Different types of electronic music live performances

This article compiles different methods of performing electronic music live in concert, with illustrations from different shows that the Electronic Music Lab has played in Singapore, as well as examples from top international electronic musicians. 

At the end of the article Ray Wassef, aka Ori Moto, shares a step-by-step guide to getting a track made in Ableton Live ready for performance: how to prepare and clean up stems and clips so that they’re easy to trigger and tweak on the fly, and how to make the most out of Live’s performance capabilities with a minimal hardware setup.

Playing acoustic instruments + effects

EML - Dance of the Yi People (Junjie and Shiyun on Pipa and Cello with audio effects, at ElectrOdyssey 2001, NUS University Cultural Centre)

Darkside

 

Playing keyboards or pads

EML - OMNIVERSE: ReG3NESIS (Live stream, recorded)

EML OMNIVERSE Cyberpunk (Live stream, recorded)

Giuseppe Ottaviani

Experimental

Eating a meal + audio effects (Culinary Delight by EML) 

Vacuum cleaner + audio effects (Sound Thinking by EML) (Created for the Miele S4 Vacuum Cleaner product launch, live at UCC Green Room)

Text on screen + vocals with effects (Holly Hernden) 

Hardware Jam on Synths and Modular Synths

 EML - Ambient Modular Jam Session with Eurorack + VCV Rack 2.0 (E-Reng and Shawn, at NUS CFA Studios)

Jeff Mills

Ensemble (Group) Performance

EML - Spare The innocents (Ensemble/Group performance) (Live at ElectrOdyssey 2003)

EML Plugout Live Jam at CFA Studios (improvised)

Tangerine Dream

Types of venues we have played at

Outdoor - Esplanade Waterfront, Singapore Street Festival

Outdoor - NUS UTown , NUS UTown Plaza, NUS Museum

Outdoor/indoor - Esplanade Concourse Esplanade Concourse 

Club - Zouk

Cafe with stage - Artistry Cafe 

Cafe with no stage - Starbucks UTown, Timbre

Concert Hall - UCC (University Cultural Centre) Hall, UCC Theatre, UCC Theatre

Atrium - UCC Atrium

Performance space - UTown Dance Atelier, UCC Dance Studio

Things to consider when planning your performance

What the venue is looking for

What the audience is there for

Theme

Size of stage

Size of venue

Acoustics

Background sound levels

Lighting and video