Happy New Year and a Look Ahead for Stage Traxx

Mrjonsong

Excited for this. I moved from a different app a few months ago and ST3 is a game changer. Been rock solid with DMX automation, etc.

TeabagTim

Looks great and I'm really looking forward to it.

My highlights:

Folders for Songs and Playlists
Full mixer 🤯
Audible metronome

ond1

I am also looking forward to Stage Traxx 4. The features highlighted is just what we need.

jaytrax

Firstly well done @peter
It looks great from the previews

I’m sure, as both a developer and musician, that you have made the best choices and decisions for the MAJORITY of uses.

@Damir - you’re a long time user as most of us are, but you are certainly the most vocal in this forum.
It needs to be said that most of your feature requests and wishes are for yourself and not the majority

The beta isn’t even released and too soon to be making suggestions or requests
This isn’t a dig - but I’ve thought about saying this for about 2 years.

Also remember, it’s an upgrade, just because you are comfortable with a workflow doesn’t mean that change or an adaption period isn’t better

Damir

jaytrax Hi Jtrax and Lishy and all others that can be bothered, I don’t have anything to gain from my comments as I was happy with the original ST when Peter and I were discussing basic layout and operation of it , as years went by more people got on board which is great and Peter has listened to us all which is very unusual for software developers , because most of them think they know best , that’s why we have a lot of good idea software but badly implemented.
I think it’s crucial to have a strong purpose in software and an idea to who you are catering for otherwise you end up with very complicated beast that majority won’t like. I am a computer user not a computer nerd , this gives me a the capability to think outside the box , most computer nerds are very good at looking at things with a narrow mind as that’s all they know because they are not living normal lives as they are wrapped up in to their computers. Peter is unusual because he seems to be lucky enough to be able to do both and he is good at listening to others , that’s the main reason ST is such a good bit of software to use on stage by normal and semi professional musicians , top professional musicians don’t really need ST because they can play a solo without a PDF or having lyrics and chords in front of them as they only play their own material or have a very small amount of songs they perform.
Most others that need ST have greater needs , and fortunately for Peter there is more of us out there.
Only a few of us have the ability to suggest good ideas because of our backgrounds I am fortunate enough to have a wide experience as a SOUND ENGINEER IN TELEVISION , an ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN degree and 10 years of building and fixing of audio gear , I gave this up for sound engineering in ABC television which I have worked for 30 years in and my biggest achievement was working on the Beijing Olympics 2008 with a digital desk of 200 channels with 6 layers.
I am still working in RADIO ABC MASTER CONTROL,
Having around 50 years of work experience I also at the same time started my band at 15 years of age and had a live 4 piece band with original members for 18 years which slowly decreased through the years where I now still perform all around Australia as a SOLO performer , I am not blowing my own horn I am just informing you of my expertise I have behind my comments , I still am learning and love to create and learn , the reason I have bothered imputing my views is because of Peter and ST future for others to benefit by all of our expertise, including all of you and others.
Yes I have a lot of MIDI knowledge but I stay out of commenting on that because I stopped using midi a few years back and am leaving others in the know to do this .
But when it comes to on stage ease of use and other things I have a bit more to say , this does not mean it has to be done that way but it might trigger someone else to think differently and possibly come up with an even better way.
Peter can’t be expected to know all, many times I have had to continually bug him to change his views and eventually he has seen it my way .
All I am saying as long as Peter has people like me and all of you out there ST will improve .
This is not a competition, this forum is about getting it as perfect as it can be for the majority , by keeping it simple and effective.
I could say a lot more but keep on suggesting and have strong opinions if you believe you are improving ST.
Cheers Damir

Tim_pbjp

Thanks, Peter — it looks really good, and I’m looking forward to giving it a test flight.
I’m especially happy to see the “Loop Once” feature. I remember when I first suggested it, Damir thought it was better handled in the DAW, but I always felt it could be really useful. For example, if the crowd is particularly enjoying a song and I want to extend the moment or if I step away from the iPad and into the audience ... having the option to loop once or for a fixed number of repeats looks right.
I had also hoped the new version might include automatic BPM detection, but I see there’s a BPM “Tap” button, which is a good alternative.
Another thing I’m looking forward to testing: the merge button. Ideally, it will let me go smoothly from a song with a backing track to one with only lyrics... fading out the backing track of the current song and then jumping straight into the next, and......I’m curious to see what happens when a lyrics-only track is playing and I double-click another song. In Stage Traxx 3, this action jumps to the new song immediately... which has often caused the musicians to panic, while all I was trying to do was efficiently line up the next song. 🙂

Damir

Tim_pbjp Damir thought it was better handled in the DAW, but I always felt it could be really useful.

Sorry Tim I was never against an instant repeat function of a loop as it is very useful for instant manipulation of the song, what I am against is permanent things that complicate the interface that could be done in pre production.
Example
I like the permanent loop function because you can instantly place it on an intro on some songs where you can stay on it as long as you need while interacting with the crowd then release the loop and away you go with the song , this gives you live band type of control.
Another example of useless function is a permanent SKIP , if you need a permanent skip on a song you might as well leave it out in pre production, otherwise leave the section in and just skip it whenever you need to by selecting an appropriate next loop.
Why give us something we don’t really need to complicate the software.
ST is a player not a DAW to arrange your song on , yes you can break the song up on it but it’s not meant to edit the song like a DAW does , otherwise we will start to want all the functions of a DAW in it which would bloat the software.
Yes I wish I could do everything in ST , but then it wouldn’t be the same ST we love on stage now.

peter

Tim_pbjp You can cross fade in and out of songs without audio tracks. Basically the will fade in or out the other song.

