How to make 1 clip play in Solo mode?

[kesha1]

This is for the session mode life performances.
I want to play a fill clip with the mixer set to Solo, so, all the other tracks will be silent while it is playing.
So, I need to link some key or midi mapping to the beginning of the clip and to the ending (so, the solo mode will be On only for the duration of that particular clip).
I guess it could be done only with a grouped dummy clip? But I am not sure.
Please help.

[[jur]]

The Solo track button can't be automated.
But you can midi/key map it, which is perfect enough in a live performance situation.
It also depends on which view your using: in Session, why not puting this clip alone in a scene? In Arrangement, why not removing/deactivating the other tracks' clips?
Knowing a bit more about what you're trying to do in which context would help.

[kesha1]

Thank you for reply.
This is for the Session mode life performances.
I am using a special MFL plugin that turns clips On and Off, triggered by a foot keyboard, so, the picture of the clips playing at a moment is always different. Because of that, moving to a next scene with only 1 (fill) clip on it, and the rest of the clips with the Stop (to stop all the played before clips), will make it impossible to get back to the previously played scene with only the previously chosen clips sounding (because they were stopped).
That's why the Solo option looks so good for a case when a 1 or a few bar fill (or build up) needs to take over, while the previously chosen clips arrangement keeps "playing" in silence, and therefore remains unchanged.
There is a way to do it with a virtual cable and a dummy clip, but it is unstable in Windows (sometimes gives an error message), and seems like it is not working with several clips Solo at the same time (Pro Tools has a provision for that in settings, Ableton don't).
So, I hope to get it working with some other way, without using a virtual cable.

[invisibledan]

I wonder if you could trigger a couple of gates- one to open to let fill through and one to shut off everything else?

[kesha1]

You mean with one MIDI mapped button for both (stop the playing tracks and start the fill)?
Of course. That's how it all started.
But, 1. after the fill finished I can not get back to the exact arrangement it was before (I am switching the tracks On and Off at will, before the fill plays).
2. To make the fill end trigger the necessary tracks (not to restart them all manually) I have to assign some automation to it anyway.
So, Solo seems to be great solution, and it ALMOST works...)

[invisibledan]

Sorry, I slightly misunderstood your op.

Forget the gates.

No need to stop the playing clips.

Have a utility to turn down the playing clips, and set the same button to toggle the fill clip on and off.
You could set another utility to work in opposition for the fill track if necessary.

The only problem would be if you weren’t using global quantise as when you brought the level of the main clips back up the timing might be slightly out, depending how accurately the fill was triggered.

[kesha1]

Thank you for your reply.
What exactly utilities do we have in mind?

[invisibledan]

Thank you for your reply.
What exactly utilities do we have in mind?

So sorry, I’m probably not helping much!

Anyway, forget everything I’ve said so far!!!

First, you must group all the tracks you have playing so they can all be controlled by that one mute button. By muting the group, their mute status is unaffected.

Then you can simply recreate solo button behaviour using the mutes-
Assign one button to the group track mute (to mute the clips that are playing) and to unmute and toggle the fill clip.

Sorry I’ve been confusing.
*Think first, type later Daniel*


I edited as I still fluffed it!

[invisibledan]

I'm still not 100% sure of what you need but you might not even have to group the tracks. It just might be easier than mapping every mute button individually.

[kesha1]

Thank you so much for your reply!
I thought you are referring to the little MFL plugin as an "app", I just wanted to make wure we are talking about the same thing.
Anyway, what that plugin does is this: I have a foot keyboard and press a button on it to start or stop a clip. The controlled clips are used in a Scene that is chosen at the moment. I can navigate through the scenes too with the same plugin/keyboard, but at this moment it doesn't matter.
So, the playing tracks/clips at any given moment is the result of what was previously chosen to play, and by playing a fill (that should play by it self, alone) I want those previously chosen active clips to silence just for the duration of that fill. So, as soon as the fill playing is completed I want all the previously chosen clips start playing again. That's why I thought that the Mute is my best choice, because it preserves the previously chosen clips in tact.
So, gathering the playing tracks in 1 group is not really an option, because they were just randomly chosen during a live performance.
There could be some different ways to handle it. I will appreciate any thoughts on that.

Regarding mapping every mute button individually: that definitely would have worked, but there are quiet a few clips playing at the same time, plus the one with the fill.
Hmmm..., I just thought of mapping ALL mutes to the same button, and start the playing with the fill track muted..., logically, it should mute all the tracks and unmute the fill. I should try it))
But then the question is how to automize the end of the fill to click all the same buttons again?

[invisibledan]

Thank you so much for your reply!
I thought you are referring to the little MFL plugin as an "app", I just wanted to make wure we are talking about the same thing.
Anyway, what that plugin does is this: I have a foot keyboard and press a button on it to start or stop a clip. The controlled clips are used in a Scene that is chosen at the moment. I can navigate through the scenes too with the same plugin/keyboard, but at this moment it doesn't matter.
So, the playing tracks/clips at any given moment is the result of what was previously chosen to play, and by playing a fill (that should play by it self, alone) I want those previously chosen active clips to silence just for the duration of that fill. So, as soon as the fill playing is completed I want all the previously chosen clips start playing again. That's why I thought that the Mute is my best choice, because it preserves the previously chosen clips in tact.
So, gathering the playing tracks in 1 group is not really an option, because they were just randomly chosen during a live performance.
There could be some different ways to handle it. I will appreciate any thoughts on that.

I'm still unsure of what you mean...any chance of a screenshot?!!

[pottering]

Not sure I understand the problem, but maybe using "Dummy Clips" with Follow Actions will work.

"Dummy Clips" is the informal name for empty Clips (MIDI Clips that have no MIDI notes, or Audio Clips with silence, so they will be "mute") that contain only Automation/Modulation or Follow Actions.

[invisibledan]

Possibly I’ve misunderstood but my thinking was that if using solo was perfect apart being unable to automate it, then setting up mutes to have the same effect should work. ???

[greasykid1]

Not sure whether this would be a perfect solution, but is it possible to group all of the channels that will need silencing together, and then use compressor with sidechain set to maximum, with the Fill Clip's channel as it's input?

This should use the audio from the Fill Clip to push everything else's volume to zero while the Fill plays.

Like I say, it's probably not foolproof - as, if the Fill audio has a varying volume, it may not be enough signal to completely push everything else to zero via the sidechain. Also, it's pushing the use of sidechain to ... shall we say ... "experimental" levels

I'll keep thinking on this one. It's a tough, but interesting problem!

[greasykid1]

*Edited, as EQ plugins didn't do the job!*

Double post because I had a better idea!

Add an External Audio Effect plugin to the end of the effect chains on all channels - apart from the channel with the Fill clip.
Don't set the plugin's Ins & Outs to anything. Leave them as default - "No Output/Input"

When the plugins are ON, they will effectively mute their channels completely.
When you turn the plugins off, you're back to your normal mix without having used Solo, Mute or Start/Stop functions.

Map the On/Off button for all of these plugins to one controller.

Note: You don't have to use an External Audio Effect plugin - I'm sure the same can be done with others. This is just the one that I tested it with and it works fine. Also, this still doesn't help the automatic side of what you're looking for ...