My QLC+ setup for live shows with band

[metallord]

Hi! It is my first post here and I really want to thank you guys for creating this fantastic software!
I am drummer in melodic death metal band Across the Shade from Poland (https://www.facebook.com/AcrossTheShadepl/). Thanks to QLC our shows gain new visual dimension
My setup in few words:
- PC laptop with QLC
- 3 led lights: 2 moving heads (Mini wash 7x12w from Aliexpress) 1 RGB led light,
- all connected with USB-DMX controller (cost about few $$ on Ebay)
- in Show Editor I have two tacks: one is a song with click and second is chaser with multiply scenes that fit different parts of song,
- in VC i create buttons linked to the different shows - this way i can start each song individually.

In this setup it works fantastic!

I play few shows already and I have these suggestions:
1. BPM in Show Editor instead of time- this will be huuuge improvement! I am playing with metronome in my ear so everything is synchronized. Sometimes before the show, we want to change something in the middle of the song but I am not able to change light scenes correctly! If it will be BPM based system (just like in MIDI editor in Cubase) I will have no problems. Just move 4 beats to the right and fill it with new light scene. Please think abuot it
2. When I press button with next song the previous one is still active (i check all options but with no luck)

In the future I will add 3 RGB fixtures to the front just to add some character with light to our singer and guitarists in front

Once again thank you for QLC and i hope you will consider to add those functionality in future
thank you!

[mcallegari]

1. BPM in Show Editor instead of time

If you mean time division, it's already there. See the combo box on the top-right side of the show manager.
If you mean a BPM system syncronized to a clock, then it's coming with QLC+ 5, as shown in my latest videos

2. When I press button with next song the previous one is still active (i check all options but with no luck)

Maybe you haven't checked Solo Frames ?

[metallord]

Fantastic!!!
Yes I did not test single frame before. Now I see that is work as I want

And yes I mean BPM system synchronized to a clock.
So I am really waiting fo QLC+5 now

Thank you!

[GGGss]

Or do some old fashioned math:
4/4 beats= 60/BPM with portion before decimal-spacer being Seconds and the part right to decimal-spacer being Milliseconds.

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124BPM: 0 seconds, 484 milliseconds per quarter-note

complex beats= (60/BPM)*TimeSignature (f.i. 12/8 quadruple)

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124BPM: 0 seconds, 726 milliseconds per (pointed) quarter note

BPM to time-for-one-measure

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4/4 beats= (60/BPM)*4 (quarters per measure)

124BPM: 1s, 935ms or 1.935s

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complex beats= (60/BPM)*TimeSignature*quarters-per-measure

124BPM with 12/8's: (60/124*12/8)*8 = 0.726*8 = 5.806s

I have a BPM-to-time table laying around if strict timings are required... Used it occasionally (mostly with orchestras but then flashy-lights are not needed of course

[metallord]

thank you This old fashioned style works well.
Hopefully most of our songs are in 210 bpm and 3/4 or 4/4 time signature so calculation is quite simple.

[metallord]

Small update:
I play a few concerts with qlc+. Current setup is:
- 2 moving heads (Mini wash 7x12w from Aliexpress)
- 4 RGB led lights, (one for each band member)
- laptop,
- 8 channel mixer,
- 2 USB sound cards,

I made some changes in QLC+:
- add more tracks in Show Editor. Now one is for metronome, second is for backing tracks, and third is a track with guitars (just for reference),
- each track is routed to separate sound card - this way I can control levels on my mixer and backing tracks are send to FOH,
- I also started to use Solo Frame,

This configuration works very well but there are some bugs:
- Solo Frame - when i switch between songs directly, music from my 3 tracks is not synchronize (each track starts in deferent moment). Only solution is to stop current song and play another,
- i start each song (show) using keys 1-9 in Virtual Console, but when I accidentally hit two buttons in the same time QLC+ freezes and crush

[mcallegari]

- i start each song (show) using keys 1-9 in Virtual Console, but when I accidentally hit two buttons in the same time QLC+ freezes and crush

Operating system ?
Multiple audio playback is supported indeed

[Chris De Rock]

I have a comperable setup atm. But for audio and click, i use a standard DAW (sometimes Logic, sometimes Studio ONE). these are made to record, arange and play audio and MIDI. Wthin the project i have a MIDI-track which is used to trigger QLC+. OK, next to QLC+. here i have a frame with paging enabled (paging is MIDI-triggered). every page contains a chaser for a specific song in the playlist and is triggered per MIDI. For me its a simple and effective solution. you can edit the hole audio/midi project without doing any changes in QLC+ and vice versa. (And you can use QLC and the DAW on defferent machines if needed)

[metallord]

Operating system ?

Windows 10 Pro instaled on SSD drive, HP Elitebook 8440p, i5, 4gb RAM,

Multiple audio playback is supported indeed

Yes I know and I am using 4 tracks: one for click, second is for backing tracks, third is a track with guitars and fourth for light sequences. Each audio track is routed to deferent sound card.
When I try to change songs directly the tracks from next song are not synchronized. I need to stop this song and play it once again. Then everything is ok.
Here is the second and third soundcard that i use: http://aliexpress.com/item/Brand-New-US ... .75.jKdKfA
(i try this setup with just one external sound card but the problem was still present)

Chris De Rock - thank you for your solution. I was thinking about DAW but when I saw that in QLC+ there is a show editor i decide to give it a try. After a few weeks of learning scenes, chasers and other stuff I feel quite comfortable with it. But I will take a look into it once again.
My main goal now is to create smooth transitions between songs without stopping the backing tracks.

[metallord]

UPDATE and ideas after few shows:
- always have few more xlr cables - on Saturday we played show in a venue which already have few RGB light bars. I connect them to my setup and address just like my normal LED light. Fortunately everything works fine. Here is private video from that show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHbmZqM7ig
- when I use more then one sound card I mustn't save the project without them connected to computer. If i save project without sound cards each track is routed to just one (build in) sound card...
- 6 lights is enough for now - we do not have much time to setup everything before our show.
I am still working on this setup.