Using Digital Performer in live situations + more questions

[MonkeyJacket]

I haven't bought Digital Performer yet, so I'm trying to find out what it can do, or what program I should be looking at to do what I want it to.

So, I'm looking to use a program such as this for use with live performance. I want to be able to play guitar and sing along with MIDI sequenced drums, bass, horns, and synthy type stuff (maybe more sounds over time). I'm assuming I'd buy these sounds as plug-ins, or use a sampler plug-in to play the sounds (which I'm assuming high quality ones can be purchased).


Here's what I'm wondering about live performances:

Can I use a MIDI foot controller to tap tempo and to start/stop the song?

Is there any way to set it so that Digital Performer can jump immediately to another pre-set song once one is done? Or could possibly 2 (or more) songs be put into one file if the first is not possible, to create a long, fluid set?

Are there any sort of loop points (set by me) in DP that I might be able to turn on/off via a MIDI footswitch? For example, it comes to a part in a song that I want to repeat continously while I talk to the audience, so I turn on the looping with the MIDI footswitch, then turn it off once I am ready to continue to the next part of the song.

I've looked and I believe I've found that DP is capable of tempo automation, and changing of time signatures mid-song. If this isn't the right, someone please correct me.


I think that's it for now. Thanks.

[Dwetmaster]

Can I use a MIDI foot controller to tap tempo and to start/stop the song?

Yes with the custom command window, you can assign any key on your macintosh keyboard or via MIDI to any type of controller.

Is there any way to set it so that Digital Performer can jump immediately to another pre-set song once one is done?

Yes but it's not designed to be seemless. There will be a break of a second or so.

Or could possibly 2 (or more) songs be put into one file if the first is not possible, to create a long, fluid set?

If you know in advance what your set will be, you can simply arrange several chunks (sequences that are all in the same project) in a big song and then they will play one after the other without any glitches.

Are there any sort of loop points (set by me) in DP that I might be able to turn on/off via a MIDI footswitch? For example, it comes to a part in a song that I want to repeat continously while I talk to the audience, so I turn on the looping with the MIDI footswitch, then turn it off once I am ready to continue to the next part of the song.

Once again the custom key command do that. Unfortunately, the toggle loop on/off haven't been seemless for me lately but I'm not sure if it's only a configuration thing.(buffer size etc.)

I've looked and I believe I've found that DP is capable of tempo automation, and changing of time signatures mid-song. If this isn't the right, someone please correct me.

Yes all of that can be easily done.

From what you appear to be needing, DP can definitely be your best friend.
Look around in this forum, there are a few thread on DP in Live Situation. On Motu'S site, there is an article on a guy working with Madonna using DP. He explains how his setup is working. You might find something interesting there.

Have fun.

[MonkeyJacket]

Awesome! That sounds like it's really able to do exactly what I'm thinking of. Thanks so much for the response.

So, aside from all of that, I have been looking at Macs. I'm not looking to get something incredibly expensive, but still something that's not gonna go obsolete anytime soon, and that can really handle DP. If it can be somewhat easily portable, that would be a plus since I would always be gigging with it. I was looking at the G5 iMacs... would those have enough power in them to be able to do what I'm looking to do live?

Also what I was wondering about those is how I would line out the audio into a PA system. Would I need some sort of special sound card for that? I imagine is not very easy to upgrade the iMacs.

Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

[daniel.sneed]

Hi MonkeyJacket

Just my two cents :
I would go for MacBook (or MacBookPro) on stage and extra 20" monitor for studio use.
You will definitely need an external soundcard. A FireWire one is easy to handle and setup. (828mk2 the best for different types of stage projects IMHO)

My last few cents :
If you're not in a hurry wait till this very near next DP 5.11 upgrade. Just to read the Unicornation comments on stability with Intel Macs.
Some users are very pleased with DP5.1 on Intel, but others are desperate as I am now. Can't figure why.

[MonkeyJacket]

So the Macbooks would have enough power to run this program well? I've been seeing the number of threads dealing with people having problems. Maybe I will end up waiting until the next upgrade comes out. But besides that...

And then I just have to get some sort of firewire interface to hook up. I'm thinking I might want more than one MIDI device hooked up to the computer, maybe, some sort of MIDI keyboard, and then a MIDI foot controller too. Do I need an interface that has more than one set of MIDI In/outs? In which case... would I have to get an audio interface to be able to line out 1/4" left and rights to the PA system, and an additional MIDI interface so I will have enough spots to plug in those devices?

Also, I right now own a Presonus firepod. Anyone know if this is compatible/would work well for use with Digital Performer?

Thanks.

- Mick

EDIT: Maybe I should try looking through some more of the threads on here. I'm sure people have asked these same questions before. I'll do that, and if anyone possibly knows right off the bat of certain threads/sites I should check out, that would be helpful. Thanks!

[Dwetmaster]

If you looking on the affordable side, I would even go with the biggest power book you can get. It's not at the tip of the technology but it would still way enough for live situations. Of course, if you're looking to the future, the extra bucks ( I know, it's a lot!!!) in the best MBP you can get is still worth it.

Your presonus is probably just fine to do job.

You'll might have to look at a MIDI fastlane or something like that for your MIDI controllers.

OR

You could get a USB MIDI controller. They usually have external controllers inputs for foot controllers.

[David Polich]

I'm running 5.01 on a Powerbook G4 1.5ghz, through an 828 MK II audio interface, for live performance. It works quite well.

Regarding getting songs to playback one after the other, yes, you should create a new DP parent file (call it "Live Show" or something like that) then import each of your individual DP songs into it as sequences, using the "Load" command from the menu. When loading, make sure you uncheck "audio bundles", or else you will end up with multiple input and output assignments (like ten master faders and ten sets of one aux send).

Once your sequences are all in, you go to the Chunks window and create a song. You can then open the song window and drag the individual chunks into it to form a timeline. They "should" play back seamlessly, one after the other, however, I have experienced problems with certain chunks playing back at incorrect tempos. That was with a project I did for Yamaha, we had DP files from Japan that just wouldn't play back at the correct tempo in song mode, no matter what. Never did get it sorted out. Just to be sure, once you get your chunks into a song, check playback to make sure it works.

One more thing, your "Live Show" file will be quite big with so many soundbites imported into it. It might be a good idea to rename the soundbites for each song so you don't get confusion - if you have a bunch of soundbites all called "Snare" then that can cause you headaches when trying to figure out if a certain soundbite has gotten corrupted.

In theory, even a "lowly" Macbook will have a lot more horsepower to run DP than my G4 Powerbook. I actually have a new Macbook sitting around unused now, we bought it for my wife but couldn't get the Parallels software to work with a USB Printer, so the PC apps she wanted to use it for remain on her old Compaq Presario for the time being. Anyway, I'm holding off on installing DP on the Macbook until the next update.