Alien Apparatus Solo Performer Show Controller User manual

Solo Performer
Show Controller®
Version 4
User’s Guide

Copyright ©2009 Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
2018 Marina Court
San Leandro, CA 94577
All Rights Reserved
http://www.alienapparatus.com
Information is subject to change without notice. No
material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any
purpose without the express written permission of Alien
Apparatus Company, Inc.
Solo Performer Show Controller® and Alien Apparatus®
are registered trademarks of Alien Apparatus Company,
Inc.
Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation.
Macintosh® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer
Corporation.
QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used
under license. The QuickTime logo is registered in the
U.S. and other countries.

Contents
...........................................................................1 INTRODUCTION!9
OVERVIEW -HOW SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER WORKS..!9
NEW FEATURES IN VERSION .........................................................4!12
.................................2 IMPORTANT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS!15
..........................................3 UNPACKING AND REGISTERING!17
UNPACKING.....................................................................................!17
PRODUCT REGISTRATION.................................................................!17
...............................................................4 QUICK START GUIDE!19
..........................................5 INSTALLATION ON MACINTOSH!23
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.................................................................!23
UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION........................................!23
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION...............................................................!23
..............................................6 INSTALLATION ON WINDOWS!31
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.................................................................!31
UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION........................................!31
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION...............................................................!31
FOOT CONTROLLER DRIVER INSTALLATION....................................!43
..............................................................7 WIRING THE SYSTEM!47
CONNECTING LIGHTS......................................................................!47
LINE TERMINATION.........................................................................!48
5-PIN DMX512 CONNECTORS.........................................................!48
HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO...........................................................!49
MIDI CABLING................................................................................!51
...........................................8 OVERVIEW OF THE SOFTWARE!53
THE PLAYLIST EDITOR WINDOW.....................................................!53
THE LYRICS EDITOR WINDOW........................................................!54

THE LIGHTSHOW EDITOR WINDOW.................................................!55
THE MIDI EFFECTS EDITOR WINDOW.............................................!56
THE HOTKEY EDITOR WINDOW.......................................................!57
THE INFORMATION WINDOW...........................................................!58
...................................................9 STARTING THE SOFTWARE!60
LAUNCHING SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER......................!60
SYSTEM REGISTRATION...................................................................!60
JOINT THE ELIST..............................................................................!63
LOCATE YOUR AUDIO FILES............................................................!64
.........................................................10 PLAYLISTS AND AUDIO!65
PLAYLIST EDITOR SCREEN LAYOUT................................................!65
PLAYLISTS.......................................................................................!68
SORTING PLAYLISTS........................................................................!69
DEFAULT PLAYLISTS........................................................................!69
MAKING A NEW PLAYLIST...............................................................!70
ADDING AUDIO TO THE PLAYLIST...................................................!71
SUPPORTED AUDIO FILE FORMATS..................................................!76
MIDI FILE PLAYBACK.....................................................................!77
PLAYLIST SELECTIONS.....................................................................!77
REORDERING PLAYLIST ITEMS.........................................................!78
REMOVING PLAYLIST ITEMS............................................................!79
ENDING OPTIONS.............................................................................!80
VOLUME ADJUSTMENT....................................................................!82
TIME REMAINING IN PLAYLIST........................................................!83
AUDIO FILE TUNING SETTING.........................................................!83
INFORMATION WINDOW..................................................................!84
SAVING PLAYLISTS..........................................................................!85
PLAYLIST LOCKING.........................................................................!86
OPENING PLAYLISTS........................................................................!86
BUTTON VIEW.................................................................................!87
AUDIO FILE TIPS..............................................................................!91
USING CLICK TRACKS.....................................................................!92
................................................................11 MIDI FILE OPTIONS!93
REMOVING INSTRUMENTS FROM A MIDI FILE.................................!93
CHANGING MIDI INSTRUMENTS.....................................................!95
TRANSPOSING MIDI NOTES............................................................!96

.......................................................................................12 TUNING!97
TUNING YOUR INSTRUMENT...........................................................!97
TUNING THE PLAYLIST AUDIO.........................................................!98
ADJUSTING THE GLOBAL TUNING.................................................!100
......................................13 EVENT SEQUENCES OVERVIEW!103
THE THREE-STEP PROCESS............................................................!103
......................................................................................14 LYRICS!105
ADDING LYRIC TEXT DISPLAYS TO A SONG...................................!105
DELETING A LYRIC TEXT EVENT...................................................!112
THE LOCK BUTTON.......................................................................!113
USING THE CLIPBOARD TO COPY AND PASTE LYRICS....................!113
EXITING THE LYRIC EDITOR..........................................................!118
EMBEDDED TEXT IN KARAOKE &MIDI FILES..............................!118
USING LRC LYRIC FILES...............................................................!120
LYRIC TEXT TIPS...........................................................................!120
...........................................................................................15 MIDI!123
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................!123
MIDI EVENT EDITOR.....................................................................!123
CREATING A MIDI EVENT.............................................................!125
CREATING A MIDI EVENTS SEQUENCE..........................................!133
EXITING THE MIDI EVENT EDITOR...............................................!137
ADDING MIDI EVENT SEQUENCES TO A PLAYLIST........................!137
REMOVING MIDI EVENT SEQUENCES FROM A PLAYLIST..............!138
ADDING AN ENDING MIDI EVENT.................................................!139
.....................................................................................16 LIGHTS!141
OVERALL APPROACH....................................................................!141
OVERVIEW OF LIGHT DEVICE FILES...............................................!142
DEFINING NEW MIDI DEVICES.....................................................!147
USING THE RANGE TOOL...............................................................!150
EDITING EXISTING DEVICES..........................................................!152
LIGHTSHOW EDITOR OVERVIEW....................................................!153
CONFIGURING THE CHANNELS.......................................................!154
MAKING A LIGHT SCENE...............................................................!157
SAVING A LIGHT SCENE.................................................................!159
OPENING A LIGHT SCENE...............................................................!160

DELETING A LIGHT SCENE.............................................................!161
ADDING A SCENE TO A LIGHTSHOW...............................................!162
DELETING A SCENE FROM A LIGHTSHOW.......................................!166
PREVIEWING A LIGHTSHOW...........................................................!166
MAKING A LIGHTSHOW USING CHASES.........................................!167
SAVING A LIGHTSHOW...................................................................!172
OPENING A LIGHTSHOW.................................................................!173
EXITING THE LIGHTSHOW EDITOR.................................................!173
ADDING A LIGHTSHOW TO A PLAYLIST..........................................!174
REMOVING A LIGHTSHOW FROM A PLAYLIST.................................!174
ADDING AN ENDING LIGHT SCENE................................................!175
LIGHT SCENE TIPS.........................................................................!176
...........................................17 EXAMPLE LIGHTING SETUPS!179
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................!179
THE SETUP/TEAR-DOWN MINIMALIST..........................................!179
THE BUDGET SETUP......................................................................!181
THE DIMMER SETUP......................................................................!183
AN ADVANCED SETUP EXAMPLE...................................................!185
.................................................................................18 HOTKEYS!189
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................!189
THE HOTKEY EVENT EDITOR.........................................................!189
CREATING A HOTKEY EVENT.........................................................!191
CREATING HOTKEY EVENT SEQUENCES........................................!196
EXITING THE HOTKEY EVENT EDITOR...........................................!200
ADDING HOTKEY EVENT SEQUENCES TO A PLAYLIST...................!202
REMOVING HOTKEY EVENT SEQUENCES FROM A PLAYLIST..........!203
ENDING HOTKEY EVENTS..............................................................!204
.................................................................19 RUNNING A SHOW!205
THE AUDIO TRANSPORT................................................................!205
SETTING UP THE VIEW...................................................................!206
THE CLOCK WINDOW....................................................................!206
THE NEXT SONG WINDOW............................................................!207
THE FOOT CONTROLLER................................................................!208
THE FOOT CONTROLLER BUTTON STATUS WINDOW.....................!209
STARTING A SHOW.........................................................................!209
STOPPING A SHOW.........................................................................!210

