Solo Metal Project Live? Need Gear/Setup/Routing Recommendations

[Bucketheadtwo]

I know my situation isn't exactly unique and I'm definitely not the first person to post about this, but I'm looking for very specific, detailed recommendations about my situation, please and thank you!
I'm a guitar player who makes metal music. I want to play live, but don't have a band and miss playing shows, so I'm thinking about biting the bullet and performing alone.
I have guitars, pedals, a NI Komplete Audio 6 Mk2 USB audio interface, a laptop, Reaper, some plugins, and a Peavey 6505+ combo
I plan on my signal chain being: guitar -> pedals -> interface -> laptop -> Reaper -> plugins -> interface out to: a) amp fx loop (for stage sound out of the cab) / b) FOH for everything but click / c) in-ear monitors (click, tracks, self-monitoring). I would likely program my sets in a Reaper project and control all of my tone changes through programming my plugins so that my amp simply acts as a powered cab and I can limit my gear or any tapdancing. If I plan to sing also, that'd make guitar+vox at the same time easier.

My concerns are:
1) I need to purchase some sort of in-ear monitor rig, so the IEM buds themselves and something to make them wireless. Do I need anything else for that? Any recommendations?

2) What's the best and cheapest way to set up my laptop on a stage? In case I ever need to do something on it besides pressing play and performing my set (ideally lol), I don't want to worry about sitting, crouching, hunching over to use it or knocking it over while moving around on stage. I figure a lot of those tall rack cases on wheels are pretty pricy and overkill if I'm not storing much, if anything, inside of them.

3) Should all of my backing tracks be mono? I know that a lot of people simply smash everything down into one whole mono channel to send to FOH, but I'm worried about how messed up the mix might be. Most people seem to do that for auxiliary tracks that can't be performed by the rest of the band, usually not entire stereo (at least in the "studio" version) songs like in my case. If I make tracks where I cut out whatever guitar part I'm playing at any given time (so that I can perform it myself) how does that affect things over a mono backing track vs stereo? Do I have enough outs from my interface for everything? What are my best options? I'm not sure how the guitar panning thing throughout the song works. Sometimes in my songs, the rhythm guitars are harmonizing, playing different riffs, or the focus is on the centered lead. I also have some parts in songs where only one L/R guitar part is playing or things kind of bounce between L and R for fun effects (ex. a glitchy Veil of Maya song). What's the best solution that's easy for me, the FOH guys, and sounds acceptable for the audience?

I'm most worried about the last one, if my setup makes sense, or how expensive accomplishing something reasonable might be (even though performing alone is a bit awkward to begin with) if I have to buy a lot of extra gear compared to what I have to work this out. Thanks!

 

[bostjan]

1. Are you saying you want to buy just the IEM buds and not the whole system, then buy something to connect them to the main board? I'd recommend just getting the system so that you have everything.

2. This totally depends. Do you think you'll be moving around much? You might want something fairly sturdy in that case. Or, depending on where you play, people might get into your music and get a little energetic... I myself just had some homemade stands. I'm not good at woodworking, but I own a drill and I live near a hardware store. But if you want something storebought, I'd say head over to Lowes or Home Depot or Walmart or whatever you have nearby and check out what furniture they have. It's cheap and they probably have something that will work. You'll just have to kind of measure it up next to you and see.

3. It depends. If you are going to do your own PA system and all of the lugging and setup, then, sure, do stereo tracks. Otherwise, no. Because you never know what the venue will offer you as a house sound system. House systems typically don't have good stereo separation if at all, and there's always a learning curve involved with them, so the simpler you keep things, the better. But if you want, you could have one set of stereo tracks and one set of mono tracks and just keep them in different folders, clearly labeled "MONO" and "STEREO."

Or, just hire a band. I know, I know, musicians are a pain in the ass. But music is more fun when it's collaborative. Drummers and bass players are super flaky, so maybe hire a bunch of guitarists and then the first one who complains about there not being drums gets to play drums and lug around all of that stuff (or just go for edrums, since they are super cheap now anyway)...

 

[Bucketheadtwo]

1. Are you saying you want to buy just the IEM buds and not the whole system, then buy something to connect them to the main board? I'd recommend just getting the system so that you have everything.

