A live set means the artist makes the sound in the room instead of playing back a finished record. That single difference drives the whole production of the show.
What it needs
Everything the sound passes through has to be in place before the audience arrives:
- A stage plot showing where each person and each instrument stands.
- An input list naming every channel in order, with the microphone or DI it needs.
- Backline: drums, amps, keyboards, whatever the artist does not carry.
- Monitors or in-ears, and a soundcheck long enough to set them.
How long it takes
A band's get-in runs three to five hours before doors, with soundcheck an hour of that. A DJ can be ready in fifteen minutes. Festivals with short changeovers ask live artists to work from a rolling riser, so drums and amps are built offstage and wheeled on.
Live and electronic
Electronic artists blur the line. A set played from hardware, drum machines and synths through a mixer, is live. A set of the artist's own tracks run from a laptop is billed as live too, and promoters increasingly ask what that means before printing it.