CONTROLLING THE PLAYLIST........................................................!210
CHANGING THE VOLUME...............................................................!211
CHANGING THE COMPUTER SYSTEM VOLUME..............................!212
FULL SCREEN LYRICS....................................................................!212
SECONDARY LYRIC DISPLAY WINDOW..........................................!214
FOG MACHINE CONTROL...............................................................!215
ALTERNATE BUTTON MAPPINGS....................................................!215
RECONNECTING THE FOOT CONTROLLER......................................!217
THE IMPORTANCE OF A FOG MACHINE..........................................!217
RECOMMENDED PRE-SHOW PREPARATION....................................!217
........................................................................20 CUSTOMIZING!221
OPENING THE PREFERENCES PANEL..............................................!221
SETTING THE GENERAL PREFERENCES..........................................!222
SETTING DEFAULT FILE LOCATIONS..............................................!225
SETTING DEFAULT CONFIGURATION FILE......................................!228
FONT AND COLOR SETTINGS.........................................................!229
MIDI SETTINGS.............................................................................!233
TUNING SETTINGS.........................................................................!235
FOG MACHINE SETTINGS...............................................................!238
BUTTON MAPPING SETTINGS.........................................................!242
...............................................................................21 GLOSSARY!245
..................................22 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS!251
......................................................................23 GETTING HELP!259
THE USERS MANUAL.....................................................................!259
ONLINE HELP.................................................................................!259
WEBSITE USERS FORUM................................................................!260
CUSTOMER SUPPORT.....................................................................!260
.............................A1 DMX512 LIGHTING INTRODUCTION!261
DMX512 BACKGROUND...............................................................!261
DXM512 AND SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER................!263
REDUCED DMX MODES................................................................!264
................................A2 SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT!265
..........................................................A3 LIMITED WARRANTY!273
...................................A4 DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY!277

!!!!!!!!1
Introduction
!
Overview - How Solo Performer Show
Controller Works
The Solo Performer Show Controller is a system for solo
musicians to control their shows when performing live. It
consists of a software program that manages playlists,
plays the backing music, displays lyrics on screen,
controls light shows, controls MIDI e"ects units, and is
controllable by a six-button foot pedal for hands-free
operation onstage.
Playlists are defined by adding audio files to the list.
Each playlist item can then be assigned lyrics, MIDI
!!
Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.! ! Introduction 9

events, hotkey events, and a lightshow. When the playlist
is run, the audio plays item by item through the
computer. This audio can be routed to a PA system for
higher performance. While the audio plays, the lyric
events are displayed on-screen, MIDI events are sent to
e"ect units through the computer’s MIDI interface, and
lighting events are output to either DMX512 or MIDI
lights to create light scenes in synchronization with the
audio.
The system supports 32 channels of DMX512 or MIDI
lighting control. If you are new to DMX512 lighting, refer
to Appendix A1 for an introduction.
The foot controller’s default functions are as shown
below:
The foot switch functions are as follows, from left to
right:
!!
10 Introduction!Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide

!! Play / Stop
Plays the playlist if it is not running or stops it if it is
running.
!! Playlist
Changes the currently selected song on the playlist
!! Volume Down
Lowers the volume of the current playlist item
!! Volume Up
Raises the volume of the current playlist item
!! Lyric Window
!Toggles the lyric display area from a windowed
view to full-screen
!Fog
Toggles the fog machine on and o"
!!
Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.! ! Introduction 11

New Features in Version 4
Version 4 includes several new features that have been
requested by users. New features include:
Improved Window Layout for Better Workflow
One of the most obvious new changes in version 4 is that
the windows are layed out significantly di"erently. The
Playlist Editor now has three panes - the playlist library,
the playlist, and the lyrics display and a header with
transport controls. The three panes can be resized or
collapsed to show the information that is important when
it is important.
The setup buttons from previous editions of Solo
Performer Show Controller are now removed. Their
functionality is replaced by the Action button that is
under the playlist, and is also accessible by contextual
menus when right-clicking or control-clicking on a
playlist item.
All editor windows, such as the Lightshow Editor and
MIDI Editor all include a waveform view with an event
track underneath. The event track shows markers in
spots where events appear in the timecode listing.
Markers can be dragged to move them to new locations
and can be copied and pasted as well.
Button View for Playing Without Fixed Set
Lists
!!
12 Introduction!Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide

If you perform without fixed set lists, you can use button
view to show all of your songs as buttons that fill the
screen. You can choose songs by simply picking a
button. Buttons can be color-coded and moved around
for easy organizing. Button View can be configured for
di"erent button sizes and column layouts as well.
MIDI Editor Supports Note-On and Note-O"
Event
You can now control MIDI e"ects and devices with MIDI
Note-On and Note-O"events in addition to the Program
Change and Control Message options of the past
releases.
Audio Library Supports Sub-Folders
If you have sub-folders in your audio folder, all items in
all sub-folders are now part of your audio library.
Additionally, a new preference item has been added to
strip leading numbers from the names of audio files.
These two features make it very convenient to work with
your iTunes library folder in Solo Perfomer Show
Controller.
Keyboard Navigation
In previous editions of Solo Performer Show Controller,
you could alway press keys on the keyboard to advance
to songs that start with the letters that you have pressed.
Now, after finding a song, you can press the tab key to
!!
Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.! ! Introduction 13

go to the next songs that match. This is a very handy
feature to use when you have very long set lists or are
using Button View with your entire library.
Improved Authorization Method
Previously, Solo Performer Show Controller had to be
authorized by connecting the foot controller.
Authorization was maintained by connecting the foot
controller every 45 days. Now, authorization is done
only once by a license key code so you will never be
bothered by this procedure again.
And Much More!
See the "Solo Performer Show Conroller Readme.rtf" file
for a list of all of the new features and fixes in this
release.
!!
14 Introduction!Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide

!!!!!!!! 2
Important Safety
Precautions
Warning! To prevent or reduce the risk of electrical
shock or fire, do not expose this unit to rain or moisture.
Caution! There are no user serviceable parts inside
these units. Do not attempt any repairs yourself. Doing
so will void your manufacturers warranty. In the unlikely
event that any of our units require service please contact
your nearest Alien Apparatus customer support
representative. See Appendix A3 for more information.
Warning! Route all cabling away from foot tra#c. As a
further precaution, strain-relieve the USB cable near the
computer as shown below to prevent computer damage
due to accidental cable movements.
Do not spill water or other liquids into or on your unit.
!!
Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.! ! Important Safety Precautions
15

To reduce the risk of electrical shock or fire, do not
expose the unit to rain or moisture.
The unit is intended for indoor use only. The use of this
product outdoors voids all warranties.
Never attempt to operate the unit if it has become
damaged in any way.
Ensure that all cabling in the system is free from frays or
other damage. Do not operate the unit with damaged
cables.
The unit should only be cleaned as recommended by the
manufacturer. It is recommended that cleaning be done
with only a soft cloth. Do not use any solvents.
The unit should be situated away from heat sources such
as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other appliances
(including amplifiers) that produce heat.
!!
16 Important Safety Precautions!Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide

!!!!!!!! 3
Unpacking And
Registering
Unpacking
Every Solo Performer Show Controller system has been
thoroughly tested and has been shipped in perfect
operating condition. Carefully check the shipping carton
for damage that may have occurred during shipping. If
the carton appears to be damaged, carefully inspect your
units for any damage and be sure all accessories
necessary to operate the system have arrived intact. In
the event that damage has been found or parts are
missing, please contact Alien Apparatus customer
support for further instructions. Please do not return the
system to your dealer without first contacting customer
support.
Product Registration
The Solo Performer Show Controller carries a one year
(365 day) limited warranty. When running the included
software for the first time, a registration screen will
appear. Please fill out the on-screen registration form.
When complete, the form may be submitted by email, or
it may be printed and mailed. Submit the registration to
!!
Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.! ! Unpacking & Registering 17

validate your purchase and activate your warranty.
Registering also ensures that you will receive all software
updates that you are entitled to receive.
!!
18 Unpacking & Registering !Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide