I've traditionally used DJ setups (decks, mixers), grooveboxes and synths for live performance, but I'm in the later stages of building out pure live performances on the MPC.
So far, there are no showstoppers, although a couple of things aren't exactly ideal, coming from a more A/B style of working. It's been a process coming to grips with the MPC workflow and some idiosyncrasies where it seems like the project workflow wasn't really designed for long-form sets with multiple songs.
To compensate, and with some learning and online research, I've built up a workflow where I do the bulk of my song creation on the live in standalone mode, with a single project per song. My songs are fairly lightweight in terms of RAM because I'm not using much long-form audio. I'm mostly working with drum and melodic sampled instrument programs, some clips programs and the onboard synth plugins.
In terms of RAM, I can fit a couple dozen songs worth of material into memory without having to overthink it. I just have to pay attention to organization and naming conventions so I can see what's what at a glance.
The issue with long sets and the Live is dealing with project loading and transitions. No one at a dance club or similar event will tolerate "dead air" and the jarring lack of a smooth transition while I load the next song project, And I really don't want to take a bunch of other gear to compensate when the Live is supposed to be a one-stop-shop. I mean, it IS called the "Live" after all, is it not?
So, in order to maintain as much continuous performance in the Live as possible, my current method is to work on each song project separately, then use the MPC desktop software to drag-and-drop sequences and programs from each song into a master project for the target live performance set, then once all the songs have been merged in this manner, I push that master project to the Live.
There are some things that have to be planned, such as crossfades and other transitions between songs, but the recent feature where launched clips will continue to play even as you start another sequence is a lifesaver here.
Also, if you plan on maintaining separate songs and merging them for live performances, you need to plan on sharing project settings across your songs so that there are no surprises when merging into a master multi-song project. Things like master insert fx or any shared programs need to work across the sequences of various song projects that will be merged.
Anyway, this is all doable and I'm satisfied that this is working well enough that I can leave the other gear at home, although I do use an Arturia Keystep for some parts of the song performances.
Again, some aspects aren't ideal, but personally, the MPC Live is the only game in town for the kind of highly portable mixed-media drum sequencer/melodic sample/synth/clip music I want to create and perform. With all of the controls and fx and everything else in the box, I'm willing to bend a little to find workarounds if I can do floor-filling sets with a single box.
I picked up my Live used (perfect condition, BTW) for only $750, so in that regard, it was a steal in terms of bang for the buck and a way to effectively replace several other pieces of gear.
I'm on a little hiatus, but I have some live shows coming up starting in mid April and May and my intent is to be "free" of other gear by then. It's all coming together, but I do still have my work cut out for me over the next few weeks. My first show in April is relatively local, so I'll have a couple of extra pieces of gear as backup, but after that, I'll take the training wheels off.
