FC Setlist and Song modes

I just logged in for the first time in a year or so just to ask this exact question about how the new foot controllers do set lists! Have to say I'm pretty disappointed with what I'm hearing. I would have thought that not only would we get great set list functionality but also the ability to drop the setlist onto a memory stick and pop it into the pedal when I get to the gig! Fractal do a lot of stuff right and I have been using my FxII and MFC101 for seven years now, but they still manage to think like bedroom guitarists quite a lot! Looks like its going to be a GT/22!
FC's are essentially a dumb controller and are configured on the Fractal - unlike the MFC-101. So no memory stick necessary.
 
FC's are essentially a dumb controller and are configured on the Fractal - unlike the MFC-101. So no memory stick necessary.
Right, that's one of the many things I like about the FC / AF3 combination.
Before I had (well, I still have it) a midi FC and a 'traditional' rig with loopswitcher and so on and had to download the config file by cable from laptop to fc. Though quite happy with it I changed over to AF3 because my back couldn't handle the enormous weight of my old rig anymore.
Never looked back - and never ever going back: AF3+FC12 is the best thing I've owned ever - but the only thing I miss (a little) from my old rig is the set & songlist functionality, which it did have ...
 
What is stopping you from designating the beginning chunk of the first bank as your 'set list' area, and copying in the presets you will need for the gig from either a different bank in the AxeFX or from a stored file, using AxeEdit's Manage Presets window, and dragging them in the desired order, and going to the gig?
 
While not the ideal solution, using what's available now - MIDI mapping with the FC or external controllers - covers things. While you can't store packages of sets, you can still keep your presets in any order you want on the Axe-Fx and set up the MIDI map to recall them in the order of your set. As opposed to moving presets around in order, using the map is more flexible and you don't have to duplicate presets if they're used multiple times in a set. It doesn't take long to configure a set - I do this for 50+ tune sets and just takes a few minutes.

I'd still love some expanded setlist functionality to be able to save sets and use the Axe-Edit (or other) UI of course.
 
What is stopping you from designating the beginning chunk of the first bank as your 'set list' area, and copying in the presets you will need for the gig from either a different bank in the AxeFX or from a stored file, using AxeEdit's Manage Presets window, and dragging them in the desired order, and going to the gig?

I play in multiple bands that have overlapping tunes and master lists double the size of the average gig list. I also have the need to shuffle the sets from date to date so the audience doesn't hear songs in the same order. I'm currently "working around" the lack of set list feature by designating an area as you've suggested. I'm not thrilled about ordering and re-ordering or worse COPYING patches so that tweaks I make at a gig are not reflected in all copies of a patch. And let's not forget 3rd party applications (Set List Maker) that expect to see a song at a specific location should the band "call an audible" in the middle of a show.

What's preventing Fractal from following through on a feature we were told would be implemented (or at least given serious consideration) after the FM3 went on-line?

I'm being patient. But I resent have to do manually what a computer should be doing for me with substantially less effort long term.

Thanks!
 
What is stopping you from designating the beginning chunk of the first bank as your 'set list' area, and copying in the presets you will need for the gig from either a different bank in the AxeFX or from a stored file, using AxeEdit's Manage Presets window, and dragging them in the desired order, and going to the gig?
None of my bands have consistent set lists. The workload of readjusting for every gig for multiple bands is prohibitive. I've gone to generic presets with a handful of song specific oddities in an extra bank, but this approach really doesn't make full use of the hardware.

Still hoping for onboard song/set functionality....
 
Great to hear that it's going to happen :). Is there any reason why I can't use an MFC101 with the AxeFxIII? (until the setlist functionality is available), It is after all a midi controller. I wouldn't expect all the bells and whistles, I just need the setlist and scenes functions.
 
Great to hear that it's going to happen :). Is there any reason why I can't use an MFC101 with the AxeFxIII? (until the setlist functionality is available), It is after all a midi controller. I wouldn't expect all the bells and whistles, I just need the setlist and scenes functions.
I used a Roland FC200 for the first couple months until my FC came in from the waitlist....
 
