The 'Best' use of Scenes - Discuss :o)

i have one preset per song and i use scenes 1-5
1 clean/ryh drive sound
2 drive ryhin mysets



3 drive with delay and added level
4 solo 1
5 solo 2

each patch is set up the same way 1 is clean or drive depending on the song 2,3 could be special fx or whatever the song calls for4,5 are my solo channels
I use song mode with revel on, i use bank up,down to go through the songs
 
I would say the best use of scenes depends on your personal need. If you are a bedroom player, you might not need scenes at all except for the fun of setting them up. If you jam with friends, scenes can give you a much broader palette of tones from fewer presets. In a pro setting, scenes can be indispensable. If you have a complex highly integrated multi-device rig, scenes bring a kind of central authority, plus instant switching times, greater ease of use, and reduced programming maintenance. Tell us about your playing in context and I'll be able to better answer your question.

Coincidentally, I've been trying to sort out a way to have an RJM Mini Effects Gizmo change loops on a per scene basis using my MFC 101. (I have a few pedals I would like to automatically bring in and out of the signal chain, prior to the AF2's input.)
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/rigs-routing/78500-afx2-mfc-101-rjm-mini-effects-gizmo.html
Nice Chris has been kind enough to help me with some suggested configurations. But if I understand what he is saying correctly, I would have to go back to preset switching versus scene switching.
M@ can you confirm that while using Scene switching I am unable to send control mags another MIDI device on a per Scene basis?
I ask because this part of your reply caught my attention:

"If you have a complex highly integrated multi-device rig, scenes bring a kind of central authority, plus instant switching times, greater ease of use, and reduced programming maintenance"
 
Question for you guys that are disabling IAs 5 and 10. Can you program Vol Up and Vol Down into those spots? These functions are indispensable to me.

Thx
 
Coincidentally, I've been trying to sort out a way to have an RJM Mini Effects Gizmo change loops on a per scene basis using my MFC 101. (I have a few pedals I would like to automatically bring in and out of the signal chain, prior to the AF2's input.)
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/rigs-routing/78500-afx2-mfc-101-rjm-mini-effects-gizmo.html
Nice Chris has been kind enough to help me with some suggested configurations. But if I understand what he is saying correctly, I would have to go back to preset switching versus scene switching.
M@ can you confirm that while using Scene switching I am unable to send control mags another MIDI device on a per Scene basis?
I ask because this part of your reply caught my attention:

"If you have a complex highly integrated multi-device rig, scenes bring a kind of central authority, plus instant switching times, greater ease of use, and reduced programming maintenance"

You would need to use preset mapping for scenes so it maps to midi program changes so your loop switcher will change as well. I have tutorial on this... http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-f...-switching-scenes-preset-mapping-example.html
 
Question for you guys that are disabling IAs 5 and 10. Can you program Vol Up and Vol Down into those spots? These functions are indispensable to me.

Thx

Sure. Set them up as Axe-Fx named IA switches assigned to Vol Decr and Vol Incr respectively. See section 5.1 in the MFC-101 manual for the steps to do this.
 
You would need to use preset mapping for scenes so it maps to midi program changes so your loop switcher will change as well. I have tutorial on this... http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-discussion/66604-seamless-switching-scenes-preset-mapping-example.html
(sorry my ipad lost its mind when i was trying to reply)

Thank you for your reply Moab
Did a VERY quick peek at the link.

I'm using the MFC101. I see in your example your are using the GCP as your controller.
So you're saying I can use Scenes
I can control everything with my Fractal MFC101
And once mapped etc. I will be able to
- have a Preset for Song ABC
- within that song's preset I can
> select different scenes for intro, verse, chorus, solo etc with their associated Axe Fx2 amps, effect changes per scene
ALSO
with each scene I can select which RJM MEG loop/s I want to engage.

Is there a restriction that if I select say loop 4 for Scene 1 of Song Preset ABC that every other song Preset (say Song DEF, Song GHI) will always have loop 4 of RJM MEG engage on Scene 1 ...for every Preset I create?
 
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Each preset is based around a single amp. All presets (besides "special" ones) use the same or a similar template. I'm using 5 scenes. Scenes increase gain on amp and drive blocks and also have different effects enabled. Lately I'm using 1 preset all night.

Scene 1 is clean, scene 2 is clean but slightly higher amp gain with delay and multidelay on for ambience. Scene 3 is a little more pushed plus a mid boost switched on, Scene 4 has more gain plus delay and drive on, Scene 5 has even more gain plus delay and drive. I tend to use scene 5 for leads especially on rock tunes.
 
I spent today playing around with scenes and man, they are definitely cool. I set up one preset with four scenes using amp 1 and amp 2, x and y, and was able to come up with four totally different sounds, that were all killer. Fender Twin, Plexi, Super Reverb, and Suhr badger. Seamless switching between them without any blips or clicks. Damn good sounding amps too. totally killer. I wish i was a geeky teenager that had the time to spend playing guitar all day, every day again. There doesn't seem to be a limit with the axe anymore. It's just so huge.

