How We Control Stage Lights, Video, Metronome, and Backing Tracks with REAPER // Full Laptop Rundown

In this video we break down how we use one Reaper session to control all production elements when we have a headline/feature set.
All music from this video is taken from our 2020 FFVII album SEVEN, available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Bandcamp, and more!
knightoftheround.com
knightoftheround.bandcamp.com

[@Butters7]

Hands down one of the most informative live sound/lighting setup videos I've seen, gave me some great ideas, thank you!

[@santiago.drrrumzzz]

Exactly what I've been looking for!

[@benardmensah7688]

Damn!!!, i just started using QLC and am blown away with your use of free software and no so premium lights.

[@wenchcarroteh06]

Badass video! That light show is glorious. And that revolving/offset riff was sweet, too.

[@Gunderslam]

Gonna be cycling back to this video like 100 times in the next few weeks - H1Z1 is getting into stage lighting now lol

[@abrahamlewizard3627]

Dude thats sick! I learned lighting in college but havent really been able to apply it to my band so far. This is super helpful and i'm definitely going to look into a dmx switcher since we use reaper for pretty much everything

[@hookersterminaltackle]

Did you get it figured out?

[@alexc2234]

Of all the videos I watched to get an understanding of lighting and automation this was the most helpful to me! The tower lights are super awesome and hope to do something similar. Your music rocks too!

[@ZipSnipe]

Awesome video dude and huge shout out to the amount of work you put into this , truly impressive. Are you using a dmx terminator at the end of your dmx chain?

[@jillybeanAZ]

Hey Thanks! This helped a lot. There were a few integral steps missing, but I was able to figure it out bye hunting on youtube. Your show is awesome.

[@leondcarpenter]

Killer, brother. What a way to hold it all together!

[@batuhanergun6432]

That ending part was so fucking sick !!! really cool video

[@markbancroft3916]

Thank you so much for putting this video together! Huge help to get me moving in the right direction. Would love to see how you configure your scenes, EFX, and chasers!

[@stuiedaman]

Thank you so much for the share! I am looking to put together a band for the sole purpose of running shows like this and eager to find more examples like this, especially in the metal genre. This video answered a few of my questions regarding QLC+ and, in my case, Ableton.

[@coreyharen24]

Incredible run down! I have been trying to learn how to do this for my band and this was so helpful, thank you!

[@EqDior]

THis is so Dope. Such an intricate setup.. Awesome!

[@mahnplaysmusic]

I wish I found this video months ago! Awesome! And yeah, programming those lights must’ve taken as much time to breed a flock of black chocobos 😆

[@visionsofmorpheus]

amazing - trying to figure this out myself now and it's been quite the journey

[@tstarunshekhawat7]

I was trying to find a video that answered just this

[@allanpavani]

Really nice, dude! Tks for sharing all these infos! Also, I'm now a fan of your band. Awesome job!

[@theGameBrass]

It’s back!

[@LouAllenWheeler]

Fantastic vid! Random question, how do you handle start/stop of songs in the set?

[@matvex829]

Id really appreciate seeing how you get reaper, loop midi and qlc to play nice. eg start from a blank reaper sess, show us what notes you send via loop midi and show us how qlc is set up to recieve them and send to yr lightd. Im cant be the only one who cant get it to fire. :-)

[@checkonetwoproductions5615]

IM in the same boat! i feel like it has something to do with "Profiles" tab under loopmidi input. i feel like its not recognizing my virtual midi keyboard from reaper

[@sebastianeriksen6118]

1. Enable loopmidi in Reaper preferances 2. In reaper, create a new track and add a route/send for loopmidi. Also create a midi file on the track 3. In QLC+ go to inputs/outputs and check loopmidi as input. 4 On your virtual deck, open the settings for the button/slider you want to control from reaper, click autodetect midi. Then go to the miditrack in reaper and press the button on the pianoroll you want to control the button

[@dtrmnts]

This is the coolest thing ever. i wish I could do this as a job cuz i defintely can't afford all these lights for my band.

[@FilipeGomesDrummer]

OMG this is so useful, thank you so much! It would be awesome if you could actually make a small tutorial on how to do these things, it would be immensefully appreciated!