Hi Folks, as we don't really know when the set list 'feature' is going to happen, I have taken it upon myself to come up with a solution, and I do believe it is an elegant solution with minimal cost involved :). What I have done is written an application that can run on a raspberry pi (tiny awesome computer that costs about $35), that talks to the Axe via the Yamaha MB-BT01 Bluetooth Midi Interface and switches patches from a set list file. The file is a simple text file that is automatically generated from the program 'Bandhelper' (or you can simply type it manually).
Here is how it works! You program two of your pedal board switches or the auxiliary switches to send a simple control change command for the two 'Next Song' and 'Previous Song' functions that you need to send to the raspberry pi. When the pi sees a 'Next_song' request, it looks in the set list file and gets the patch change number from the list and writes the patch change command back to the axe! Done :). It works brilliantly, I just got it working a few minutes ago so I have a bit of work to do on cleaning up the code and maybe putting an operator screen on it, but if anyone is interested, just give me a shout and I'll give you the code etc.

Some info:
We use Bandhelper for all our songs, set lists, bookings and finance etc. so it was a natural choice for me to use the existing 'share set list' function, but I could adapt the code for other formats. The pi has built-in wifi, so you can also send the set list directly from your phone to the pi when you get to the gig! How cool is that! the singer can make changes to the set list on the way to the gig and before they have reached the venue, you have it programmed ready to go! Let's see if the fractal boys can give you that level of functionality! :)
The set list file is a simple text file with the following data format:

song number - song name - patch number:
1 - My Way Home - 35
2 - We Won't Run - 82
3 - Kiss Me - 144
4 - Wish You Were Here - 89
5 - When The War Is Over - 45
6 - Fake Plastic Trees - 145
etc...

I'm using the Yamaha MB-BT01 midi interface but you could use a standard USB to Midi interface (the pi has four USB ports) and have it permanently connected.

I'm still using the MFC-101 so I used a Boss FS-6 dual footswitch, via the auxiliarys for my song selection control but you would probably use two of the buttons on the new FC

Th raspberry pi is about the size of a cigarette packet and runs of a 5V USB power supply, so no dramas wiring it into your rig.

You can setup the pi so that you have the set list on a USB memory stick, so you can just plug in the USB stick and turn it on and it will work!

This system can also be used for any other type of midi switching systems like loop switchers, or keyboards etc. not just an Axe

I'm excited!! :)
 
Hi Folks, as we don't really know when the set list 'feature' is going to happen, I have taken it upon myself to come up with a solution, and I do believe it is an elegant solution with minimal cost involved :). What I have done is written an application that can run on a raspberry pi (tiny awesome computer that costs about $35), that talks to the Axe via the Yamaha MB-BT01 Bluetooth Midi Interface and switches patches from a set list file. The file is a simple text file that is automatically generated from the program 'Bandhelper' (or you can simply type it manually).
Here is how it works! You program two of your pedal board switches or the auxiliary switches to send a simple control change command for the two 'Next Song' and 'Previous Song' functions that you need to send to the raspberry pi. When the pi sees a 'Next_song' request, it looks in the set list file and gets the patch change number from the list and writes the patch change command back to the axe! Done :). It works brilliantly, I just got it working a few minutes ago so I have a bit of work to do on cleaning up the code and maybe putting an operator screen on it, but if anyone is interested, just give me a shout and I'll give you the code etc.

Some info:
We use Bandhelper for all our songs, set lists, bookings and finance etc. so it was a natural choice for me to use the existing 'share set list' function, but I could adapt the code for other formats. The pi has built-in wifi, so you can also send the set list directly from your phone to the pi when you get to the gig! How cool is that! the singer can make changes to the set list on the way to the gig and before they have reached the venue, you have it programmed ready to go! Let's see if the fractal boys can give you that level of functionality! :)
The set list file is a simple text file with the following data format:

song number - song name - patch number:
1 - My Way Home - 35
2 - We Won't Run - 82
3 - Kiss Me - 144
4 - Wish You Were Here - 89
5 - When The War Is Over - 45
6 - Fake Plastic Trees - 145
etc...

