Setting up Tracks in QLab

[@DarkAngelNYCUS]

Rob, you are a life saver! I'm a "vintage" music director but have never been responsible for creating or setting up a show to be played with live musicians and back tracks. But I've recently been hired to do just that and your videos are teaching me exactly what I need to know. There are many videos here about Mainstage and a few about Qlab but they are created either by people that don't understand the issues of musical theatre or are unable to teach or communicate the needed information-or both. YOU ARE THE MAN! I will probably be watching many if not all your videos and might even want to ask you questions or ask you to create a video-or maybe even take a private lesson or two over zoom if you ever have time to do so. Thank you again Rob, you are terrific!

[@MusicDirectorOnline]

Hi there Albin. Thanks for your message. I'm really pleased the videos are of some use. By all means ask me any questions and I'm more than happy to consider any suggestions for future videos. Best wishes with your current project. Rob

[@DarkAngelNYCUS]

@@MusicDirectorOnline Hi Rob I hope all is well. I'm going out to LA to try this all out and was wondering what do I need to connect my computer to the theatre's sound system. This company has never done a musical so I'm not confident they will have the proper connections. I want to play song files through Qlabs and my keyboard that I will be playing along with the tracks. I only have mini USB outs on my MacPro laptop and mini USB. I"m suspecting I need some kind of gadget that I hook my mini USB to the input of a gadget that sees that the files are going out two audio channels and then THAT connects with regular guitar type cables to the sound board or....is that not the way? THANKS a GAZILLION!

[@MusicDirectorOnline]

Hi there Albin. OK then....this might sound a bit complicated, so forgive me. The GADGET you mention would be an Audio Interface that is connected to one of your USB outputs on your MacBook Pro. This is by far the most secure and trusted way of getting audio out of the computer. They range from around $90 to $9000. You would only need one that has 2 outputs (stereo) but I would recommend that you get one with 4 outputs for if you ever need to have stereo output AND a click. My video on Creating and Using Click Tracks goes into some detail as to how to get this operating using an audio interface....BUT..... the other way, cheaper yes, but more prone to problems is buying a cable that uses the MacBook Pros audio output....the small 3.5mm stereo socket on the side. Given the right cable your sound people at the theatre will be able to use what comes from you computer. See this link for the type of thing Im talking about www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Stereo-Minijack-Mono-Jack-x2-Cable-1m/108R?origin=product-ads&gclid=CjwKCAjw4JWZBhApEiwAtJUN0GNIUcnK-00VIfZpTkjcXT_bMvcy2CwR0bFlqxUGJeEGCRe3z6oFpxoCKYoQAvD_BwE Whichever way you go, I can't emphasise enough that you talk to the sound people at the theatre in advance!!! They may have an audio interface anway. Incidentally, you can't get any audio out pf your computer using USB without an audio interface. Hope this helps Rob P

[@LMHop]

This was a great video to get a glimpse of how QLAB works. I am being asked to research why I may or may not want to change from using Ableton Live for running our tracks to QLAB. Ableton Live's Session view may work similarly to QLAB, from what I can tell here. But, I use Ableton Live's Arrangement view and do many things within it, such as: changing the keys of the tracks on the fly, changing tempos on the fly, changing the tracks from standard 440 tuning to 432, sending MIDI to control lyrics on our presentation software, fading one song (track) into another - with having it count in the next song on beat one of the end of the last song. Those are just some things. Can QLAB do those things?

[@MusicDirectorOnline]

Hi Lisa. Thanks for your comment. QLab is principally a method of cueing sound, lighting and video cues in theatre presentations. Regarding the audio part of the software, it is using audio files that have been prepared before being used in QLab. It is NOT therefore something you would use to change keys, alter tuning, changing tempos etc. Fading from one track to another IS what it can do, but I feel QLab and Ableton isn't a fair comparison as they are both designed for very different tasks. Hope this helps. Rob P

[@johnmaclaren422]

Just came across your channel and am enjoying your content, in terms of QLab and MP3s, yes they can and do work but years ago when computers were slower and had less RAM QLab began indicating MP3 is QLab’s least favorite format. Not only can it sound less than ideal, but it also has inherent timing problems that can interfere with critical timing in unpredictable ways (from QLab 3 documentation), in particular with complex cue sequences/prewaits etc. While some will say there are no audible differences with MP3, in general there is more overhead required to process MP3s compared to other compressed formats. There are many free ways to convert MP3 to a preferred QLab for such as Audacity or similar audio processing software, so my thinking is just not worth a risk especially in live theater productions.

[@ericdano]

Parent/Child is a computer type term. It's a little more clear than calling it a node and a sub-node or whatever.

[@ChrisBulleGoyri]

Hey Rob! Let's say I have grouped both (Click track and Backing track) in QLab, but then I have to do a Vamp. When my backing track does the loop the Click track goes on and I never get them simultaneously anymore. What Can I do?

[@sosmarci]

You can create files with more than two tracks, and QLab handles the perfectly. Merge your stems into one file and you can go bananas with the devamp :)

[@oliverjodrell8652]

Is there an email I can contact you on?

[@MusicDirectorOnline]

[e-mail]

[@MusicDirectorOnline]

Hi Oliver. Apologies for late reply. Best email address is [e-mail]