# Performing long live sets **URL:** \ **Category:** TidalCycles\ **Tags:** questions\ **Created:** [27 October 2023 18:23 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/performing-long-live-sets/4947 "2023-10-27T18:23:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lo.control](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/lo.control/32/2867_2.png) [@lo.control](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/lo.control)\ **Post date:** [27 October 2023 18:23 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/performing-long-live-sets/4947/1 "2023-10-27T18:23:09Z")
Looking to see if anyone who's done longer live Tidal sets (\>20 or 30 minutes) has any tips for organizing sets of that length. Specifically I mean sequencing different segments of a song and how you might break up those segments/time transitions. Do you handle everything with seqp? Bounce tracks to Ableton? So far I've only played sets around 20 minutes long and I'm not sure my current workflow would scale up. I'm asking from a techno perspective but I'd like to hear about any genres. ---
**Author:** ![geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/geikha/32/2701_2.png) [@geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/geikha)\ **Post date:** [28 October 2023 01:54 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/performing-long-live-sets/4947/2 "2023-10-28T01:54:20Z")
Hey! Here's a quote from my recent [Tidal Profile](https://tidalcycles.org/blog/tidal_profile_geikha/#howdoyouapproachyourlivecodingsessions) which is totally related: > I've been doing "production" sessions where I simply explore ideas, add new samples, and basically "write songs" in a way. As for performance, I like to select a list of "songs" (pre-made code snippets) which I'll use as starting points throughout the performance. I start with something and do some changes to it and try to find an improvisational flow, if I can't find it, or if the flow gets cut, I simply transition to the following song. The transitions might be seamless or abrupt, depending on what I'm going for. I don't like to use Tidal's transition functions, so I also play a lot with evaluating code at the exact time: risky, but fun. I must clarify that getting a good balance between the "discomfort" of improvising and the pre-made/pre-thought stuff is hard. There's lots of times were I wish I had improvised more before going into a new section, and I end up running out of prepared snippets for the gig, heh. It's important to allow oneself to flow and try new stuff live ---
**Author:** ![lo.control](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/lo.control/32/2867_2.png) [@lo.control](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/lo.control)\ **Post date:** [28 October 2023 02:40 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/performing-long-live-sets/4947/3 "2023-10-28T02:40:57Z")
This is super close to the workflow I've fallen into prepping for my latest show, apart from the do blocks. Letting myself flow on one song is always a struggle, you end up thinking people want a new track every 30s even though, as a listener, I can vibe out to same rhythm for like 5 mins. (btw thanks for the drum samples!) ---
**Author:** ![geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/geikha/32/2701_2.png) [@geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/geikha)\ **Post date:** [28 October 2023 03:35 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/performing-long-live-sets/4947/4 "2023-10-28T03:35:21Z")
Yeah I can totally relate to that! I think practice makes that better and also being reasonable about what to include in the pre-made code. Some codes are more flexible than others. ---
**Author:** ![geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/geikha/32/2701_2.png) [@geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/geikha)\ **Post date:** [28 October 2023 17:32 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/performing-long-live-sets/4947/5 "2023-10-28T17:32:26Z")
btw do you have any live sets uploaded? ---
**Author:** ![lo.control](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/lo.control/32/2867_2.png) [@lo.control](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/lo.control)\ **Post date:** [28 October 2023 19:46 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/performing-long-live-sets/4947/6 "2023-10-28T19:46:24Z")
Not anywhere right now, but I'll be recording this show and try to do some more consistently just for listening