SetList (Lack Of) Frustration

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BandHelper, for example, does a great job managing set lists. It associates each song with midi settings, lyrics, a MP3, etc. All band members can see the current set list and/or lyrics of the current song on each ipad. My ipad has wireless midi to my axe. When a band member swipes the lyrics of a song in a set list past one song to another, the axe (and FC) gets the correct midi signal for the preset of the song to be played on the correct scene for the start of the song.

You ensure that each song is setup with the midi settings for the preset and scene that you want to use. Band members can then manage the set lists without touching your axe. Perhaps some of that functionality could be in the axe itself but I would think that the axe should remain a slave to the masters that are telling the entire band what to play. Otherwise, every instant set list change would require axe edits or FC tap dancing.

BandHelper for $30 a year (for the average 4-5 members band) seems about right. Another option I'm contemplating is the Cymatic Audio Lp-16 or the better uTrack 24 for multitrack routing/mixing of backing tracks and automatic MIDI switching. That thing seems like an absolute monster of a performance brain. You can even use it to cue lights and video AND to record your shows directly to an USB stick.
 
Does BandHelper et al depend on a live internet (wifi) connection to use (not create or edit) setlists?
No... It needs to connect to the Axe Fx. That's a Midi connection. I have used it with an Apple Camera Connection kit and iPad/iPhone.

You can also try a Bluetooth midi adapter but I've never tried that.

You can link multiple devices (phones/tablets) with Bluetooth and set them to "follow" one as a master.
 
The FC Controllers are configured and the settings saved on the Axe Fx III or FM3 which means that memory and storage space needs to be allocated on the Axe III.
I'm not a programmer but the Axe-Fx III already has storage allocation for a midi mapping function which you can access from Setup->Midi-Remote->Mapping.

Using this I can map preset 0 to say preset 192, preset 1 to say 358, etc,. This is the heart of a setlist function and the FC's respect this mapping, so you can just toe tap your way through the midi-map.

I can do this manually now but it is very awkward, time consuming, not user friendly and not something you would want to spend a lot of time doing.

If there was a utility either in Axe-Edit or Fractal-Bot that could read a file and populate this mapping table with the information in that file that would go a long way towards implementing the basics of a setlist utility and seems to be a very simple programming task not requiring a great deal of system knowledge. I can have any number of setlist files ... one for blues, one for funk, one for rock, and one for my next gig. They would be created with a text editor and I could quickly load any one I wanted without copying, moving, or deleting any presets in the system or requiring me to have empty presets or banks.

I suppose whatever utility was used to load the files could also have a nice GUI which could also be used to create the files so that they followed a fixed protocol and format.

Is there something I'm missing that makes this impossible?
 
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Is there something I'm missing that makes this impossible?
No one has said it's impossible or that they won't do it- quite the opposite. It simply hasn't reached the top of the list yet, that we're aware of. Could very well be that someone is working on it as we speak but that's not something we are entitled to know.
 
i read some of these replies. many of them said something to the effect of 'I play in 15 bands with 124 setlists...I don't have time to organize my shit'

Maybe quit one of your bands?

And most of the replies said 'I need to click a HOME button to rock because I'm lost in my setlist'

I've played thousands of sets, and watched killer guitar players play thousands of sets.

There were less than thousands of sounds involved.
 
i read some of these replies. many of them said something to the effect of 'I play in 15 bands with 124 setlists...I don't have time to organize my shit'

Maybe quit one of your bands?

And most of the replies said 'I need to click a HOME button to rock because I'm lost in my setlist'

I've played thousands of sets, and watched killer guitar players play thousands of sets.

There were less than thousands of sounds involved.
True, it doesn't apply to you so it can't possibly be helpful or useful right?

Maybe you should quit your job too while you're advising others to quit theirs! Great advice! 👍
 
I got around Fractal limitations and setlist management by abandoning the whole concept.
The only thing I manage is one list of every song I know.

In my foot switch each song is assigned a bank, and each bank is assigned a 3-digit number. I tap the 3 switches for that bank #, and the bank loads. The result is RANDOM and INSTANT access to every song I know, limited to 999 songs/banks. Each bank contains everything I may need for that song (presets, scenes, etc), and when the bank loads it sends all the needed commands for Axe-Fx, vocal FX, etc. so they're ready for the song.

All of the above happens in about 2 seconds. Memorizing the 3-digit code isn't really a hassle if you've already memorized guitar and vocals for the song. To each their own, but this solves the problem for me.

I wish more footswitches had this functionality, but when I dig into the manuals they only do pieces of it.
 
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This thread makes me so happy I am not in a covers only gigging situation.

Thanks to all who replied!! :)
 
IDK. Not much of a problem. Granted I don't play but 2-3 gigs a month after pandemic. But it's easy enough to arrange the banks per gig. And there's a hell of a lot of room to have multiple settings. I design the sets myself, so it's pretty easy, even if I change my mind regarding th eorder. IDK. I guess it'd be a cool feature but yeah, not a major league problem at all for me.
 
My workaround for this is to control my presets via MIDI using OnSong on my iPad. There, I make a setlist and it automatically calls up the appropriate presets on both my FM3 and my keyboard. Never have to worry about where a preset is on the FM3 this way. That said, if I were to rearrange presets, it'd be a nightmare rejiggering all my MIDI commands in the songs in OnSong...
 
