Mainstage-like setup

[etienne]

Hi there

I am desperately looking for a Linux replacement for Mainstage. I need to be able to have a playlist of songs/patches for live playback, with tempo's, click tracks, and so on.

Mainstage allows one to to save tempo's, patches and playback for use alone or with a midi controller. I don't really need a midi controller right now (although it would be great in the future) but still, I can find no Linux option for multipurpose live music software.

Here are my needs:
1. Playlist of songs/patches/saves
2. Tempo/click
3. Playback of patches/mp3's/ogg's/wav's
4. Multiple outputs (e.g. one for click and one for mains)

I have attempted combinations of Jack-capable software, e.g. audacious and gklick, but I have not been successful.

Any working solution or combination will do - it does not have to be a Mainstage clone!

Thanks in advance

Etienne

[sadko4u]

I mostly user Ardour for such purposes. I just prepare large pre-processed multi-track project and route all what I want to the sound card's outputs.

So if I want to play something, I just import files into new project. Additonally, having grid in ardour, I add special metronome click track (didn't like the built-in click ever). All additional ambient sounds I need i put on another tracks that can be mixed with the main track. Multiple outputs are also OK: I output click direct into my ears, playback into the stage mixer, and all works fine.

[gimmeapill]

Couldn't you do that with Mixxx http://www.mixxx.org?
Nowadays it support 4 decks + audio pass through, so you could possibly work out something with the metronome and tempo detection - not sure, just an idea..

[etienne]

@sadko4u - I would have to stop and load a new session in Ardour between songs - I couldn't easily set up 5-10 songs in a playlist (like you can in Mainstage).

@gimmeapill - I've tried, but I can't seem to find any way to do it in Mixxx.

I am still out of luck - there seems to be no way to do this on Linux, even though there are many choices on Mac and PC.

[noedig]

I created a script that is able to switch between songs in an Ardour session if it is set up correctly, using a MIDI controller.
https://github.com/noedigcode/ArdourSongSwitcher
You tell the script which tracks in Ardour correspond to which song and the script mutes/unmutes the appropriate tracks based on the song you select. Multiple tracks can be assigned to a song. Songs are also assigned location markers in the script. This is useful if you are using MIDI and require different tempos for different songs. In this case, a song can be placed at a different location on the timeline with its own tempo marker and a location marker. When switching to the song, the script changes Ardour's play head to the song's location marker.

OSC is used to communicate with Ardour and Mididings to handle MIDI input.

It takes a while to set up the Ardour project and the script config accordingly, but once done, it works quite well. (It's quicker if you don't use MIDI tracks and different tempos.)
Read the readme carefully.

[etienne]

Ok, I'll check it out!

Another option that I have been looking at is a very convoluted, difficult setup where I record/mix the backing to a WAV file, and then load it into Rosegarden, where I can have midi tracks, a metronome, and audio ouputs on different Jack outputs, and then I can at any time change the overall tempo. It's a difficult, convoluted setup, but it sort of, kind of works.

If anyone wants to know how it works, just message or reply.

[Frank Carvalho]

I don't know if it will cover all your needs, but for live control I've been using MidiLayer to control settings in Carla. MidiLayer has patches that you can setup to control almost anything via midi.

[shibetpc]

You might have a look at Linux Show Player (https://github.com/FrancescoCeruti/linux-show-player).

I can't speak to its stability as I've only just played around with it, but it seems to touch on all your pain points:

- Audio and Midi cues, so you can trigger playback of mp3, ogg, etc, as well as kick off midi messages for patch changes
- Concurrent cues, so you the next 'cue' can include both patch changes and audio cues.
- List format (playlist), as well as touchscreen button style (cart) layout depending on your preference.
- Designed to be used in a live environment.
- Output via jack can be routed per cue I believe so a click track can be routed to a separate output

[etienne]

Linux Show Player looks the most promising. I'll take a look and let everyone know how it went...

[tizo]

Any advance in this topic?.

I have to say that I have never used mainstage, but I am looking for some free software to use in live performance, with the ability to send metronome to differents output channels depending on the time of the song, adjust the figures of the metronome, play some samplers, and send midi messages.

Thanks in advance.

[manu_controvento]

Try SuperBoucle!
It's a ableton live - like software, with scenes management, multiple outputs, midi controller binding, and playlist of songs...

[manu_controvento]

Hi!
Just to let everyone know that I released a new version of SuperBoucle - version 20.04.07
It's a nice alternative to Ableton Live, but imho it lacked of some useful functions.
So I created my fork from Vampouille's master repository (i.e. its creator... which I thank again) and I did my own changes and now my version is available at:

https://github.com/manucontrovento/superboucle

Wiki documentation is in progress and I'll upload it as soon as possible.