This would be a great feature. I’ve done this using envelopes and a key to fade out the tracks if the band got off and would fade it back in when back on but an option with OSC would be awesome!
So excited about the groups feature! I can’t wait to try it out.
On a side note, what do you think about moving the recording indicator in the performance view to the transport control buttons below (like in the setlist view)? I thought it might help streamline the interface.
@iamderkis implementing a fade-out/in feature shouldn’t be too difficult. To preserve the volume levels of each track, I could imagine the following steps for fading tracks out and in:
Fade Out: Store the initial track volume, gradually reduce the volume until the track is quiet (-Inf dB), mute the track, and reset its volume slider back to the stored value
Fade In: Store initial track volume, set track volume to -Inf dB, unmute the track, and gradually increase the volume until it reaches the stored value
Implementing a volume slider for track groups will likely be more complex when each track in a group can have its own volume level. The easiest implementation would be to overwrite the volume level so it becomes the same on all tracks of a given group, but that might lead to sudden jumps in volume when you use the volume slider.
A more difficult approach would be to have the volume slider show an average of the volume of all tracks and add/subtract the same value to the volume of all tracks when you move it. This should be possible, but I’m unsure how to handle cases where all tracks become silent, for example. I’ll check how other products do this.
Hey, the groups with Mute/Solo buttons look great and can be really functional. Would it also be possible to control these groups (Solo/Mute control) through Streamdeck/Companion?
And if i were to add a “+G:Master” tag to the master track would that also be possible to control through AbleSet (I would assume so but haven’t tested the beta yet) and have visual feedback on what tracks are muted/solo’d
Hey @LlamaMilk, I just noticed that the Main track can’t be renamed, so adding a group flag isn’t possible, unfortunately. I could add an option to the app instead that adds the main track as its own separate track group. Would that work for you?
You might want to take a look at Mixing Station. It is an awesome app for controlling a range of digital mixers. I use it with an X32. It has a feature called “IDCA” which is exactly what you describe.
Yeah a master “Group” in settings would be great, I saw you mentioned StreamDeck support was implemented, you probably thought of this already but it would be nice if the Master would then also have similar controls
A small (potential bug) I have experienced with the +G: (groups).
I have put the tag onto the return tracks that I am setting as “groups”. Initially in performance view, none of them are showing. When I delete the tag from one return group and add it back, they all show up. It has not done this every single time but it has the majority of the time. Same for when I had the tags put on individual tracks and groups as well.
I have my set configured, as I’m sure many others do, using Return Tracks a la the “Will Doggett/From Studio to Stage” method. I currently have 5: Tracks, Guide, Click, Guitars, and Drums.
We had some serious band drama that led to our guitar player being let go, and had to play the next show sans guitar player. I just routed that guitars return track to where it needed to be in my mixer and we played the gig. It was awesome, and worked great. We have now replaced him and all is good!
Sometimes we have a rehearsal that the drummer can’t attend, that’s why I made the Drums Return Track. I can just unmute that return track and assign it to an output… No drummer? No problem!
Now the wheels in my brain are turning with ideas for how I can set it all up to utilize this new functionality in the future. This is going to be a serious game changer!
I have also been meaning to try to add in the functionality from the From Studio to Stage template that others have mentioned regarding 1 bar or 2 bar fade in/out. I deleted it from the template that I use, because I wasn’t using it, but after a handful of gigs now I can definitely see the value in it. I need to find those old template files on my SSD to dissect what is going on under the hood with that. MIDI command to trigger an envelope that lowers then raises the volume on the “Tracks” return track over a 1 bar or 2 bar period.
I ran into an issue where I needed more “mutable” tracks than Ableton’s 12 return track limit and found out that if you tag multiple tracks as the same name (+G:ACOUSTIC) it mutes and unmutes all of them. So now I place tracks into a GROUP that holds the acoustic tracks or a GROUP for all of the Lead Guitar parts and another for RHYTHM so that I can mute and unmute all of the parts depending on who can attend rehearsal and who can’t. Updated all of my templates today to accommodate this and it’ll be a game changer to not have to expand all of my song groups and mute each drum track, etc. So great.