IDK. Not much of a problem. Granted I don't play but 2-3 gigs a month after pandemic. But it's easy enough to arrange the banks per gig. And there's a hell of a lot of room to have multiple settings. I design the sets myself, so it's pretty easy, even if I change my mind regarding th eorder. IDK. I guess it'd be a cool feature but yeah, not a major league problem at all for me.
Haha yeah I don't think much of us are gigging regularly right now 😅

For many though, they're NOT the ones doing up the setlist

I can give you a few real world examples of my own limited experience for eg

-Cover bands who have different requirements per song per set
-Multiple frontmen/frontwomen who call the setlists, you're not the boss -just the guitarslinger
-You're the 'house band' for a series of shows/concerts where the performers, songs and sets are constantly changing
-An orchestral setting where the conductor constantly reorganizes the repertoire
-You play in multiple groups, bands or settings
-Encores, sometimes with guest performers
-Even auditioning presets as the OP suggested


There are tons more situations but these are the ones I can personally call where having a setlist function would have been helpful. Not critical, cuz I managed all these gigs fine without them, but it would have made the experiences a little easier.

I agree it's not an OMG MUST HAVE, but it WILL be quite helpful to many
 
Haha yeah I don't think much of us are gigging regularly right now 😅

For many though, they're NOT the ones doing up the setlist

I can give you a few real world examples of my own limited experience for eg

-Cover bands who have different requirements per song per set
-Multiple frontmen/frontwomen who call the setlists, you're not the boss -just the guitarslinger
-You're the 'house band' for a series of shows/concerts where the performers, songs and sets are constantly changing
-An orchestral setting where the conductor constantly reorganizes the repertoire
-You play in multiple groups, bands or settings
-Encores, sometimes with guest performers
-Even auditioning presets as the OP suggested


There are tons more situations but these are the ones I can personally call where having a setlist function would have been helpful. Not critical, cuz I managed all these gigs fine without them, but it would have made the experiences a little easier.

I agree it's not an OMG MUST HAVE, but it WILL be quite helpful to many
I am. Every weekend through December. I play in two bands regularly (sometimes overlapping songs) and have more songs in each band than we normally play per show. So the ability to generate set lists is essential. It avoids the constant shuffling of presets - or worse, duplication of presets (which version did I edit???). And it certainly makes it a hell of a lot easier to build several shows that cater to different venues / styles / situations without having to resort to third party applications and other non-Fractal hardware. (BTW, all you have to do to break Set List Maker is reorder your presets - you're screwed.) Set lists were an advertised feature that was never implemented in AFX3 - there's even a spot for it in the manual.
I hear it's back on the roster and I, for one, can't wait. YMMV.
 
This does not even fall into the category of '1st world problem'. So far beyond that.
….
IMO
If you can afford an Axe pretty much any request is beyond a first world problem! Wish for a new amp? Really, a luxury and well beyond a first world problem. Effects updates? Also beyond first world problems. So, Let’s just stop all requests as, well, they are all pretty much far beyond real world problems that most people face!

IMO
 
How many set lists do people need? 5, 10, 100, more?

How many presets per set do people need?

How do you envision the workflow?

Do you need to share the set list data from one Axe to another?

Do setlists need to transfer between Axe3 and FM3?

Do setlists need to be in the Home menu?

Do setlists need to include Scene changes from the same preset?

Do setlists need to have other controls in addition to Up and Down?

Do setlist controls need to be adjustable via MIDI?

Do setslists need to have copy/paste and swap functionality on the hardware?

If you reorganize your preset locations, do Setlists need to automatically update?

Do setlists ignore custom preset mapping?

Do setlists need a “preset view” layout that functions like the current Preset view on hardware?

Do setlists need their own new controls for the FCs?

Do you need to be able to choose a preset not included in a setlist?
 
Haha yeah I don't think much of us are gigging regularly right now 😅

For many though, they're NOT the ones doing up the setlist

I can give you a few real world examples of my own limited experience for eg

-Cover bands who have different requirements per song per set
-Multiple frontmen/frontwomen who call the setlists, you're not the boss -just the guitarslinger
-You're the 'house band' for a series of shows/concerts where the performers, songs and sets are constantly changing
-An orchestral setting where the conductor constantly reorganizes the repertoire
-You play in multiple groups, bands or settings
-Encores, sometimes with guest performers
-Even auditioning presets as the OP suggested


There are tons more situations but these are the ones I can personally call where having a setlist function would have been helpful. Not critical, cuz I managed all these gigs fine without them, but it would have made the experiences a little easier.

I agree it's not an OMG MUST HAVE, but it WILL be quite helpful to many
I got it, kind of. But it seems like a simpler approach works for me better anyway. 4 presets with various scenes. I don't play in a cover band and haven't for 40 years! LOL. But for me clean rhythm, dirty rhythm with lead scene and delay; clean jazz, overdrive, gets me through the night. Whenever I try to have a different preset per song I get pretty stupid. Most of the time it takes three songs just to get used to the room. If I switch resets every tune I just ccan never settle in. That's just me though!!
 
How many set lists do people need? 5, 10, 100, more?

How many presets per set do people need?

How do you envision the workflow?

Do you need to share the set list data from one Axe to another?

Do setlists need to transfer between Axe3 and FM3?

Do setlists need to be in the Home menu?

Do setlists need to include Scene changes from the same preset?

Do setlists need to have other controls in addition to Up and Down?

Do setlist controls need to be adjustable via MIDI?

Do setslists need to have copy/paste and swap functionality on the hardware?

If you reorganize your preset locations, do Setlists need to automatically update?

Do setlists ignore custom preset mapping?

Do setlists need a “preset view” layout that functions like the current Preset view on hardware?

Do setlists need their own new controls for the FCs?

Do you need to be able to choose a preset not included in a setlist?
Yup, not denying there's a ton of work and thought processes to go into it, but hell, if L6 can do it, I'm pretty sure it's WELL within Mr. Chase's abilities 😉
 
Chris asks very important questions. And there are probably as many 'right' answers as there are people who answer them. I freely admit, I've never been in a situation where I needed a individual patch for every song I played. It seems like this would be very hard to come up with a single solution that makes everyone happy.
 
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