2. This totally depends. Do you think you'll be moving around much? You might want something fairly sturdy in that case. Or, depending on where you play, people might get into your music and get a little energetic... I myself just had some homemade stands. I'm not good at woodworking, but I own a drill and I live near a hardware store. But if you want something storebought, I'd say head over to Lowes or Home Depot or Walmart or whatever you have nearby and check out what furniture they have. It's cheap and they probably have something that will work. You'll just have to kind of measure it up next to you and see.

3. It depends. If you are going to do your own PA system and all of the lugging and setup, then, sure, do stereo tracks. Otherwise, no. Because you never know what the venue will offer you as a house sound system. House systems typically don't have good stereo separation if at all, and there's always a learning curve involved with them, so the simpler you keep things, the better. But if you want, you could have one set of stereo tracks and one set of mono tracks and just keep them in different folders, clearly labeled "MONO" and "STEREO."

Or, just hire a band. I know, I know, musicians are a pain in the ass. But music is more fun when it's collaborative. Drummers and bass players are super flaky, so maybe hire a bunch of guitarists and then the first one who complains about there not being drums gets to play drums and lug around all of that stuff (or just go for edrums, since they are super cheap now anyway)...

1. I'm saying that I need the whole thing for that part of the setup. I need the thing to jam in my ear (the monitors, IEMs, buds, whatever you wanna call em ) and a wireless unit to send them from my laptop to my person because of course nobody needs a guitar cable AND headphones tethered to them on stage.
2. That makes sense, thanks.
3. The answer about mono vs stereo is probably what I was looking for. It makes sense that I should make things as barebones and simple for any venue to avoid any conflict. But, I might have to actually get some people to help me play shows to make things easier guitar-wise for the tracks. Unfortunately I'm not from the city I currently live in and haven't been active in the local scene since before moving. So, I'll have to start over from here and see if I can meet people to build something more reasonable lol.

 

[bostjan]

1. I'm saying that I need the whole thing for that part of the setup. I need the thing to jam in my ear (the monitors, IEMs, buds, whatever you wanna call em ) and a wireless unit to send them from my laptop to my person because of course nobody needs a guitar cable AND headphones tethered to them on stage.
2. That makes sense, thanks.
3. The answer about mono vs stereo is probably what I was looking for. It makes sense that I should make things as barebones and simple for any venue to avoid any conflict. But, I might have to actually get some people to help me play shows to make things easier guitar-wise for the tracks. Unfortunately I'm not from the city I currently live in and haven't been active in the local scene since before moving. So, I'll have to start over from here and see if I can meet people to build something more reasonable lol.

1. They make wireless IEM systems, but the wired ones might not be as much a dealbreaker as you think. If you have a guitar cable, you can plug in an XLR to a beltpack. If you run around onstage a lot, you will probably want both your guitar and your IEMs to be wireless though. A wireless IEM system can be expensive, but if you take care of it, it'll be well worth the cost. If you are on a tighter budget, I'd consider a floor wedge before I'd commit to something not really intended for live sound, but you could try whatever comes to mind if it's returnable.

3. Another nice thing about having some bandmates, especially if you are new in town, is that they have their own pals that they can drag out to shows. Not only does that mean more people to check out your show, but if random people happen by, they are more likely to stay for a while if there are other people there. If the place is empty other than just you and maybe the venue staff, people that didn't specifically come for the show might be put off for whatever psychological/sociological reasons.

 

[Emperoff]

1. If you run around onstage a lot, you will probably want both your guitar and your IEMs to be wireless though. A wireless IEM system can be expensive, but if you take care of it, it'll be well worth the cost.

Yup. This is how I roll in one of my bands. The freedom of movement and hearing yourself perfectly everywhere on the stage is awesome. The Shure GLXD-16 system is probably one of the best guitar investments I've ever made.

 

[Bucketheadtwo]

Yup. This is how I roll in one of my bands. The freedom of movement and hearing yourself perfectly everywhere on the stage is awesome. The Shure GLXD-16 system is probably one of the best guitar investments I've ever made.

I would love to have both guitar and monitoring be wireless. I made the mistake of jumping on the Line 6 G10 when it came out because I'm cheap, so I'm okay with at least guitar being wired for the time being. I forgot how much of an investment a real wireless system is though now that I look again I'll take your recommendation for that when the time is right though.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

+1 just start a band

nobody cares about one man metal bands with everything but the one live guitar track on a laptop. fine for recording, absolute snoozefest live. I'm saying this because I love you and I want you to have a good time in life.

if you absolutely can't find anyone to play with, have some respect for yourself and your audience and write some solo guitar stuff. you might be surprised what's waiting for you outside your wheelhouse.