Qlab and external music player

[Tanner Lindsay]

Hey all, I'm the technical director at a small community theatre, and we've been using Qlab for a couple shows now. I'm just getting started with what it can do.

However, I have a particular problem I haven't been able to find solutions for, and I'm hoping someone here can help.

When we do musicals, we usually get our tracks from Right On Cue Services. They have a Mac app that plays the music. It is kinda helpful - it allows us to change keys, tempo, vamps, etc. Some vamps run until you click to continue, just like an orchestra would, so there is some nice flexibility. It does allow mapping the buttons (play, pause, continue/revamp, etc.) to MIDI commands. They do this, instead of basic audio files, for copy protection/licensing.

The problem comes when running the show. I can't load external sound effects or other types of cues. I've set it up to send MIDI cues into the 3rd party app to play or whatever, but it is still difficult and confusing. There is no duration to know where you are at in the song (are you in the vamp yet, did I get out of the vamp), I can't repeat songs (scene change or something), syncing cues is difficult, we get out of sync, with Qlab on a different cue, can't fade the track, etc..

The current show has 150 MIDI cues just to run the 25 songs, and we've had our share of misses. Basically the stage manager has to open both apps and watch them both. I'm looking for some better options. Maybe some "empty" audio cues with the right timing? Not sure, and hoping others can help.

Sorry so long.

Tl;dr;
I have to use an external music player app. It can receive MIDI commands. It's annoying to use. I want to make it better. I really like Qlab.

Thanks!

[Tyler]

You could use prewaits with a memo cue to keep track of timing, but unless their software is able to send midi to notify you that a vamp is running, there's no good way to keep track of that. I imagine that their system is not cheap- I would hit them up about their crappy software

[Steven Sokulski]

Do you use any video playback in your show? If not, an external display to keep an eye on the ShowTracjs software might be the best option.

From the sound of it their MIDI options are geared towards the use of an external controller. They were probably envisioning hardware when they designed the commands.

I'd reach out though. Your feedback might help them to update their solution.

[Tanner Lindsay]

Someone did some research :) It is ShowTracks and I agree the options were designed for an external controller.

I have reached out to them, and they seem to understand some of the difficulty. One thing they said is that they really would like to integrate/work with Qlab better, but have had difficulties.

They are actually pretty local to me (SLC area), and I'm a software engineer by day, so I'd love to help it all work better. I'm just not totally sure what some of the options might be, as I'm still learning Qlab.

There was some mention of StageTracks sending MIDI to Qlab. How would that work?

I hadn't thought of the Pre-wait - probably better than putting empty audio tracks. Maybe StageTracks could have an "Export" feature that creates a Qlab cuelist with all the right timings. Can that be imported?

One thing that could help would be if I could goto a particular song (and measure maybe) with cues from Qlab. If I worked with them to add that, should I go for OSC or MIDI or something else?

[Sam Kusnetz]

On September 26, 2016 at 12:29:12 PM, Tanner Lindsay (tanner...@gmail.com) wrote:

I have reached out to them, and they seem to understand some of the difficulty. One thing they said is that they really would like to integrate/work with Qlab better, but have had difficulties. 

Hello!

I’m interested in learning more about these difficulties and how we might be able to help. If you’d like, please encourage the folks at ShowTracks to reach out to me directly.

Thanks

Sam

—

Sam Kusnetz | Figure 53

s...@figure53.com

[ric...@rbisound.com]

 

Having used similar systems from other groups, I think you would be far better off allowing QLab to fire off the Show Tracks computer.  Personally I think if Show Tracks was replacing the entire orchestra pit I would really want a dedicated person that just runs that and nothing else and acts like a conductor.  But that's just my personal preference and may well be based on the fact that I've only dealt with backing tracks, not complete orch pit replacements.  Obviously everyone knows their needs and situation best, but that might be something to think about as well.

 

Bi-directional communication would obviously be the best.  So either can trigger the other.

 

I spoke with the Right On Cue folks at USITT in the spring.  I thought they were pretty well with it and I loved the use of the Wii controller for their backing tracks solution.  I don't know if Stage Tracks allows for that or not, but either way it was kind of fun and slick.  Obviously it would take some time, but I'm sure they would be open to facilitating communication between our typical applications.

 

Richard