Song Mode?

[brokenvail]

Can you guys talk to me a little bit about song mode and the logistics of setting it up? Been playing midi gear for 15 years and have always just been a presets and ia guy (not I am just one mega preset 5 scenes and punch of IA lol) but I am wondering if I should try out programing by song and seeing how I like it

 

[jjozwia]

You can program up to 100 songs, each song can have up to 15 presets.
Then you can create up to 10 set lists... Each set list can contain up to 50 songs.

To be honest, if you are using song or set mode you will want to use an editor like Fedit or MFC-Edit, lots of button pushing otherwise. I know set order can be changed on MFC but I don't believe you can rearrange songs so again editor very handy in that case and also updates your set lists at same time.

Song names are limited to 7 characters, workable but need to be careful as can get confusing with similar names.
You will want to set BankStyle to None so you can scroll through your song or set list and see the song names.

I have used Song/Set mode since I got it in 2011. I love having my songs at my feet so I don't have to remember what presets etc. go with what songs. Wish there was more than 100 songs but to get around use individual songs then also a couple generic songs where I'll add patches by genre since most of the time it's just a few groupings use over and over.

Good luck!

 

[bwanagary]

You can program up to 100 songs, each song can have up to 15 presets.
Then you can create up to 10 set lists... Each set list can contain up to 50 songs.

To be honest, if you are using song or set mode you will want to use an editor like Fedit or MFC-Edit, lots of button pushing otherwise. I know set order can be changed on MFC but I don't believe you can rearrange songs so again editor very handy in that case and also updates your set lists at same time.

Song names are limited to 7 characters, workable but need to be careful as can get confusing with similar names.
You will want to set BankStyle to None so you can scroll through your song or set list and see the song names.

I have used Song/Set mode since I got it in 2011. I love having my songs at my feet so I don't have to remember what presets etc. go with what songs. Wish there was more than 100 songs but to get around use individual songs then also a couple generic songs where I'll add patches by genre since most of the time it's just a few groupings use over and over.

Good luck!

+1

 

[Roadrunner]

Been playing midi gear for 15 years and have always just been a presets and ia guy

Same here, alweys!

When our band started gigging, I found myself with more than 40 presets for a gig containing around 15 songs.
There were songs of 1 preset and there were few with 4 presets and the presets where organized one after another according to the set list.
Anyway I decided to try song mode as I had few preset I've used more than once for few songs but eventually I didn’t like the idea as basically when running in song mode you do not have any access to all the other presets which are not included in the list meaning you can still scroll with the big knob on the Axe itself but not through the MFC.

After few rehearsals I've went back to standard 5 preset / bank as I'm used to and that's it.
Moreover, I've managed to shrink down my presets list to something like 10 – 15 presets total (thank you scenes) so I've placed the presets as I'm used to from ultra-clean to ultra-mean (1 to 5 bottom row) and that's it, I'm ready for any gig.
Unfortunately song mode doesn’t work for me, I need total access to all presets through the MFC as during rehearsals I'm experimenting different presets and sometime during a gig I use something else…just for the change of flavor etc.
.

 

[Nagi Mysore]

Which editor do you all use. Specifically .. Does using an editor affect warranty... Song mode seems like a great idea but stomping too many button to set up isn't appealing.... Editor definitely does make it usable

 

[bwanagary]

Which editor do you all use. Specifically .. Does using an editor affect warranty... Song mode seems like a great idea but stomping too many button to set up isn't appealing.... Editor definitely does make it usable

There are many different cars - pretty much one for everyone's taste. Yeah, they have different features, quality and prices, so it all depends on what you like. You also have choices for the Editor. Download the editors. Use them. Buy the one you like. You can download MFC-Edit for free and use it without paying for it for a week. If you don't like it or like the other editor more that's entirely your taste. I'm pretty sure you can download Fedit also but I will let them speak to that. I will tell you that ANY EDITOR will make your life a lot easier as you configure and re-configure your MFC-101 until you have it how you like it .
Enjoy.
-G

 

[RockDebris]

I use Song Mode, but I don't bother arranging them into sets. It's a bit of a hassle honestly, so I went looking for solutions to run on my iPod Touch to manage my list. I found one called Set List Maker. Much easier to manage the set list that way AND when you switch to the next song in the list it can send out the MIDI to the MFC to put it on the correct song bank. I even have a pedal on the ground that causes the set list to advance to the next song .. never have to touch the iPod during the show and I never have to rearrange the MFC before the show. I've used it at a couple shows now and it has been working great.

