Terry Hurrle Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Can you use the tapper wizard to detect portions of a song like the drum beat, guitar and vocal or does it just do the entire beat of the song. I hope this is clear because I have no knowledge of how this soft ware works. I am still deciding on what to go with. I have played with the demo software some but I have been using downloaded sequences and tearing them down to fit my show.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 I don't believe the Tapper Wizard detects anything...it inputs the beat by you "tapping" on the space bar as you listen to the song... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightORamaDan Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 The Beat Wizard can be run on a section of the song and it will detect the beat only within that section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 LightORamaDan wrote: The Beat Wizard can be run on a section of the song and it will detect the beat only within that section.Dan, I've been using the VU Meter (Wizard) to sequence some of my music, can you explain exactly what does the VU Meter actually detect, if anything, or does it just turn on a light when the music is loud enough to cross the threshhold of where the marker is set?Also on the VU Meter (Wizard) I have tried playing around with moving the marker during the song, but I'm guessing this doesn't really work and the VU Meter (Wizard) actually maintains the first setting of the marker? If this could be moved during the music playing, it would be perfect, because then I could have the "light" on the channel I set come on exactly in perfect time to the music by sliding the marker when the music becomes softer or louder so it doesn't keep the light off or on too long.I use the Beat Wizard too, but I actually prefer the VU Meter, the Tapper Wizard, well it seems I just can not keep up with the song or I just don't have the rythym to tap it out in that one. I tried and made a mess of the sequences. They just didn't work out to the time of the music like I had hoped! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Hurrle Posted February 3, 2010 Author Share Posted February 3, 2010 Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightORamaDan Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Orville wrote: LightORamaDan wrote: The Beat Wizard can be run on a section of the song and it will detect the beat only within that section.Dan, I've been using the VU Meter (Wizard) to sequence some of my music, can you explain exactly what does the VU Meter actually detect, if anything, or does it just turn on a light when the music is loud enough to cross the threshhold of where the marker is set?Also on the VU Meter (Wizard) I have tried playing around with moving the marker during the song, but I'm guessing this doesn't really work and the VU Meter (Wizard) actually maintains the first setting of the marker? If this could be moved during the music playing, it would be perfect, because then I could have the "light" on the channel I set come on exactly in perfect time to the music by sliding the marker when the music becomes softer or louder so it doesn't keep the light off or on too long.I use the Beat Wizard too, but I actually prefer the VU Meter, the Tapper Wizard, well it seems I just can not keep up with the song or I just don't have the rythym to tap it out in that one. I tried and made a mess of the sequences. They just didn't work out to the time of the music like I had hoped! LOLIt sounds like a nice enhancement to be able to move the thresholds during play. As it is today, I believe it determines the settings immediatly not during the play of the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 can you explain exactly what does the VU Meter actually detect, if anything, or does it just turn on a light when the music is loud enough to cross the threshhold of where the marker is set? If you set the "attack" and "decay" values to zero, yes, that's exactly what it does. That's not what an actual VU meter does, though, and it's not what the VU Wizard will do if you have attack or decay set to nonzero values.Basically, the higher you make "attack", the more slowly it will react to increased volume, and the higher you make "decay", the more slowly it will react to decreased volume. The purpose of this is to "smooth out" abrupt changes, and it's what an actual VU meter does.Values of zero mean it reacts instantaneously.If you click on the "VU Meter" preset button, it will set attack and decay to values that approximate an actual VU meter. Similarly, "Peak Program Meter" will set attack and decay to values that approximate an actual peak program meter. The "Peak Meter" preset will set them to zero, i.e. it will react immediately to volume changes.As it is today, I believe it determines the settings immediatly not during the play of the song. That's correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Now I'm confused... I use the VU Wizard quite a bit to make my poles into "VU Poles". The way I determine the baseline setting is by moving the sensitivity marker while the song is playing until I get it where I want it. (I set the peak attack time to 0 and the release time to 25ms.) Whatever position it is in when I push the button to apply that setting to the lowest channel on the pole is the threshold above which that channel lights up. Then I move the marker a bit to the right and apply that setting to the next channel up the pole, and I repeat that process for the remaining channels up the pole. Seems to work just fine. Am I missing something in this discussion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 You mean I could have used this feature to have my lights "imitate" the vocals in a song?!?!?!And all the time I was painstakingly doing it by hand...Well...good thing to know for this year!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 No, George, that's right. The information I'm saying about the attack and decay is just a little extra detail, in how it figures out exactly when the threshold is crossed: The crossing of the threshold is really only exactly the same as when the volume itself crosses the threshold if both attack and decay are set to zero.Try this, to see what I mean:Make three channels. Start up the VU Wizard. Pick some setting for the slider, and just leave it there.For the first channel, click the "VU Meter" button, and tell the VU Wizard to turn that channel on and off when the threshold is crossed.Then, leaving the slider in the exact same place, click the "Peak Program Meter" button, and tell the VU Wizard to turn the second channel on and off when the threshold is crossed.Still leaving the slider untouched, click "Peak Meter", and apply it to the third channel.Then take a look at the lighting events in the three channels. You'll see that they're slightly different than each other, even though the