SetList (Lack Of) Frustration

Status
Not open for further replies.
Just to be clear, the OP isn't asking for more presets, he's asking for a way to manage those presets in a way that he can use night after night.
He doesn't want to have to reorganize presets, he wants those presets in a fixed location (as is currently), but a setlist feature to pull up those preset locations in whatever order so he doesn't have to mix them up constantly
I like the idea but I am unsure what is being requested. Would it be that you flagged presets in the Axe Edit Manage window as setlist A position 1, setlist A position 2, etc? Those would then show up in order on the FC in a new selectable mode? Similar to all of your favorited presets showing on the fc but with selectable order. That would be very nice, even for non gig use. I don't think its an unreasonable request. Fractal has given us a huge bounty of fantastic factory presets and more that we can dick with. Organizing all of that is an issue and it is a little cumbersome.
 
Last edited:
I've mentioned my support for this wish, as I can absolutely see the value in Setlist organization for Gigging (esp. being in two active bands). I've also made my suggestion for alt. solution either instead of or until this is added. Repeating here - I use BandHelper on my iPad (or iPhone, also Android if you have one) for Setlists and to send midi preset/scene and set tempo per song to my FXIII on a Bluetooth MD BT-01 connection.

One response to this was 'we don't want iPads on stage' and that's cool - never said it had to be. Put it within Bluetooth range of your FXIII, assign a CS switch on FC 6/12 to select next song in Setlist. Click a FC 6/12 footswitch, and next song/preset/scene and tempo is loaded, play.

If your band does vary from Setlist often, you would want iPad within reach so you can tap the next chosen song instead of going up or down the list with a switch, but this is also a lot easier than clicking through presets to search for the next song I would think. Scroll, scroll, tap, play.

Saying that to say this - if Setlist is added tomorrow to FXIII, I would still not choose that method over what I am doing. I even get my singer to do the setlist on BandHelper - all I do is Sync, Play. Gotta earn his keep somehow, and it's not on load in or breakdown apparently.
 
The setlist function is definitively necessary for many who play live. Maybe not, if you only use a few presets. But most cover-band guitarists (and that must be a large subset of Axe Fx users) use one patch per song. My band plays only 4-5 shows a year, but there with different fixed setlists we stick to during the gig.

If you're afraid of even more hazzle with more equipment (ipads, mixer software, inear, bluethooth, ...) like again - I assume - a large subset of players, then a setlist functionality eases things up a lot for you. Of course you can fix that with copying the patches to an empty space. But that's still a hazzle, especially for bands who play live every week with different patches per song. And the "hazzlefreeness" of modern equipment should be a nr. 1 objective for a leading company. I am sure it is for FAS as they have improved a lot in that regard since the Ultra.

Therefore:
I know this can't be programmed into the FC, it must be programmed into the Axe itself. But nobody could tell so far why this would be such an issue?
 
Last edited:
I write down preset numbers on my setlist. I own a Voes midi controller with 18 buttons. That way I have the ability to “kitchen sink”.all my presets and turn on or off a lot of effects at will. I also have a kind of basic system in my preset banks. I go from clean to high gain from left to right in every line. The three presets in the middle are often the presets that are song specific or have a certain specific “special” effect.
My bands often ignore setlists or change them at the spot. I also tend to vary which guitars I bring.
I do see the problem that the op has and the option he likes to see added. Maybe it will work for him and more owners. It would also mean also having to bring a laptop to every gig btw.
Fractal has in the past improved and added features I did not think I needed, but found them useful later. This could very well be on of them.
 
+1 on a setlist function.
I understand there are some people here who wouldn't use it, but that doesn't mean it isn't an important functionality for others. I'm kind of stunned at the number of people on this thread spending their time telling others why they don't need or want it.
 
Export/backup a bank, then empty it. Make your set list for show/band. Export that bank and name it accordingly. Do that for every show/band and you can easily swap set lists in seconds.

If you ever need presets from one setlist (or the original exported bank) to a different one, you can just drag the bank file(s) into the left side of Preset Manager to create a list where you can select/preview/import said presets individually. The list will stay there till you clear it or close Axe-Edit so you can close the PM window and go into the presets to edit them.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
If it were me, I'd keep a cheap laptop handy with AxeEdit and just set Bank A up with copies of the presets needed for the gig. Copy in presets from the other banks where they are stored, and arrange as needed. Shuffle order via Manage Presets if playing the same songs in a different order at a subsequent gig, or wipe Bank A clean and copy in different presets in for the next gig.

I don't see what advantage a Set List feature could add over simply leaving Bank A empty and copying in the desired presets in order, to be deleted from Bank A after the gig (since they were copied in initially). There is no worry over keeping multiple copies of presets in sync, as you are copying them from the master copy and then deleting afterwards. 🤔
 
Not seeing why you would want to find copy and arrange something that could be easily tagged, ordered, and arranged for setlist use without any hassle or duplication. This would also allow you to use all of your preset locations rather than saving a bank (or part of it) for further organization. I am down with the workaround but it would be way better to not need it.
 
Step back for a moment from thinking of setlists as only being useful for putting together the presets you want on a gig. Yes, there are ways to handle this - you can use midi-mapping, you can have an empty bank, you can load and delete presets into this empty bank, etc. These methods work but they are crude given the sophistication of this system.

But there are other uses for setlists besides the gig itself - (rehash of OP for those who may have missed the point)

A setlist is essentially a text file that contains a list of preset names that you want to scroll through in that specific order. The order of presets in the list essentially replaces the order of presets on your device. It's sort of a scramble table. A sophisticated setlist function could even include preset locations on external drives assuming your system is usb connected to a computer.

To repeat the examples, suppose you are working on a brand new blues tune and want to find an appropriate blues preset to use for that tune. If you had a setlist that only contained presets that you've like in the past for blues tunes, you could simply load this blues setlist and then your FC could be used to step through this list of blues presets and scenes until you found the one you liked for this tune.

You wouldn't have to search for your individual blues presets or load a folder of blues presets into an empty bank only to have to delete it later. You don't even need an empty bank. You don't have to put down your guitar and grab the mouse to click on the next preset or the next scene, you would just load your blues setlist and tap on your FC-6-12 to move through this list of blues presets and scenes until you find the one you want for this tune.

And if you then want to develop a funk tune, you just load your funk setlist and scan through those with your FC just like you did with your blues setlist. Don't have to delete the blues presets you just put into your empty bank and then reload it with funk presets.

Some people are aghast that you could have all of your preset slots filled and not have an empty bank or slots to work with, but with the abundance of excellent presets being offered by vendors as well as the amazing set of factory presets just released, I don't see how you couldn't but that's neither here nor there.

Manually emptying banks and copying and deleting presets from location to location is a very crude methodology for such a sophisticated system. There are better ways more in keeping with the high level of technology that fractal has given us.

p.s. - Fractal user since 2009 with standard, ultra, and the II - so definitely no bashing here.
 
Last edited:
To the best of my knowledge, in the Fractal universe, the Setlist feature is exclusive to the MFC controller which has the ability to store presets on the unit itself, FC Controllers do not have this functionality. Setlists use presets stored on the MFC Controller and are created on the unit itself (or via MFC Edit).

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. FAS has stated that this is a feature that is on the to-do list and appears to need a different approach to implement. We don't know how 'easy' it actually is to accomplish nor do we know if there's anyone still working at FAS that knows the coding or programming of the MFC controller and how it would need to be reworked to make it compatible with the Axe III.

I guess the point is to continue to be patient. FAS has a long history of transparency and if they say they're working on something or that it's on the list, it is. They prioritize what they believe are the most important features, fixes and requests to work on. I doubt seriously that they believe setlists are unimportant, just that there are other things that are taking priority at the moment.

It's easy to sit in our chairs and think that our individual needs and wants are more important but at the end of the day, until we start writing the checks, we must continue to do what we can to make the Axe III work for us with the tools we currently have and are available.
 
I mean, as Fractal users we have become accustomed to having the world in a single box, but my instinct is that there may be a midi based solution to this problem. Given the price for a FC-12, It's reasonable to ask that we can use it instead of midi gear to cycle through a list of presets.

I can understand why it's a useful feature for a professional and I consider the AxeFx a professional tier product, but I don't have setlists for my bed room rock shows. We're more of a one man jam band over here. For demoing presets quickly, I'd rather just use the push pin on the preset tab in axe edit.

One possibility is saving setlists to a bank back up file and flashing the appropriate bank for each gig as needed. Unless your setlists change each night. At that point though, it's a self imposed issue.
 
Last edited:
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.
Yes - I use SetListMaker (BandHelpers little brother) to achieve the same thing. I have an iPad on my microphone stand anyway, since I am also running the mixer from there.

If you did not want to have the iPad visible on stage, one could achieve the same thing, with a BlueTooth 'pageturner' pedal linked to the iPad. That would give you the setlist feature for ~$50 (provided, you have an iPad or other tablet)
 
...One possibility is saving setlists to a bank back up file and flashing the appropriate bank for each gig as needed. Unless your setlists change each night. At that point though, it's a self imposed issue.
The problem with that is the presets in the back up file will be outdated in the event of either A) a firmware update, or B) any tweaks to the "master" presets from which the list is built. As it is now, I have to be certain to only make tweaks to my "master" presets, and then copy them to blank space to create the set list.
 
+1 on set lists. I make copies of presets in set list order before every gig. That works, but I would prefer to create and store set lists. Creating and exporting them would help me avoid playing the same set on a repeat gig, or to easily reuse a set list for a different venue. It’s not required, but would be a nice feature.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom