question about LIVE click tracks and triggering...

[andy1908]

I'm not sure if this should be in this section, im not sure if it's even possible, but considering there's more traffic here i wanted to give it a shot...
What would be the best program for running a click through in ear monitors/headphones while maintaining the ability to trigger samples to play LIVE though the PA???
I use Pro-Tools and Reason Extensively.
I have used Ableton Live in the past to trigger samples, although it's been a year or so.

Basically i'm a drummer in a band. I want to start a song with a click ONLY through the headphones so i can maintain the correct tempo. At certain points i'd like to trigger programmed beats live.

I currently have the following @ my disposal:
5pc Drum Kit
Digi 002 Rack
MBOX
Macbook Pro
Reason 4
Alesis D4
Midi Pad
Oxygen 48key
OZONE

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

PS: if you know of any other websites that could help me with programming and questions like this, I would love to know about them. Thanks!

[Naagzh]

Hey man, I'm in the same boat.

One very nice thing about a Roland SPD-S sampling pad is that it has its own click, which comes out the headphone outputs, but NOT out of the L/R outputs. VERY useful! It will take time to set up, but basically you build a "scene" for each song by loading in your sound via flash memory card, set the click at the appropriate tempo, and assign each sound or sequence to a pad.

Or, if you want to use your Mbox, just send the click to output #1, and your sounds to output #2. The soundguy really only needs a mono signal of your triggered sounds. I don't know how reliable an Mbox would be in a live setting (or any setting for that matter). I wouldn't try it myself. The 002R would be okay, but in addition to the MacBook, it's alot to carry around, set up, and protect from flying sticks and drunken people. You'd need a DI box to get the sequences to the mixing board, and you can use the DI's parallel return to get the sequence into your ears.

But many bands play to back-up tracks. You could record a click and pan it left, then tecord your triggered sounds and sequences according to the song form, and pan them all right. Play this on an iPod, and split the signal such that only the right side of the iPod goes to the FOH sound, and the click goes to your ears. Or, get a small mixer and a DI box so that you can hear both the sequences and the click.