Who all is running out of CPU?

[jrjones]

I can promise you that not one single person in the audience, and most likely not a single one of your band mates would notice any dropout between switching a preset or two during the course of a gig, especially in the context of a full band mix.

don’t sweat the small stuff

If he’s playing at a mega church the people who write his check would notice and comment on the difference. They do at my mega church gig.

 

[electronpirate]

If he’s playing at a mega church the people who write his check would notice and comment on the difference. They do at my mega church gig.

Curious that people who come to worship and listen to music have a predilection to competently comment on the ms in between presets.

Not trying to be snarky, but this just seems...silly.

 

[lwknives]

I can promise you that not one single person in the audience, and most likely not a single one of your band mates would notice any dropout between switching a preset or two during the course of a gig, especially in the context of a full band mix.
don’t sweat the small stuff

It’s not so much the audio gap as it is that the spillover doesn’t quite get it right. Especially on the plex delay! People have already noticed the improvement.

 

[lwknives]

Curious that people who come to worship and listen to music have a predilection to competently comment on the ms in between presets.

Not trying to be snarky, but this just seems...silly.

Like I said it’s not the MS gap that bugs people it is the spillover that sounds better seamless.
Also, a lot of big churches record and analyze the service to look for improvements. They can be a picky bunch.

 

[jrjones]

Curious that people who come to worship and listen to music have a predilection to competently comment on the ms in between presets.

Not trying to be snarky, but this just seems...silly.

Well, you’ve clearly never spent any time in the mega church world. You think that’s silly? You should see written the dress codes, contractor agreements you have to sign to play, and budgets for a PA rig.

 

[sprint]

Couple of things I've learned about AXe3 cpu:

• The cpu readout you see is not the full story as it does not seem to include what's happening on the "amp side cpu". Running dual amps with lots of controllers can start to clip the amp side cpu with the overall cpu readout showing a very low value.
• Reducing IR resolution in the cab block reduces cpu usage with, to me, no audible difference in quality.
• use spring reverb, where possible, for big cpu savings.
• studio compressor is expensive.
• when using loops, turn off the gates if not needed.

 

[lwknives]

Well, you’ve clearly never spent any time in the mega church world. You think that’s silly? You should see written the dress codes, contractor agreements you have to sign to play, and budgets for a PA rig.

I am just volunteering and its not quite to that level! I think our PA as like $200K or something though! Times 3 rooms!

 

[lqdsnddist]

Given most p&w players have huge pedalboards and there naturally is going to be abrupt changes kicking in and off pedals, tap dancing, changing presets etc, how does everyone avoid this seemingly huge issue ?

it seems like if the music needs to be 100% seamlessly continuous that probably 95% or more of musicians don’t have a means to really deliver that requirement. If a state of the art axe 3 is barely up to the task what hope do guys who don’t have $2000 processors do ?

if an 3 can barely do a kitchen sink rig with all its massive power, something like an ax8 would be near impossible, no?

 

[tornadoclaw]

Why not get a second Axe-Fx 3 and switch between the two to prevent CPU max issues?

 

[lwknives]

Given most p&w players have huge pedalboards and there naturally is going to be abrupt changes kicking in and off pedals, tap dancing, changing presets etc, how does everyone avoid this seemingly huge issue ?

it seems like if the music needs to be 100% seamlessly continuous that probably 95% or more of musicians don’t have a means to really deliver that requirement. If a state of the art axe 3 is barely up to the task what hope do guys who don’t have $2000 processors do ?

if an 3 can barely do a kitchen sink rig with all its massive power, something like an ax8 would be near impossible, no?

As big as their boards can be they are typically just stacking drives and changing presets on a delay pedal. Pretty easy to set a lot of this stuff up seamlessly with real pedals. Most delay pedals have spillover setting that sound pretty good. I’m not sure why you think this would be hard.
Lots of tap dancing yes, but not really even that expensive. Most of the guys who have expensive rigs are using programmable switchers so they have one tap access to different sounds.
I used to use an Ax8 and used a different preset for every song. Sometimes there was a drop out, it bugged me but I lived with it. I don’t have to live with it any more because I have an Axe Fx III!
It’s not like there is some rule that says that the music is REQUIRED to be seamless it just sounds better that way! Not everybody is as picky as I am!

 

[lwknives]

Why not get a second Axe-Fx 3 and switch between the two to prevent CPU max issues?

This could work, it’s outside of my budget though and would require more space and time to set up. It would be a lot easier to just put a verb in the loop. Another 7% CPU and I could cover 99% of the songs I play with one preset.

 

[GlennO]

Just wondering how many people are having to make compromises to their presets in order to not push the CPU and what kind of creative ways you are overcoming the limit.

I prefer switching to be gapless, so I have a number of large presets that tax the CPU. From this thread, it sounds like you're aware of the most common techniques to save CPU, so I doubt you'll find a secret shortcut to save CPU that you were previously unaware of. As you say, saving CPU is all about compromise. The trick is to find a compromise that you, personally, are comfortable with.

