You need a kind of songbook / setlist app on the iPad (forScore etc.). These apps can send midi messages (either with a cable or a wireless midi adapter) to the QC.
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Let’s take the OnSong app as an example (because that’s what I use 
).
My setup looks like this. I have an m-wave chocolate MIDI controller. It is connected to the iPad via Bluetooth MIDI. I have a CMS-Widi master connected to my QC, which is also connected to the iPad. I also have a BOSS GM-800 connected in the same way.
I have now created all my songs in the OnSong app. How much detail you want to go into is up to you. I have lyrics and chords in there. In OnSong, you have two options: When opening the song via MIDI presets (MIDI program changes) and scenes (MIDI cc → on cc43 then jump to the corresponding scene of the active preset with 0-7), call up and set presets and/or scenes when reaching a section (e.g., verse).
Now you just have to tell OnSong when to switch to the next section, namely when you press the desired button on the Chocolate.
There are a few small details here and there, but none of them are really complex.
This way, you can get through an entire set with just one button and don’t have to think about what to press next. And you can easily control multiple devices at the same time without having to deal with the clunky MIDI implementation of the QC.
I love the „one button“ approach. I switch presets by iPad, but not scenes within a song. Did I understand correctly that you use the m wave to select the next scene/song?
How do you do this within a song?
I use the OnSong app for this. Unfortunately, they have a subscription model, but I haven’t found anything else that’s as easy to use (I used to have GigPerformer on a Windows handheld, but I found it too unreliable).To use the midi functions you need the pro version.
So it’s time for a little tutorial :-). In OnSong, you first have to switch the scrolling from autoscroll to sections. Then you connect a page turner pedal or a MIDI pedal. If you use a MIDI pedal, you can use MIDI Learn to assign an action to the corresponding button. For example, on my Chocolate, I assigned PCs to the four buttons on MIDI channel 16. In Onsong, I then set button 1 to previous song, button 2 to next song, button 3 to previous section, and button 4 to next section.
These are the basic global preparations.
Now you have to divide your songs into sections. A correct declaration of a section is as follows. First comes the name of the section. For example, “Verse:”. The colon is important so that it is understood as the name of the section. In the next lines, you can then specify the lyrics and chords.
Now it gets a little tricky. You don’t always want to switch sounds for every part of the song. So you don’t have to divide the sections according to the strict structure of the song, but according to the areas where you want to switch sounds.
Example: Verse is clean, bridge and chorus are distorted.
Verse:
A E D
I am a little verse and I don’t rhyme.
Bridge:
My bridge is very small
*Chorus
I repeat myself, I repeat myself, I repeat myself
Because of the blank line, Onsong now interprets the verse as one section and the bridge and chorus as one block. If you put a blank line between the bridge and the chorus, both would be considered separate sections (which I find a bit silly). Tip: If you want to display a blank line, you can write !&black:- instead of the blank line. This creates a string that is colored black and is no longer visible against the black background. If you prefer a white background, write !&white:- instead.
The * before the chorus ensures that the word is written in bold.
Once you’ve structured your song accordingly, you can assign the desired MIDI commands to the respective section by long-clicking on it.
Additional note: By long-clicking on the header (song title), you can send the MIDI commands needed to start the song. For example, to send the correct set list to the QC, set CC32 to the appropriate value. You can then set the preset (PC) and load the correct scene with CC43. If you have more than one MIDI device connected, remember to use the correct MIDI channels.
After all of that, you can really get through a song with just one button. That said, the four-button version with the Chocolate is pretty nice, since you can use it to go back if you accidentally press too much and skip to the next song.
By the way, OnSong also has a very handy setlist manager :-).
Thank you so much, @in5y372, for taking the time for this detailed how-to.
I can’t do the same with my current setup, it seems, since forScore does not have a function to send MIDI messages when switching song parts, only when switching songs. Unless I missed it.
So I need to think if I change to onsong. Maybe during the summer break.
At least I am now prepared when I switch and can use your instructions for my setup.
Really fantastic, thanks a lot for your help!
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