MikaF Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Some musical scores have lots of patch changes in a single piece. How to handle those? What kind of hard/software are you using?Anyone here doing Shek the Musical? PM me if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I'm not sure we understand - it's not really what we're using, but what you are using and for what? Do I assume you mean that you are playing tracks, and using synthesised or sampled instruments and need to have it change after every song, or what? Most decent sequencers do this kind of thing a standard. Cubase, logic and all the mainstream software. You can drop controller and programme changes into a timeline, or do advanced stuff with sysex. What do you need to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I've seen quite a few people using Logic Mainstage with patches setup to be automated in a cuestack style, advanced with a midi buttons pad or the top or bottom key of the keyboard. I'm sure Mr Young will be along shortly to tell you more, though he can verify that if using the bottom keys to advance patches it is unwise to go for an adlib glissando... I've also setup Multiplay to kick out midi patch changes for a show before, automating an old school Proteus rack synth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikaF Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 I've seen quite a few people using Logic Mainstage with patches setup to be automated in a cuestack style, advanced with a midi buttons pad or the top or bottom key of the keyboard. I'm sure Mr Young will be along shortly to tell you more, though he can verify that if using the bottom keys to advance patches it is unwise to go for an adlib glissando... I've also setup Multiplay to kick out midi patch changes for a show before, automating an old school Proteus rack synth. I have heard about Mainstage too. On our next musical production there shall be two keyboard player in the orchestra with lots of patch changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I'd be interested in the musician's view - it's very much down to what they can cope with. Some equipment is very non-external tinkering ready - I've got one synth that for some strange design reason needs some buttons pressing manually. Other snags are musicians who have really old kit that have some parameters fixed - like midi channel numbers that reset to 1 on power off, and have to be reprogrammed each turn on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Many moons ago I played second keys for Me & My Girl. In the small orchestra version, 2nd keys replaces all the missing instruments from the full orchestra so I was covering everything from banjo to timps. I just programmed all the patches complete with splits in the order that they were needed and hit the next patch button at the appropriate points. Technology has moved on a bit in the intervening 13 years but that proved to be a simple and effective approach, albeit one without much flexibility. I recall drawing up a comprehensive spreadsheet of everything before starting to program to ensure I hadn't missed anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamburgess Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 If I ever have to play keys with loads of patch changes, I do the same as Shez. Stick them all in order in a blank user bank then just use a pedal or the up button or whatever to advance.Then in rehearsals/band calls you can tweak balances within patches and overall volumes on an individual level to make sure it gels with the orchestration of that section of music. If I'm controlling more than one synth, MIDI bank (MSB/LSB)/program changes can get a bit more fiddly but doable. I don't have an iPad but some are using apps that spit out patch changes. I'm on a gig where the singer could call out any one of about 200 tunes, so a bit different to a set show, but obviously still a lot of patch changes.Just got a Korg Kronos with a thing called SetList mode. With the big touch screen it's fantastic and a bit like a smaller iPad, I suppose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pisquee Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Last show I worked on, the keyboards (3) were all set up with the patches in the necessary order, and they each had a patch change pedal, so they could change to the next patch, without taking their hands from the keyboards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 This pretty much shows that most musicians want the control themselves, and not being done by some kind of external master control. I don't think it's trust, it's simply being able to press a button yourself, so that if necessary, you can NOT follow the programmed list - like Adam's example. I bet you can't find the music that quickly though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamburgess Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Exactly right Paul. Got all these tunes in my head - you're right - I couldn't find the dots quick enough ;-)I do have a few pointers and the odd chord written in the Comments section on screen though - the hardest thing for me is remembering where and what my splits and things are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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