Sound 2 light from audio on same pc?

This has been discussed before.

1: The dongle(USB adaptor) does NOT have sound input. Using the PC's internal mic, or an add-on mic or even a pro audio interface and some sort of feed, that won't do it either. MyDMX does not support a "Chase to audio" feature.

2: Again, no. Because MyDMX does NOT feature any sort of audio input capability, it will not work as you are hoping it would.

Since MyDMX does not do "chasing", having a sound input would not resolve any of your desires. Best case might be using a series of microphones with hard keyed gates using a very narrow band EQ with hard notching. A graphic is easier to use, but a parametric can do the job quite nicely as well. You could set up one microphone to feed a bank of EQ's all set up to specific frequencies, then take the outputs of the gates to a trigger to MIDI converter. Each trigger would be set up to a specific frequency because of the EQ settings.

If you had 12 triggers, you'd need 12 EQ channels(maybe 6 stereo units) and 12 gates(maybe 3 quad-gate units). That's a LOT of hardware. Plus, you'd want a RTA-type mic. You could go with a Superlux ECM-999 for around $100, or a Behringer or dbx mic for anywhere from $89 to $130. And those are phantom powerered, so you'd need a pre-amp that has 48v, AND on top of that you'd want something like a press patch to split that mic out to multiple outputs to keep inpedence up to help preserve response.

Or you could use 12 mics, and use 12 inserts or direct outs(because you don't care about the returns, you can use normalled inserts and take only the OUTS).

Either way, it's not really "friendly" and besides, it's too easy to end up with false triggering, which might not be a bad thing.

So in short:
No. Ain't in there. Not gonna happen. You need some method of MIDI input.

Here's a cost-effective idea:
Get a Korg nanoKEY controller. Easy method of getting 50 triggers conveniently so you can trigger manually.

If you want sound to light, it won't work. Best you can do is use MIDI and sequence it, and with your software, you ain't got what you need to do what you want in the end.

Sorry.

Perhaps Jingles knows if CompuLive can do a chase featuring using sound. I would answer myself but I don't use CompuLive so I can't say anything other than it has a lot more capability over MyDMX.

thanks for you response,

think i will just stick with a hardware dmx controller as sound to light is important from a dj ing point of view as i play tracks of different bpm so the lighting would be in and out of time all the while.

question about midi triggering;

is this to advance each step in the scene or to start a scene?

There are two types of MIDI control available to MyDMX. The one you are mostly concerned about is in regards to MIDI triggering for scenes. Typically, using a NOTE ON, you trigger the start of a scene. Do keep in mind a scene can have multiple steps and you can alter the timing between steps. For example, if you are using moving head lights, you can program the movements into a scene using multiple steps. The FX generator can make this very easy to deal with. Using a Korg nanoKEY(for example), you can hit a key on this little keyboard controller to trigger a scene. Using the octave shifts,you can shift up/down an octave, giving you a total of 50 keys for quick scene access.

The other type of MIDI control would be CC(continuous controller). Typically speaking, you can assign a controller to a DMX channel. Using a controller such as the korg nanoKONTROL(which is a fader/knob controller) or a JL Cooper CS102(another fader/knob controller)(again, both are merely examples), you can assign any of the 36 available faders, 36 knobs and 72 buttons(Each bank consists of 1 fader, 1 knob and 2 buttins, each bank has 9 of those X 4 bankss) to DMX channels or use the buttons for scene triggers.

As far as "advancing steps in the scene", no, there's no "push control" over that. The control you get would be in the timing between steps, which must be manually programmed.

This is where a hardware DMX controller like the DMX Operator has an advantage over MyDMX, especially in your environment. Someone else brought this issue up recently.

Because of how MyDMX works, you can't easilly spead up or slow down a scene/sequence. It must be manually re-done. Or, let's say for example, you have a cool scene you like to use in fast songs but have it move fast, but then you want to use it again in a slow song, you'd have to copy it and slow down all the times between steps.

Using a DMX Operator, you just alter the fade time fader and this issue is quickly resolved. It can be touchy getting timing just right. There's no "right" or perfect way, but if you're using short fades, you pretty much get your chase to sound properly.

