Considering switching strategies to multiple presets in lieu of one preset and many scenes

Tahoebrian5

Tahoebrian5

Fractal Fanatic
Im looking for ideas on how to setup my patches. Currently I play my entire set all night on a single preset and use 8 scenes for my patches. Problem is I'm running out of cpu and still have more sounds I'm looking for. I currently have my mfc setup with the bottom and middle row for scenes 1-8 and the rest of the buttons are IA's.

Okay, if I use one preset for clean, one for rhythym, and one for lead, one problem is whenever I change to a new preset I'm stuck with scene one unless I then do a second stomp. So how do you preset users deal with this? I'd like to be able to access several variations of lead, clean, etc so thinking each preset will have several scenes.

Any other strategies I should be considering?
 
I have my mfc set up the same way, except I do not use scenes, I use different presets. I arrange my presets so that I can manage my setlist. I use several banks of presets, with some banks having duplicate presets as other banks, again so I can manage my setlist. I really hate the pedal dance, so I really try to get organized so as to minimize the pedal work. Yes, it was a pain to set it all up, but a pleasure when performing. I may have to scroll to a new bank between songs, but the applause cycle gives me time to get that done.
 
I'm half way between the two strategies..
changing presets mid-song for me is a big no no...
not seamless.. audio drops etc etc..
making everything I need in a single preset is not possible

so.. I have a master preset that'll cover most of my needs for the live set..
and for songs that have other needs, I make a copy of the master, strip out what's not needed and add the extra stuff that is..
I have 5 presets in all.. each preset has 5 scenes..
1 handles most songs
another handles 2 specific songs
the remaining 3 each specifically meet the needs of a specific song
and as these variants are all based upon the same master preset, the fundamental riff, solo, clean tones are exactly the same [via global blocks]..
 
Preset per song here. I leave my MFC-101 in 'reveal' mode all night. I have the MFC in 'set' mode and step through the presets/songs by using the 'Bank' button (or use a tablet with 'Setlist Maker').

A good portion of the presets are just copies of my main preset (Moke's JCM-800), with some minor tweaks (re-named after song title, delay times, different modulation effects, gain levels, etc...). The new preset names also acts as a set list.

I use a standardized scene convention to keep me from being confused.

More work at home........but way easier for me at the gig........
 
Yup. One preset per song or group of songs. The idea of putting all my lead sounds into one preset and changing presets and hunting for the right scene in the middle of a song is just plain scary. :)
 
Preset per song. But I like to use a lot of FX so sticking them all into one preset would cause CPU overload. So I have to select per song what I am going to use and what the scene layout will be. But I can understand that when you only use minimal FX you can make do with just one preset.
 
My band plays popular rock and pop covers, so 1 preset with scenes just ain't going to cut it - especially when we try our best with tech to sound like it did on the record.

I think am using about 15 presets to cover 25 or so tunes, some songs using the same one.

I have the preset number on the setlist and my scenes are always 1, clean, 2 dirty, 3 solo, 4 - something specific per song if required

I'd like to try the MFC in Set List mode - just haven't got round to programming/sorting it as yet

The Axe FX II XL+ certainly has the capacity for me to run 1 dedicated preset per song.
 
Moke said:
Preset per song here. I leave my MFC-101 in 'reveal' mode all night. I have the MFC in 'set' mode and step through the presets/songs by using the 'Bank' button (or use a tablet with 'Setlist Maker').

A good portion of the presets are just copies of my main preset (Moke's JCM-800), with some minor tweaks (re-named after song title, delay times, different modulation effects, gain levels, etc...). The new preset names also acts as a set list.

I use a standardized scene convention to keep me from being confused.

More work at home........but way easier for me at the gig........
Click to expand...

I do the same with the MFC in reveal mode..
that enables me to have scenes on the front row of switches and presets 1 thru 5 on the back row
 
Using Bandhelper to change presets on my Axe using midi commands. Start of each song, Bandhelper puts me on the correct Axe preset and scene for the song and I leave my MFC in reveal mode all night to go to other scenes during the song. So I don't have to think about which preset is next or think thru changes in set list or skipping songs - click the song in the set list and ready to start. Very cool tool...
 
I have 3 methods:

band 1
Axe-FX: one preset per song, with scenes (max. 5). My RJM lists all songs alphabetically and still lets me engage / bypass effects on the fly. I limit myself to two amp types.

There's so much you can cramp into an Axe-Fx preset before it reaches the CPU limit!

band 2
AX8: single main preset, with scenes (max. 4). Plus a couple of specific song presets, when needed.
7 switches are "global" (the same in each preset). The 8th switch is assigned per preset (wildcard switch). I limit myself to a single amp type.

noodling by myself
loads of presets. Still limiting myself to two amp types.
 
I'm surprised how many of you are doing a preset per song. I tried this when running an fx8 and the problems were one: we Segway songs together seamlessly in many occasions and is awkward to try to switch, and two: the song list always changes sometimes mid show. A special guest shows up, or a singer is not feeling a song, etc.
 
