BigRedX

I used to do this with my band back in the 90s when it was a lot harder to achieve then it is now. In my current bands all my effects changes are automated in time with the backing. Unsurprisingly my playing and on stage performance is much better if I don't also have to be in the correct place on stage to hit a particular switch at exactly the right moment. This is especially true for the band where I play Bass VI and where on some songs I'm switching between "bass" and "guitar" parts with corresponding sound changes every other bar. I'll be rolling this facility out to the other band members over the next couple of months. The only thing we don't automate is the start of each new song. I do this via a footswitch in conjunction with cues from our singer.

If the band was to stretch the songs out because of a favourable audience reaction then who decides? How is it signalled? how do you know when to bring it all back to a neat and tidy ending? Fine if all the band have played together for ages, but I probably wouldn't want to do it with a dep who has just stepped in for a single gig. Also remember that for every person up on the dance floor there's someone else waiting for the band to "play something good", so playing the song as originally agreed and moving on to the next could be an even better move.

Does the band have a drummer?

Here you go. There's two 3-track EPs at least one song on each was done without a click. RockinRollin' VampireMan EP Invasion of the SpiderQueen

Every venue I have played that use a back projection system for the band logo have the whole system in place - screen, projector and laptop - and all the band have had to do was to supply the logo, usually as a high resolution JPEG or PNG file sent by email a couple of days before the gig.

Some music works with a click. Some doesn't. Good musicians know when, and when not, to use one. There is no single position answer that is correct for every case. A previous band I was in used a click on some tracks when we recorded them. However we tried every song with and without the click first in rehearsal and only used the click in the studio on those songs that benefitted from it. On some we'd program the tempo changes into the click so that they always happened in the right place and by the same amount. Even then only the drummer heard the click. The rest of the band played to the drums. I would defy anyone to listen to the recordings and spot which were done with a click and which were not. Until the OP comes back with more detail about the band and music they are playing, it's all pointless speculation.

Does this band have a drummer? I've been in several bands who using backing and a click, and play in one now, but only the drummer gets the click and the rest of us play to the drummer. The drummer gives it all the push and pull we need, and because the songs are strong there's nothing lifeless or robotic about the performance. Also because the backbone of the arrangement is going to be perfect every time it gives you a bit more wiggle room as a musician and a performer. I don't what sort of spontaneity you are looking for, but I've found the extra tightness that having some parts pre-recorded/programmed time more than makes up for this. My other current band has drums and some synth on the backing. Songs have been programmed with tempo changes where necessary - most of the time it's a subtle few BPM up and down to keep the correct feel of the different parts of the song. When we finally go onto IEMs we'll be able to loose the count-ins and other audible cues from the FoH which will make the performance from the audience's PoV even better.

And as you have said there's your problem. For me there's a big difference between rehearsing to play the songs and rehearsing to make sure that all the technology I'm (and the rest of the band are) using works properly. Time for a technical rehearsal for your band. Once you've sorted out all the IEM issues you should never need to do it again, because all the settings will have been stored.

Try asking Schaller. They are normally very quick at getting back to users with technical queries.

Using overlapping HPFs instead of a crossover will be OK so long as your rig is just for on-stage monitoring and the main sound your audience hears is from the PA, but otherwise as itu says you'll run into comb-filtering problems and your carefully crafted sound can be completely ruined for members of the audience stood in the "wrong" place sound-wise (which may well be the "best" place to see the band on stage). Of course running through the PA brings its own set of problems. You'll be taking up two channels (not so much an issue these days with digital desks, but I've encountered instances in the past where only one channel was reserved for the bass and getting a second one was done only very reluctantly on the part of the PA engineer), and also you'll probably want the guitar amp mic'd up (especially if you intend to drive it hard) rather than DI'd to get the right sound FoH. When you have a set up like this having a band engineer becomes far more important. My band's sound improved massively after we recruited a dedicated engineer, as many in-house engineers simply didn't seem to understand the concept of bi-amping for the bass. Luckily for me, these days I do all of this within my Line6 Helix, and supply the PA with a single DI feed which makes life easier for everyone, plus I don't have 2 heavy cabs plus a rack of amps and effects taking up room in the band van and on-stage. There another band we sometime do gigs with how have a similar set-up to the one being proposed in the OP they always seem to take up an inordinate amount of space on stage with their backline for, as far as I can tell, very little sonic gain.

If you're looking for a small-footprint board, EBS_freak's original solution will probably be the way to go. It might be worth looking to see if there are any even more basic MIDI program foot switches available than the Disaster Area Micro since it appears to have a load of loop switching functions that you probably don't need. If you can get away with simple program up and down switches I'm sure there is something else that will do the job. Don't forget you'll need room for a PSU (or PSUs depending on power requirements) for all the devices and all the cabling to connect them all together. MIDI connectors aren't particularly compact compared with some pedal board jack to jack cable options available. I would also consider cable-tying anything that isn't a 1/4" jack lead or XLR in place so there is little chance of it moving and becoming disconnected mid-performance. If you want to be able to use the effects on/off switches of the Plethora separate to MIDI patch changes you'll need to consider its positioning on the board. All this kind of messing about makes me thankful that I have made the decision that if it can't be done on the Helix, I'll make do without that function for live use.

