• FeaturesiOS

  • Necessary to import (and create new) files into the app?

Is it really necessary to upload the audio files (from the iOS media library for example) and import them (i.e. create whole new files) into Stagetraxx 3’s own, separate audio file library?

On all other backing track apps I’ve used, I could simply load the existing files within the iOS media library into the app, ”streaming” them from the iOS library without “physically” having to copy and import them.

This, to my eye, is one of the main advantages of using iPad as a backing track player at all. It’s just so smooth. Whenever I need to renew or add something into my backing track library (which I do all the time because I keep adding new songs and tweaking details in existing ones), I simply do it in iTunes on my computer and make all the changes there. I also create playlists within iTunes - playlists which are also possible to load (without copying any files) into the backing track app I’ve been using so far (BackTrax). Working with iTunes on my Mac to update the library in this way, and overwriting “bad” backtracks with new versions under the same name, is simply very, very simple and time saving.

Starting up BackTrax, I then have immediate access to the whole refreshed library at the press of a button. And it literally takes a fraction of a second to load the entire library to be playable within the BackTrax app - again, because no copying of files takes place.

And - this also means that the backtracks take up half the space (!) on the iPad compared to copying the files entirely. This is no small thing.

StageTraxx 3 is apparently more advanced and has midi functionality which Backtrax lacks, so I would like to switch. But if there’s no way to use it in the same way as BackTrax - i.e. not copying any files but rather playing them directly from their location within iOS - this is sort of a deal breaker.

Version 2 used to play back directly from the iTunes library but when you scroll back 3 years in this forum you will see that most support requests where related to problems with this integration. Due to the fact that you can do lots of song specific settings in Stage Traxx it needs to link into the iTunes library to the song. This link often changes. Most players that don't store song specific settings don't care about this because you just select a playlist from iTunes and the song links within this playlist are valid throughout the session. After years of answering the same questions again and again and urging users to properly tag their songs to prevent this problem I simply could not sustain this approach any longer.

Therefore I have decided to copy all tracks into the app. Space is not an issue as you can delete imported tracks from the iTunes library. And this approach also allows for single file backups which have not been possible in version 2. Overall the advantages are far greater than the disadvantages.

Ok.

It feels to me like the disadvantages are monumental, for my purposes, while the advantages are not ones I’m going to have any use for. But you obviously have to listen to your larger customer base.

I suppose I will have to keep uploading and erasing my entire library from the app. Is it possible to estimate how long that might take? I think I have about 5 gb of mp3-files at the moment, and an iPhone SE2/an iPad Air 4.

Is it possible, perhaps, to change my backing tracks folder associated with iTunes to a location within iCloud Drive, and then import the songs into Stagetraxx 3 from iCloud, instead of from my iTunes library? That way, I don’t need to store/sync my iTunes library on my iOS devices at all, but rather just

  1. keep the song library on iCloud and

  2. transfer it to my iOS unit of choice from Apple’s servers, directly within Stagetraxx.

Right?

This, I suppose, would mean that uploading the entire 5 gb library from Apple’s servers each time, will take far longer than copying the songs from within one and the same device?

/Adam

    Maceoparker Hi Maceoparker, i know exactly what pains you and i also had the same issue, multiple devices and continual changes to backing tracks either new songs or revised versions.
    Using Itunes seemed easy to sync everything but it also had very confusing disadvantages if you hapened to change things slightly you would loose songs and have to muck around to reestablish them.
    The new system is not that hard to use if you stick to one rule, choose which is your master device and use that device to do all your tweaks and changes and create full backups using this device, i use my ipad as this is also my device i use on stage, to sync up all other devices just create a full backup and restore this backup on all other devices, now i know this is not ideal as you might work on Your imac instead on occasions and have no time to update your ipad to perform with quickly, in which case i use my dropbox to save my latest backup and than i have access to dropbox from all other devices like iphones and other ipads, i have asked Peter that it would be really nice if we could seamlesly sync ST3 to all devices without any tweaking, i think he said he might be looking at it but its tricky.
    I definitely dont miss itunes anymore and all my tracks are a higher quality sample rates now i never have missing tracks anymore and feel a lot more confident when on stage that all my files are there and ready to go, before i use to every so often get issues of missing tracks because of the itunes system, i am so far very happy i left it behind.
    I have now transferred all my listening music as well to ST3 and completely cut ties with Itunes and now called MUSIC app and feel much better about it.

      What Damir said about keeping your devices in sync.

      Regarding your iCloud question: I don't recommend this approach you propose. iTunes has a weird organisation format and not all data is stored in the audio files. What works better is to drag and drop the songs from iTunes to a iCloud folder. That way iTunes writes some of the data stored in the database into the audio files. Then import from this folder. Still this will upload your files to the internet.

      A quicker way is to export your songs to a local folder on your computer. Select them and share via Airdrop to your iPad. This way your files will transfer directly over your Wifi network.

      9 days later

      Ok.

      My Macbook Pro is definitely going to be my "master device" for editing (even though I basically only use my iPad on gigs), since it is where I make all my backings (in Logic Pro), since my Macbook has a keyboard for editing lyrics, and because it simply is much more versatile when it comes to functions, options on where and how to store stuff and so on.

      But how do I go about it if I want to make some changes to a single song or a couple of songs (changes which entail re-bouncing them from Logic Pro) and when I need to add songs? Can I "update" an existing song within Stagetraxx´s library and just "overwrite" it with the edited version, or do I have to erase the old one and then add the edited one - and then (once again) create an all new backup?