[@DanimalCannonOfficial]

love when I google and the first thing that comes up is a bud

[@ljcline89]

Very informative video and awesome lighting rig! Also your band is sick, you just got a new fan!

[@MichaelDespairs]

That looks incredible please don't be mad if I copy your entire setup.

[@v33patrick]

Would be awfully nice of ya to share what lights you are using! Specially for us newbies!!! 🤯

[@KOTRmetal]

The moving heads are just your generic "spider lights". Something similar to this (i cant remember the exact ones we bought): www.amazon.com/U%60King-Activated-DMX-512-Control-Lighting/dp/B081H833BG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3IR6BN483O5FZ&keywords=spider+light+dmx&qid=1640661374&s=musical-instruments&sprefix=spider+light+dmx%2Cmi%2C82&sr=1-1 The vertical beams are just regular LED lights from the hardware store.

[@jasonsteakums6067]

@@KOTRmetalthe vertical beams are sooo sick! Do you know the brand, wattage, etc?

[@forthestorms8726]

Awesome video! One of the most useful and complete rundowns I've ever seen. May I ask you what are the specs of your laptop or the ones you recommend? Thanks ;)

[@phillipkobzeff2529]

Thank you bro. Super helpful!

[@santiago.drrrumzzz]

Thank you so much for this Video. Now, the only questions I have is, what USB to DMX converter do you use? And how do you Switch between the tracks? Or do press play once and the whole show runs automatically? I'd rather start each song via Footswitch or something myself. Oh and what do the lights do between the songs?

[@thales_stat]

If I have the lights only at my back, “my front” won’t be darkened? I mean, you use any other lights to light up your face? Love your video, you made me buy the DMX interface and get into the DMX world, thank you 😅

[@Mr_Treeforg]

What Lights are These White Bars? Damn cool

[@Palefirecreative]

really cool. thanks man!!

[@bellysaurus8554]

FRIGGINNNN COOL!!! Would you make a tutorial for programming the QLC program? also what dongle for DMX USB are u using?

[@KOTRmetal]

The USB dongle seems to be discontinued, but this is the one we use: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T8OKM98/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It took a while to figure out the QLC+ program. There are a few good tutorials already out there that I don't think I could add much too! This one is solid: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5OxY6mfbriYjNk

[@B3Band]

Sorry, using a separate message so you get the notification. Just want to clarify that in the actual room, there is no delay? So you have your commands right on the beat of the grid, and the lights are responding on time? We just got our first light (Eliminator Furious 5) and we're about to start testing. We already have wav backing tracks and two Kempers running through Reaper. There's definitely a delay with the Kempers, and the delay is different with different patches, so we move the program changes slightly before we need them to compensate.

[@hookersterminaltackle]

Excellent information. Tyvm

[@michaelpittman8593]

Awesome. Would love to learn how to do this

[@christopherpropst2095]

This was incredibly helpful. The one thing I cant seem to figure out, is how do you get a slow fade in command in QLC with midi? Is it done through track automations or velocity? Please help, and awesome job. 🤘

[@igorsim8170]

Great video. Thanks.

[@benchawes965]

Thanks 🙂for sharing!!

[@castdaemon4153]

What converter are you using ? can you link it , also i know you said the standing strip lights are on the dmx dimmer what are the other lights plugging into ? are they all wired in chain

[@HebinoMetaru]

What is your playback chain? a) computer -> usb interface -> parallel audio/midi output b) computer -> parallel usb audio interface/usb to dmx interface

[@KOTRmetal]

We run the lights via USB, completely separate from our interface. The lighting USB goes straight into the laptop

[@everettspence1201]

Super cool! Could you post a list of all the lights you are using? Thanks!

[@HushAngel]

Very nice, what brand is the USB to DMX converter, or, where did you get that specific $70 converter ?....btw, awesome knowledge sharing...

[@djvision1]

Great Video!! What kind of Color Lights are on the stage floor? the ones that are sweeping?

[@StopMeNowBand]

Amazing job. Thank you

[@vaf5864]

Could you do a Tutorial on how to midi map/cue the midi to QLC+?

[@thekosmonavt5280]

Hey, how much watts is your "spiders"? Very nice lights!

