Stringing midi files together to make a medley

[charlie]

Hey guys,

While I was cueing up the next song to play on the gig last week, it occurred to me that if I could keep a beat going on even when the last loaded midi file was through playing, I could keep the folks on the dance floor. Even now I have the songs playing back to back in groups of three, but each sequence does stop. I find it only takes a split second for the dancers to lose their attention or interest, and leave the floor. Similarly,this is what a DJ would do to keep the people dancing. However, I'm not suggesting morphing songs into one another as DJ's normally do. What I was wanting to do was maintain a beat by using an external drum machine that is triggered by the seguence, and the drum machine would continue playing a beat (perhaps a looping pattern) and hold the dancers on the floor waiting for the next sequence to start playing. How in the world do I do this, or is there a better way to accomplish what I'm wanting to do. I know somebody in this forum can help me out, that's why this forum is so great!

[ironbaden]

the problem that pop's into my head is ...... is this going to be a planned event? I guess what I mean is ..... some nites you'll play a song and for what ever reason nobody dances the next nite same song...the dance floor is filled.... if this is the time you want to " medly songs " this could be hard cuz it could occur at different times of the nite. how ever if its a planned event you can created a medley on your own.... its going to be tougher tho iof this is something you do randomly. the MC 50 sequencer had a loop creator that at any given time it would repeat the last 8 bars. this would come in handy if every one was dancing and you wanted to extend things. I believe you can even insert loop points in the file itself so that at the kick of a switch a loop point would run and then continue from that point. maybe checking out thje 50's medely or 60's medly's available... ;D

[charlie]

hey ironbaden,
Yes, these dance medleys I want to do will be a "planned event". See, if I can create let's say 6 groups of dance medleys of 3 dance songs back to back, each with their own selection of songs....I can select what group medley to play...or if I decide later that certain combinations of tunes aren't really working well together, I can change songs. So, on any given night I can select what dance medley to play. My problem is how do I create this medley of different songs and maintain a beat by using a drum machine I can footswitch in and out? I dont really want to alter the sequences as far as sound and structure, just the tempo...so as to align with a drum machine beat. That way a beat keeps the dancers dancing, I grab a gulp of water, and next sequence begins. I dont really know if I'm headed in the right direction on this, but I appreciate your input. I do have an MC50 sequencer.

[ironbaden]

do you have a spare drum machine?.... it would seem to be a hassle to set up just for that. you could build a meddley and link it together with drum beats..... but...... you'd have to have a set amount of beats between songs...plus...the tempo's should be the same ..or close... why don't you send me 2 midi's that you might wanna put together in a medly and let me come up with something. if it works i'll walk ya thru it. [e-mail] I won't get to look at it till saturday tho. ;D