Maybe radley has the luxurious life of a geeky teenager?:)
 
Thanks to all for the eye-opening possibilities described! Although I don't have the 'luxurious life of a geeky teenager' :), I do hope to spend some serious time working with Scenes...
 
I spent today playing around with scenes and man, they are definitely cool. I set up one preset with four scenes using amp 1 and amp 2, x and y, and was able to come up with four totally different sounds, that were all killer. Fender Twin, Plexi, Super Reverb, and Suhr badger. Seamless switching between them without any blips or clicks. Damn good sounding amps too. totally killer. I wish i was a geeky teenager that had the time to spend playing guitar all day, every day again. There doesn't seem to be a limit with the axe anymore. It's just so huge.

Maybe radley has the luxurious life of a geeky teenager?:)

I had a go at this but my Y state amps always sound really nasally and thin, are you paralleling your 2nd amps or using a totally different chain?
 
Best (in Axe-Edit) to select Edit > Initialize, with the Amp set to Y.

Or on the hardware: double-click the Bypass button, while in Amp-Y.
 
If you have a mac, put the amp block into y state, and then command I which means Initialize.

So many of my presets begin as 2 amps in parallel, and then as I program a song, if I discover I can get away with only one amp, I'll delete the amp2 block. Since I normally start out in 2 amp mode, the bypass state output is set to MUTE.

If we undergo a firmware release and I reset the amp blocks, the bypass reverts to THRU, and that messes up my tones if I forget about that little change and neglect to change it back to MUTE...because I hear dry/direct guitar mixed in with the other amp block.

So be careful and check your bypass settings for X and Y if you reset especially if you like to use 2 amps in parallel and choose one or the other but never both, in your presets.
 
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My two hours of cover band material at this point is contained within one preset and 8 scenes. I have arranged my board to go from left to right (clean -> dirty). The two bottom rows directly access Scenes 1-8. I have switches 5 and 10 disabled. This is because I have scene 1 and 5 lined up (on IA's 1 and 6). I also have direct access to my most used effects so I can punch in and out as needed. It looks something like this: ------------------TMP - TUN DRV - FLG - DLY - DLY - BST SC5 - SC6 - SC7 - SC8 - OFF SC1 - SC2 - SC3 - SC4 - OFF I keep them lined up because 1 and 5 are the same tone...but added effects. SC1 - Clean w/ chorus SC5 - Clean w/ chorus & ADD delay SC2 - Driven amp w/o drive SC6 - Driven amp w/o drive ADD delay SC3 - Driven amp w/ drive SC7 - Driven amp w/ drive ADD delay SC4 - Driven amp w/ drive, delay ADD boost SC8 - Driven amp w/ drive ADD multidelay I have a volume pedal in a post position active and an auto-engaging wah for my other expression pedal. In essence I use 3 main sounds, 3 modifications of those sounds...and 2 special patches.

Very clever use of scenes!
 
Sure...I'll share my preset for those interested. Be a few days but I'll put it up and put the link on here.

Personally...I have no need for direct preset access. All of my changes mid-song are handled with the scenes themselves. For any songs that cannot be covered with my layout I just change the preset between songs. Step on REVEAL and go back to preset mode to select that way. I suppose if you required instant access adding the extra access switches would work too.

That is the suggestion in post # 12 above, which is a copy of your layout with Roadrunner's 4-switch external expansion module (PST1-PST4) added to the left side of your layout. :)
 
I have 2 external Mission Engineering switches plugged into my MFC101 and would like to set them up to increase or decrease scenes only on each preset... Ist this possible and how do I go about it. Please help!!!!!


Much Love ,

David
 
I have 2 external Mission Engineering switches plugged into my MFC101 and would like to set them up to increase or decrease scenes only on each preset... Ist this possible and how do I go about it. Please help!!!!!

Hopefully they're momentary switches. Make sure they're set to momentary on your MFC-101. See section 8.1 Setting Switch Hardware Types in the manual for details on how to do this.

Now set one switch up to send CC value 127 on CC#124 -- this is the scene decrement switch. And set the other switch up to send CC value 127 on CC# 123 -- this is scene increment.

From 8.2 External Switch MIDI Functions in the manual:

To program the Global function for an External footswitch, use the following process:

  1. Press the EDIT footswitch to enter EDIT MODE.
  2. Press MIDI footswitch to select the MIDI menu.
  3. Press PAGE" footswitch 13x to get to the Global External Switch Setup screen
  4. Press the INCR or DECR footswitch to select XS1, XS2, XS3 or XS4.
  5. Press PARAMETER " footswitch to select the CC# field.
  6. Tap and/or hold the INCR or DECR footswitches to assign a MIDI CC# from 0-127 or select OFF to disable the switch completely. In your specific case you want value 124 for the DECREMENT switch and 123 for the INCREMENT switch.
  7. Press PARAMETER " footswitch to select the MIDI Channel field.
  8. Tap and/or hold the INCR or DECR footswitches to set the channel. In your case this is likely channel 1.
  9. Press PARAMETER " footswitch to select the Type field.
  10. Tap the INCR or DECR footswitches to set the Type, which determines how/when data is sent. In your specific case you want to set this to HDW.
 
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