Sequential one-button switching (Showcase lite) for the Mini

Quad Cortex Feature Requests
1

The new Mini is terrific, but it only has four buttons. This makes it much more difficult to access the desired sounds, and many will have to ruin the Mini’s awesome small form factor by connecting an external MIDI controller.
This wouldn’t be necessary if the Mini (and preferably the large version too) were to get a kind of Showcase Lite. A way to store setlists, songs, and song parts and then use just one button to cycle through the presets/scenes of an entire song in the correct order. After all, most people play their sounds in the same order in their songs.

I would also start simple here and do without complex things like the backing tracks of the Stadium and the like. Keep it simple to make implementation easier.

Maybe take a look at this little clickable prototype, I’ve done in about 30 Minutes.It’s not that complex to build such a mighty feature.

→ Quad Cortex Advanced Simulator

In my opinion, a Showcase Lite would need the following:

  • Song library with all songs
  • Setlists in which songs can be sorted (Preferably as a reference to the songs in the library, not as a copy of the songs.).
  • Division into song parts per song
  • A preset with a scene that is called up for each song part, a song part title, and perhaps a little text to display chords or lyrics, for example.
  • The ability to send MIDI commands for each song part.

Over the years, each of us has come up with our own workflows. So please, before you say, “I don’t need that, I do it this way,” please consider whether you would benefit from such a feature.

The advantages are obvious:

  • Only one button needs to be remembered and pressed
  • Significantly more time during the performance to concentrate on playing the guitar, the songs, and interacting with the audience
  • No need to thinke, what sound comes next an where do I find it any more
  • Significantly lower error rate (anyone who has accidentally pressed the clean ballad sound during the final high-speed solo knows what I’m talking about)

Since there is no dedicated Quad Cortex Mini section yet, I’ll put it here for now.

I took the liberty of visualizing what something like this might look like. Pictures say more than words :slight_smile:

quad-cortex-mini-setlist_v3
quad-cortex-mini-setlist_v31920×1097 228 KB

2

Oh yes, that would be a great feature. Not just for the new Mini. I don’t think anyone else has implemented something like that well. Showcase is too complicated and relies too heavily on backing tracks (who has a drummer who can play to a click track?), Fractal is only half useful, and strangely enough, Headrush has only implemented it in their large device, but it doesn’t sound nearly as good as QC.

3

Yes, you’re right. I also had a headrush once and wondered why they had only implemented the setlist/song/song part function on the chunky Prime. I was told at the time that it was because of the number of buttons required, which I never understood, since such a function requires fewer buttons rather than more.

4

Another approach to render out the advantages of such a mode.

Imagine you have your favorite preset with 8 scenes you are using for most of your songs. Now you need scenes 1, 2, 6, 2, 7, 1, 2, 8 in exact this order in a song. With the Mini, you would now have to change scene-banks 5 times because you only have 4 buttons. Changing banks means (if I understand correctly) having to press the upper right button (B) longer.

So without this feature, your sequence would look like this:

A, B, B long, B, B long, B, B long, C, B long, A, B, B long, D.

With this feature, you would press the following for the same sequence:

D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D.

Which is easier to use, easier to remember, and less prone to errors?