I’ve been creating a simple MCU-compatible mixer Rack for Cantabile.
One of the things I would like to have implemented was level meter outputs to the control surface, but I hit a snag with implementing this.
The way the MCU protocol implements level meters is through MIDI channel pressure messages. But these are no ordinary messages…
What happens is that the data byte is broken down into the form [0 h h h l l l l] - where hhh represents the channel 0-7 to be addressed, and llll represents level.
I can’t see any way in Cantabile, as it stands, for me to implement the meters with this protocol.
Could a way to do it be considered for adding?
And if so…
…might it be worth opening up the whole gamut of MCU protocol within Cantabile? I can see so many possibilities if this were the case, including instrument names for each song populating scribble strips, for instance.
I’m resurrecting this thread to see if it can gain any interest a second time around.
TBH I’ve managed to create something for myself, using my own mixer rack, that works fine, but I do think that general MCU compatibility would be a good thing for Cantabile.
There are so many MCU-compatible control options around now, and it would be a great thing if Cantabile worked with them straight out of the box.
I use MCU-compatible control for Cakewalk using the RTP-Midi software. It’s very responsive on android phones and tablets. OTOH, Reaper has a built in remote control using OSC that works just as well. I use it for touchscreen control of recording that can be arm mounted to be accessible from the drums, a seated guitarist etc. It’s a game changer for those purposes.
I should add that subsequent to my original post here I did figure out how to get meter outputs from Cantabile into MCU-format. In fact, I created an entirely MCU-compatible 8-input mixer Rack with meter outputs.
When I load up a Cantabile Song it populates my X-Touch’s scribble strips and moves the faders to their current position in my mixer Rack. The Rack returns metering reflecting the post-fader signal levels on each of my mixer Rack’s 8 channels.
The basic transport controls all work as they should, except fast forward and rewind, which, IIRC, weren’t a targettable option in Cantabile when I created them.
With a bit more work I could maybe get the bar/beats display working? But it’s not something I intend to take on.
@dsteinschneider I use rtpMIDI to interface with my iPad. On the iPad I have a MIDI Designer Layout that controls Cantabile, including my mixer Rack above using MCU protocols - and also has channel level meters. The Layout has a whole lot more, including VST instrument control, looper control, hardware mixer control, a more sophisticated set of controls for my more sophisticated mixer Rack (includes A/B mix output busses and 4 aux sends, all with metering…)…
Putting out another cry for MCU control of Cantabile. It would be so good to be able to use an MCU controller out of the box and have Cantabile at the least understand its transport controls and send back bar/beat or time display information.
There are so many excellent MCU-compatible controller options out there now, it seems a shame that they don’t have an official doorway into Cantabile.
Personally I’d have MCU transport and MMC transport baked into Cantabile, with devices allocated to a permanent, dedicated MCU/MMC MIDI input port(s).
Hi.
I have just bought a Softube midi controller … of which the fader unit would be fantastic as a live controller for those parameters I need to bring out of cantabile. Especially if the motorised faders reflected back settings when they changed from cantabile set list changes.
This I believe is all covered in the Mackie protocols.
It would be IMO a very usefully option in Cantabile … possibly open up usage that hasn’t been thought about.
Personally, my live scenarios nearly always need some kind of level tweaking on the evening.
Bands playing louder, large audience has altered the balance on/off stage.
Currently, I use the Keith mc Millan Mixer & USB audio interface to group 3 main outputs, pianos, pads and solo, and be able to tweak levels and basic EQ on the fly.
Control via remote midi faders would remove the mixer element.
Cheers
Stephen
I’ve stated this in several threads on site. I finally quit running sound from
the stage and found someone else to run sound. Even with that, the bands get louder throughout a gig…it’s just a normal thing as everyone starts rocking. I dealt with it from 1966 to present. The best control I ever had on stage was with an all virtual instrument band using in ears. I could tweak sound, but everything was preset, after shooting the room, and saving those settings for the venue.
It took a lot of pressure off me, so I could concentrate on performing.
Assuming you are performing while tweaking. If so, save the extra years of life you will gain after the pressure stops.
Just a note on my experience with this off topic stretch. We use digital mixer for our work and in ears that are all set to the FOH mix so we all hear the same mix and what in essence the audience hears. The only thing that gets tweaked is the Mains EQ by the FOH guy or by us if we are supplying the mains right on the digital mixer. The guitar and bass guitar are both fed in via TONEX pedal so they are very easy to calibrate. The keyboard patches are balanced from trial and error over many gigs and are matched to the guitar and the E-drums complete the control of the volume war. Bottom line is we have problems only when a guest guitarist sits in with his own rig. If he goes with our TONEX it’s great but if it’s a regular amp with mike it never works out well. So we run sound from the stage 95% of the time and it’s great but we had to find our way there as a band over a multi year period and switch to e-drums, Tonex and Cantabile + my RD2000. Another great advantage is the live recordings are pretty well balanced as a result. I’ve had people say to me they thought canned music was playing when we are doing it this way. One weird side effect was if a person that was listening came near the stage to make a comment or a request the clicking of the keys and the e-drum stick clacks were loud and unnatural so we put a spot monitor at a low level to fill that acoustic space with the mix and cover over me and the drummer’s clicking.
We don’t use baseball bats but have a few old Peavy mike stands around that are threatening enough to warrant respect when wielded by an angry band member …
Our band has three electric guitar players, one playing a 70’s era Fender Bandmaster on top of a matching 2-12 cab, the other two using MusicMan 100 watt / 2-12 combos. Try balancing anything with that
In the Floyd band I was in the guitarist was adamant about playing at a clean level and would tell people to turn down. It’s rare but they are out there.