 

[Roadrunner]

Wish there was something like that for Android...

 

[brokenvail]

I use Song Mode, but I don't bother arranging them into sets. It's a bit of a hassle honestly, so I went looking for solutions to run on my iPod Touch to manage my list. I found one called Set List Maker. Much easier to manage the set list that way AND when you switch to the next song in the list it can send out the MIDI to the MFC to put it on the correct song bank. I even have a pedal on the ground that causes the set list to advance to the next song .. never have to touch the iPod during the show and I never have to rearrange the MFC before the show. I've used it at a couple shows now and it has been working great.

Interesting!!!

What I settles on is I just started editing my mega patch by song title using 5 scenes per song to get the sounds I need and placing them in set order. I will do that weekly as the set changed and just used axe edit to put then in order. Eventually I will have all sings programmed



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jack Napalm]

I use Song Mode, but I don't bother arranging them into sets. It's a bit of a hassle honestly, so I went looking for solutions to run on my iPod Touch to manage my list. I found one called Set List Maker. Much easier to manage the set list that way AND when you switch to the next song in the list it can send out the MIDI to the MFC to put it on the correct song bank. I even have a pedal on the ground that causes the set list to advance to the next song .. never have to touch the iPod during the show and I never have to rearrange the MFC before the show. I've used it at a couple shows now and it has been working great.

What do you do if your setlist becomes fluid? Often at the end of the night my band will start calling out songs. Hey, lets do X, Y, B, M, R. There is no setlist at that point. Song mode sounded interesting, I have never been able to see how to use it in that scenario. Am I missing something?

 

[RockDebris]

Wish there was something like that for Android...

Yes, I looked there first since I have Android phone and tablets. You have to get MIDI going on Android and then a decent app. The iOS stuff is ahead of the game here, so I went with an iPod Touch 5.

 

[RockDebris]

What do you do if your setlist becomes fluid? Often at the end of the night my band will start calling out songs. Hey, lets do X, Y, B, M, R. There is no setlist at that point. Song mode sounded interesting, I have never been able to see how to use it in that scenario. Am I missing something?

Yes, we have to do that to. I have a couple answers.

If I was just using the MFC to do banking/switching (as I was doing before I introduced Set List Maker on the iPod), I would make sure that BankStyle = None and scroll through the songs using the song title to get me there. I takes 10 - 15 seconds at most if the song is somewhere within the set. If you have to switch to another set or go back to Preset mode, that's a bit of a hassle (and if you've had a couple beers, you can get lost in what you are doing ... and if the drummer pulls the trigger and starts the song without checking with you, then you are screwed.). Previously I put a Wish List item up for using the Reveal Mode and the INC/DEC switches to have a quick way to change from PRESET, SONG and SET modes.

Since that is not ideal, I had a backup plan. Bank #1, whether I was in PRESET, SONG or SET mode is always the same. It is a generic song bank with enough variation do get me through any song. I use 5 presets per bank, and the presets in this one I use ALT presets as well. So, 10 presets .. and then of course I have IA over 8 pedals. Frankly, I could play the entire show in the generic song bank, but it would be a lot of tap dancing.

What I do now with Set List Maker on the iPod makes it all very simple. If the song is somewhere in the set list, I just scroll to it. If not, switch Set List Maker from "Show" mode to "Smart List" mode and there it has your entire song database categorized several ways. "Songs by Title" is my go to list, but you can also use "Songs by Artist" "Tempo", "Style" depending how much info you put into your song database. Once I select the song there, I can continue using my foot controller to step through that list, so now I'm in "Songs By Title" and it's alphabetical.

If I know the song is dead simple though (like 1 or 2 common presets), I'll still just scroll to my generic bank #1 and play from there.

btw, here is that video showing my complete rig:

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/mfc-d...-mfc-setups-post-your-pix-37.html#post1088808

 

[RockDebris]

Interesting!!!

