Change patches automatically during a song

[yeldarb]

I’d like to use MainStage for live performances using backing tracks from LP. From what I’ve read I can have MS play the track and have a patch for vocal and guitar, so far so good. 
 

For a few of my songs I want to change the patch for the vocal or guitar during the song, e.g. distortion on the vocals only during the choruses. What’s the best way to have MS do this automatically?

[Maddcow]

MS won’t automatically change patches for you unless you program Scripter to design your own automation linked to the audio file in the Playback plugin….and this definitely isn’t straightforward at all. However, if you still want to pursue this, search the forum because there’s at least one lengthy thread about it.
 

Your best option is to set up those songs with patch changes where the song is a set, and your song sections are patches. You’d put the Playback plugin with backing track at set level so it won’t be affected by patch changes within the set. 

[yeldarb]

18 hours ago, Maddcow said:

MS won’t automatically change patches for you unless you program Scripter to design your own automation linked to the audio file in the Playback plugin….and this definitely isn’t straightforward at all. However, if you still want to pursue this, search the forum because there’s at least one lengthy thread about it.
 

Your best option is to set up those songs with patch changes where the song is a set, and your song sections are patches. You’d put the Playback plugin with backing track at set level so it won’t be affected by patch changes within the set. 

So the backing track is at the set level, and the different patches sit within the set. What triggers the progression from one patch to the next?

[Maddcow]

Any foot pedal with program change or even a page turner pedal would do the job. 

[yeldarb]

22 minutes ago, Maddcow said:

Any foot pedal with program change or even a page turner pedal would do the job. 

But that’s exactly the point. If I have to use a pedal to change settings I might as well just use a pedalboard. Makes no sense. 

[Maddcow]

Well, to be fair, you never mentioned that you didn’t want to use a pedalboard. Plenty of guitarists use MS because they prefer having an all-in-one system, or prefer the FX etc. And a page turner pedal with just 2 switches is a heck of a lot smaller and lighter than most single guitar pedals, let alone a pedalboard. 
 

Regardless, perhaps you might want to dip your feet into scripter, or maybe Ableton Live might be a better solution for your needs. 
 

At the end of the day, MS is fantastic for a lot of things but anything beyond basic backing track playback definitely isn’t a core feature. 

[yeldarb]

Yeah, I was planning to use a minimal pedalboard, just a back/next and toggle play button setup. Does Ableton live have a decent set of effects for vocals and guitar? I'll check it out.

 

[ro-ja]

I'm using this script to automate things in Mainstage and it works quite well.

In your case you would replace the note ons and control changes in the event list with program changes. 

Insert the Scripter plugin in an external instrument channel strip. Set the Midi Out of the channel strip to the IAC driver (if the IAC driver isn't available activate it in the Audio-Midi-Setup app).

In the concert settings choose the IAC driver as a source for program changes.

Now when you start the Mainstage clock the patches should change at the beat positions you defined in the script.

Since applications send and receive on the IAC bus it can come to a Midi loop that freezes Mainstage. If I remember correctly I circumvented that by creating a Midi activity screen control in layout mode that I set to receive data on the IAC bus. On the concert level I created an external instrument channel strip, set this Midi activity control as input device, and set the Midi output of the channel strip to No output.