I've been playing around with a live set using the OG Circuit as well! I use the MPC One as the "brains" of the setup, and the Circuit as an improv piece, with it sequencing a separate synth. This helps to make transitions between tracks feel a lot more organic instead of just hitting "next pattern" on the One and muting and unmuting parts.
Interesting, I have been trying to coerce my One into being live set friendly and even with a Korg nanoKontrol2 to give fader control I'm always ending up with the wrong things muted at the wrong time.
As someone who grew up with Knight Rider, Terminator, Airwolf and Street Hawk, I am always fascinated how well you reproduce this 80s sound, even though you are so young 😁🔥
If you're playing dance music for a dance floor, people are very forgiving if you make a mistake. People are there to dance and have fun and the people watching you don't have a clue what you're doing, it's like sorcery to most of the punters.
dosn’t MC101 listen on program changes and changes scenes on that ? With that it may be possible just switch scene on MC by switching project on Circuit (cause Circuit sends program change on project change - i used it in other way - sending prog changes from Digitakt into Circuit but it should work also in opposite direction) btw nice set inwould just love if it was a bit faster, like around 115-120 bpm .. also my advice would be if you plan play for live audience do not change tempo too much during set - people tend to not like too much that .. just pick tempo and stay more or less with same tempo from beginning till end ..
Excellent, i really like it! I just got a Circuit Tracks and i'm having so much fun, great little device. I mostly pair a Korg Monologue and a Modal Electronics Cobalt8X with it and it sounds great! Keep up the great work, music ist love ❤❤❤
Lovely set! Idea: when changing tempo, mute kick and all rhythmic elements, leave longer muddier synths and pads, add a ton of reverb. Then steal attention with a filter sweep, using it as a riser. Change the tempo while doing it. Then introduce new drums gradually (hats, then kick, then snares, then bass) over a few bars.
The Circuit Tracks is an absolute beast for live performance. The "scene mode" in the mixer page is what brings it to eleven for me. Being not only able to chain patterns but chain entire scenes that chain patterns makes live performance so seamless. I've been fondling with Elektron sequencers as of recently and, other than being solid sampler/synth machines, they can't hold a candle to the Circuit's inherent musicality and ease of use (plus, part of what makes Elektron's surplus value is having several of their machines linked together; with a price point at around 800 € per machine, I find that approach to be beyond "meh").
Great Set Gabe!!!!! I really apricate you sharing this with all of us 😁 Your set is 🔥 and FTE packs are sick. The Circuit Track pairs so well with the MC-101 ♥ Have the best day my friend and I always enjoy the content you are putting out. These Pack creators are getting so good with the samples that they put together for all of us and I enjoy their different styles FTE, Yves Big City, Techtronix, Jim Drones and Mike Davis. there is something for everyone.
Great set! 🔥 Thank you for all the content and walkthroughs. Because of your videos I got a Circuit Tracks and am really enjoying it! What I'd like to do is to plug in my electric bass and guitar into CT and have fun live playing with it. Haven't found anyone online that did that, but I guess it should work. Would be great to hear from you what you think about that setup! Good on ya, Gabe! Keep up the good work!
Yeah that should totally work. You might need to amplify your bass or guitar with some sort of amp sim on its way into the Circuit, and possibly deal with a bit of latency, but the inputs should be totally set up for that.
These are the vibes that I always wanted to produce myself, for myself, just to admire their beauty. Some melodies resemble Madis for me, great performance Gabe!
It's not perfect though. Circuit should definitely send program change messages on both of it's midi tracks when switching between projects, instead of only ch16. I really hope Novation will fix this.
Doing the same with my MC-101, except using an m8 instead of the circuit. (And a J-6 cause chords are a pain on the m8) Not sure if the circuit can do this, but on the m8, if I want to switch patches, the midi program change command will change the currently selected clip.
Have you tried a Tracks + iPad setup? I'm about to give it a go, just as a way to give synth voices for the two midi channels for much cheaper than an mc 101.
Wouldn't the MC707 solve the multi use of tracks? where the Tracks is only controlling the clock and the first two tracks of the MC? ( aware of the fact you are way less portable with the mc707 )
I cannot understand why you are not using the Mc101 and the Circuit slaved to each other. If you used the sequencer on the 101 you would have 4 extra tracks to play with, and each scene can have a different sequence. If you were cunning about what type of track you used then you could create the extra layers you were missing. Personally I use the 101 and a Model:Samples as my favourite live pairing for prepared stuff.
