Live over DJ

A DJ plays the tracks, a band — small or large — plays over them, and every player reads the right part through the whole mix.

The DJ page: the song playing, the next song coming in, the crossfade fader between them

The idea

The DJ runs the set from BarBeatCue's DJ page: the stems of each song on two decks, crossfades on the bar line, the next song at the tempo and key of the last, a fader under the hand and a nudge when the room wants it faster. Over it plays a band — a singer and a sax, or a horn section and a choir. Each of them reads their part on their own screen, and the screens go with the music through every mix.

Through the mix, every screen in step

The screens switch songs in the middle of the crossfade — where the mix passes from one song to the next, not before, not after.
The singer reads the prompter, the line being sung lit.
The drummer reads the giant bar and beat, with the click in their ears on its own output.
A horn section reads the chords from one Apple TV at the foot of the stage; a keyboard player the chords above the words.
A tempo nudge or a key change reaches the screens as it reaches the speakers: the charts show the new key.

The drummer's iPad: the giant bar and beat — The drummer

The guitarist's iPad: the chord chart — A chord chart

The singer's iPad: the lyric prompter — The singer

The DJ's page, the band's screens

The DJ page is two decks, the fader, Match tempo and Match key, Live X, and the next song cued on its beat. The band's screens are set once per player on the Mac, saved with the show: who reads what, in which look.

Match Tempo Setlist ▸ Match Tempo — On a song that goes on into another: the next song, reached from this one, plays at this song's tempo at its end; started on its own it plays at its own. On one of several selected songs: every selected song. From the Setlist menu: the selected songs, else the song shown.

Match Key Setlist ▸ Match Key — The song this one goes on into is moved to this song's key as it plays — the nearest way, up to six semitones; a relative major or minor counts as the same key. Both songs need their key set (Song inspector ▸ Key). Decided when the next song is reached; it plays transposed, its charts and the iPads with it. The DJ page's ♯ = ♯.

Nudge Tempo Up Transport ▸ Nudge Tempo Up — The song playing goes 1 BPM faster from its next beat line — a DJ's pitch fader without the pitch: the stems are stretched live (good, not a prepared render's quality), the click, the LCD, sync out and the iPads follow. Presses before the beat arrives add up. The DJ page's + does it, ⇧ for 0.1 BPM. Lasts until the song stops; Back to Song Tempo Now drifts back to the song's own tempo.

Set it up

A DJ-style set — the crossfades, the fader, the nudge · the network — one router for the Mac and every screen · the audio — the house, the DJ's cue and the drummer's click on their own outputs.