Yes, you do lose cool things like making circles or random sweeps or "steps" on movers, and things like that. What you might end up doing is running 2 universes, one for MyDMX and doing cool things with a specific set of lights, and a second universe on a DMX Operator to do your chase to sound stuff.

What I would do is see about getting Jingles involved in this. I think CompuLive might address some of the things you want to do.

i've had a look around and come accross "daslight", it seems to be built on the same platform as "mydmx" but has more advanced features like a sound to light on steps as well as scenes which is trigger by audio from the pc's mic channel.

I did buy a dmx controller (transcension dmx operator 2) which is the same as the american dj and prolight unit. However when running sound to light it would jump random amount of steps for each beat so i took it back and they got a new one, tried it in the store for nearly 2 hours and did exactly the same, so load of trash.

What i want to do is run the built in program in my x scans for disco, and focus them for karaoke singers (stage lighting), as well as adding a couple of x move lasers in the future, but be able to turn the lasers on and off.

My best solution is 2 uc3 controllers, run the two x move lasers together with one controller and the 4 x scans on the other controller. The mode button on the uc3 puts the x scans into a slow panning effect which is suitable for karaoke singers rather than flashing all over the place like when playing a dj set.

Well, there are of course multiple DMX controlling products out there, both hardware and software based, from very inexpensive to "gee, how would you like to mortage your house", so it seems.

Please though, as per forum rules, please edit your post and remove those prices.

You could also do what you want with MyDMX, an inexpensive MIDI controller(such as a korg nanoKontrol so you can do scene calling and direct fader/channel control), but that does nothing to address your sound to trigger/chase plans.

Now, let's assume the Transcend DMX Operator is like my DMX Operator. Loud sounds are gonna kick it through the scenes in a chase sequence, which MAY or MAY NOT really give the desired effect you're after. This is an issue with most "sound to light" operations. But, with the DMX Operator, you have to use a chase, and a chase is built on scenes, so if you choose to go "sound active" on the controller, you'll step through the scenes and then repeat when you hit the end. But, it's not necessarily to the beat because of how sound active works. In those regards, I'm sure my much beloved DMX Operator would fail you as well. That's not to badmouth it, it's because I know how it operates.

What you could do is still go MyDMX, make your core scenes, then add to them. Say, a wash scene, then a duplicate with the moving heads added in. You could make scenes with the lasers in/out as well.

You get what you pay for. You spend more, you get more. Thank goodness you get to play before you pay. This will no doubt save you money in the long run on wrong hardware.

Bottom line is that UNLESS you're running a sidechain output on say, a highly EQ'd split off a kick drum for example, and the gate is keyed to the beat(assume MIDI clock may be involved, or perhaps keyed off the bass... hard to say, but I feel you're doing canned music, not live), you're not ever going to get the idealized effect you want using sound to chase functions.

I've been doing live and karaoke for years. I DO NOT do DJ stuff. MyDMX works great, and so does my DMX Operator.

My thoughts: Keep thinking out loud on this forum until you start hearing answers that make sense or cause you to ask more questions in regards to your ultimate goal. The good thing is you're already doing that.

But, if it's built in programs you want, you're going to have to avoid some of the DMX control, those are often mutually exclusive functions.

thanks for your reply, i do disco and karaoke so i do live but not live as in a band etc..

is there any kind of controller out there that will allow me to plug in 4 x scans, 2 x move laser and whatever else i choose to buy, and allow me to run the standard built in programs but turn induvidual units on and off without the units having to re-initiate them selves?

No. Even my lowly DMX Operator will let me plug in and control just about darn near anything I want to up to a total of 192 DMX channels. It's not necessarily the best choice for all fixtures though.

There are pleny of controllers that will let you plug in anything you want to plug into it via DMX. But, it's running the built in programs is where you have the issues.

There are typically three to 4 modes in some fixtures. Not all fixtures have all modes. Some only have 1 mode.

Stand-Alone: This is your typical "runs off internal programs" scenario.

Sound Active: This is where your lights behave like maniacs by moving around and changing to the sound. Typically a low frequency sound is the trigger, such as a kick drum or bass.

Master/Slave mode: Many fixtures can go into master/slave mode, in combination with most often sound active but also in stand-alone. Consult your manual.

