Playing two sound cues simultaneously?

JLNorthGA

Active Member
I have searched the "sticky" for sound cue playback software. I have been to a couple of the sites. I have looked at a couple of the programs.

We need to play two sounds simultaneously for this production. I have a laptop with the .wav files.

Sound Cue System Lite looks interesting. I've downloaded Multiplay. However, I haven't figured out how to make Multiplay play two .wav files at the same time.

Which software would work? Inexpensive or freeware is good. Suitable for use in a community theatre setting is good (i.e. can be run by anybody without too much effort).
 
I had a quick look at the Multiplay website and it seems to handle this through a different cue type from the default. I think it's done with a "play and advance" cue but a more careful search of the documentation would be needed to say for sure.
 
I agree the easiest way would be to do something like download audacity and mix the two together. Or if you have some type of playback software, I've used SFX but as mentioned its not free and you just double tap go and they play while overlapping.
 
I use Multiplay, and it will easily play multiple files simultaneously. Just push PLAY to start the first and then PLAY to start the next file.. STOP will stop all..

Not entirely sure if .WAV is an issue, I have not run into it. If it is just change the file to an MP3.

I "played" around with Multiplay - it will play the second file simultaneously - and equally as important, it will let me loop the first file so that it is the same or similar length to the second.
 
Qlab is awesome if you have an old (or new) mac laying around. I just use my old g5 iMac for cue playback. Free for the basic stuff, and a pretty solid program. Figure 53 | QLab | Live Show Control for Mac OS X

SFX is a program that a theatre I was at a few years back used. Solid, not free. Not even sure what they charge these days. ..::Stage Research::..


Otherwise you could consider using 2x CD players, or two quicktime windows.

Some of us are not Mac people ;). Not to mention the fact that they don't sell those around here (can we say - the sticks). Not that I don't like Apple (or Macs) - one of my first computers was an Apple 2e.
 
I highly recommend multiplay. I've been using it a long time, and it works great. There's a lot you can do with the cues in there, including control cues that can stop or fade others, playing multiple at once, and it's totally free.
If you program your cue list right, you can just hit "go" for every cue, just like doing lights. That's convenient if you're handling sound cues while mixing the show at the same time.
 
The g5 I use for qlab was a free throw away from a college.

The g4 in the closet is the same thing. Old macs have a habit of living on longer than they are useful, but qlab does just fine with the old hardware.
 
If it is just change the file to an MP3.

I would personally recommend avoiding doing that, for one thing it does affect the sound quality, but it adds processing on the post end. I've had serious issues with mp3 files and QLab not being decoded properly. IMO always use quality recordings of Red Book quality in the proper format such as .wav or .aiff.

The TD at our college hates being given mp3 files or other compressed formats, in order to get them to play nice with QLab I have to convert them to .aiff and note on the filename they are conversions.
 
Our company (3 stages plus tours) has used both PC and Mac software. So here is my run-down for you...

SFX for PC is great. Yes, as mentioned before, not free. But definitely a good program that plays many cues out of multiple outputs. Our systems were all 12 channel sound cards and we were also able to use the show control features to run lighting or video trigger cues during complex sequences or shows (like "It's A Wonderful Life").

2 years ago, we produced a production that was massively video-heavy. Up to this point, we had been burning DVDs and letting SFX trigger the DVD player (Tascam with auto-pause) to play back the video files. But all fading in and out and any effects had to be within the DVD already. There was no way to instantly edit this information from SFX or on the DVD. So, we did a lot of research and determined that the easiest way to accomplish what we wanted was to go with the Mac based program Qlab. It not only does all the things that SFX did (wav, mp3, m4a, etc playback) but would also take video files (avi, mov, etc etc etc) and allow us to play them back, fade them in and out, change the fade times, manipulate the video itself (change its size, location on the screens, add effects like rotation etc) all within the program without reburning discs every time a change was needed.

We have, since that show, outfitted all our theatres with Macs to do all of our playback (audio and video) as well as show control on larger shows.

The other major bonus for you going with one of these two programs instead of combining them together using an audio editing program is that you can manipulate the audio files separately during the show as well. For instance, we have wind, rain, thunder etc as separate files that then allow us to play each one when we need it, fade them in and out as needed and loop as needed without having extra effects on top that we cannot alter once created as a full layered effect.

Hope this helps.

..::Stage Research::.. (for SFX)
Figure 53 | Creators of QLab, QCart, Streamers, Lockstep, and Tixato (for Qlab)

Cheers,
Darren
 
For what it's worth, if I had the money I'd always be all over SFX. It's a great program and easy to use and is about the simplest straight forward you can get. That being said, the free stuff probably works just as well, but if I don't have to pay for it out of pocket SFX is what I'd personally want.
 
The blackbox space I work in frequently uses Show Cue System for both the triggering of sound cues, and light cues via an M-Audio UNO MIDI interface and a generic USB sound interface. We eventually plan to combine the UNO and the sound interface, but we haven't got there yet. Being a fan of Qlab and Mac products in general I was very reserved about using a windows piece of software for such a large task (we only have room for one operator, so the computer controls everything). I have to say, being the person responsible for most of the programming on this machine scared me a little, but I've fallen in love with it and if you can spare the money, you will never regret it.
 
Just spend an afternoon with a six pack of Sam Adams and Multiplay and you'll find that it's a killer app for what you need. The cue automatons are where it's at and you can easily get the end result of two cues at once. You just have to remember that the automatons are worded for AFTER the cue, not the state of the cue you are working on. Multiplay concerns itself on where the cue is going, not changing the status of the cue you are currently working on. It's a bit odd, but once you get used to it setting a show is easy. I commonly use it to quickly set up private school talent shows and recitals that get booked in my venue, and when you have over 100 kids and 45 different presentations, flexibility is the name of the game. Multiplay does that in a very simple way and it uses practically zero resources on my machine (Sony Vaio Core i5/8GB RAM).
 
I like Multiplay. And the price. Support is good as well - if I email an inquiry before bed, I usually have an answer when I get up the next morning. Two small caveats (the first of which is mentioned on the website): If you are running Vista, do not put the Multiplay folder in Program Files. Also, in Vista you (well, at least I) cannot simply drag files into the play list. On the old XP computer dragging worked. No biggie, but dragging sure was nice.
 
For what it's worth, if I had the money I'd always be all over SFX. It's a great program and easy to use and is about the simplest straight forward you can get. That being said, the free stuff probably works just as well, but if I don't have to pay for it out of pocket SFX is what I'd personally want.

For whatever it's worth, I got an Email from Stage Research the other day with a Memorial Day special; SFX 6 Deluxe for $145. It is regularly priced at $395 and the special runs through May 31st.

Best,
John
 
I have to say that seems a little complicated.

In QLab you would drop the first cue from the finder window or desktop into the cue list, do the same for the second and drop it below the first. Select Auto continue on the first cue. That's it. Load the cue and hit spacebar.
 

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