I'm using the Yamaha MB-BT01 midi interface but you could use a standard USB to Midi interface (the pi has four USB ports) and have it permanently connected.

I'm still using the MFC-101 so I used a Boss FS-6 dual footswitch, via the auxiliarys for my song selection control but you would probably use two of the buttons on the new FC

Th raspberry pi is about the size of a cigarette packet and runs of a 5V USB power supply, so no dramas wiring it into your rig.

You can setup the pi so that you have the set list on a USB memory stick, so you can just plug in the USB stick and turn it on and it will work!

This system can also be used for any other type of midi switching systems like loop switchers, or keyboards etc. not just an Axe

I'm excited!! :)

Yes! Please share your code. I use an Arduino Mega 2560 but this could be a good excuse for me to get into Raspberry Pi.
 
Update on the set list app: I have everything working now, the Raspberri Pi boots up, automatically connects to the Bluetooth midi interface and runs the app. The set-list can now be loaded directly from your phone via Wifi to the pi and instantly enabled by holding down one of the foot switches for three seconds. We already have a local wifi network built into the main rack for the iPad Pro to operate the mixing desk remotely, but if you don't the pi can be setup to provide it's own wifi network. There is always the option of loading the set list from a USB stick but that requires the pi to have some sort of screen, as I haven't yet worked out how to get it to load the file from the USB stick at startup (these things take time! :)).
Overall it seems to be a very neat solution and I'm going to start using it from now on as I am totally over having to drag my road-case with the MFC-101 out of the trailer, plug it into an auxiliary power supply, plug in a midi cable, boot up my old laptop, program the set-list manually and download it to the pedal board! I'll start working on a tutorial doc/vid to show the complete setup procedure, but I'll consider providing a pre-installed pi image file on a memory card for a small fee! :)
 
Some info: We use Bandhelper for all our songs, set lists, bookings and finance etc.
Hi Simon - very helpful for those that don't have another option yet, and a huge thanks for helping out. Do have a quick comment for folks, and question for you.

Comment - if using an FC just be aware you can use Control Switches to send PC or CC commands, but otherwise the FC doesn't send midi.

Question - I have a very similar setup - BandHelper for setlist, Yamaha Bluetooth to Axe III from iPad. Difference is I have BandHelper send Patch and scene changes directly to Axe based on song selection from setlist. Was there a reason you chose not to use that method directly?
 
Hi Simon - very helpful for those that don't have another option yet, and a huge thanks for helping out. Do have a quick comment for folks, and question for you.

Comment - if using an FC just be aware you can use Control Switches to send PC or CC commands, but otherwise the FC doesn't send midi.

Question - I have a very similar setup - BandHelper for setlist, Yamaha Bluetooth to Axe III from iPad. Difference is I have BandHelper send Patch and scene changes directly to Axe based on song selection from setlist. Was there a reason you chose not to use that method directly?
Hi Zion, regarding the foot switch commands, my system is configurable to use any sort of message (as long as I can match the values in each byte of the message, it will work, I am currently using midi channel 2, CC#3, value of 1 = Next Song, Value of 2 = Last song (but you can use any channel, CC# and value that you want. I have not had a chance to look at the manual for the FC pedals so any info would be appreciated regarding what they can and can not do.
Regarding Bandhelper, I want to switch with my foot pedal, it makes the performance more seamless as opposed to reaching over with your hand and doing something! We also have a strict 'No Phone or iPad on stage' philosophy! In my opinion if you don't know the chords or the words, then you are not ready to play the song live! :). I hope to get my hands on the Raspberry Pi Zero in the next few days so I can make it even smaller and easier to setup. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom