Switching From OnSong To Stage Traxx

greenrodeo

I am a performer who sings to backing tracks. Pop, Rock, Swing and R&B using backing tracks, a veteran user of OnSong 2020. I have hundreds of songs loaded with internet copied lyrics and music tracks from my iTunes playlist on my iPad Version 17.5.1 . I have iTunes on my iMac as well. When I buy a track from Apple it downloads automatically to my iMac and iPad iTunes. If I decide to use it in my act I duplicate the track on my iTunes iPad to my iTunes Playlist on my iPad and then move it to the OnSong lyrics file.
If I download a track from Karaoke Version or another non Apple source I have to manually download it on my iMac then transfer the track from their by click and drag to my iPad iTunes via the direct connect line attaching my iPad to my iMac. If I decide to change the key on an Apple track or edit the song in any way (length, structure of verses or breaks instrumental etc) I click and drag the track from my iMac iTunes to Song Surgeon on my iMac and edit it and then save it on SS and export it to my iMac iTunes. I then can click and drag it from my iMac iTunes to my IPad iTunes and then into my Playlist. Sounds time consuming but it is done pretty quickly once I am satisfied with my SS editing. All this has worked well for me for five up years but the biggest nagging unsolved problem I have is volume differences between different sourced music tracks. I am forced to mark in my OnSong files on each track whether it is a loud one or soft one and then adjust the volume manually at my gig going from song to song just prior to starting the song. Its a distraction, keeps me tied physically to my iPad even on songs I remember all the lyrics. And if I miss a volume adjustment it hurts my professionalism.

I understand that Stage Traxx has a fix for this by being able to adjust each track’s volume independently in a file separate from the master volume ….so that once a song has been equalized to a given volume, the software remembers that volume and at gigs only the master volume needs to be set for the room size and acoustics .This would solve my problem but not being familiar with Stage Traxx’s workings I am fearful of jeopardizing my OnSong files. I am not a techie!

-Will my iPad handle the Stage Traxx software while still allowing me to have my OnSong files in order to test how Stage Trax works to see quality, time involved to do the transfers etc.
-Can I transfer my lyrics from OnSong to Stage Traxx?
-Can my iPad Apple playlist file be accessed by my OnSong and Stage Traxx software? How would iTunes
know which file, OnSong or Stage Traxx, to transfer the track to?
How would my iMac recognize the Stage Traxx software when non Apple trax or edited Song Surgeon tracks need to be moved to my iPad.

My music files are linked to my OnSong lyric files but remain in the iTunes IPad file so duplicating the music file is not necessary. Does Stage Traxx work that way with my iTune files ( and for testing allow the iTunes file to be accessed by both OnSong and StagrcTraxx?
It seems overwhelming to me to change this as much as I want get rid of the volume problem!
I’m not even sure I’m asking the right questions here!

Damir

greenrodeo

greenrodeo Hi, you will definitely benefit by changing to ST3 from OnSong , as it does things much better and simpler when on stage.
You have many questions, but I will answer the most important, think of ST3 as a stand alone software that needs an audio file and text/pdf files for lyrics and chords, when you load an audio file it saves this file in its own folder and has nothing to do with other programs, all your loaded data is within ST3 , once you have loaded an audio file that has been edited by your SS program that’s it, you now can change EQ and volume for every song, so if you have 100 songs you basically have a one hundred channel mixer that then can go through a sub mix called playlists in ST3 and each playlist has a master volume fader that gives you a final playlist volume which then goes to your master volume fader, all these settings are remembered, so to sum it up you have a beast of a mixing console built in to ST3 , once you tweak all these settings they will always be there and remembered .To save you tweaking too much you should always try to get a good level in your editing software and use ST3 faders as very fine tune trims. As time goes on you will not have to tweak anything as it will all settle down and this complete work canvas can be saved as a full backup just in case you need to recall or transfer everything.
With lyrics all you do is copy and paste text in to each songs lyrics editor where you can time stamp every line, as you play your backing it will spoon feed you on stage plus you can break down the song in to audio segments which I call loops where you can jump around a song very easily and the lyrics follow, this is one of the best things in ST3 no other software can do to improve your on stage performance.
All you need to do is locate all your songs copy and paste them in to ST3 folder then load each song with the lyrics and you then don’t need anything else it’s all within ST3, forget SS, iTunes , Apple Music etc .

Midimannz

You will need to copy and paste from OnSong into a new (single or multi track) song you create.
Stagetraxx creates a copy of the audio files in its own directory.
If you are using chord display, some of these [on a blank line] will need spacing

greenrodeo

Damir
Thanks for the info, still have some major questions..won’t having a few hundred songs in my Stage Traxx file be a duplication of the songs I already have in my iPad iTunes, thus using lots of extra gigs? Also how do the songs get into Stage Traxx when I buy them!
Since I currently use Song Surgeon with iTunes and OnSong to edit songs, how does that work with Stage Traxx!
If I try out the free Stage Traxx for six songs to get comfortable with it, will that impact my ability to continue using OnSong data and files?
Sorry to be such a pain but as a non tech person now totally dependent on OnSong it feels like jumping into an unknown abyss!

Damir

greenrodeo If I try out the free Stage Traxx for six songs to get comfortable with it, will that impact my ability to continue using OnSong data and files?

No it will not do anything to the other programs and it will just load a copy of the 6 songs you choose.
Think of ST3 as its own Master, whatever you load in to it , it saves that information and makes it its own belonging to you within ST3 folder, this is why i like it, all my songs are in ST3 including songs i dont perform with, i use ST3 for all my audio playback, i dont like Itunes,Music or any other software that is prescription and forces you to use it, i prefer software like ST3 that plays songs 100% better and gives you full control over it.
I use ST3 as my librarian for all my audio files and text files.
The rest of software i only use to get the files like Safari, utube, and to edit i use LOGIC PRO 11 and a simple editor like Twisted Wave which is similar to your Song Surgeon which i also have but i preffer Twisted wave on my ipad as its simple and powerful and its on my ipad so as i finish editing it simply transfers the finished song to ST3, on my Mac Studio i use Logic Pro 11 which is an absolute BEAST of an editor specially with the new stem splitter it has now. ![](https://)

Damir

greenrodeo Since I currently use Song Surgeon with iTunes and OnSong to edit songs, how does that work with Stage Traxx!

Just use it as normal and save the final song to ST3 folder.

Damir

greenrodeo Also how do the songs get into Stage Traxx when I buy them!

No matter what software you use to get the songs just load them in to the ST3 folder, you can do this two ways , find the folder your songs reside and copy it, then open ST3 go to settings and choose in settings SHOW STAGE TRAX 3 Files, then just paste the song in to the apropriate place then open the SONG player and pull down the song list , this will refresh your list and include the new song.
The other way, create a new stereo or multitrack song open SONG DETAILS and choose the FILE, this will allow you to search for your new song wherever you saved it and load it in .

Damir

greenrodeo Also how do the songs get into Stage Traxx when I buy them!

Depends what you buy them with, itunes stores all its songs in the iTunes folder, its well hidden but it is there, apple dont want you to get to it easily so they can keep you using their software, other software downloads the songs to the DOWNLOAD folder.

Damir

greenrodeo won’t having a few hundred songs in my Stage Traxx file be a duplication of the songs I already have in my iPad iTunes, thus using lots of extra gigs?

Yes it will double up if you keep using both, but i hate iTunes and MUSIC so i dont COPY songs to ST3 i actually CUT and paste so nothing is left in those software packages i use them as a means to ingest music but not to keep it in there.