Changing Patches Live

[MotiDave]

I use Master mode on my S70XS to call up patches and performances for itself and to send patch changes to the Fantom X7. Occasionally I have to change patches on the X7 mid-song, so I use its Favorites feature to be able to select a new patch with one button push.

 

I do same on XF - i create a patch (Performance) for each song, even if its duplicating a diff song, which is only the case in one of my bands - the others are custom to each song. I use Melas to rearrange to the set list before a gig, takes 3 minutes. then sequence through 1, 2, 3 ... till gig is over. I hate having to hunt for a patch on stage, I can barely see the screen in daylight, i need to know next patch is our next song.

[CowboyNQ]

I've always been really low-tech. I'm sure it's not the best method, but I just use "favourites" and have them lined up in some sort of logical order.

 

On my Krome I have all my patches for each band saved into the same user bank so they all come up on the touch screen simultaneously. This way I can flick between them at ease. Also try to use keyboard splits wherever possible.

[NewImprov]

I use a PX-5S and a Novation SL 61 MKII as controllers for Mainstage, the PX is used as a controller only in this setup. I have a pedal plugged into the Pedal 2 input on the PX that is programmed to Patch Advance in Mainstage. I also have 4 buttons on the Novation assigned to Next Patch, Previous Patch, +10 Patches, -!0 patches. In several of my bands, we have the setlist worked out in advance of each gig, and I can step through setups with the pedal.

 

In another band, we don't use setlists and call tunes live. For that band, I'll organize the tunes we're likely to play into a set, and usually I can make it to the patch I need via pedal or buttons in time for the downbeat.

 

I have a few weeks of no gigs coming up, and I'm meaning to rewrite my Mainstage setups for all my bands. I upgraded to MS3 about a year ago, and just imported all my MS2 setups, and I've been gigging so much since then that I haven't had a chance to really take advantage of what's available in MS3. I'm thinking seriously of adding Setlist Maker to my iPad, and use that for patch changes. But we'll see how much I actually get done, I'm fundamentally pretty lazy.

[Bob L]

I use Set list maker with my PX-5S. But even within my patches I have sliders assigned to change volumes on layers. For example, for the Stevie Wonder tune "I Wish" I have a split for electric piano and brass. When I do a piano solo, I use sliders to dial down the brass and turn the piano up on the upper half of the split. I get more mileage out of the single stage setting that way. I put a bunch of extra tunes into each show on set list maker so I can do those tunes whenever I want.

[keyskat]

I use an iPad mini and On song app to send patch change info to two or three boards on a song by song and set by set basis...

It takes about 5 seconds per song to write the metadata,initial set up is very easy and been working great for about 4 years.

iPhone and iPad 2 act as backups too...

[gino]

I'm another in the setlist maker camp. Love it.

 

Cheers

[Lee T]

Set List Maker for me as well. Use it on an old iPad 2 with an iRig midi interface. It controls the MOXF8 and PX5. Easy to use, sets can be amended almost on the fly, quick to set up new songs and it's a big display so easy to see on stage. Best part for me is the annotations - chords, lyrics and notes can be attached to the songs. Also has the ability to transpose the chords which is very handy.

All in all an absolute bargain even with the in app purchases for midi and sharing.

[marczellm]

I just realized that Set List Maker is available on Android too. How can an Android device send MIDI?

[DanL]

For my dance/party band, I use my FA08 with the sample pads in numeric mode and have that change studio sets on the FA and send patch changes to the Hammond. Like Bobadoshe, our set changes every night and sometimes I call audibles during the show depending on what the crowd is doing, and the changes have to be near instant. 10 seconds of space between songs can have the dance floor clear, and we don't want that.

 

In the Floyd band, where I use the sample pads for triggering sampled sound effects, I just use the data wheel. I don't need instant patch changes with this band like I do with the party/dance band, so if I have to scroll thru a few patches to get to what I need next, it's not an issue. I have all the albums in order so if we're doing Dark Side or Animals, I can scroll to the next song. I have my whole rig set up to accept the program changes, Hammond receives the change from the FA, and sends the appropriate patch change to the Nord A1. The only thing I ever really have to change is assigning samples to the pads, because I like to have them in order of the set list, and not have to change sample banks in the middle of a set.

 

Regarding Sythizen2's post about Dogs and having to do 7 patch changes- that one is a bear isn't it? I try to make it so I don't have to change any patches mid song.

 

On Dogs, I have the FA split into 3 sections. The bottom part of the keyboard is a Solina type sound, and then I have a phaser string synth that I fade in with the expression pedal that I play with my left hand for the synth breakdown part. Then I have a Rhodes sound on the middle section, and then a more normal string sound up top that is behind the dual guitar lead part. On the SK, I have the patch set to use a Farfisa for the beginning of the song, then use the extra voice volume knob to fade that out and pull out drawbars when the B3 comes in. On the Nord I have 2 lead sounds, using 2 slots. The 1st lead comes up with the patch change, then before the 2nd synth solo in the breakdown part, I tap the slot 2 button for that sound. During that breakdown part with the solina part, I push in the drawbars and bring up the Farfisa level for when the song goes back to the intro, after the synth section. It's a pretty challenging song in that regard, not that the parts are hard, but the number of parts and timing everything out is definitely some work.

[BluesKeys]

For my main gig the RD-800 has 10 or so saved performance settings that I use but I still dial up a different Rhodes for certain songs. The Motif I have to dial from favorites between a couple of synth sounds.

 

For my second rig I have to dial in AP or Eps because the Casio/Radio Shack is not much of a controller for my GEM module. But I preset the VR-09 to what I need, strings, horns, synths etc and when I call them up there is no search needed.