      How about playlists? Let´s say I have a bunch of playlists in iTunes (which I do). Does adding these playlists to Stagetraxx import the audio files once again (if the original files themselves are already in the library), thus creating duplicates of the same file? Or will the playlist (once imported into Stagetraxx) use the same, existing file already imported earlier?

      /Adam

      You don‘t need to delete songs in Stage Traxx. Just overwrite the audio file in the Stage Traxx folder. See here where to find it on macOS: https://support.stagetraxx.com/d/552-mac-where-does-stage-traxx-store-audio-files

      If the length did not change you don‘t need to do anything else. If the length changed open song details and press the reload button on top. This will also regenerate the waveform.

      If you manage Playlists in iTunes, importing them will skip songs already imported but will add them to the imported playlist. So there will be no duplicates but the playlist will be imported with existing files.

      But keep in mind: the macOS version can not import from iTunes.

        peter Also keep in mind if you use auto synced lyrics, that if you change the length of time of your song by increasing or decreasing tempo or just by editing the front and back of songs your Timecodes in the auto sync of lyrics will be out of sync and you will have to redo them from scratch.

          If you shorten or extend an introspective could use the offset Tag to modify the timestamps. If you change the tempo you will definitely have to redo the timestamps.

          I don´t think I´m going to use any advanced "syncing" of the lyrics. I basically need some sort of autoscroll, just to keep the lyrics somewhat in line with the progression of the song.

          Are there advanced options for syncing the lyrics line-by-line, so to speak, with exact time stamps and so on?

          Using autoscroll - is it possible to "override it" in realtime by nudging the lyrics a little bit in the right direction with a finger during playback, if the audio and the lyrics should happen to diverge too much? Another app i used had this feature.

          I had another question. I think I read somewhere (but now I can´t find it) that it´s supposed to be possible to enter midi commands (to be sent from Stagetraxx to external gear later, when performing) into the lyrics by actually sending these midi commands into stagetraxx during playback, and have Stagetraxx recognise them and put them into the lyrics. Did I dream this up? Or did I confuse Stagetraxx with another app?

          This would be useful for me because it would save tons of time, by allowing me to insert the relevant commands in realtime, at specific points throughout the song (i.e. at the start and end of verses, choruses etc), rather than having to figure out at what exact times each song goes through these passages, and then type in the commands manually.

          Am I making any sense?

            Maceoparker Are there advanced options for syncing the lyrics line-by-line, so to speak, with exact time stamps and so on?

            Yes, see here: https://stagetraxx.com/user-guide/lyrics/#using-automatic-scrolling

            Maceoparker is it possible to "override it" in realtime by nudging the lyrics a little bit in the right direction with a finger during playback

            Only temporarily. They will snap back once you lift the finger.

            Stage Traxx can send and learn midi. See here: https://stagetraxx.com/user-guide/midi/

            Just start playback, activate midi learn and feed the midi commands at the correct time into Stage Traxx.

                  peter

                  Only temporarily. They will snap back once you lift the finger.

                  That´s unfortunate. Is there no way to disable the snapback? I have a feeling this might complicate things for me quite a bit...

                      Another backing app I used simply allowed me to nudge the lyrics however much I needed to, and then continued scrolling at the same speed as before, from that point on.

                      peter

                      Stage Traxx can send and learn midi. See here: https://stagetraxx.com/user-guide/midi/

                      I read through the midi section of the user´s guide a couple of times before, and now once again, but I can´t find anywhere where it says that Stagetraxx can actually learn midi commands from an external device, automatically convert them into text commands and put them in the song lyrics, and then send these commands to other devices during live playback.

                      All it says is that Stagetraxx can send commands which have been written into the lyrics manually, as well as respond to remote control via midi.

                      If learning commands and then sending them is indeed possible, it isn´t described in the manual.

                      How does one go about it?

                      Thanks again,

                      /Adam

                          Maceoparker That´s unfortunate. Is there no way to disable the snapback?

                          If you disable automatic scrolling it will not snap back. But then you always need to scroll manually.

                          Maceoparker I read through the midi section of the user´s guide a couple of times before, and now once again, but I can´t find anywhere where it says that Stagetraxx can actually learn midi commands from an external device

                          That‘s described here: https://stagetraxx.com/user-guide/lyrics/#learn-midi-commands

                                Hmm...under "Learn MIDI commands" it says that I´m supposed to press the midi jack symbol in the "keyboard toolbar".

                                Where is the keyboard toolbar?

                                All I can find, in the OSX version of the app, are options to "Show Toolbar" and "Customize Toolbar", under "View" in the drop-down menu. These options are greyed out, though. On the iOS version, I can´t find any such options at all.

                                What am I missing?

                                Open song details and edit lyrics. Place the cursor somewhere in the text area and the toolbar will appear.

                                Ah...sweet.

                                How about lyrics and updating/overwriting the audio files? Maybe we´ve already been through this. But let´s say I tweak a song in Logic Pro by, say, adding an effect to the snare or whatever, keeping everything else as is. Can I then bounce the audio file from Logic directly to the Stagetraxx 3 library folder, overwriting the current file with the new one, and trust that my lyrics and all other settings remain intact (but with updated audio)?

                                You can work just as you described it. Any editing you do in Stage Traxx will stay when you overwrite the audio file with a new version. Just remember to refresh the waveform on the song details screen when you change the length of the audio file.