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Reputation: 4

What is the best way to make a one dude electronic set interesting? Intense looking gear set up? Visuals? Spazzing out?

9 Answers

  • 19935_1356427632297_1279665754_31062870_5389239_n_small
    Reputation: 23

    I think you need to engage with the listener some how. The easiest way is to get a VJ or cut together a nice set of visuals. But even that can be a bust. The first time i saw Four Tet open for Super Furry Animals it just looked like a dude checking his email with some flashing lights going. Didn't help that he didn't seem to care about it either though.

    I saw a Caribou set some time ago at Chop Suey that had a great mix of the laptop with live bass and two drum kits. I think when you get down to it, people respond to the human element of a live show the most. People up there, making sounds that we can see them making...maybe making some mistakes. Hell, there are even a few great DJ's in town who are incorporating a drummer into the mix.

    Don't hide behind a desk and twiddle knobs where people can't see you. Get some people up there and get sloppy with it.

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  • Happyme_small
    Reputation: 1166
    Moderator

    Good advice has been posted already, but I just want to ask that you NOT do visuals unless you think they're relevant or good or truly help the performance somehow. Don't just project weird vintage clips of crap for the sake of having some kind of visual because you think it might help... maybe. I might be in the minority, but I think a lot of times unnecessary visuals are distracting. I give more attention to them, to figuring out what they are and why they're there, than I do to the music. It can backfire.

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  • Skull_pumpkin_small
    Reputation: 1610

    Sheer brilliance.

    The best one-man show I've ever seen was one man sitting on a blanket, surrounded by about eight instruments. He was playing most of them in any one piece of music, flowing from one to the next or playing two at once to make a sound you'd swear was made by a three-piece band.

    He's still one of my favorite artists; I own everything he's ever done because he's not just mesmerizing to see but a very good musician. His work is a different genre from yours, but a good model for how to hold a crowd when it's just you.

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  • Ben_phone_small
    Reputation: 42

    Bring the crowd up on stage with you or go out into the crowd. Break the 4th wall.

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  • Hair_hipstamatic_small
    Reputation: 1711

    Call me old-fashioned, but if the music is good, that's usually enough for me. Anything else you do has the potential to either add to or detract from your set, depending on how it's executed. Well, spazzing out seems more likely to detract from your music than to add to it, but the rest could go either way.

    I don't feel like I know enough about you/your music to get more specific.

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  • Kermitsex_small
    Reputation: 2420

    l started to answer this when the computer crashed.

    l was a little raver chick way back before most of the world knew what a rave was (probably because even though we all dressed funny, we just called them parties, but l digress) and if there's any scene in which a one man setup is common, that's it. My favorite DJs were the ones who were performers as well as, well...just DJs. They were masters at getting the crowd whooping, would let a song run through, and come down and dance with their audience. There's always a certain power differential between a performer who's higher up on a stage, and any audience appreciates an artist who is willing to come down and party with his fans, even for a brief moment. lt sort of, symbolically, makes them equal, and people love that. lf you can afford to leave a song playing, and do this, it will be something the audience appreciates and remembers. Also, while you can't really talk over a set, l'd recommend giving thanks for the people there - it may not add to the aesthetic of a show, but it always makes the audience more receptive.

    Costumes, while cheesy, are also fun. Definitely some visuals that convey what the music does to you, or what it evokes. One dude threw out little gag gift bags. Again, cheesy, but if it helps you engage the audience, that's all that matters.

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  • 23stamp_small
    Reputation: 6

    Well yeah, spaz out! Look like you enjoy being there. And if you play dance music, DANCE MOTHERFUCKER. At least sashay those hips and nod your head. Ya gotta sell how exciting your music is.

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  • Avatar_default
    Reputation: 0

    Interact with the fucking crowd. It doesn't matter how you do it, just don't make a performance look like you're checking your goddamn email.

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  • 9322_151180428236_520658236_2889047_3298246_n_small
    Reputation: 20

    Inventive, psychedelic visuals and animated demeanor are solid foundations for interesting one-dude electronic shows. It helps, too, if your music is as exciting and dynamic as Flying Lotus'. Focus intensely on the latter before devoting attention to the former.

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