Music For Your Mystery Performance
Maybe -- check the licensing!
Note: The software I talk about in this article I know works for iOS since I’m an Apple Zealot (Class of 1984!) and I just don’t have knowledge of the Android world to know whether there are versions for that platform.
Back in the 80s when I was performing magic full time I typically started my shows with a 10-minute routine set to music (dove productions, manipulation, etc.), but that was the only music used in my entire show.
In the last couple years while putting together routines for a mind-reading show, one of the things I wanted to experiment with was using music and/or sound effects in every single effect I performed. The idea seemed good in my head, and since then I’ve played around with it and it seems to fit the direction I want to go really well.
The Actual Music
You want to have music in your show, but where do you find it? You could do what many magicians do and just pick any piece of music you want and use it in your show. Well, you can’t do that legally. And while you’ll probably never get caught, it’s a fairly scummy thing to do.
Full Disclosure: That’s exactly what I did in the 80s as a young magician — just used any music I thought would be good. But it was a different time — “piracy” of music, video, etc., wasn’t something anybody ever thought about. We don’t have that excuse now. :)
If you do a search on “royalty free music” you’ll find a ton of options for music you can download, most of which are targeted at people creating podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. But many of the license agreements I’ve seen don’t forbid use in a live performance, but I AM NOT A LAWYER AND YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH INTO WHAT THE LICENSE AGREEMENT SAYS.
I wasn’t yelling, I just wanted to make sure you saw that. :)
But there are sites out there that actually say “live presentations” are fine, such as Melody Loops which at the time of this writing has a $99 per year offer that allows you to download as many tracks as you like. Or, just buy 5 tracks for about $30, etc.
Other places where I’ve found good music and sound effects are sites for game developers (an industry I used to be part of) — they think you’re using the music for a video game, but you’re really using it for Losander’s Floating Table! (Again, make sure their license doesn’t forbid live usage, but most don’t, because why would they think of that?)
Of course, there are other ways to get music for your show, including working with an actual musician to create custom music for your routines. If you have a bunch of money (or a close friend or family member with skills), do that, you’ll get exactly what you need for each effect.
Apps for Playing Music
It would be cool if I had a sound tech to go to all the shows and handle playing the music for me, but I’m too poor for that. (Oh, the honesty hurts!) I have a wife who often goes with me because I have health issues that sometimes keep me from driving, and I’ve offered to teach her how to do sound, but that’s not happening. She does NOT want that kind of stress in her life. ;)
So I have to handle it myself. Here’s what I tried at first…
DJ Jay
I figured if a DJ can make mixing the music a part of the performance (see Armin Van Buuren, Steve Aoki, Marshmello, etc.), then if I should be able to make starting/stopping music a seamless part of my act. I didn’t try to hide it; I put my iPad on a stand just to the side of my table so I could hit the buttons when I needed the next track. And it worked just fine.
Note: When I do have the opportunity to use a sound tech at a venue, I do that.
I tried several different apps on my iPad and had success with many of them. The two I used the most were Soundboard Studio and Go Button, both of which had their own pros and cons.
Soundboard is best for playing lots of sound effects, although I used it for music tracks as well.
Go Button is great for when you have multiple music tracks and one will crossfade into the next, automatically or on your cue. It also has the ability to let you trigger a few sound effects manually.
What’s really cool about those two is they both have a free version that’s good enough to get a feel for the app. I used both in several performances without needing to pay for them.
Recently I’ve run into two problems with the DJ (DJay?) option:
There are times in my show when I’m blindfolded and tapping an iPad screen to start some music when I supposedly can’t see might be seen as suspicious.
I’ve also been experimenting with using video clips during some of the routines, so having something that would handle audio, video, images, etc., was starting to become necessary.
Asking for options in our magic group gave me some things to look at. Thanks to Jeff Peterson who pointed me to the software I’m now using (and actually paid money for), iQ Pro, which is a lot like Go Button, but does more (well, except for buttons to play sound effects — more on that later), such as displaying images and video (even live video from your camera) on a display, projector, etc.
The audio only version of iQ Pro is $3 a month, audio and video for $15 a month, and audio, video, and live camera for $20 a month (each subscription tier has an annual discount), so trying it out for a month is pretty cheap.
Click-Click
While iQ Pro can be operated from the iPhone/iPad screen, it also works natively with a remote button called Flic that will trigger the music you have set up. That solves my problem of changing music when I’m blindfolded — with the Flic in my pocket I can click the button (through the material of my pants, so no need to go into the pocket) and the next track will start playing.
You can trigger something to happen when you click once, double-click, or do a long click. And you can set up multiple Flic buttons so each one can trigger something specific. The downside to that is each Flic is $30 (plus shipping) with packs of three or six available with a discount, so for me I’ve just got one at this point but it’s really all I need. I don’t do anything in my show that’s complicated. (Yet.)
I’ve just started using iQ Pro so it’s possible I’ll find something I hate about it that makes me keep searching, but right now I’m feeling pretty positive about it. And I’ll report back here if my thinking on it changes.
Software Honorable Mention
The creators of Go Button have macOS-based software called QLab that looks very powerful. It’s pricy, but there is a free version that can control audio, video, and lights. I started playing with it briefly and liked what I saw. For me, controlling things with my iPhone or iPad is easy, but if I start needing to lug my Mac laptop to shows, that kind of ratchets up the “roadie” level higher than I want. Plus, with no touch screen the laptop just isn’t as easy to use on the fly.
If I ever find someone who will be my sound tech, I’ll grab QLab again and really give it a workout.
Finally
Not every show needs music, but I think many times it can enhance your performance. While it’s another thing to “mess with,” the options available now are pretty cool and not horribly expensive (and free in some cases), so getting started is within reach of just about everybody.
If you have other ideas for using music and sound effects in your show, let me know in the comments.