Request: Seperate file or alias list for midi commands in lyrics files

DuskDave

Hi All,

My lyrics files are a complete mess because I use MIDI commands to change guitar fx patches, keyboard patches, DMX light commands etc... I am only using 4 of the 16 MIDI channels but I still have dozens of lines like these in my lyrics
[midi@01:23.456: CC21.127@13, CC21.0@13]
[midi@01:50.105: CC21.127@13, CC21.0@13, CC22.127@13, CC22.0@13]
(This is how I start and stop recording my main vocal on a Boss looper.)

What would be fantastic is if I could alias these commands in another file
VocalRecStart = 'CC21.127@13, CC21.0@13'
VocalRecStop = 'CC21.127@13, CC21.0@13, CC22.127@13, CC22.0@13'

So the actual commands could be reinserted by a global find and replace when it mattered but I would only see this in my lyrics
[midi@01:23.456: VocalRecStart]
[midi@01:50.105: VocalRecStop]

I think this would also cut down on typing and syntax errors in MIDI commands if they only needed writing once in the alias file and then referenced in plain text from that point on.

Better still if we could have a 'Lyrics' file and a separate 'Commands' file which are merged together behind the scenes but separated to make them easier to read and edit.

Thanks
DD

peter

This is a request I already received a couple of times. It is on my todo list for one of the later 4.x releases.

DuskDave

peter
Thanks, Peter. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Would it also be possible to make the global 'Send Midi' sections for 'load', 'play' etc. into a more easily readable file so that many commands are not squashed onto one line?

peter

I didn't plan for that. How many midi commands have you configured in the global settings?

DuskDave

peter
Hi Peter,
The global commands I use are basically 'reset' messages for the looper, effects and lights but the looper alone requires 4 CC's to do this for each of its 2 channels (because it uses 127 / 0 pairs unfortunately as does the DMX program for the lights). I could easily use 10 to 15 CC and PC messages in the song load section.

I don't use the global section as much as I would like to because it is already becoming difficult to read and remembering what each CC does on a channel is increasingly difficult. The 'programmer' side of me wants to put the commands I do for every song in a global 'send midi' function so I know it's taken care of before the individual song settings take effect.

If ST4 will have a 'command alias' file that works only for lyrics but not for the global 'send midi' section then I can work with that. I would just put a [midi: Reset] line in my 'lyrics template' pdf and use the 'Reset' alias to handle all the details.

If this isn't going to happen then I suppose I could just come up with an offline solution using the JSON file from the lyrics database and a script to do a lot of finding and replacing. This would make offline editing easier but after importing it my lyrics file in ST3 would still be a mess.
DD

peter

I don't know yet how the midi aliases will be implemented and whether they will make it into 4.0. Generally making the textfields multi line input fields is not a big task, but I'm not sure many users would need that. So maybe the idea to use aliases also in the global midi messages is the better approach.

AnthonyB

peter turning the fields into multiline text fields was my initial thought as well, but it seems like it won't handle these complex cases. Not a bad thing to do (multiline text fields) even if you do implement aliases, although I appreciate that may unnecessarily take up more screen real-estate.

Is there an elegant way to allow a field to be toggled between single line and multiline?

peter

An elegant way? Not really. Only thing that comes to mind would be to open a modal dialog to edit that field. But that is a bit clumsy in my opinion.

DuskDave

peter
A modal dialog may be clumsy for global 'Send Midi' options but it is not something we will want to change very frequently so not a bad thing from a usability standpoint.

If it is more difficult (or a lot of extra work) to implement aliases for global settings as well as lyrics then I would be happy with an alias file just for lyrics and a modal dialog for global.

MarkGuitar

I would add to this that I hope ST4 will allow a separate MIDI fie. Not one with text commands but an actual MIDI file that can be generated and saved using a DAW. Embedding MIDI text commands in lyrics is a bit clunky and very quickly becomes impossible to manage. I think Peter has already replied to an earlier msg of mine that a MDI file will be supported in ST4. So much better...

peter

MarkGuitar MIDI File support is planned for version 4.0.

Midimannz

Try this
StageTraxx: Automatic Midi Commands for Lyric Editor. Music/Lighting set lists

Description

Save time by automatically creating midi command codes for the StageTraxx lyrics editor. (StageTraxx is an ipad app used for sheet music, backing tracks, lighting, and more). Great for live music, theater performances, or any similar event.
It's great to have instrument or lighting patches cue automatically with midi timecodes, but entering them manually is really limiting and slow. Here you can lay everything out ahead of time (color coded), move things around, adjust, and send the list to StageTraxx when you're ready.
This tool can:
Bank your patches and devices (up to four midi devices)
Automatically generate patch changes like this: [midi@01:48.64: CC2.127@13]
Automatically account for device latency
Color code your performance by midi device
Quickly lookup a specific song
Easily copy/paste the song list cues into StageTraxx

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/StageTraxx-Automatic-Midi-Commands-for-Lyric-Editor-MusicLighting-set-lists-10609876?utm_campaign=post_purchase_confirmation_test&utm_content=01%2F11%2F2024&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid

AnthonyB

Midimannz Interesting! Wasn't aware that someone had made an app to try and simplify this process somewhat!

I'm handling MIDI automation for a bunch of guitar effects processors (thankfully less work than lighting) and so I just built myself an Excel spreadsheet template with a few formulas. I do still also manually enter the events into my DAW so that the DAW becomes a duplicate source of truth (plus knowing that ST4 will support MIDI files so it's a future investment). Entering them into the DAW then gives me the specific time the events occur (in ms) which I manually transfer back into the spreadsheet.
I've taught the guitarists how to input the various controllers that relate to things they want turned on/off, and when within the context of the song they want these events to occur. I then take that data, along with the start time of the track, the time the events occur, and massage it with a formula to create code I can copy directly into a ST lyric sheet.

It is a far from elegant solution, but it works for us (so far).

MarkGuitar

peter MarkGuitar MIDI File support is planned for version 4.0.

Wonderful. Can't wait to get the new version..... 😉

DaveT

For quick command insertions, why not get yourself a stream deck and assign the midi commands to the keys on the stream deck - one hit of the key and your full command is "pasted" in to where your cursor is. You can have multiple pages for the likes of DMX, Guitar FX, keyboard patch etc etc -- all within a key click or two. I use the stream deck to do my text colouring, inserting timecode, undo , redo, bold, italics, text input for the likes of "INSTRUMENTAL SECTION" coloured red etc all with one button press on it.