[@mortonstromgal]

What if you add stuff like a longer solo or whatever to your live show? Your lights seem really specific, like you cant be in the moment.

[@markhurrell8830]

Some very cool effects there. For live performance, how do you move between different tracks in Reaper. Finally, what floor lights are you using there? Thanks

[@video-ci3hk]

Really cool, thanks for posting this. What are the lights you're using?

[@KOTRmetal]

These are similar to the lights we used for movement: www.ebay.com/itm/80W-RGBW-8x-LED-Spider-Beam-Moving-Head-Stage-Lighting-Bar-Disco-DJ-Party-Lights/264926187993?hash=item3daed4d1d9:g:lpgAAOSwonZfpBTc the wash lights are just cheap basic 18x1 wash lights

[@video-ci3hk]

@@KOTRmetal Cool, what are the vertical scrim lights? Love your music. Thanks

[@ForgottenSons]

@@video-ci3hk also interested to see what they are using for this

[@KOTRmetal]

@@video-ci3hk The vertical lights are literally just LED beams from the hardware store. You can use lights for those since they're just plugging into the DMX dimmer/switcher box.

[@RockLuca6]

@@KOTRmetal Hey, I assume the only way to program those regular LEDs is with the box? And you just daisy chain them together with the spiders via the dongle from your laptop?

[@SavageProductionsNH]

what fixture did you use to program your dmx-4 as im trying to do a similar setup and im having a hard time finding it? thanks in adavace

[@normalniy_vox]

Чувак, проделана ахуенная работа. У нас пока в таком режиме работают блиндера, но подвижные головы это ещё круче

[@talewi09]

Hey KOTR (or anyone else who sees this), how exactly did you program your spider lights to pan like that? I'm using QLC+ and have the exact same spider lights but the only function I can think to get them to pan is programming 20+ scenes with different pan values and putting them into a chaser. This works as quicker speeds but on slower speeds you can see all the individual movements and it's somewhat jarring. Cheers!

[@sebastianeriksen6118]

Use effects

[@haggardzhellraizerz864]

The spider lights how did you get then to stay 1 color and move was that the way you set it up in QLC or whatever 🤔 love the video very informative and I bet yalls live show is sick AF keep killing guys hope to see ya out there soon

[@KOTRmetal]

we just create a scene in which only a certain color (say, red) and do that for every color.

[@IngeBall]

Late (as usual) but whatabout pauses for banter or whatever? Like press pause and have a few lights on and babble, press play and continue with the program, pwrhaps with a footpedal? How do you do that? FF7 ftw!

[@dtrmnts]

So with that dimmer box you can literally just plug in whatever light you want into it and control it with QLC+?

[@stuiedaman]

Can you cover the other hardware that your band uses? I'm interested in the moving heads, the led tubes (are they diy?), fog machine, and the usb to dmx converter (I don't think that one was covered, I'll have to rewatch though). Are there any changes that you would make based on your experiences with them? Have you had any reliability issues? I'd imagine anything in the chain breaks and the whole show goes to p**p.

[@KOTRmetal]

The USB dongle seems to be discontinued, but this is the one we use: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T8OKM98/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The moving heads are just your generic "spider lights". Something similar to this (i cant remember the exact ones we bought): www.amazon.com/U%60King-Activated-DMX-512-Control-Lighting/dp/B081H833BG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3IR6BN483O5FZ&keywords=spider+light+dmx&qid=1640661374&s=musical-instruments&sprefix=spider+light+dmx%2Cmi%2C82&sr=1-1 And yes, the vertical beams are just regular LED lights from the hardware store. The only reliability issues we've run into is that we used to use an old laptop and the midi would lag a little bit toward the end of the set, but since we upgraded our laptop that isn't an issue anymore.

[@jillybeanAZ]

@@KOTRmetal The LED lights from the hardware store: Could you possibly take a picture of one of them with the make and model? I'm looking for something like that myself. :)

[@KOTRmetal]

@@jillybeanAZ something like this: www.lowes.com/pd/GE-Color-Correct-Technology-32-Watt-EQ-48-in-Daylight-Linear-LED-Tube-Light-Bulb-2-Pack/5000197455

[@jillybeanAZ]

@@KOTRmetal thanks!