After having used scenes for years I moved to preset..
Switching is faster and I can keep lower cpu because I put in the preset just what I need
 
As one wise man once said - if you use 40 amps sims in one gig, you are not a good guitar player. You are an asshole.
..
unless you are a tribute band that tries to sound as close to the official recordings as possible... Though, I think that it is not really that important during live performances. Even those bands that you are making a tribute of, don't do that. They just have that one stage amp setup, and let it rip.

So, one Amp sim, within one preset, and only scenes, should be more than enough for a whole gig.

Though, avoid the amp block x/y state switching. That adds a small audio gap. Use two amp blocks.
Been waiting for this to be fixed for years :) Doesn't seem it will ever happen...
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
I'm surprised how many of you are doing a preset per song. I tried this when running an fx8 and the problems were one: we Segway songs together seamlessly in many occasions and is awkward to try to switch, and two: the song list always changes sometimes mid show. A special guest shows up, or a singer is not feeling a song, etc.
Click to expand...

That's why I have an alphab. ordered song menu on my RJM. Just one switch to pop up that menu.
I call up that menu before the current song ends.
 
I use one preset with 5 scenes to cover 80% of our covers set (AxeFX with 2 amp blocks and X/Y) ...... other more oddball songs get their own preset. But I stick to a formula where the clean(est) tone is Scene 1 and the Solo is Scene 5 ...... the main riff tone (usually most of song uses this) is Scene 3 .... that leaves me Scene 2 and Scene 4 to add multiple stomps without tap dancing on the IAs (usually it's adding mod + delay combination to whatever Scene precedes).

Mucking about with the guitar vol keeps me right for the most part in any scene ....... I'd probably do a more comprehensive song per preset setup if I was in a tribute act ..... but we cover mostly 80's/90's rock stuff and really I don't have to strain too hard to make one preset work for that genre :)
 
I play in a hybrid band using a backing track for bass, drums, keyboard accents and FX. I have an XL but I still use my Ultra for live work because preset change is instant and seamless. A slight challenge was blending live to back track on a per song basis since even a minute backing level variation impacts how the preset sits in the mix.

Solution worked flawlessly. I create 4 preset slots per song. Intro, Body, Lead, Misc. Then if I have a preset like 'Studio Lead' that I use in 5 songs I duplicate it 5 times and give each song it's own copy. This creates a bevy of presets but the computer does the program changes.

Since the back track doesn't change I have been able to fine tune each preset in each song for a studio like blend.
 
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Moke said:
Preset per song here. I leave my MFC-101 in 'reveal' mode all night. I have the MFC in 'set' mode and step through the presets/songs by using the 'Bank' button (or use a tablet with 'Setlist Maker').

A good portion of the presets are just copies of my main preset (Moke's JCM-800), with some minor tweaks (re-named after song title, delay times, different modulation effects, gain levels, etc...). The new preset names also acts as a set list.

I use a standardized scene convention to keep me from being confused.

More work at home........but way easier for me at the gig........
Click to expand...

I do pretty much the same. One preset per song. Some songs only use one scene, others use four or five. Each preset is named for the song it's used on. I use MFC-Edit to put the songs in set list order, so I just need to hit the Up arrow on the MFC to get to the next song. I have a couple of songs that use multiple presets, but I again use MFC-Edit to associate those presets - in the right order - with that particular song. For those songs, I turn off the Reveal switch and use buttons 1-5 to select the preset. And in one case, I have multiple scenes within one of those presets, so I have to hit Reveal again to step through those scenes.

If we have a mid-set change in the list, I can call up the preset for that song quickly with the main knob on the Axe-FX. (I put preset numbers - and the guitar I need to use - on the set list next to each song.) I also have a "set" stored on my MFC that has all the songs listed in alphabetical order.
 
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Tahoebrian5 said:
I'm surprised how many of you are doing a preset per song. I tried this when running an fx8 and the problems were one: we Segway songs together seamlessly in many occasions and is awkward to try to switch, and two: the song list always changes sometimes mid show. A special guest shows up, or a singer is not feeling a song, etc.
Click to expand...
That's why I started using 'Setlist Maker' at our regular (4-1/2 hour) shows. I can easily scroll through the whole show when needed. The list is color coded for guitar changes. Once a song is selected, my Axe-Fx, and vocal harmonizer go to the appropriate presets, and Ableton selects the corresponding backing track, or parks on a blank slot when none is needed, in case I step on the 'launch' pedal.

I just use the MFC 'Set-list' mode for shorter shows on bigger stages. Less to setup, and we stick to those lists. The MFC also sends the same commands to the vocal harmonizer and Albleton.
 
maxdown said:
I use one preset with 5 scenes to cover 80% of our covers set (AxeFX with 2 amp blocks and X/Y) ...... other more oddball songs get their own preset.
Click to expand...
This is what I was trying to convey, but didn't. :)

One workhorse preset for most of the stuff, and presets to handle the unique, one-off kinds of tones.
 
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