Mixing tracks using two instances of OpenMPT

ida · January 05, 2016, 11:54:07

So i've been getting into live performing a lot more, especially since recently i played an open stage and everyone there loved what i was doing. But what i did there was line a couple of tracks up in Ableton and play them after eachother followed by a segment of live music made using the Korg DS-10 synth. I'd much rather play and mix my project files live in OpenMPT so that i can manipulate the sounds, patterns and plugins live rather than just letting everyone listen to an MP3 file that i can't mess around with. But then there's the problem that OpenMPT can only play one track at a time, and that i have no idea how to synchronize two instances together so that i can seamlessly transfer from one song to another. Is this possible?

herodotas · January 05, 2016, 13:09:56

For live check this: http://www.giadamusic.com/.

Trackers are not suited for live performances in general.

ida · January 05, 2016, 13:15:44

Honestly, i do think that OpenMPT has some useful features for live stuff like changing patterns on the beat, looping patterns, and that sorta stuff. But if not... well, i compose all my music in OpenMPT so i don't see another way of messing around with each track outside of OpenMPT, so i wouldn't know what else to do.

herodotas · January 05, 2016, 13:30:09

You are so stubborn

. But it is good moment to ask Saga to do MIDI mappable channel manager and MIDI markers in pattern sequence window

.

Saga Musix · January 05, 2016, 13:51:58

I guess this is where the "OpenMPT as a VSTi" approach would come in handy, but no work has been done on this unfortunately.

herodotas? How would you imagine a "MIDI mappable channel manager" to work? I suppose you want to modify the properties of channels (e.g. mute status) using MIDI messages, but how? Note that you can already bind MIDI CCs to keyboard shortcuts, so in theory you can do all the channel muting / unmuting work using MIDI CCs, but you'd have to navigate around in the pattern channel by channel using MIDI CCs as well.

herodotas · January 05, 2016, 14:14:55

I mean possibility assign channel manager buttons or/and groups of them to MIDI devices, for example, to keys of MIDI keyboard and mute/unmute them by pushing assigned keys.

Saga Musix · January 05, 2016, 14:45:25

Sounds like an interesting idea. Can you please post it to the Issue Tracker so that I won't forget about it?

herodotas · January 05, 2016, 14:55:42

Done!

LPChip · January 06, 2016, 17:03:26

This has my thumbs up!

.^o · January 08, 2016, 06:44:05

if that helps ...
I always play live with 2 or more OmpT with an external mixer.
with several pc or one with multiple sound cards.
you can mix x tracks together.
there is no problem.

MakeNoize · January 08, 2016, 07:36:58

It should be possible also to do it the hard way: importing pattern data and instruments/samples from the tree explorer while one pattern is running. Now it could be easier if drag and drop of a "bundle (sound+pattern)" was possible. This will work of course if the number of lines per pattern of the 2 songs is the same (until the feature that allows each channel to have a different number of lines for those Tangerine Dream fans

).

Regarding the idea of using midi notes to control the channel manager, it might be cool also to have the VU meters on the buttons (it's easier to solo/mute the right channel) and perhaps when deleting a channel that the positions stays the same (an empty space for the deleted channel and not a "shift to the left" of all the remaining channels), otherwise the MIDI mapping will be hard to follow. Now I'm not really interested in connecting a keyboard but something like the novation launchpad might be cool. Not sure of the kind of messages it uses.

ida · January 08, 2016, 11:17:51

Quote from: .^o on January 08, 2016, 06:44:05
if that helps ...
I always play live with 2 or more OmpT with an external mixer.
with several pc or one with multiple sound cards.
you can mix x tracks together.
there is no problem.

Yes, just opening two instances of OpenMPT and trying to mix them by starting songs at the right moment is indeed something i could do, but it's exceptionally hard to do because a track never starts exactly when you press play. That's why i'd really want to be able to synchronize two instances together.

Quote from: MakeNoize on January 08, 2016, 07:36:58
It should be possible also to do it the hard way: importing pattern data and instruments/samples from the tree explorer while one pattern is running. Now it could be easier if drag and drop of a "bundle (sound+pattern)" was possible. This will work of course if the number of lines per pattern of the 2 songs is the same (until the feature that allows each channel to have a different number of lines for those Tangerine Dream fans ).

Regarding the idea of using midi notes to control the channel manager, it might be cool also to have the VU meters on the buttons (it's easier to solo/mute the right channel) and perhaps when deleting a channel that the positions stays the same (an empty space for the deleted channel and not a "shift to the left" of all the remaining channels), otherwise the MIDI mapping will be hard to follow. Now I'm not really interested in connecting a keyboard but something like the novation launchpad might be cool. Not sure of the kind of messages it uses.

In theory it would be possible to use the append feature to chain two modules or more together, but it wouldn't be live mixing and that's cheap. Not to mention that it's obviously also going to add in all of the plugins of an appended song so making a large mix is basically going to fry my processor. I have a Launchpad and i've tried using it with OpenMPT before (although it's definitely not as useful with OpenMPT, it's much more a thing for Ableton ofcourse), and it's fine for controlling plugin parameters and playing notes on it. If it (or any MIDI controller i have) would be able to start/stop tracks, it would really largen it's use for me. Then again i could also just use Ableton for mixing songs using the scene/clip mode and session view, but since all of my songs are made in OpenMPT i can't mess around with it too much. Although what i could still do is split the channels up in different audio files and throw them onto Ableton and add effects for each channel and the master. Then the problem is that i only have the Lite version of Ableton so i'm only able to use just 8 channels... Hmm.......

.^o · January 08, 2016, 11:26:44

Quote from: WouterVL on January 08, 2016, 11:17:51
Yes, just opening two instances of OpenMPT and trying to mix them by starting songs at the right moment is indeed something i could do, but it's exceptionally hard to do because a track never starts exactly when you press play. That's why i'd really want to be able to synchronize two instances together.

improve your finger and ear latency ? ^^
adjust with the tempo for synchronize

it's really stable after

Saga Musix · January 08, 2016, 13:46:53

Quote from: .^o on January 08, 2016, 11:26:44
Quote from: WouterVL on January 08, 2016, 11:17:51
Yes, just opening two instances of OpenMPT and trying to mix them by starting songs at the right moment is indeed something i could do, but it's exceptionally hard to do because a track never starts exactly when you press play. That's why i'd really want to be able to synchronize two instances together.

improve your finger and ear latency ? ^^
adjust with the tempo for synchronize
it's really stable after

This has nothing (or at least not only) to do with skills, but also audio drivers. If you're using an ASIO driver, settin "when playback is stopped" to "play silence" in OpenMPT's Sound Card settings might help.

.^o · January 08, 2016, 16:26:57

ableton link could be another way ?
what do you think about it jojo ?

QuoteLink is a technology that keeps devices in time over a wireless network.
...
We want Link to help musicians connect and collaborate in innovative ways, so we'll be sharing the Link SDK for free. If you're an app developer who's interested in joining the band of music-making apps that have Link built in, get in touch.

https://www.ableton.com/en/link/