I like the flexibility of the Circuit. Although I actually would like to try making the same set with the MC-707 and see if I can get the same flexibility with better sounds
I went through similar recently, but only managed to produce a single 3 minute track, not a 15 min ep. Awesome stuff. Love the Circuits (have a Rhythm, Tracks, and Mono Station). Extremely intuitive, and inspiring devices. I just wish Novation would add some way to change scenes (not just projects) via midi to make it easier to integrate multiple devices when creating more complex songs.
You are inspiring AF. I'm trying to solve the sidechain-in-dawless issue right now, trying to run a dj style synced set between an MV-1 and an MC707. Buying a new centerpiece that has to do some sort of sidechain... Deciding between an mx-1 or splitting all the drums to a TRS8. Definitely on one of your shirts too 🤤
If you run out of tracks, the Circuit has 6 note poly per track so you could split the track via midi giving you 2 tracks (3 note poly) for the price of one. I've done this with the RK-002 cable from Retrokits and it works well.
Gr8 transitions are flawless I have CT and CR and wanted to do exactly what you are doing I also have a td3 I'm also thinking of getting a model d for a live set up Keep up the good work
Would definitely enjoy this live! It was a cool journey. Btw thanks for all the content on the Novation Circuit, you really made it easy to learn playing it!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge (and music)! I did a 15-minute live set (with a real audience) a few months ago, using the Circuit Tracks as my main controller. I played two songs, and for some reason, I didn't want to just switch projects on the fly ... besides which, the two songs were in separate packs. The way I solved that was to build up a big ambient wash on my Hologram Microcosm, which served as an interlude while I loaded the new pack & project. It went OK ... but it's always good to see what others are doing.
Ok, so if I understand, instead of saving a track presets on one of the MC memory slots, you save them on different scenes? If it's that, well that would be a huge saving of time cause the loading of each slot is kinda long ... I've experiment it just once for my only live event and I had to be imaginiative to find a trick to make transitions between tracks as smooth as possible😄
You can have different patches on each MC-101 clip. Then you save those combinations of clips into scenes. And yep, those changes are instantaneous. I still like to have any MC-101 tracks that are going to change stop playing during transitions though, that way I don't have to worry about the timing of switching between scenes.
@@GabeMillerMusicthanks a lot u are the man i getting one becouse of u , the ither grooveboxer lack of a man that explains everything to you thanks a lot
Thanks, Is there any other work around for this? I make pretty heavily sample based house music and wondering if this is a good option or another groovebox you could recommend? @@GabeMillerMusic
The Circuit Rhythm might be more up your alley, it's all sample based and can do chromatic samples, chopping, etc. each track can only play one sound at a time though, which is a definite limitation. The SP-404 MK2 might be worth a look, although I found it counterintuitive and a bit tedious to use when I tried it.
Omg your merch is really kewl ❤️ Great set man! I really enjoy your album on spotify too 🤘 Since the sidechain does not work 100% with that setup, would running the audio trough a compressor work for this task? Also, would the og circuit work on with that setup? Do you use the og drums of the circuit or you sequence the 101 drums? Sorry for all those dumb questions lol
No prob! 1. If I wanted more intense sidechain, I'd probably pan the MC-101 tracks hard left and right, so mono synth tracks are piped into the Circuit totally separately from each other. The issues I had with sidechain stemmed from the fact that I was sicechaining the two tracks panned left and right, and the sidechain of the two tracks seemingly fell slightly out of sync at times. 2. It would sorta work, but you wouldn't have the dedicated midi tracks or the ability to pipe the audio in. So you'd be more limited in terms of parts, and need some sort of external mixer. 3. All the drums happen on the Circuit. The only time the MC-101 drum track does anything is the "welcome to the neon city" tag near the beginning.
@@GabeMillerMusic thanks! I like the thought process of building a live set, there are so many options, but i don't see the 101 picked up very often for that! Personally i would be hesitant to sacrifice the lenght of the clips on the 101 for the ones on the circuit, but it's true that as a tradeoff, the workflow is faster! I think the 101 sounds pretty good in itself, the built in effects, especially the choruses and reverbs, are top notch 👌 But yeah, no sidechain 😔 Again, thanks for your reply!
