Selecting Songs in Visibox Using MIDI

Recipes
Written By Jeff Robbins

Visibox is a powerful tool for creating and controlling interactive visuals. It allows you to organize your visual elements into "Songs" and trigger them using MIDI messages. This recipe will show you how to use MIDI Program Change messages, Note messages, and Continuous Control to select Songs in Visibox – giving you quick access to all of the Clips in your Project.

Visibox Project Organization

Visibox's visual elements are called "Clips". Clips are organized into Songs. And Songs are the building blocks of a Project. Clips can be video or image files, or you can switch to connected cameras, showing your audience whatever you want simply by triggering a MIDI note on stage. You can also attach an audio file to each Song. This backing track file will start playing automatically whenever any of the Clips in the Song are triggered.

In a live performance, you will probably want to switch between different Songs to match the flow of your performance. Whether you have a single Clip in each Song or multiple Clips that get triggered at different points, this gives you a "palette" of visuals to choose from, and you can switch between them seamlessly. For instance, if you have a MIDI foot pedal with 8 buttons, you could assign two of the buttons to the "Previous Song" and "Next Song" actions, and the other 6 buttons to Clips 1 - 6. This will give you the ability to navigate through your setlist with Previous/Next Song buttons (which will also act as "Stop" buttons) and give you arbitrary access to 6 different Clips.

However, many Visibox users sync their visuals to Ableton Live, Cubase, Stage Traxx, or other DAW software or hardware that they use to control backing tracks and automate their live performance. In this case, it often makes more sense to use MIDI Program Change messages to switch between Songs in Visibox. When a new song is queued up in your DAW, it might send a Program Change message to Visibox to select the corresponding Song, preloading the Song's Clip media files, and making it ready to play as soon as you trigger it. When the DAW starts playing the new song, it can send MIDI messages triggering the Clips in the Song as they are needed.

Three Ways To Select Songs in Visibox Using MIDI

In the Visibox's MIDI Mapping settings, you can map MIDI messages to the following actions:

  1. Previous/Next Song Action: This is probably the most straightforward method to use. These actions can be assigned to Note On or Continuous Controller (CC) messages. You could assign them to buttons on a MIDI foot pedal, pads on a drum controller, or keys on a keyboard. Press one button to go to the previous song, and another to go to the next song.

  2. Song Select Via Program Change: Using MIDI Program Change messages, you can select specific Songs. If you have a MIDI controller that can send Program Change messages, you will usually type in 001 to select Song 1 in Visibox, 012 will select Song 12, etc. In your DAW, you may find that you have to send a Program Change message with a value of 0 to select Song 1, 11 to select Song 12, etc. This is because MIDI values are 0-based, while Visibox (and many hardware controllers) uses 1-based numbering.

  3. Song Select (Via CC): If you have a Visibox Project with a lot of songs, you may want to use a MIDI controller with a rotary or slide encoder to select Songs. You can map a MIDI CC to the "Song Select" action. At its minimum value, this CC encoder will select the first Song in your Project. As you turn the encoder, it will select the next song, and so on – through the last Song which is selected at the maximum value. This is a great way to navigate through a large collection of Songs without having to remember the exact Program Change number for each song.

Step By Step

  1. Prepare Your Visuals: Create a Song for each song in your repertoire. Each Song can contain multiple Clips that might loop, triggered in time with sections of the music – or a Song might contain just one video or image Clip that plays for the duration of the song. Load all relevant visual elements (videos, images, etc.) into Visibox. You can also create Camera Clips using your laptop's built-in webcam or connected USB cameras.

  2. Decide How You Will Be Controlling Visibox (MIDI Foot Pedal, DAW, etc.): This will determine which MIDI messages you will be sending to Visibox. If you are using a MIDI foot pedal, drum pads, or another MIDI hardware device to control Visibox in real-time, you will probably be using Note On messages to trigger the "Previous Song" and "Next Song" actions. If you are using a DAW, you will probably be sending Program Change messages to select the Song.

  3. MIDI Input/Output: If you are using a hardware MIDI controller (pedal, pads, keyboard, etc) with USB, simply connect it to your computer and it will show up as an input/output device in Visibox. If you are using a DAW or other software running on the same computer, you will need to configure your DAW to send MIDI messages to Visibox. On the Mac, this involves setting up IAC MIDI. On Windows, this usually involves an app like LoopMIDI. You will then route MIDI messages from your DAW software to Visibox.

  4. MIDI Mapping: You may be able to skip this step for now since Visibox's default MIDI mapping may be sufficient. But MIDI mapping is done in Visibox’s MIDI Map window. This involves setting up which Visibox actions are triggered by which MIDI messages (coming from which MIDI inputs). By selecting "Song Select Via Program Change", all Program Change messages will select their corresponding Song in Visibox. Sending Program Change 001 will activate Song 1, Program Change 012 will activate Song 12, etc. As for triggering Clips, here are the default MIDI notes:

    • Previous Song: MIDI Note 58 (A#2)
    • Next Song: MIDI Note 59 (B2)
    • Play Clip 1: MIDI Note 60 (C3)
    • Play Clip 2: MIDI Note 61 (C#3)
    • Play Clip 3: MIDI Note 62 (D3)
    • Play Clip 4: MIDI Note 63 (D#3)
    • Play Clip 5: MIDI Note 64 (E3)
    • etc.
    • Stop: MIDI Note 48 (C2)

  5. Configure the Controller or DAW to send the appropriate MIDI messages to Visibox. If you are using a hardware MIDI controller, you will probably want to configure it to send Note On messages to trigger the "Previous Song" and "Next Song" actions. If you are using a DAW, you will need to configure it to send Program Change messages. After selecting the Song, you can send Note On or Continuous Controller messages to trigger the Clips in the selected Song.

Tips

  • You can also switch Songs using the up and down keys on your keyboard. Maybe you've got a 4-button footswitch and you want to be able to control 4 Clips in each Song. If your laptop is nearby, you could always use your computer keys to queue up the next Song using the up/down arrow keys on your keyboard. Then tap the first button on your pedal when you want to start playing. The space bar can also be used when you want to stop.
  • Moving a Song changes its Program Change message. If you will be using hard-coded Program Change messages in your DAW, you will probably want to keep your Visibox project as static as possible, and not change the order of the Songs once you have integrated the two apps. This will ensure that the Program Change messages sent by your DAW will always select the correct Song in Visibox. If you add new songs to your repertoire, add the new Song to the end of your Visibox Project so you won't conflict with existing Program Change messages.
  • Rehearse with the setup: To ensure a smooth performance, practice with the full setup to get comfortable with the integration.

Conclusion

Using MIDI Program Change messages to switch Songs in Visibox not only streamlines your performance but also opens up new possibilities for creativity on stage. With this setup, you're equipped to deliver a smooth, engaging show that captivates your audience from start to finish.

Jeff Robbins
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