What I settles on is I just started editing my mega patch by song title using 5 scenes per song to get the sounds I need and placing them in set order. I will do that weekly as the set changed and just used axe edit to put then in order. Eventually I will have all sings programmed

I'm glad you are finding your way. If you have the luxury and time to rearrange your sets on a schedule then that is great. I get set changes minutes before the show unfortunately and every show we play is a different length it seems.

My original thought was just use Presets and I arranged all the songs into preset banks (each bank of presets serves 1-n songs, I had notes about which banks fit which songs). There were a few presets I had to duplicate to get that done. It was okay, but the flow of the show was still broken when I had to figure out which preset bank to get to for the song we were about to play. And then I had to know which switches in that preset bank were only for that song. Anyway, I have it set up that way still and I can use it in a pinch if I have to.

Then I thought Song Mode/Set Lists looked promising. And it is, except for management of what is in there. There is just not enough time to get it in order most of the time. That is where the editors already mentioned in the thread become vital (I have one of those as well). However, if you are at the gig and need to make changes minutes before, you better have an end-to-end solution to make changes and get them loaded onto the MFC.

On top of all of this, I was already using the iPod, but in a very simple way. I was running a Flash Card application. On each flash card was a song title, and couple notes about bank and fx, and which guitar I prefer to use. I arranged the flash cards to the set list, which was pretty easy. I had the iPod mounted on my mic stand in arms reach and I just swiped through the list. I did it this way for a long time (even before I had the MFC and I was using another controller). It was just about a month ago I started thinking about whether I could find a way to put more management into the iPod via MIDI and came to the rig I'm using today. I still have all the other ways of doing it if something goes wrong (I still keep the notes in Set List Maker about which bank to go to for a song just in case).

I wrote all that to illustrate a point. Your first idea on how to manage this probably won't be your last!

 

[bwanagary]

I face this very scenario at every gig we play

What do you do if your setlist becomes fluid? Often at the end of the night my band will start calling out songs. Hey, lets do X, Y, B, M, R. There is no setlist at that point. Song mode sounded interesting, I have never been able to see how to use it in that scenario. Am I missing something?

I face this very scenario at every gig we play. I have all my songs entered and I use SET mode for performing. I have many SETS in my MFC-101, essentially one for each of the venues or venue/genres that we perform at. My very first set though, is simply a list of all my most popular songs ordered alphabetically. My 2nd SET is my less-popular tunes, also sorted alphabetically. So if someone starts calling out random songs (Greg!) and I don't remember it's Preset, it is very quick to change to my first SET (I called it "SORTED") and hold the switch down to scroll to the one I want. Takes about 3 seconds.

Setting this up and maintaining it is trivial with the MFC-Edit program and the main reason that I wrote it in the first place. Each SET can hold up to 50 songs and there are so many ways to use this powerful feature. You could have a SET per genre ("METAL", "ROCK", "MUZAK" , "SORTED", whatever). It's really important to think through what you really need before setting it up, but then again, it is so easy to configure and reconfigure as your needs and preferences change if you're using one of the editors. I'll bet that there are almost as many different configurations of MFC-101's as there are owners.

If you're in the MFC-Edit program be sure to pop up the "Songs Palette" off the right-click menu - it lets you drag-n-drop files to your sets. There are lots of power-tools off the right-click menu (Insert, Delete, Move up/down, clear, copy etc.) - they're there because, for me at least, the SETS page is where the bulk of the work is. For you it may be different.

This forum is a great place to see how everyone else is doing things - I know that it was invaluable to me when I started. There's no "right way" or "wrong way" to set up your pedal - it's whatever works best for you.
-G

 

[Jack Napalm]

Thanks guys! Gives me something to think about for the future. I have a show Thursday night and am not changing anything right now.

 

[bwanagary]

Thanks guys! Gives me something to think about for the future. I have a show Thursday night and am not changing anything right now.

Discretion is the better part of valor!
Good luck with the gig.
-G

 

[arlomedia]

Wish there was something like that for Android...

Set List Maker for Android will be available in a few weeks: Android Version

What do you do if your setlist becomes fluid? Often at the end of the night my band will start calling out songs. Hey, lets do X, Y, B, M, R. There is no setlist at that point. Song mode sounded interesting, I have never been able to see how to use it in that scenario. Am I missing something?

Check out the second FAQ on this page for some options: Set List Maker for iPhone / iPad / iPod touch