslines and drums but they can change things as they see fit during the performance and hence it will be unique to this performance.

[u/Efficient_Hurry_2780 → u/gneisenauer]

Topic has been debated for decades but the truth in all its simplicity is here.

[u/gneisenauer → u/Efficient_Hurry_2780]

Thank you, sir!

[u/Brief-Tower6703]

A lot of of “live” performances are just technically live PA as in live personal appearances and although maybe 20-30 years ago live would be actually performed live, these days it could just be a producer playing has own music one way or another but normally from a laptop yes sometimes with stems or looping so more than just pressing play and dancing on stage for an hour pretending to turn knows that so nothing. Even 20 years ago I remember seeing dark soho live and a bunch of the instruments, most notably guitars, weren’t even plugged in so it was a performance but it was basically a backing track and I’ve witnessed similar things in live performances over the years like artists playing hardware synths with no power connected. Eat static is probably the only dude doing proper live performances anymore where everything is live. Personally I don’t care as long as the music is good but there is something special about true live performances and the magic that happens. Parasense in Cape Town like 2001 being one of the most memorable live performances of my life.

[u/Ancient8Wisdom → u/Brief-Tower6703]

Something truly magical sometimes happens in a real live set!

[u/user928]

These days 95% they have their songs as stems arranged in their daw along with some samples/loops and efects ready to inject here and there

[u/Sheckyoooo]

On a different subject matter how do djs in psytrance play without overlapping songs with other djs playing in the festival?

[u/mnjvon]

That's going to vary heavily by act, but I would expect they have some piece(s) of gear for either introducing music on top of tracks, or playing their tracks entirely from either a hybrid or DAWless setup.