Basic Question Re Live Performance

[Shooshie]

Some things to remember re: live performance and DP:

Wow. Just the advice I was looking for (in addition to the other posts... all very helpful).

Thanks a ton.

P.S. is your live piano sound of choice Ivory 2 or do you use something else?

Well, my live piano sound was a 7' Yamaha Disklavier. That's what I always had when on tour. We carried a number of them with us in one of our semi-trucks.

But since I've been working in the studio and not touring, my piano of choice is Ivory 2 -- the New York Steinway. By the way, I've substituted that very piano VI into recordings of actual New York Steinways performing on stage (to correct missed or missing notes) and nobody was ever the wiser. Literally, I cannot tell where I did it unless I refer to the file and see where the MIDI notes are. It's the best piano Synthogy has made yet, in my opinion.

Shooshie

[gspin]

It's the best piano Synthogy has made yet, in my opinion.

Shooshie

That's good to know. How is it CPU/RAM wise?

[daniel.sneed]

[...]Hmm... is there no way of switching between sequences with a normal MIDI keyboard? Can you point me in the right direction as to how you switch between sequences in general with a MIDI controller (i.e., even with a Softstep... )?Many thanks

In Command Window, all your project sequences appear as a list: Just click on the proper MIDI blank space, then hit your desired MIDI controller (i.e. SoftStep button), hit Enter, and you're done.

[daniel.sneed]

On this board, FMiguelez reported troubles switching between banks with Automap.

They were not really "troubles" but annoyance
[...]For me, this is only acceptable when dealing with a handful of tracks. [...]

Now, I see your point, FMiguelez.
But, actually, on stage, at a given time, I deal with a handful of tracks only. So actual Automap implementation is fine for me.
I hope it will improve in a way to fit your needs, though.

[daniel.sneed]

Some things to remember re: live performance and DP:
1) Time is your enemy. It takes time to open files. [...]
2) Time is your enemy. You do not want to open VIs while performing. [...]

My actual gigs are mainly dramatic shows. I generally have *some* time between different music pieces, and I play one instrument at a time, sometimes with a sound FX audio track.
So, to make it short (!), time has not been my enemy.

But:
- In case time is very short, I use a second keyboard (or jump to wind controller!) in Multi Record mode.
- In case time is short, I arm another MIDI track with Novation/Automap buttons.
- In case time is long, I switch to another sequence with SoftStep buttons.

Have done this for years now. Never a glitch. Crossing fingers...

[Shooshie]

Some things to remember re: live performance and DP:
1) Time is your enemy. It takes time to open files. [...]
2) Time is your enemy. You do not want to open VIs while performing. [...]

My actual gigs are mainly dramatic shows. I generally have *some* time between different music pieces, and I play one instrument at a time, sometimes with a sound FX audio track.
So, to make it short (!), time has not been my enemy.

But:
- In case time is very short, I use a second keyboard (or jump to wind controller!) in Multi Record mode.
- In case time is short, I arm another MIDI track with Novation/Automap buttons.
- In case time is long, I switch to another sequence with SoftStep buttons.

Have done this for years now. Never a glitch. Crossing fingers...

I guess there are as many live situations as there are live users. The only time I could interrupt DP was when the soloist was pattering with the audience. Even then sometimes I had a light cue to hit at a certain point in the monologue, or if he changed things up I'd have to run for the light cue that seemed like his most likely destination, and get that song next in the queue. We had lighting guys, of course, who ran follow spots and other more improvisatory lights, but most of the lights were cued by DP, and all the scene settings and programmed moving lights were.

So, time was always tight, and early in the game when I nervously made a mistake or two, I had to control my panic to get things right again in the seconds before things would have blown the show. Believe me, I learned tons from those couple of mistakes, and as far as I can remember I never made another mistake, partly because I went back and made things "error-proof." I was doing this before it was widely known that it could be done, so there were no how-to's or even forum help on the subject. MIDI Show Control had not been widely adopted; very few lighting instruments actually used it, and most had their own system of numbering cues. It was trial by fire!

But the results were phenomenal. Even the most luddite of lighting guys had to admit that the accuracy and intricacy made possible by cueing lights with the music so that intricate plots always happened as planned -- not to mention the music itself -- made for a powerful show. I'll never forget demonstrating this stuff to Sunbelt Scenic in Phoenix, Arizona, and the whole shop broke out in applause when I ran a series of cues we prepared on the spot for them. That's one of the biggest show companies in the southwest, and this was the first time they had seen MIDI control of moving lights.

Sorry… broke out in old war stories there. But it's fun to go back and remember when I had to fight my way into this stuff, when all the experts were telling me it couldn't -- and shouldn't -- be done.

Shoosh

[daniel.sneed]

Thanks for sharing experience, Shooshie.
You've been thru hard working times back then, but what a fun walking on the moon!