DMX Mode: In this mode, the light is totally under DMX control. If the fixture has a "sound active" mode, then EACH fixture placed into this mode will behave independently to it's own SOUND ACTIVE(what it is hearing). There is no master/slave. And you will not have access to internal programs for the most part UNLESS it has the option in DMX to do so.

I have some spots that have stand-alone mode and DMX mode.

I have some color changers than can go DMX, sound active and master/slave.

Again, it depends on what the maker decides to include on the light. There is no "right", there's just "what they want to do with it that they think will appeal to the widest user base".

You can not mix/match Master/Slave mode on the same chain as DMX. They must be independent and never touch.

To turn off a "stand alone" or "sound active" or even master/slave set, you've got to physically power it down via some means, which could be something like some of the other ADJ hardware that supports remote power off. Unfortunately, this directly conflicts with a concern of yours of "having to re-initiate themselves".

I guess it really depends on how much of a control freak you want to or need to be. Don't look at this as negative. I'm a control freak, but I also have to look at my time and allocation of it. Let's say I make a complicated scene with many many steps that involve multiple lights. We're talking movement, color changes, things turning on and off, but set to a beat of 120bpm. Not bad, right? Well, let's say I want to redo it to 110? 115? 130? 180(Yes, they are all on meth, just kidding....), 90? 60(coming down from too much Red Bull... just kidding again). With myDMX, I'd have to manually fix the time between steps to compensate for the different timings. This is "relatively simple" and involves copying the source 120bpm scene and using a calculator to determine what you want your beat to be(half? quarter? 128th note?) and then it gets not so "simple" because you have to repeat the step so many times it gets tiresome. Then you have to repeat that whole process again for each tempo change. But it gives you virtually unlimited options. It's not perfect, because if you get the bpm wrong, then it falls out of sync. Even if you get the bpm right, unless its heavily electronica or done to a clock, it's going to drift naturally anyways, both up and down.

But you still want sound active. And MyDMX just CAN NOT address that function.

My best suggestion is to find DMX-capable fixture that can run internal programs IN DMX mode AND at the same time work off their own sound active mode. This would need to be done via at least 2 channels: One channel would have a sound active option value range, while another channel would have an range for each internal program. Of course, there would be other channels such as your X and X movement, dimming, strobing, color(s) and gobo and options with those as well(and as applicable). But you can ignore the channels you don't need, that's not a big deal, especially with how you're approaching things.

You're just trying to do mutually exclusive things. Keep thinking out loud here. You keep bringing up issues that for you MUST be addressed. Your online ponderings are going end up taking a little bit of time. I say this is time well spent as you won't buy fixtures you're not going to be happy with.

To elaborate on Chris's post a little, a lot of lights have internal programs built into them. The only issue with internal programs is the timing normally can't be adjusted.

Adjusting times on the fly isn't easy with low end consoles unfortunately. MyDMX, as Chris pointed out, you have to re-write the whole scene to adjust timing. Other consoles like the Magic 260 have fade time (time it takes to fade in between scenes) and speed (time between scenes before the next scene triggers in shows). The problem with this however, is the timers are on different scales. Fade time is from 0s-30s and speed is from 0s-30m. Never really understood why these are different, because I can grab both faders and quickly set them to the same level to achieve the same time. If I want longer times, I simply have to program it that way then.

On more expensive consoles, like the Hog for example, there is an effects engine making chases, bally hos, and effects easy. The timing is also easily adjusted on the fly when the effect is active. You can also make chases with cue stacks and have them chase with a tap sync. So a lot of options and great for on the fly jobs, but it is extremely costly like Chris said.

Just a couple of cents.

the issue i have if i use a dmx controller is that i play tracks of different bpm eg 114 bpm for a typical timbaland type track or 128 bpm for a dance track.

Would the lights not look stupid if they were raving away to a slow track or slowing panning to a fast dance track.

The hardware controller i purchased would miss out steps, ie if you tapped it gently to represent a beat it would go from step 1 to say step 3 and miss out step 2 or go from step 2 to 4 or sometimes 1 to 2, totally random but missing out steps. If step 1 was mirror panned left and step 2 was mirror panned right and step 3 was mirror panned left, when it jumped from step 1 to 3 nothing would happen. is this a faulty controller?