I've just had a look at the very basic "Quick Start"guide which is on the TC website, and you may be right. Why is there no complete manual available? So in "play" mode the foot switches simply turn on and off each of the three effects? I was hoping that the "up" and "down" arrows next to them meant that you could use them to scroll through the various "boards" you create - is there no way of doing this from the device itself?. If you can only change "boards" via the computer or MIDI then you will need another device to do this. Are you sure the Disaster Area Micro is the best solution for this? I'd be looking at the Behringer foot controller that is shown in the Quick Start guide as it probably do far more.

Very few cabs will reproduce the fundamental of low E on a bass, you are mostly hearing the harmonics and your brain fills in the gaps. I also assume that you have got your high pass filters the wrong way round the guitar amp signal should be filtering more low frequencies? Also most guitar combos are open backed and therefore the speakers are not at all happy about lots of low frequency content at any significant volume. What are you hoping to achieve with your bi-amping? I ran a bi-amp system very successfully for most of the 90s, but it was done using a proper crossover that sent just the low-frequency component to the "bass" speaker and high frequencies only to a 2 x 8 cab I made based on the specifications of my favourite guitar combo of the time. I can't remember the actual crossover frequency I used, but I'm pretty sure it was a lot higher than 82.4 Hz. This was used mainly so I could stick serious amounts of chorus, flanger and delay on the high frequency side without loosing any bottom end. It was IMO less successful with anything but the most subtle of distortions since the differing envelopes of the distorted and non-distorted parts didn't sit right to my ears, even with additional compression on the low frequencies. I was happier sticking the distortion before the crossover and then using an additional EQ on the low frequency side to maintain the bass feel.

You'll need to consult the Plethora manual and MIDI implementation chart to be sure, but just looking at the device, if the foot switches include program up and down functions (which they appear to do) then it should also transmit these commands out of the MIDI out socket - you might need to enable this somewhere on the device. Hopefully also either the Plethora or the C4 include MIDI program mapping so you don't have to spend ages shuffling programs around so that the correct patches on each device match up.

For any MIDI functions that do not involve connecting the C4 to a computer you need the Neuro Hub. This is because the C4 doesn't have a standard MIDI interface, and uses either MIDI over USB to connect to a computer or the Neuro Hub to connect to devices that sport standard MIDI sockets.

AFAICS the OP isn't intending to use one. Proper MIDI is a peer-to-peer network. You simply connect the MIDI out of one device to the MIDI in of another not need for hosts or any of this other nonsense that "MIDI" over USB requires. Hence the need for the expensive Neuro Hub, when if the C4 had proper MIDI sockets on it the OP would simply need a standard MIDI DIN lead or if they were planning the use more than 2 devices and sending timing critical data they could get away with a MIDI Thru box at less than half the price of the Neuro Hub.

You will probably need a TRS (Tip, Ring, Sleeve) barrel jack because usually the active circuitry is switched on by the TS jack plug shorting the R and S contacts when inserted into the socket. However a few active circuits need a special jack socket that has a switching mechanism that is separate to the audio path. Have a look inside the control cavity to be sure.

You should be able to do all of that from the foot switches on the Plethora. Have a good read the manual and the MIDI implementation chart that comes with it. You need the Neuro Hub, because the C4 doesn't have a "proper" MIDI interface on it.

But surely the power stages of all non valve amps are designed to be as transparent as the price point allows? The "sound" is mostly in the pre-amp section (and any short-comings due to cost-cutting).

On the whole UK mains is far more robust that in other countries, so unless you are connecting equipment that is very sensitive about its voltage requirements (usually something old) you'll be fine with any earthed extension cables. If you need more than that you are probably better off with an appropriately rated UPS.

To the OP - I take it your are also using the loop switching features of the Micro, because otherwise you should be able to everything you want using the Plethora as your controller, although you will still need Source Audio's overpriced Neuro Hub to interface the C4 to it.

For solid state amps the cabinet impedance must be equal or greater to the minimum impedance marked on the amplifier's speaker output sockets. For valve amps with multiple speaker outputs marked with different impedance values the cabinet MUST be of the same impedance as the output it is connected to.

What exactly do you want to do? If it's simply programme changing you'll probably want both receiving devices on the SAME MIDI channel and ideally for at least one of them to have MIDI programme mapping so that you don't have to spend ages making sure that the patches on each device are in the correct place.

The tuning of the harmonics at any position other than the 12th fret will always be slightly "out" as the fret positions are compromises to allow fretted instruments to be tolerably in tune in all keys, and are only as accurate as the fret slot cutting and fret dressing allow, while the harmonics the mathematically correct pitches arrived from the pitch of the unfitted string. So using the 5th and 7th fret harmonics are fine for getting the strings in relative tune with each other, but don't ever expect the 7th fret harmonic to be in tune with the fretted note.

Doesn't work for me either as I wasn't really interested in any kind of music until I was almost 11. By the time I reached 14 glam rock which was the music that had got me hooked was very much in decline, and punk was still at least 2 years away.