Best DAW to control AxeFX live AND be able to have setlist function

RoshRoslin

RoshRoslin

Power User
Hey everyone,
Trying to figure out the best solution to find a DAW that can control the AxeFX patch changes synced with a click/backing track.

Each session will have backing track panned Right, Click panned left and a separate midi track to control one axefx. Possibility of controlling lighting Via DMX in the future.

Requirements:
- Must send Midi, preferable via USB or through a interface to control patch/scene changes.
- MUST ABSOLUTELY have a way to be able to control and navigate setlists quickly. Sets are flexible with 4-5 Song medleys, sprinkled with single songs in between. I can't put the set on one big long session file with markers etc. Sometimes the band will be skipping around or may skip songs. Absolutely critical that the songs/sessions load quickly and seamlessly between songs. Shows are between 1-2 hours. Sometimes longer.

A plus if:
Program can be controlled with a midi foot controller (Softstep etc.)

Any suggestions?
 
If you are using a Mac, main stage is awesome. It takes initial programming and to wrap your head around, but you can set it up anyway you want and does everything you want. You can contrail it from an ipad or foot controller, no problem.
 
What do you guys do when somebody jams on a solo a little longer? Or when the singer misses something and comes in 4 bars later? Or anything unforseen happens? I definitely prefer to be in control myself...

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Marcus Siepen said:
What do you guys do when somebody jams on a solo a little longer? Or when the singer misses something and comes in 4 bars later? Or anything unforseen happens? I definitely prefer to be in control myself...

Gesendet von meinem LG-D855 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...

if you're playing with stems/tracks, program changes, etc, there are no unforeseen changes or jams or extending things, you're locked into it....unless you use ableton and are controlling sections manually....which would be a huge pain unless you have a dedicated keys/midi guy.
 
RoshRoslin said:
Main stage doesn't send midi cc to the AxeFx
Click to expand...

sure it can. You can have it play midi tracks to whatever device you want. I pretty sure you can also assign a button to transmit a midi message. You can use it to play external MIDI devices, which is all the Axe-fx is in this case.


Just looked. Yes, you can.

Here is how:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13578

Look at a bunch of youtube videos on Mainstage. It is extremely powerfull what it can do. We use it for backing tracks along with a bluetooth footcontroller.
 
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Ableton Live 9 is exactly what you want! I played in a Rammstein cover band for awhile and I did EXACTLY what you are talking about using Ableton. All of the bands songs were laid out on a setlist. Using my Axe foot controller, I setup some buttons that would select the songs from the list. Also, songs would trigger scene changes on my Axe for me automatically as well. It was awesome. As a backup, the laptop was setup on top of my rack so that I could manually just go to the laptop and press the song I wanted to play. In Ableton, songs can be assigned a letter. A, B, C...etc. so you simply press the letter of the song you want to play next.
 
Marcus Siepen said:
What do you guys do when somebody jams on a solo a little longer? Or when the singer misses something and comes in 4 bars later? Or anything unforseen happens? I definitely prefer to be in control myself...

Gesendet von meinem LG-D855 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...

The whole band has to realize the train does not make stops :)

I try to remember tweaks like extending breaks etc. and make some notes and change the arrangements to make sections longer / shorter.

Right now, I'm not doing any shows with backing tracks. It's been a breath of fresh air.
 
Marcus Siepen said:
What do you guys do when somebody jams on a solo a little longer? Or when the singer misses something and comes in 4 bars later? Or anything unforseen happens? I definitely prefer to be in control myself...

Gesendet von meinem LG-D855 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That's what rehearsals are for, so the members don't miss stuff like that. Click track has cues on it, especially transitioning through medleys where there are tempo changes.

Unforseen changes, there will still be an mfc 101 on stage for any patch switching and wah stuff etc.
 
javajunkie said:
sure it can. You can have it play midi tracks to whatever device you want. I pretty sure you can also assign a button to transmit a midi message. You can use it to play external MIDI devices, which is all the Axe-fx is in this case.


Just looked. Yes, you can.

Here is how:
MainStage 3: Use external MIDI instruments in MainStage

Look at a bunch of youtube videos on Mainstage. It is extremely powerfull what it can do. We use it for backing tracks along with a bluetooth footcontroller.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected, I'll check it out.

You control your axe FX in this manner?

This thread is what made me shy away from it.
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-discussion/69901-mainstage-2-axe-fx-midi.html
 
RoshRoslin said:
I stand corrected, I'll check it out.

You control your axe FX in this manner?

This thread is what made me shy away from it.
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-discussion/69901-mainstage-2-axe-fx-midi.html
Click to expand...

I haven't tried it, but it would be easy to test. I don't know if that was just an issue with main stage 2 or the user was mistaken, it is up to main stage 3 now.

The cool thing about mainstage is that you can full customize your GUI and controls, also it really inexpensive. I'm not a huge apple fan, but this really impressed me.
 
I actually use cubase for control and mix the whole show, including:

-Whole sow backing tracks (show intro, breaks, musical transitions betwen songs and show ending)
-Click for all the band members.
-Sonopronter countback for all the songs, and songs parts U2 style (chorus, 1,2,3.. verse, 1,2,3... Solo,1,2,3)
-In ear monitoring mixing
-Racks MIDI control (1 axe fx, 1 eleven rack and 1 digitech gsp 1101)

All the guitar/bass preamps, and vocal/drum mics go to the audio interface, an they are also procesed in the daw, mainly using the same plugins and following the tips from Pooch' Van Druten in this video


From the audio interface, i get 8 outputs.

2 Main Outputs L&R
2 Guitar monitor mix (1 stereo)
1 Vocal monior mix
1 Bass monitor mix
2 Drum Monitor Mix (1 Stereo)




To me, it works just great.
 
jlynnb1 said:
if you're playing with stems/tracks, program changes, etc, there are no unforeseen changes or jams or extending things, you're locked into it....unless you use ableton and are controlling sections manually....which would be a huge pain unless you have a dedicated keys/midi guy.
Click to expand...

I don't see why you couldn't set up an Ableton set using scenes so that each song started on a particular scene, all mapped to a foot controller and dedicate a switch to re-trigger the current scene. It may take quite a bit of planning and practice but to have that live element of being able to extend different parts rather than being fixed to a set song length would be well worth it. It just takes some creativity.
 
NothingButInitials said:
I don't see why you couldn't set up an Ableton set using scenes so that each song started on a particular scene, all mapped to a foot controller and dedicate a switch to re-trigger the current scene. It may take quite a bit of planning and practice but to have that live element of being able to extend different parts rather than being fixed to a set song length would be well worth it. It just takes some creativity.
Click to expand...

Ableton can certainly do what he wants. It was designed for that sort of thing.
 
I just downloaded the manual for Mainstage 3.

Their Playback plugin will let you loop sections under live control kinda like Ableton.
 
downloaded mainstage last night.

Pretty involved setup to control the axe fx. You actually have to split up your backing track section by section into multiple tracks so it can send a cc marker at the beginning of that section (ie verse, chorus etc). Pretty involved and counter-intuitive as opposed to logic/pro tools just dropping a midi track in on the timeline/edit window and putting markers at certain measures.

Unless I'm missing something this is definitely NOT the way to go unless I spend a huuuuge amount of time programming.
 
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