A few times a year we run a producers and music-makers conference called INPUT, where collect a stellar lineup of pack-leading producers and industry operators to open up their projects and discuss crucial career info for budding producers. Tickets here.

THE LINEUP

This time round we have a broad range of local dons presenting. Tim Shiel will be taking us through how he utilized Ableton Live to put together the live show for Gotye’s Grammy Award winning album Making Mirrors, and his techniques when performing the set; founder and head of the Future Classic Record Label Nathan Mclay – the man responsible for signing Flume, Flight Facilities and Jagwar Ma amongst others, will be discussing what labels looks for and getting your music signed; Sydney live techno act Gardland will be showcasing their immense analog live set up; and Vaughan Allan and Adam Maggs from Liveschool who will be going through Max For Live and Sound Design tips respectively.

For Stoney Roads readers we have two free tickets to give away! If you live in Sydney and would like to come along, email your name to connect [at] liveschool.net with INPUT Giveaway in the subject line, entries close this Friday 2nd August 9am at which time we’ll literally put all of your names into a hat and draw the winner.

TIM SHIEL INTERVIEW

Ahead of his appearance at INPUT, we caught up with Tim Shiel for a Q&A about his recent live work with Gotye and asked him about how he uses Ableton Live during these live performances.

What is your usual gear setup for making music?

I use Ableton Live, and a bunch of soft synths, drum samples and virtual multi-sampled instruments that I’ve collected from around the place. I use a combination of Ableton’s native effects and third party plugins. My primary source of note input is a Nord Stage 2, which was also my touring keyboard with Gotye, it also has some good sounds inside it. In addition to this, I make noises predominantly with the following items: a guitar which I use in combination with a Roland GR-30 MIDI pickup system, an iPad with a few apps on it (at the moment I’m in love with an app called Samplr), my voice, and a Teenage Engineering OP-1, which I use not just for synth and drum sounds but also for frequent FM radio sampling and effects.

 

 

Give us a memorable moment from your recent touring as part of Gotye.

When we were sound checking at Letterman, Paul Shaffer literally appeared out of nowhere, gestured at my stage setup and said “Hey man, cool setup, I really dig it.” I was so stunned by the fact that he was real that I didn’t realise that he simply wanted to have a conversation until it was too late, and he vanished into thin air.

What are some of your favourite features of Ableton Live?

Probably simply its ease of use and flexibility. I now feel like I spend very little time battling the software – even right from when I started working with Ableton Live, I felt like it was simply enabling me to be creative, and never getting in my way. And its such a deep program that I’m always finding new tricks and features, just by talking to other users or watching the way they work (no two people approach Ableton the same way). I’m looking forward to learning a few new tricks when I come up to Sydney for Input!

You can catch this full interview over on the Liveschool blog here. INPUT is on Saturday August the 10th at FBi Social. If you missed out on the giveaway or want to reserve your seat, you can head to Resident Advisor for tickets.