[@ScottDuBose]

Question? Is QLC used like a plug in or is it a completely separate program. if so how do you integrate them?

[@sebastianeriksen6118]

Its a seperate program. He is controlling it with midi from Reaper thru a virtual midicable (loopMidi)

[@n8_productions]

what are the moving lights?

[@cshepard4723]

i just cant get the buttons to work in the virutal console. any pointers?

[@AlterationProduction]

How do you convert the midi to the DMX? To the dimmer pack that is

[@blakematthews6374]

Any resources for how you setup qlc to let you write midi lights in logic?

[@B3Band]

There is a small delay compared the beat of the song, but couldn't that be remedied by simply moving the midi file forward by 20ms or so?

[@KOTRmetal]

the slight delay on the video is likely due to the delay in video going into OBS for the capture/stream. but yes, you can always move the midi file back a little to compensate for delay.

[@russellhill1981]

I know this video is old, but could you go through which lights you are using? Those floor beams look awesome!

[@KOTRmetal]

they're just standard "dmx spider lights" kzbin.info?event=comments&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbHgyenlkd2ltdGZncVRxZzM0NlMycTA5anhVd3xBQ3Jtc0tsY2o3a2o0VXVfSGhCUkdEOVhxbXhtdnZwOFV1b1A5dGZDWVZ4Wkt3dTZpT3RQRmxoRllMZV9aRUQxM0tCQUptenM2MjZDeTV3OG54TE1EU1dtSnpSWnFZUmJmNmo4dkFESXFadndhUjVJTjEtWmZZQQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FU%2560King-Activated-DMX-512-Control-Lighting%2Fdp%2FB081H833BG%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fcrid%3D3IR6BN483O5FZ%26keywords%3Dspider%2Blight%2Bdmx%26qid%3D1640661374%26s%3Dmusical-instruments%26sprefix%3Dspider%2Blight%2Bdmx%252Cmi%252C82%26sr%3D1-1&stzid=UgyW5rdtwBzJTL4GOlt4AaABAg.9U3-SvSTed89WUDcmFfn_r

[@jessebodonnell8170]

​@KOTRmetal what about the light bars in the back? Love your tunes by the way! Really brings me back to the good old days.

[@thecyaniddee]

This could work with cubase?

[@stevieswoodandthings3329]

I do exactly the same system for our show with reaper and Enttec emu. Just introduced video and has crashed the lot. Think it’s too much for it to loan as the video files are huge. Therefore just bought new laptop but has windows 11 which has caused lots of issues. Ie loop midiport doesn’t work on windows 11. 😂😂 great video though

[@experimetalfan8851]

Fuckin' AWESOME

[@brandoncarr9293]

Can you share your .qxf file for the Spider Lights? This video saved my life!

[@hookersterminaltackle]

Can you post a list of the software and dongle. I know it's reaper for the midi

[@abesaenz75]

I just got some of those spider lights and I can't get them to move slowly in a single color like you did. Was that specially programed for that?

[@KOTRmetal]

Yes, we setup chaser sequences for each moving head in QLC+ (one for fast movement, one for slow movement for each light)

[@talewi09]

Hey Did you ever figure this out? Also got some Uking Spider lights and can't figure out how to program those fast and slow tilts!

[@dillonschiffilea3842]

will this work for Logic Pro x?

[@JustPhil]

awesome!! i am at the beginning of doing the same! we use an cymatic LP 16 player for backings and midi out and i automated my guitar fx board already via midi. additionally i built an LED board for my guitar also synced via midi (see hiere: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHzNlWN_Z6-Ubpo). now i am at the dmx parts and want to integrate moving heads. what MHs do you have there? they are cool. and what midi commends do you send to qlc+? midi notes? cc comands?

[@MSCLICK1281]

Could you possibly help me set this up, I would be willing to pay. I can’t get qsl plus to receive the input from loopbe

[@jasonbottiglione603]

Hi, i need help ; i Havre my scene on qlc+, but i dont know how make these on my reaper piano roll for lunch 😢 sorry for my english. Anyone can help me please ? 🫶

[@jessebodonnell8170]

You need to set a midi device to the output of your reaper midi track, and then set that same device as the input of your universe or scene!