Just an idea here, but this might be because the moment you hit the 'tap' button, it skips to the next step once you hit it again. Not sure if this is the issue or not.

So the question would be, when you try and tap sync to change the bpm, does it always skip steps or just sometimes? See if you can recreate the problem on a consistent basis to localize the problem so we can be of more help.

i'm not tapping a button for bpm,i mean tapping the side of the unit to activate the mic.

1 tap is 1 beat, but it moves random amount of steps missing out steps

One of the problems with "sound to light" type features is that if you're going for BBM, and the drummer is doing something other than 1 and 3 for the kid(with 2 and 4 for snare, duh!), which is FAIRLY normal, those extra kicks are gonna make you "miss" steps. Plus, whatever the bass and other instruments may cause similar "misfires"

I'll have to dink with MyDMX in a few days. A tap feature would be handy to bump along one step at a time in a complicated scene. I can certainly come up with an application for it, but I won't be doing it myself during a performance, mainly since I'll be having my hands on 30+ channels of audio, 8 subs, up to 8 aux, matrix, mintor mix and VCA's, so I'm gonna be a tad busy, and the only appendange that might be available is NOT gonna be used to trigger lights.

But if you're tapping the unit to get your activation, you're gonna have to live with "misfires" due to volume of music as well.

Also, in MY experience, I find that the adjustments in fade time and speed to be in seconds, more or less.

Now, taking a look at some of your previous comments in regard to say a 114bpm track vs a 128bpm track and the lighting program not being "time adjusted", I certainly agree that it COULD look dumb. But, I've also seen clubs that run predictable programs ALL NIGHT in a continuous loop with no regards to whatever is on. Clearly you're not going for this. Thank goodness.

Here's an idea, while not perfect, gives you a chance. But I don't recommend a "single computer" for this, and I DO recommend paying attention to your MIDI configuration.

I could name prices, but the forum forbids it. But I can name products I am using and CAN do this. I'm not saying I WOULD do it.

Using a relatively low-end sequencing package such as Sonar Home 6, you can use that to make your MIDI sequence to control your lighting. You can make all the sequences you want. They are small, so you can save MOUNTAINS of them to a USB memory stick if you wanted. You can name them for what you want to use them for, and then should you need to change the bpm, you could, almost on the fly. Not perfect, but would work.

You also need a MIDI interface, or some software DLL that emulates a MIDI interface to satisfy MyDMX and the production package.

You could take it a step further and drop in the song as well. But this takes away from your actual DJ thing you're doing and ties your hands a bit and slows your flow down too, both are not acceptable. DJ's work the way they work, and this is not exactly conducive to that mindset because it involves added complication and really restricts what you're trying to overall accomplish. You'd also want to add in a pro audio interface, be it USB or firewire. I'd recommend Firewire, but that's just me.

I believe that MyDMX is simply the wrong product for this application.

Now I have to figure out: Are you looking for an entirely sychronized show, everything locked to music? In which case, why bother with the VDJ package? Go ProTools or Sonar and assemble your set ahead of time and you're good to go. But, what if you didn't read things right? Ugh, disaster. No good.

I would say a better option is to have some sound active hi-tech FX, along with some movers, scanners and other specials. Create some scenes with various times between steps, enough to let you hit stuff in when needed. Forget this sound to chase stuff. Even so, a mis-timed "slow pan" would still end up looking cool even if not done to time.

I'm just having trouble tying up all the loose ends. You want to tap a device to trigger your way through scenes, so a controller is how you'd probably want to go. MIDI isn't an option, so MyDMX triggering isn't a possibility. MyDMX doesn't do a sound to chase function. Your virtual DJ software doesn't have anything to do with MIDI...

We're just running into the same circle of problems.

Meanwhile, I'm investigating new controllers to help bring ease of triggering for MyDMX users, as well as more control. But I don't see how any of these would help you accomplish your objectives.

SerraAva's concept of tapping your way through steps in a scene is rather good, but might not be as simple as you'd like considering an "all on one PC solution", and possibly you may not have a hand or finger readily available to do this stepping anyways.