slider was in the same place for all of them.This is because a peak meter is just looking at the raw volume at any given point in time, while a VU meter reacts a bit more slowly to volume changes, so as to smooth out abrupt volume changes. And a peak program meter does too, but it reacts more quickly (than a VU meter) to volume increases, and more slowly to volume decreases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 jimswinder wrote: You mean I could have used this feature to have my lights "imitate" the vocals in a song?!?!?!And all the time I was painstakingly doing it by hand...Well...good thing to know for this year!! LOLDidn't you ever wonder what the VU Wizard does? Sounds to me like you need to get out more... No telling how many other nuggets in the software you've been missing. There are times when being a Curious George has benefits, and this is one of them. Take the time to investigate what EVERY COMMAND in the software does and I guarantee you'll save more time sequencing than you spent being curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 hey George,I clicked on it once...but it didn't seem to do anything, so I figured it was not available to me since I just had the Basic License..but I see now that I had it.I think I was also in the throes of sequencing and wondering if I would have enough time to do everything I needed to do...after all, it was already JULY!!!! LOLAnd here it is February and I haven't even begun sequencing yet!!! But I have to wait until I buy the Advanced License to add all the tracks I will need for my 480 channels.PS: Wouldn't it be nice if they threw in the Advance License when you buy another 432 channels worth of LOR equipment??? (HINT HINT) LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsMeBobO Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 LightORamaDan wrote:It sounds like a nice enhancement to be able to move the thresholds during play. As it is today, I believe it determines the settings immediatly not during the play of the song. Hey Dan ! What would be really awesome is to have more than one threshold with each associated to a channel.What I do for an 'EQ' effect is slide down the bar and set a new channel over and over.Or a min and max threshold would be cool to sweep the lights based on volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsMeBobO Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 I whipped this up as an idea of how to juice up the VU meter.(ok i did this a long time ago before tracks were added)It would be great to have an intensity or ramp and multiple channels. Also a frequency range. I often want to EQ just a voice or instrument and at the moment I have to filter it out in Audacity and make a new mp3 of the same length and substitute it in while I use the VU meter and then put the original back in.Can the wizards pull in the selected time instead making me type it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 ItsMeBobO wrote: I whipped this up as an idea of how to juice up the VU meter.(ok i did this a long time ago before tracks were added)It would be great to have an intensity or ramp and multiple channels. Also a frequency range. I often want to EQ just a voice or instrument and at the moment I have to filter it out in Audacity and make a new mp3 of the same length and substitute it in while I use the VU meter and then put the original back in.Can the wizards pull in the selected time instead making me type it?MeBobO, that WOULD be PERFECT for sequencing! I like your approach and your graphic is exactly how I would hsve envisioned the VU Wizrd to actually work too. Hopefully LOR will introduce something like that in a future release of the S2 software.Also, many thanks to Dan and Bob for their explaination of how the current VU Wizard works. That helped me understand it a lot better in its current configuration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shfr26 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 This is about one of the most useful threads I've read for a while. I also did not know the "workings" of the VU meter,wizard. I have turn it on and looked at it, but did not grasp the concept of it.. THANKS for the great info, my sequencung just got easier. Guess I'm still a noob learning what I can do with the software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsMeBobO Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 This video is an example of the EQ style use of the VU meter.There are two uses in the video. The half mega (against and supported by the house) is trying to respond to the string instrument frequency range and the mini poles are trying to capture the horns. For each I used audacity. In that tool there is a frequency sampling function which tells you the prominent frequency in a section of the mp3. I used that to trim off the sounds above and below that range. (highpass and lowpass filters)Back in SE I selected the modified file to sequence. RoEstrings.mp3 or RoEhorns.mp3The attack and decay make a BIG difference in the result you get from the VU meter so be sure to try various settings. I find I like 10ms/20ms. The way I do is funky so I have to tell you. I find the min and max peak threshold I want to use for the first channel and for the last channel. My half mega is 16 channels so I have to divide this range by 16. The poles I usually do as 12 channels. Now the goofy part.I put some scotch tape on my monitor so I can write on it and see through it. I put little hash marks on the tape to divide it equally. The panel has no ticks or numeric indication of volume so I have to do it this way. Its now very fast and easy to select a channel to turn on and set the slider. Then next channel and next slider position.http://itsmebob.com/Christmas/2009/BobO2009ReflectionsOfEarth.wmvThis is one of the easiest and fastest sequencing cheats I have found. A song can be cranked out quicky this way as it helps with other channels too.In the below clip you can see the result of 16 VU meter slides on the mega. Its alternating a top and bottom row so the loudest sounds are in the middle. After that is done you can use that to set other channels you want to RAMP instead of VU. Just copy the duration and ramp angle. The top track is my ground spray which is being ramped in four sections. 0-100 then 100 constant, 100-50, then 50-0 to trail off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Good Stuff to know!!!Thanks Bob...I am going to go home and play with this...so expect some questions!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 I played with this last night as a newbie this is a great tool still toying with it, once I master it then I am going to try some sequences, great thread thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toymakr000 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Thanks for explaining this! I WILL be using this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts