Scene Ignore

Admin M@

Admin M@

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Fractal Audio Systems
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I wrote the following text about Scene Ignore for you to read/review and hopefully learn from/enjoy.

SCENE IGNORE

Axe-Fx III firmware 19.05 introduced Scene Ignore. This feature is designed to allow more flexible switching based on the operation of certain multi-component analog rigs. With Scene Ignore enabled, a block operates outside of the usual automatic control by scenes. A block with Scene Ignore ON can still be bypassed/engaged or change channels when you use a footswitch, or any other means of "manual" control—just like a fully independent pedal or amp could be.

Here's an example. Imagine a tube amp used with a drive pedal, plus a separate "switching system" for wet effects. The amp will have its own set of footswitches for channels -- maybe Clean, Crunch, and Lead. The drive pedal can be stomped on or off. The Wet effects system has its own "presets" —let's say Dry, Light FX (chorus and a little reverb), and Full FX (Chorus, Delay, and a lot of Reverb). It would be easy to replicate these devices in the Axe-Fx, but without Scene Ignore, the three groups could only be switched together across the eight combinations we call "Scenes". By setting the Amp and the Drive to Scene Ignore and using scenes to control only the effects, you get "mix and match" switching with a total of eighteen different combinations, all from just seven footswitches. Here's how it might look on an FC-12. The three different colored zones are independently switchable. (Only the blue "Effect Scenes" zone uses traditional scenes.)​
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Find the Scene Ignore option in the Edit menu for most blocks.

PER-CHANNEL
A more advanced option is also possible because Scene Ignore is in fact a per-channel setting. The fact that it is "per-channel" allows a “hybrid” approach. Some channels can be set to respond to scene changes while others ignore them. If this idea seems tricky, think of it as a radio control receiver. Once you select any channel where Scene Ignore is on, the radio is switched off and the block is no longer “listening” to scenes. No scene can then take control of the block, regardless of other settings—but YOU can, using a footswitch, etc.

Example: Channels A, B, and C of a drive block have Scene Ignore turned OFF. They work in the classic manner, and you can program your scenes to control bypass/engage and change channel. Meanwhile, channel D has Scene Ignore ON. If any scene selects Channel D (or if you switch to D using a footswitch or any other means) the block will stop responding to further scene commands. The “radio” is off. In this state, the block can still be switched manually using FC footswitches, MIDI, etc.—just like a fully independent pedal or amp could be. If you manually switch the block back to A,B, or C where Scene Ignore is OFF, it will again begin to “listen” to scene instructions.

If you want a mixed scenario with Scene Ignore sometimes ON and sometimes OFF, you’ll need a footswitch or some other way to change the channel of your block back to a channel that does not ignore scenes. Extending the example above, this might be an FC footswitch. TAP is set to Bypass the Drive, and HOLD is set to Toggle it between Channels A and D. Toggle to A for scene control. Toggle to D for manual control. Tap on or off at will.

TIP: If you always want full scene Independence, a good safeguard is to turn Scene Ignore to ON in every channel. Similarly, if you want a block to be controlled only by scenes, make sure that Scene Ignore is OFF for every one of that block's channels. If not, one of them may be selected by a scene and cause that block to stop responding to subsequent scene changes.
 
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Very good. I'd recommend including a simple concrete example near the top, like amp and effects. Cover topics like what problem does scene ignore solve and how would you use it to solve that problem. In other words, cover the simple use case a bit more before delving into per-channel. I think a lot of people are getting tripped up on the basic concept behind scene ignore.
 
GlennO said:
Very good. I'd recommend including a simple concrete example near the top, like amp and effects. Cover topics like what problem does scene ignore solve and how would you use it to solve that problem. In other words, cover the simple use case a bit more before delving into per-channel. I think a lot of people are getting tripped up on the basic concept behind scene ignore.
Click to expand...

I had the same thought. Personally, I understand Scene Ignore, but that's because I have an actual use case for it. The channel stuff did make my eyes start to glaze over.

I think a common use case for typical bar bands would be using it for the Virtual Capo for the songs you need to play 1/2 step down. Imagine a scenario where you use 1 preset and 8 scenes for all your songs for the night. What's the simplest way to handle the situation where your singer says you need to play a few of your songs that requires 3 scenes (clean, crunch, lead) 1/2 step down? You can't add any more scenes since you're using all 8. You could create a 1/2 step down preset, but now you've got 2 presets you need to maintain. You don't want to have to change scenes during the song and then use a 2nd button press to turn on the VC. Scene Ignore is the simplest way to handle this situation. Just press the foot switch to turn on the VC and away you go. Switch scenes as you normally would. It will work the same exact way as using an external Digitech Drop pedal. Switching scenes doesn't affect your Drop pedal, and likewise, it won't affect the VC block that has Scene Ignore on.

Maybe something like that would help clarify Scene Ignore for some people?
 
I feel like I'm gonna get lambasted for asking this with a dozen links to where this has been discussed ad nauseum, but to be clear: Scene Controllers will still work on a block with Scene Ignore set to "on," correct? So I can still change up to 4 parameters of a block throughout scene changes even through the usual bypass/channel state of that block is ignored. Is this accurate? Thanks!
 
Ugly Bunny said:
I feel like I'm gonna get lambasted for asking this with a dozen links to where this has been discussed ad nauseum, but to be clear: Scene Controllers will still work on a block with Scene Ignore set to "on," correct? So I can still change up to 4 parameters of a block throughout scene changes even through the usual bypass/channel state of that block is ignored. Is this accurate? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Keep in mind you can change way more than four parameters. Even though you only have four Scene Controllers per channel, each Scene Controller can control multiple parameters. You can do a lot with just one Scene Controller, and just carefully adjusting the Min Max and other Curve settings on the modifier. It’s so powerful.
 
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