Multi Trigger

[Nigel Bayliss]

Hi. I'm currently using SCS 9.5.4, and am working on a show running lots of sound effects from SCS with some midi commands changing scenes on the mixing desk. The show also includes some click tracks...currently running from a minidisc. Is there a way to run these from SCS...bearing in mind the musical director needs to trigger the start of each click track from the pit. So, basically, is there a way of having a separate trigger control which only effects what essentially is a playlist, and doesn't effect the triggers I am operating from my control position...i.e. me triggering just the sound effects and midi sends?

[Mike Daniell]

In 9.5.4 there isn't a way in which your MD can be given restricted access to cues, but in SCS 10 with a Professional Plus license there is a feature that is designed specifically for this requirement.

With 9.5.4 you can set up MIDI control for the MD and still have PC keyboard control yourself, but the danger is that the MD could start any cue.

In SCS 10 Professional Plus there is a feature called 'cue start confirmation'. So for a particular click trick you would set up an Audio File cue with an activation method of 'Manual+Confirm'. Here is an extract from the SCS 10 Help file (you can read 'musical director' for 'conductor'):

This feature is designed for the following scenario: "For this show - as for many others - there are certain playback cues that have to be triggered by the Conductor, such as clicktracks. He wants to be able to use the top-most key on his synth keyboard (not played as part of the score) to trigger each cue (rather than a key per cue - as it's all too hard to keep track of which one he wants)."

The conductor is effectively a second or remote operator of SCS, but the conductor must only be able to start specific cues. If you just implement MIDI control to map the top-most 'Note On' command to 'Go Next' then the conductor could start any 'next cue', so SCS provides a way in which the conductor's control of starting the next cue can be enabled only when required. This enabling is controlled manually by the principal SCS operator, or by an auto-start cue. You can liken this enabling to opening a gate to allow thru the confirmation command from the conductor. The gate will be closed automatically after the confirmation command has been received.

SCS Professional Plus users will have two additional entries in the Activation Method drop-down list: Manual+Confirm (Manual + Confirmation), and Auto+Confirm (Auto-Start + Confirmation). Manual+Confirm means that the cue must first be manually activated by any method acceptable to a Manual (Go Button) activation, such as a mouse right-click, pressing the spacebar, or by a MIDI command. On receiving this activation, the cue state is changed from Ready to Wait4Conf (waiting for confirmation). The cue will only start playing when a confirmation message is received, which may be either via MIDI (such as a specific Note On message sent from the conductor's synth) or by the operator's keyboard.

More info is in the Help file for SCS 10.

[Nigel Bayliss]

Ok thanks Mike. I'll have a look at the help files...it sounds as though I would need to press another button for 'confirmation' after the conductor has pressed his 'start' button, which wouldn't really work in my current situation..it needs to happen automatically as soon as he's pressed start. Never mind, it was just a thought. Is the system stable enough to keep say 4 tracks of click track in sync...like a mutitrack? That way I could have one track as metronome, and three other tracks of say bass, backing vocals and keys. That way I could also alter the individual levels of the tracks.

[Mike Daniell]

it sounds as though I would need to press another button for 'confirmation' after the conductor has pressed his 'start' button

No, it's the other way round. You 'start' the cue, typically a few seconds before the click track is required, and then the Conductor confirms. This means the click track starts immediately the conductor confirms the cue.

Regarding 4 tracks in sync, etc, see this forum posting by Martin Norris. Martin has been running multiple tracks in sync for many gigs.

[Nigel Bayliss]

Sorry Mike...all makes sense now! And thanks for the link about running multiple tracks. Very useful.

All the best

Nigel

Theatre Royal, Bath