Regarding smart glasses. There is no standard to feed real-time text into these glasses and Stage Traxx already has a teleprompter mode for external displays. So beyond that I have nothing planned in the regard. Why not mount a large monitor into a monitor box enclosure. Even big names use this approach for teleprompter.

Tim_pbjp

peter Hey Peter,
Your program already is the most versatile out there, but have you considered adding a Teleprompter mode that works via Bluetooth and is compatible with smart glasses? I think it could be a real game-changer for performers who have a large repertoire and can’t always memorise every line. For example, integration with something like the Halliday Glasses, where only the song text is streamed, would be perfect. Personally as a vocalist, I’d love to get a couple of metres away from the stage and feel free to connect more confidently with the audience. If the text came with me?? It would be heaven. These glasses are being used successfully by speakers in conferences and seminars and are surprisingly stable.

Tim_pbjp

peter I want to give the audience the feeling that I have not lost eye contact with them when I sneak a look at the lyrics. Especially if I donˋt know the lyrics and constantly need the text.

Damir

Tim_pbjp I want to give the audience the feeling that I have not lost eye contact with them when I sneak a look at the lyrics. Especially if I donˋt know the lyrics and constantly need the text.

I know exactly how you feel , a while back I was researching the glasses idea and almost purchased a pair , I am still keen to see if can be done to send video wirelessly to them from my iPad, keep us informed if you find a way, it would be a game changer if it can be done as the lyrics would always be right there in front you no matter which way you look .
A tip for new musicians , DONT USE CHEAT SHEETS OF ANY KIND FORCE YOURSELF TO REMEMBER LYRICS , you become dumber relying on technology a few years ago I knew all my friends phone numbers by heart now I can barely remember my own 😂 THAKS IPHONE! 🤣

Tim_pbjp

Damir I have a pair of smart glasses and it does send Video from the IPad, so it is Like a second display for the IPad, but the entire display of Stage Trax is visible, which restricts the view to the audience and it requires the USB-C cable connected. My smart glasses also have a transparent mode, but it is still restrictive. Something Like the Halliday Glases would be better because it displays in the top left corner of the screen and would only show the lyrics. But even better, it uses Bluetooth. Your tip about memorizing lyrics is good until you play with multiple bands with multiple arrangements and genres for the same song :-)

Damir

Tim_pbjp thanks Tim for the info on the glasses, and yes I am also forced to use ST as I’m heading towards 500 song repertoire , I have given up on my brains memory 30 years ago 😩 😂

peter

Tim_pbjp I have a pair of smart glasses and it does send Video from the IPad, so it is Like a second display for the IPad, but the entire display of Stage Trax is visible, which restricts the view to the audience and it requires the USB-C cable connected.

Enable Settings > Lyrics & PDF > Lyrics on External Screen: https://stagetraxx.com/user-guide/settings/#lyrics-on-external-screen-ios-only

Tim_pbjp

peter Ok, thx Peter I will check out this option.

jaytrax

Hey @peter

I’ve got a feature request for Stage Traxx 4.
It’s somewhat selfish, but maybe useful for others.

What I’m looking for is the ability to have a user-customizable button at the bottom of the screen.
In other words, I want an optional button we can configure ourselves,
My specific use for this is a Midi PC change which for me acts as a bypass/panic for all gear connected via midi
I’ve never needed it yet, but if it’s easy to implement, I would really appreciate it.

I’m sure other users may have their own specific uses

• Dmx cue - like a blackout
• A 0db reset for a song volume or queue volume
• External Device Control – mute/unmute channels on a digital mixer, engage talkback, change monitor mixes.
• Automation Overrides – like disabling all FX automation for one song part, then re-enabling later.
• Fallback/Rescue Actions – emergency “kill FX,” “reset harmonies to chromatic,” or “panic stop all MIDI.”
• Transport Functions – e.g. “jump back 4 bars,” “skip to chorus marker,” or “pause/resume.”

That’s the request in a nutshell.

Damir

jaytrax What I’m looking for is the ability to have a user-customizable button at the bottom of the screen.
In other words, I want an optional button we can configure ourselves,

I agree , I found having the ability to customise fully the two buttons on ST3 very useful , I see you have the xfade, I hope permanent loop will also be in an easy to hit spot.

peter

You can see in the first screenshot 3 buttons at the bottom of the pdf. These are assignable buttons. Every command that you can trigger by a remote action can be put on screen as a dedicated button. You can also set a custom title and color for each button.

Damir

peter You can see in the first screenshot 3 buttons at the bottom of the pdf. These are assignable buttons. Every command that you can trigger by a remote action can be put on screen as a dedicated button. You can also set a custom title and color for each button.

Oh yes, I missed that , these buttons seem smaller and dangerously close to the stop/start button , is there a chance we can get more of and bigger buttons that are a bit further away from the stop/start , at the moment we have four buttons in ST3 if you include the two side buttons and two programmable buttons?

jaytrax

peter
Amazing - thank you so much, you preempted my thoughts
👌

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