 

[Admin M@]

Curious that people who come to worship and listen to music have a predilection to competently comment on the ms in between presets.

Not trying to be snarky, but this just seems...silly.

This isn't limited to worship. It happens in other spaces as well.
Always reminds me of the way a "bored" immune system creates a peanut allergy.

 

[lwknives]

This isn't limited to worship. It happens in other spaces as well.
Always reminds me of the way a "bored" immune system creates a peanut allergy.

In some cases maybe. In most cases the nit picking is from striving towards excellence.

 

[jon]

In some cases maybe. In most cases the nit picking is from striving towards excellence.

I read your reply here:

I use one preset for each set that I play vs preset per song. This is due to the fact that I am playing different songs each week in my situation. We are pulling from a song catalog of more than 2000 songs. Having a preset for all of those gets old!
A typical 5 song set will require the following sounds.
5 levels of gain, clean to mean!
All of those 5 gain levels will need to be accessed while using any of the following FX:
1. 1/8 note delay high and low mix
2. Dot 1/8 delay high and low mic
3. 1/4 note delay high and low mix
4. Dual delay 1/8 and Dot 1/8
5. Dual delay dot 1/8 and 1/4
6. Reverb boost
7. Plex delay for swells
8. Volume boost for solos
9. Tuner
10. tap tempo
11. Octave pedal (adds one up and one down)
12. Wammy bar sim.
13. Univibe
14. Reverse delay
15. Slap back delay
16. Golden delay

So that could all be used during a typical set.
If I did program per song (which would be necessary with the FM3 CPU) I would need the following.
1. 3 levels of gain
2. A primary and secondary delay subdivision
3. A delay boost
4. A plex delay for swells
5. A reverb boost
6. A volume boost for solos
8. An additional effect bypass.
Could I access all of that with 3 switches? Probably but it would not be a pleasant experience like it was on the Ax8.
The obvious choice would be to add the FC6 on a permanent board. I decided to get an Axe FX iii instead.

I understand what you are looking to do but cant it be done more efficiently in the iii?

Also, that's a LOT of tap dancing for just 5 songs! My old band with a blast-beat addicted drummer never had to dance THAT much! :O

Seems to me like it would make more sense to set up identical patches with say 10 different amps (eg 1. fender 2. Vox etc) with different channels and free up a whole amp block? Use channels for the delays etc and you should be fine.

A midi mouse or something can help you switch presets quickly without changing the setup for your FC?

 

[lwknives]

I read your reply here:


I understand what you are looking to do but cant it be done more efficiently in the iii?

Also, that's a LOT of tap dancing for just 5 songs! My old band with a blast-beat addicted drummer never had to dance THAT much! :O

Seems to me like it would make more sense to set up identical patches with say 10 different amps (eg 1. fender 2. Vox etc) with different channels and free up a whole amp block? Use channels for the delays etc and you should be fine.

A midi mouse or something can help you switch presets quickly without changing the setup for your FC?

If I use 4 stand in switches to access my delay subdivisions I can go from just about any song to the next with only 4 taps.
my weird set up has been designed the way it is to In order to reduce tap dancing. It works very well! If I add 6 additional external switches the only compromise I will be making is in regards to some cab block features and the number of drive blocks I can use.

 

[Dr. Dipwad]

In my experience (and yes, I've done the megachurch thing), the way to go is to run the AxeFx's outputs through a separate delay/reverb unit (a GForce or some such), set to either straight 8ths or straight quarter-notes on the delay, and your "standard normal hall reverb" for the verb. Then synch the tempo to the AxeFx and and have an expression pedal to govern the wetness (maybe just the delay wetness) of that outboard unit.

That way you can still have your special reverbs and delays (plex, shimmer, whatever) in the AxeFx, and control them that way, but no matter how gappy your scene changes or program changes might be, at least there's some reverb and maybe a delay to smooth it over.

Of course the gaps these days are much, much smaller than they were a few years ago with the Axe Fx II. But, again, we're talking about recordings made for picky listeners who pay the checks!

 

[Dave Merrill]

If I'm playing continuously without even a tiny bit of silence for a whole verse, much less a whole song or a whole set, I'm probably not doing the right thing. You need to time your pauses, like a singer chooses when to breathe, but they actually do breathe.

Not trying to tell you your business, and that patch is pretty wild, just offering another perspective.

 

[unix-guy]

If I'm playing continuously without even a tiny bit of silence for a whole verse, much less a whole song or a whole set, I'm probably not doing the right thing. You need to time your pauses, like a singer chooses when to breathe, but they actually do breathe.

Not trying to tell you your business, and that patch is pretty wild, just offering another perspective.

I think you're not understanding.

Timing has no effect on Reverb and Delay tails when changing presets, which is the problem he's trying to solve.

 

[Dave Merrill]

I think you're not understanding.

Timing has no effect on Reverb and Delay tails when changing presets, which is the problem he's trying to solve.

Quite possible I'm missing the big picture. I'm just surprised there's no opening where he could change patches. But if that's really true, then it is.