Soft Synths Live

[BigT]

Hello all,
Let me be the first to get this started. Is anybody using the MMV as a live performance tool, on a laptop???
I'm considering this. I have a DELL but might be getting a MAC instead. The biggest issue to me...I HATE plugging in lots of junk at a gig. Could I get by with JUST the 1/8" output of the MAC (G4) live?? If I go from 1/8" to a stereo 1/4" splitter cable, would that sound OK through a PA?? Or, would I still need to buy an interface (i.e. sound card) of some sort?
Your expert opinions and comments are ALWAYS welcome!
Cheers from New York!

[Scot Solida]

I am taking the Mg Modular V out live for the first time on July 12th.  I will be bringing along my laptop (Presario 5120US), and Oxygeb 8 or Radium controller and a Korg Prophecy or a Mg Rogue, depending on my mood.  I'll be routing audio through an M-Audio MobilePre.

I will be using the MMV for both sequences and leads, pads, whatever.  It's a primarily improvisational effort in the style of the improv synth maestros (Klaus Schulze, T-Dream, Heldon).

I'll let you know how it goes.  I wouldn't think that the output of your Mac should be an issue.  If the performance is up to your own standard and comfortable playing level, then why not?  Surely most guitar based bands have much worse output noise...

[Scot Solida]

Well, the show was played Sunday night (a day later than expected), and the Mg Modular was used for the final piece.  It was a long improvisational piece in the style of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream.  It turned out to be one of the most popular parts of the show, and I had many, many comments on it afterwards.  I ran a sequence which was a variation of one of my presets included in the downloadable bank for registered customers.  I adapted it to play in 7/8 time, though I changed it from 7/8 to 6/8 halfway through the piece.  The sequencer drove three oscillators and the filter they were routed to, while I had another two-osc sound programmed to play from the keyboard.  In addition, I plyed my Prophecy and an Arp Omni II.  Very spaced out!  The Mg performed very well, without any nasty surprises.  It responded well to the keyboard as well as the knobs.  I used an M-Audio Mobile Pre for ASIO output.  A great success!  I will be writing a feature article for Computer Music magazine about the experience.

[Frederic B]

Hi Scott,

Happy to hear about your live performance on the 12. I have been demoing the Mg Modular V quite often these last weeks and your Effects sub-bank is a place where I find many of the sounds that impress my audience the most.

Let us know when the article is released.

Cheers,

Frédéric

[Scot Solida]

Thanks Frederic, that's good to hear!  The article will feature in the issue that reaches the shelves in the UK at the end of August...issue 64.  I'll post about it here.

Using the Mg coupled with a knob-controller (in the case of my show, an Oxygen 8...I will probably replace this with a controller that has more knobs), I felt like the great synth/sequencer pioneers.  It has always been my dream to have a sequencer with the kind of realtime control as the Mg Modular V's sequencer module.