Live Performance Set List Control

Hey,

I REALLY like what I've seen so far. Here are a few questions:

1. What type of song cuing control will we have while performing? Will we be able to make set lists and deviate easily from those when necessary?

2. Also, what's the highest capacity for an SD card that can be used? I see up to 32 GB for $90

3. I notice in the performance part of the videos it looks like he's controlling the left and right channels separately...is there any way for one knob to control the stereo track?

4. Can effects be changed via my MIDI keyboard while playing live? I usually like really short delays or reverbs on fast songs and long reverbs or delays on slow tunes. That would be AWSOME. The compressor is awsome too.

5. I also notice the guy has a notebook as well as the VS-100...we can gig with just the VS-100 right? I'd prefer to not bring my notebook.

For what it's worth, here's what I would LOVE *some* product to do:

A keyboard or other device with a nice large touch interface display that would let me:

1. Call up any of my songs really quickly or follow a set list.
2. Trigger any part of the song from the screen using a meaningful name like bridge, intro, chorus, etc, making an arrangement that would run as long or short as I want.
3. While the song is playing, be able to mute any part that I want.

I know 2-3 are right up Ableton Live's alley, but why should they be the only with that ability?

Donny

Can you call up one song while playing another?

I'm working with Ableton Live 7 to address some things I'd like to do performing, but it's a little daunting. If this works the way I'd like, I'd probably add an 8 channel USB interface with 8 outs in my rack so my mix would arrive at the console in 4 stereo stems that I could adjust manually if needed. This could also easily account for a click for a drummer to follow.

My frustration is that I'd rather not use two DAWs, plus I'd be looking at building my playlist up again in Ableton. Not necessarily a bad thing, but a little time consuming.

Ok, now that the manual is available on-line, I think I can confirm that my previous observations were correct. The block diagram shows the internal mentronome is routed to the main mix only which parallels the headphone output. This means that the other line outputs are sourced from the PC only and could not provide the FOH mix without click from the internal wave recorder memory chip. (It's not obvious from the manual if the internal metronome would be available during playback in the first place.) In summary, the V Studio 100 (by itself) is probably not the ideal rig for syncing your drummer to backing tracks during a live performance (especially if you need a stereo FOH mix). But then again, what is the ideal tool for this purpose? Seems like someone is missing a market opportunity that is unmet at the moment.

If the block diagram is accurate, they only show two channels from the on board memory going directly to the channels feeding the master bus only. The other channels can be fed only from the USB interface from a PC.

This discussion has answered my post in a previous thread...

I think stereo backing is favourable in most environments, unless you're very careful in your mono mix to make sure your instruments don't sound like crap when played in mono.

Looks like the D888 has that "stereo FOH" advantage then, but I still tend towards buying the V100 because it's MUCH smaller and also acts as an interface....

AARGH.. I thought this thing would solve all my live backing problems. At the moment we use a DJ setup (DENON s1200D + mixer), split L/R, which works well (especially in terms of setlists etc), but it's bulky and looks weird in a rock band environment!

Having employed almost all of the items mentioned in live playback scenarios, let me state that Sonar's song list feature does allow quick change up of set lists on the fly. It also pulls up whatever soft synths and effects you have associated with a project when that song loads.

Graduating up from Sony Minidiscs used some 10 years ago, I've used the Korg D888 for 3 years as my main tracks playback device in one project. It's fantastic in that, since it has 8 discrete outs, The drummer (playback track operator) can monitor his own electronic kit (stereo pr) and vocal mic along with the stereo playback track and click all using the D888s 8 channels as his personal dedicated mixer. His fader moves don't affect what's sent to FOH. It works like a charm.

In another project I've used Sonar in song list mode for almost 3 years playing stereo mixes of songs I recorded in Sonar. The soft synths load like a champ between songs. The lyric "teleprompter" is a fantastic bonus, as well! That merely requires adding in a (muted) midi track of song melody and affix the lyrics to it. The lyric window opens and updates with each new song that loads from the song list. It's rock solid and I've done national tours using this system.

If Cakewalk would only fix the video projection bug I've been whining about for two years! Sonar also has ability to load synced video (ideal for projection) on second monitor, also used as projector send. The thing that renders this feature useless is that after each song the video window automatically resizes to a smaller default setting. Unless you want the audience watching mouse moves to expand window at the beginning of every song it's pretty much useless; unless your intended use is only for one song. It looks like it's still not addressed in 8.5. Sigh.

Good luck on the live front!
Brent