[vonnor]

On Dogs, I have the FA split into 3 sections. The bottom part of the keyboard is a Solina type sound, and then I have a phaser string synth that I fade in with the expression pedal that I play with my left hand for the synth breakdown part. Then I have a Rhodes sound on the middle section, and then a more normal string sound up top that is behind the dual guitar lead part. On the SK, I have the patch set to use a Farfisa for the beginning of the song, then use the extra voice volume knob to fade that out and pull out drawbars when the B3 comes in. On the Nord I have 2 lead sounds, using 2 slots. The 1st lead comes up with the patch change, then before the 2nd synth solo in the breakdown part, I tap the slot 2 button for that sound. During that breakdown part with the solina part, I push in the drawbars and bring up the Farfisa level for when the song goes back to the intro, after the synth section. It's a pretty challenging song in that regard, not that the parts are hard, but the number of parts and timing everything out is definitely some work.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Playin' the rig and not just the keys! Awesome.

 

I'm realizing a drawback to the way I do patch changes. Since Cantabile does them all (with the help of a LiquidFoot midi controller), I didn't bother memorizing banks and patch numbers. While I do keep all my CanTab songs and setlists on a USB stick, and carry a 2nd laptop, I still do not have a manual fallback. I'd never be able to call up my sounds/splits/layers/octave-shifts etc., by hand.

 

~ vonnor

[CEB]

Setlist is why I wish the Kronos had a 2nd assignable switch input. Sometimes I accidently increment two combis insteads of one. A second switch could be a setlist decement button. But most the time I just use the touchscreen.

 

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/CEB2/1AF2A750-B126-4E5A-B5D4-09F83660A355_zpsns82wuxk.jpg

[mcgoo]

I use Unreal book to call up charts that send prgm change info to Forte that in turn changes everything in my rig. Stole the idea from David Rosental.

[eric]

For the 5+ years I have been using the NS2 live, I have spent time before each gig connecting my NS2 to the Mac and using Sound Manager to "drag and drop" sounds into precise order based on the band's setlist. Our setlist is very dynamic and I got accustomed to this process. However, this was a bit painstaking and I needed to remember to take the ~30 minutes to do this exercise.

 

More recently (only tried on one gig so far), I am using the alpha sort feature on the NS2, with all my gig programs set as User programs and organized in such a way that the ABC method will allow me to quickly find things. This seems like a better way to save myself the pre-work and just dial around using the pending load on the NS2. The only time it may bite me is when we have a super quick change during the gig.

[MorayM]

My setlist very rarely changes and I go through anything between 4 and 13 setups per song, with all sorts of segues on top of that. I've start using Dave Wieser's method as a result, which sadly I can't find a link for!

 

The short answer is I stay in setup mode and have a foot switch to increment between them. Dave's trick is to leave gaps between each setup, and a larger one between songs so I have space to insert extras if I need to, but the pedal will happily skip any gaps in the list. All I need to do is call up the first setup of the first song and tap away at the pedal. If I need any external gear, the Kurzweil sends them anything they need.

 

For my cover band where things can be a bit more fluid and there's a bit more time between songs, everything is loaded in a couple of quick access banks and I just use the cursor keys to pick them.

[mate stubb]

Neither one of my bands even follows the set list drawn up by the singer moments before the gig.

[theGman]

My J50 is set up with the first 4 banks programmed for anything I can possibly use. Each bank contains 16 programs, and I rarely need anything past the first 2 banks.

I have a few redundant settings , mostly piano and guitar, setup in each bank, so they are relatively close by.

Splits, etc. included in each setting, of course.

All you have to to is spin the big knob to get to any of them in literally 1 or 2 seconds. Don't see a need for anything else.

I do, however, have my Nord lower kb as a default organ or piano, so that eliminates a lot of stuff from upper J50 boards programs.

[MurMan]

Kronos Setlist. I can increment patches either with the touchscreen or a footswitch.

+1

 

I try to avoid mid-song patch changes by setting splits on my Kronos 88 and upper keyboard. Reduces potential error (e.g., pressing the wrong button, not hitting the touchscreen hard enough), but sometimes mid-song changes are necessary. A nice feature of the Kronos is that you can change a setlist program while holding a chord on the patch you are currently using, and the new program won't trigger until you play the next chord/note....which gives you more time to execute the change.

 

I do a lot of mid-song patch changes. With the Kronos 61, splits have to be done carefully in order to not run out of room.

 

The secret of using the touchscreen live is to curl your finger sightly and use your fingernail on the screen. It always works, even with a light touch.

[xKnuckles]

I am in the process of putting a huge number of songs into setlist maker for one of my bands. What I didn't know - and is worth sharing here - is that the whole lot can be inputted via an excel spreadsheet. This will save me a ton of work. I am currently making a spreadsheet with all of the song titles, keys and patch numbers, (I could add other info also if I wished for the other available fields and also some custom ones, but I think those ones are all I will need). My other keyboard, (VR-09) cannot accept midi programme changes, so I will include info about the correspomding patches for that in SLM as well, but unfortunately the VR will have to be manually changed. Fortunately, I use it primarily for organ.

 

In one of my other bands, I have the songs set up in a series of set lists, and use pedal 2 on my PX-5s to quickly navigate to the next song - or, in one case, the next part of the song.

 

In my jazz band I just remember where everything is - or write a brief patch number at the top of the music - and then press the buttons.

[ProfD]

I've got a dedicated bank of bass sounds (16) on the Moog Sub 37, eight (8) Favorite buttons on the Korg SV-1 and sixteen (16) performances on the Yamaha DX7II. A button press or three brings up everything I need.