Music
Booka Shade explain their live setup
Booka Shade are no strangers to a crowd. After a recent string of performances in Australia we asked the German house legends to share a few secrets on how to create a live performance.
Check out the video below as Walt and Arno walk us through how their breakthrough track, Body Language, comes to life, live on stage at Days Like This Festival in Sydney.
5 min
Booka Shade Beat Breakdown
Booka Shade explains their live performance.
A live set will be different each performance. "As a band, we have a certain setlist that we play. But within the setlist we can really build it up, take it down, take the bass out and tease the audience, and then go in again really wild. With the delays and with all the noise, also with the combination of the drums, we can give a lot of energy into the production," says Arno.
The duo uses three separate programmes in their live setup. “We try to have as many computer programmes as we can, so we have Traktor, we have Ableton, and we have Logic,” says Walt.
three programmes three screens...
© Ian Laidlaw
So let’s break it down and see what does what exactly.
Logic
Logic houses all of the synthesiser sounds. This is hooked up directly to the keyboard with all of the samples then pre-loaded for each song. This is the basis for the main sequence or riff of the song.
Ableton
“So Ableton is the core of the live set, so this is the place where the music comes from,” says Walt. Ableton is the database for all of the individual track stems used in the live production; this is one of the most common programmes that modern producers use. From here they can feed the music, saved as clips, through a variety of channels and effects to create music live on stage. This is hooked up to an effects machine known as a Korg Monotron. The dials on this allow the ‘energy’ of the track to be varied and can add distortion and ‘dirtiness’ to the track.
Traktor
Traktor is used here for track playback and looping. This is how the flow of the track is controlled and how the music can be developed live into so many different layers.
Keyboard
The keyboard linked to the Logic program
© Ian Laidlaw
As we said above, the keys are tied into the Logic program and play the pre-loaded samples. This is how the main sequence of the track is played live on stage.
Drum Pad
Drum pad that links with the mixer
© Ian Laidlaw
Like the keys, the drum pad is pre-loaded with samples for each track. “The live drums bring in very vivid things that happen on stage. I have individual sounds which add to the music. They all go into the mixer so I can, I can ride the mixer. Same thing with the delay,” says Arno. Through the mixer, Arno can tweak the sound level, delay and reverb and craft the song on stage.
At a certain point I walk to the front of the stage, and have this interaction with the crowd. It has just became an integral part of the show, and is great fun always, because you see how crazy they get.
Audience Interaction
You've got to keep the audience happy
© Ian Laidlaw
Of course the most important part of live music is making the crowd feel like they are a part of something special. "At a certain point I walk to the front of the stage, and have this interaction with the crowd. It has just became an integral part of the show, and is great fun always, because you see how crazy they get." says Arno.
The new album for Booka Shade ‘Cut The Strings’ is out now.
