Is this possible? Midi setup question????

[DestroyerD]

My band and i are looking into setups for a live rig that will work for everyone needs and be a functional and dumby proof as possible.

We want to setup an axe fx 2 and a line 6 pod hd pro with midi switching via my mac and also get midi triggers from my drummers snare and kick while sending a backing track to FOH and a click to the drummer. Here is some of the equipment we plan on using to accomplish this-
Axe Fx 2
Voodoo labs ground control pro for whammy and random switching if need be
Pod hd pro
Macbook pro (with logic 9 and superior drummer 2.0)
M audio profire 610
Roland spds pad to get midi from triggers or an edrum brain


All i need to know is if i have all the neccessary equipment to run midi to everything and how to make it all fuctional. Im horrible with midi and how it works.

Thanks for any and all input!

 

[concertjunkie]

I dont know much on how you will get that setup (maybe Misha can chime in? Periphery uses a Macbook Pro live through Cubase, which controls the switching between channels, very tight setup!)

but I would recommend as a computer tech, to spend a little money and invest in a SSD (solid state drive) for the MBP (macbook pro)
and at least 4gb ram (more never hurts, if it supports 8+, go for it)

even if you have a "regular" hard drive for normal usage and swap out the SSD for shows, this will save a lot of issues of potential hard drive failure from the consistent vibrations or shock from the monitors/speakers in a venue

if you have the HDD already setup, you could go about cloning the hard drive using Carbon Copy Cloner (google it) or if you need to save space (or have a smaller SSD) , install a fresh operating system on the SSD and run Migration Assistant, only importing the Applications, so you can save a little time with that setup

if you have already considered and done this, then I commend you for doing the smart thing

 

[DestroyerD]

I have heard of these issues but i havent looked into it to much. If it will be a problem in the future i will definitely look into getting an ssd for my mac. Also im running 16gb of ram with it so i shouldnt have a problem with any latency or what not. Thanks for the help!!!

 

[concertjunkie]

no problem if you end up getting an SSD and want some help setting it up, feel free to shoot me a message. some people, soon to include myself as well, are swapping out the optical drive for an "opti bay" which allows me to use a tray that holds a hard drive in place of the optical drive... so you can have a mechanical drive for storage and a smaller SSD for your OS and applications. Right now, the sweet spot for good priced SSD's is around 256GB for under $200.

 

[DestroyerD]

awesome! how big of an ssd would i need?


just looking to have midi changes with logic and backing tracks.

gonna load the snare and kick samples from metal foundry into the spds

 

[concertjunkie]

awesome! how big of an ssd would i need?


just looking to have midi changes with logic and backing tracks.

gonna load the snare and kick samples from metal foundry into the spds

just enough to cover the applications + extra space for additional apps / swap file

 

[Matt_D_]

My band and i are looking into setups for a live rig that will work for everyone needs and be a functional and dumby proof as possible.

We want to setup an axe fx 2 and a line 6 pod hd pro with midi switching via my mac and also get midi triggers from my drummers snare and kick while sending a backing track to FOH and a click to the drummer. Here is some of the equipment we plan on using to accomplish this-
Axe Fx 2
Voodoo labs ground control pro for whammy and random switching if need be
Pod hd pro
Macbook pro (with logic 9 and superior drummer 2.0)
M audio profire 610
Roland spds pad to get midi from triggers or an edrum brain


All i need to know is if i have all the neccessary equipment to run midi to everything and how to make it all fuctional. Im horrible with midi and how it works.

Thanks for any and all input!

I've not done this in a live situation(tm) but i own some of the bits of hardware you do so ill give you what i know.

ok, you're going to want a SSD in your laptop. no moving parts = no head skip due to excessive vibration.

the profire 610 has midi out, and you could possibly encode midi changes as a separate channel in logic. Im not sure about adding in on the fly changes as that may confuse things , i'd either go for automated changes, or manual.

click also would be a separate channel in logic (routed to one of the headphone outs via the 610).
put click on channel 1/2 (headphone out 1)
put FOH Backing on channels 3/4
then use 5-8 for outs from superior drummer.

i'd be a bit wary of running SD live AND logic playback. SD can be quite system intensive.

I know the POD HD has a published midi spec which you can use to trigger patch changes, the looper, etc etc. i'll be trying this out soon myself. post back with how you go

 

[DestroyerD]

awesome! as far as using sd live. i will just put the samples onto the spds pad and cut that whole side of excess usage out and just run the click, backing tracks, and patch changes with logic. thanks for the help

 

[samincolour]

I'm not doing this, but that sounds very forward thinking, I like the sound of it!

 

[bannyd]

i was just at a local show last week where the guitarist was set up with an axe fx and midi triggers through logic -- i talked to him briefly after the show and he said it made playing live SO much easier -- no tap dancing at all

I hope you accomplish what you're set out to do -- I know that it IS possible to do - you're definitely on the right track

 

[DestroyerD]

awesome! you guys are awesome and very helpful. may be a bit before i get all this together but when i get it set up and all running together i will let you guys know how it all works!