Multi-track : Import more than 6 tracks

jem24h

Hello

This is a feature request to increase the number of tracks you can add from 6 to 12 tracks (mono files could do).
I have seen many people asking for this in the comment fo the video explanation of Scott Uhl (Part 2), and I am one of them.

Like many people I download my backing tracks from karaokeversion.com which let you download every instrument independently (which is awesome). I used to import them in the "Multitracker" app which lets you import them all with no limit. Then depending of who shows up in your Band, you can just mute the corresponding backing track.

Using the Behringer XR18 (like scott uhl in the video), I send all tracks individually to the mixer (Mono)

I have calculated that most of the time I use 12 tracks : 01 CLICK, 02 DRUMS, 03 BASS, 04 PIANO, 05 RYTHMIC GUITAR, 06 ELECTRIC GUITAR, 07 BRASS, 08 STRINGS, 09 BACKING VOCALS, 10 LEAD VOCALS, 11 OTHER, 12 CUES

At this point in time, I cannot fully switch to ST3 because of the limit of 6 tracks, would it be possible to increase the number of tracks you can import to 12 ? (I believe many people are in the same situation by reading the comments)

The video I'm refering to :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUb3M-hYtE4&lc=Ugzc5R0weNNh1NyWzZR4AaABAg.9mwKOeVQWQV9mwYpfKEBEr

AlanC76

jem24h
My method: I purchase from KV and download separate tracks most often, or make my own.
Using Reaper, I mix the way I want everything then render as mp3 for ST.
You could then mute the bass track and render another version as a “- bass” track and so on with each option you need. That way, no limit to number of tracks and it’s all panned etc the way you want.
I did this some time back in a duo with singer / bassist.

peter

Maybe possible to add this to version 4.

jem24h

peter That would be awesome !! Many Thanks !!
Since I'm new to ST3, could you tell me what is the lifetime of a version ? when should version 4 be released ?

peter

I aim to release a major update every 4-5 years. These major updates are released as new apps and contain breaking changes (and also user interface changes) so that users can choose to stay on the current version or run both in parallel and primarily choose the time they want to update themselves.

Version 3 is now 3 1/2 years old. In this major version there will be one or two more feature updates this year (version 3.7 with iCloud sync and maybe a version 3.8 in late summer). But I will start working on version 4 this year and I hope that it will be available at the end of next year.

jem24h

Thanks for this comprehensive answer !
Any chance you could move forward this change in 3.7 or 3.8 ? I would really like to move eveything into one app and get rid of the Multitracker app. End of 2024 seems so far away.. migrating is a pain and I'm not sure I will still be in the right dynamic by then.

peter

3.7 is already feature frozen. Maybe in 3.8 but as this involves a lot of work on the audio engine part I might have to postpone it to 4.0.

jem24h

peter Thank you Peter, the quality of the support is as impressive as the app 🙂

jem24h

peter Now that 3.7 has been released, do you have a better vision on what 3.8 will include and if this feature will be part of it ?
Thanks

peter

I will try to add it in 3.8 but I don‘t know if it is possible with my audio engine. I guess 8 tracks could be doable but more is not. I definitely don‘t want to rewrite the audio engine in version 3 as I am quite happy with the stability.

RodScotland

peter It would be great to have 8. Also, perhaps you could implement a more visual/simple way to offer Mono Tracks Option (per track option) i.e: if on the track, I could flip the knob to "Make Mono" it visually separates the tracks and gives the additional right side track & Route options etc.. to upload the stem (or whatever) and same for the Left side.. behind the scenes, if "make mono" is selected on the main track, ST3 could auto-pan and take care of the manual adjustments but as important, gives a visual representation of the additional track, with the normal Track options for each. Again, I am still new to ST in general so this may already be thought through.

Thanks!

gbadvancero

Definitely 8 would be fantastic! In my band´s setup we need to cover for members not being there. With 8 it would be great:
1- Metronome
2- Voice
3- Synths
4- Guitar 1
5- Guitar 2
6- Bass
7- Drums
8- Perc/Other

Mdenriet

Maybe im missing something, but for example if you use track 1 ,which is a stereo track, for drums left and bass right. In multitrack you center the pan and send this track to stereo out of the audio interface. Those are 2 seperate outs , you can route to input 1 and 2 of the xr 18. Drums should be on channel 1 and bass on channel 2 of the xr18. Or am i mistaken?

Damir

Mdenriet that’s the way I see it as well, so if you have six stereo tracks you could end up with twelve mono tracks if you carefully edit and save the files pan all drums left pan bass right save as stereo you should end up with 12 individual instruments make sure your mixer has all twelve return inputs setup as mono faders and you have 12 tracks with full control on the mixer.
Advantage is you only need to transfer six audio files but you actually have 12 mono backing tracks to fiddle with.

peter

Mdenriet Or am i mistaken?

No, you are right. Stage Traxx can address 4 stereo outputs so by using hard panned stereo tracks you could make use of 8 separate mono outputs.

Damir

peter Ahha that’s right we only have 4 stereo outs I forgot, it’s like having a Daw that’s capable of 6 stereo tracks but it all goes out in to 4 stereo outs.
It’s a pity we can’t have it very simple and have
The same amount of tracks out to keep it simple and very user friendly 12 mono tracks out should keep everyone happy, anything more is just overdoing it and unnecessary, just like having too many loop points, it gets to a point you can’t use them as they are to hard to handle on stage , just like having to much zoom in loops it actually becomes counter productive.

Riff

I'm all in favor of going to mono tracks (which all of my stems are).

Maybe one stereo track for users who do the click and cue on the left and tracks on the right, and then the current other 5 stereo tracks become 10 mono tracks.

jaytrax

Just wanted to add something regarding mono tracks

If your making your tracks yourself this isn’t such a big deal as you can make necessary adjustments in your DAW

BUT

If like a lot of cover bands and you purchase your tracks from Karaoke-Version.com, then these files are STEREO

Routing a stereo file out to a single mono input will lose the intended mix and alter the tonality and placement of instruments

Essentially you would need to remix most instruments and lose a lot of the intended sound,
It is possible but understand this needs to be done

Sending out the Mono outputs will not be the same at 0db as a Stereo track at 0db

The best way until more Stereo Outs is added to Stage Traxx (this needs a audio engine revision so likely to be version 3.8) is to pair them to suit the band/performer

With the exception of Click and Bass (you could use one Stereo out and Pan these if you want this in Mono)

For example CLICK 1/2 panned R
BASS 1/2 panned L etc

Then group your instruments to suit your needs best

Drums 3/4
Keys and other 5/6
Vocal 7/8 etc

Damir

jaytrax so basically make it suit the XR18 mixer where all Chanel’s are mono but you can pair them to make them stereo.
That would work well I think

Damir

AlanC76 I do the same it’s a lot faster and easier to create multiple versions I have 2 versions, with drums or No Drums depending on need i place this info in the artist column so I can easily find the appropriate track or you could use filter , multi track would only be useful to me if I could easily SOLO or MUTE tracks while performing , this then becomes worth the effort to be able to massage my song on the run to impress the audience, otherwise multitrack has little value for the work that goes in to it.Stereo tracks you can speed up/down this is a great tweak on the run, multitrack can’t do this either.
So yes I agree with you multiple versions in stereo are better than multitrack as they offer more to the audience.