stop playback at end marker

[toxonic]

Hi everyone,
I’m currently setting up a Tracktion project for live performances. The idea is that it contains backing tracks for all songs as well as a click track for the drummer. Using the tempo track, I want to make sure each song has its correct tempo, and with marker clips I want to be able to select and play individual songs.

My problem is this: when playback reaches the end marker, it doesn’t stop but keeps going — so the next track basically starts playing right away. I’ve spent quite a while looking for a way to get this under control, but it really seems like there’s no workaround for this. Is that true? Please someone say “no”…

[jabe]

I recall this coming up previously. Try a general search on the forum.

[Watchful]

Yeah, and the answer is pretty much No, it has to be manual.

viewtopic.php?t=535828

Other posts on other platforms seem to agree; I've never found a way.

[Watchful]

Back in the 1980s, Sequencer Plus had a "jukebox" option that let you play a bunch of projects in alphabetical order. That was great for customizing playlists. You simply went to its equivalent of the Projects tab, clicked on the first project, and hit "J" for jukebox. It would load and play your songs in that order with no further intervention from you.

Sounds like the OP could use this feature in Waveform, which would indeed be very useful for live performances. I think you'd have to tell it what edit version to play, though, but that could work if you have a "recorded" version as well as a "live" version.

[mikoatkvr]

Maybe try increasing the gap between the sections of your project to something large like 16 bars, which gives you plenty of time to stop playback between sections?

[dysjoint]

Are your backing tracks a single .wav file or multiple files? I guess the click track is seperate at least. You can create a macro (pictured) that will select the next track down, solo it and play from the beginning.


If you have more than one backing track per song you can wrap them in a submix. As long as the submixes are in a collapsed state the macro will still work.

If the submixes are in an expanded state the macro will select the next visible track, not the next submix track,which won't work.

To use this macro you would have all your backing tracks wrapped in appropriate submixes and all starting at bar 1 (0,0). Looping is disabled. All submixes would be collapsed. You would manually solo the top submix and press play. It will play to the end and keep playing in silence as this submix is soloed and the tracks have ended. Then trigger the macro. You should see/hear the next submix (now soloed) start playing from the beginning.

[dysjoint]

I got nervous about having all those tracks piled up together just relying on the 'solo' function to not have a hiccup.
There's another way to approach it. It works in theory. You'd have to build an edit specifically for the show (I guess you already do?)

You can lay out your submixes in sequential order with something like 5 minutes of gap between them. Then place markers for each song, allowing a few seconds of space between the start of the marker and the start of the song.

Create macros (as shown) for each marker, just be aware that the Marker 1 in Waveform is probably called 'marker 0' in the macro. Marker 2 in Waveform would be 'marker 1' in the macro etc.

You can assign each macro to a quick action by making the quick actions bar visible (important), creating a new bar and calling it Song list or something. Right click the first button and assign your user macro that corresponds to marker 1. You can perhaps rename it to the song name that corresponds to marker 1.

NOW the bit that works in theory but I can't vouch for the reliability. You can now edit the controller mappings for a midi device and set up buttons to trigger songs. In the screenshot here the pink quick action labelled Track 2 corresponds to User function 1 in the midi mappings. The yellow quick action labelled Track 3 corresponds to User function 2. ( I believe the basic rule is that User Function 1 refers to the first (left most) quick action '''in the currently visible quick actions bar'''''', User Function 2 refers to the next one etc etc etc.

So a quick test here (I don't use this feature, I can't vouch for it) and I can press a button on my midi keyboard that I have mapped to the quick action labelled 'Track 3', which triggers the macro that starts playing at marker 3, which plays the song that begins 2 seconds after marker 3.

Of course if you are performing with a laptop close at hand you can assign keystrokes to the macros instead. That would remove a whole layer of potential problems.

(Ignore the macro title in the screenshot, this macro would play from marker 1, I would rename the macro if I wanted to keep it.)

[toxonic]

First of all, thanks for all your replies and the various suggestions regarding macro scripting. I’ve already thought about that as well, and with some effort I’ll be able to come up with a workable solution.

Still, there’s the lingering aftertaste that in the end this is really just a half-baked workaround for a problem that shouldn’t exist in the first place. As far as I know, in most DAWs it’s possible to play back individual sections independently and then stop playback at the end of that section. At least in Ardour, this works without any hassle. Unfortunately, Ardour lacks several other features that Tracktion does provide.

I’m hoping that a developer might drop by here from time to time and implement this surely easy-to-add feature in a future version of Waveform. As far as scripting is concerned, event callbacks would also be a great addition — then things like this could be solved via scripting by the users themselves, for example if the transport position could be queried continuously via a callback… but well, that’s probably still a thing of the future

[Peter Widdicombe]

Are macros strictly one-shot, or is it possible to :
1. have a macro look for a condition and issue a "stop transport" command if met - loop and repeat
2. execute a macro at a point in time (i.e. at a fixed bar # or "when playback is > length of clip"
3. "Drop" a macro onto a track to be executed at that time...

[toxonic]

Are macros strictly one-shot, or is it possible to :
1. have a macro look for a condition and issue a "stop transport" command if met - loop and repeat
2. execute a macro at a point in time (i.e. at a fixed bar # or "when playback is > length of clip"
3. "Drop" a macro onto a track to be executed at that time...

Yeah, this is what I meant by macro callbacks as a feature request. At the moment, macros can only be triggered via keyboard shortcuts or the Quick Actions toolbar. I’d love to see features like the ones you mentioned above.

[toxonic]

Wait… I just found out that under “Settings” → “Control Surfaces” you can create your own custom control surfaces, which also allow you to control macros via MIDI. I tried it, and it works.
With the following steps, you can use a midi clip running in your project , to control different DAW parameters (i.E. Transposrt start/stop, execute macros,...):
I created a track and placed a MIDI clip on it that’s 1 bar long, and on the last eighth note I put a note (let’s say B4). As the track destination, I selected “MIDI Through Port 0.”

Then, in the Settings under Control Surfaces, I created a new Custom Control Surface and also selected MIDI Through Port 0 as the input there (I don’t need an output at the moment). After that, under “Edit Control Mappings,” I right-clicked on the right-hand side and chose “Transport” → “Stop.”

I couldn’t select the controller from a context menu, so I handled that using a virtual MIDI keyboard program with MIDI Through Port 0 set as the output. I played note B4 there, and it then showed up in the Control Mappings window.

Whenever the transport cursor plays note B4 on that track, playback stops. This seems like a good workaround for now—and it’s also good to know that you can fire macros via MIDI events.

PS:
The instructions above refer to Tracktion on a Linux system. On Windows, the setup was a bit more difficult, but it worked as well. Apparently, additional software such as loopMIDI is required to create an extra virtual MIDI port, which is then used instead of “MIDI Through Port 0.”
I spent some time testing and troubleshooting with the program Pocket MIDI before it finally worked.