New guy here...

Hi all,

I was a performing musician who hasn't played now for 13 years. I got busy with my business etc.... anyway, I was using what I thought was the latest greatest gear which to me was the faithful Korg 01W/FD, racks of amps and effects etc.. I recently dug out everything again and intend to resurrect my show. That's after seeing a useless dj get paid $550 for blasting noise at us for 5 hours.

Anyway, I am blown away by the way digital gear has advanced. I was playing my show using sequencer tracks loaded on 3.5 inch floppies while playing guitar live and the keyboard.

I'm planning on holing up in my basement and not coming out again until I completely rewrite a new show. However, before I get going, perhaps I could ask a few probably dumb questions?

1. I don't see a lot of options for live playing on stage with Sonar 8.5 Producer, only ways to export to CD etc. I will be using midi tracks to control effects units as well as access my Korg. As well, I intend to lay down some analogue sound tracks. What way can I use this software on stage to play a show? Is it viable to just open files of different songs live on the fly and play them or is there a better way?

2. I am hoping there's a way to save my old sequencer tracks from my Korg back to Sonar for further tweaking. Any suggestions will help.

Thanks and I hope to be a useful member here. When I get home and start using it, I'm sure I'll have a lot more to ask.

stu

Oh, I should have mentioned I already bought 8.5 Producer this month with the free upgrade. I'm one of the dreaded new guys that get the free upgrade because I just jumped in after Nov 1. hehe

I looked hard at Live, but didn't see the answers I was looking for either. Oh well, what's a few hundred more bucks in the long run.

stu

Stuey,

check out the Matrix in SONAR.  Or beatscape.  You might be able to make those work for you.

@

I run a live show from MIDI files albeit I play them back via my Roland Sonic Cell from a USB stick, but Sonar on my laptop is my backup which I've fully tested so you can definitely do it. That includes sending patch changes to my vocal processor and guitar effects via MIDI. You are only limited by your imagination, there's no reason you can't sync in a light show etc via MIDI.

Have a search of the help files for "Playlists". It is possible to set up lists with various playback options to save having to load files on the fly. I've not really investigated the start/stop via footswitches controllers etc but I'll be very surprised if it's not possible.

I'm not familiar with the Korg but if the sequence files are standard midi files (SMF) you can just download them into Sonar and Sonar will play them back. Of course you'll need some sort of MIDI interface to be able to use external synths.

If you have a powerful enough laptop to not have issues with dropouts etc which, if you are dealing with just MIDI shouldn't be an issue, then it's quite feasible to do what you want.

Stu,
Forgive me for Hi-jacking your thread.  You have a cool avatar however, I'd like to punch that cat.  Make it STOP!  He's making me dizzy!

probly make more money bein a DJ....
just sayin.

timidi


probly make more money bein a DJ....
just sayin.

And the investment is often inversely proportional. Both in time spent to earn your skills and in money...


I've met more than a few DJ's running cracked copies of Traktor, Reason or sometimes Fruity Loops and basically playing back mp3s they'd grab off the internet.

And they feel they can tell you, cos, you know, you're a musician too... Sharing tips of the trade. 

Not saying they're not nice people. I mean, lots of them even offered to burn me a copy of Reason for free. 


This isn't meant to rip on all DJs indifferently, btw. Some of those guys are really good at what they do.

timidi

Not saying they're not nice people.

got nothin against DJs. Well, for the most part anyway.
More so for the idiots that hire them.
But, then again, i guess you pretty much know that the music will "sound like the record" with a DJ.
Hiring a musician could be quite the crapshoot.

Was in an ultra open-mind mood last week, so I went out to to watch the hockey game and listen to what the kids were up to... Got out of there thinking that I was good for at least a couple of months. 90% of what they played was remixes - from old classics like The Clash enhanced with a 4 to the floor kick sample, to stuff that should be left alone for a couple of year like the White Stripes Seven Nation Army...
Add a bit of synch'ed delay here and there, a bit of phaser, and there you have it. Felt like someone raped my record collection live, no more no less...


Sorry for hijacking the thread. :s

Thanks for the replies. It's another 3 days until I can get back home and start playing with the new gear.

stu

Hi Stu.

Welcome to the circus.

best,
mike

especially with just a smidge of talent and a whole lot of gear to back him up and make him sound better than he might really be.

Ya think so? Well, good luck! Good equipment just makes a bad performer sound worse. 

Not to knock Sonar for use for live...umm except it's not at all designed for it really....there's also Cantabile pro..which acts like pretty sophisticated audio / midi player .... controller and VST host. There's a free demo available of the upper end programs  and a free lite version which is a good learning tool for testing out the controller and VST host side of things.

I'm looking into doing something very similar... and what I have so far...is acting pretty difficult to pull off in sonar.

Welcome aboard Stu. You'll find there's a great many people on trhis forum who will do their utmost to solve any problmes you might have, and you'll find there are a very small minority who you'll want to have no communication with whatsoever.

AT suggested having a look at the Matrix - great idea - and you can see it in action if you go into CakeTV and watch a video showing it's capabilities.