Performer Mode
Status: draft. Concrete reference content + structural placeholders; flesh out the prose + screenshots when ready.
Purpose
The stage-facing view. Everything that isn't useful during performance gets out of the way: the nav bar collapses, editor surfaces hide, and the screen is given over to the current cue's preset, lyrics, performance notes, up-next info, and a live effect grid. Cue advance is foot-driven by default — your existing footswitches drive it — with arrow keys, spacebar, and an on-screen NEXT as fallbacks.
VL Studio difference — what the device shows you on stage
Standalone, the VL3X gives you a small LCD with the current preset name, slot number, key/scale, and a tiny indicator if a Backing Track or Sequence is loaded. That's it. Lyrics, up-next info, and which effects are about to fire all live in your head (or on a printed setlist).
VL Studio's Performer Mode turns your laptop or tablet into a proper stage display: current preset, lyrics line, performance notes, up-next cue, a live effect grid, an interactive cue progress bar, and the backing-track or Performance Clock position bar — all visible without leaning over to read the device. The same Preset Up footswitch you already use simply advances cues here.
Walk-through
- Enter Performer Mode — click Performer Mode in the top nav, or press F11.
- Load a setlist or single song first — Performer Mode operates on whatever's currently loaded. From the Setlists page, open a setlist before entering; same for a standalone Songs entry. (Or enter Performer Mode with nothing loaded — see Free mode below.)
- Layout — three regions:
- Top header — backing-track transport on the left (Play / Pause / Stop / Restart + scrub bar), slot / cue / preset / key info on the right with the TALK button.
- Cue progress bar — a horizontal strip of cue labels showing where you are in the song. Click any cue to jump to it.
- Body — effect grid on the left (live on/off state), current cue lyrics + notes + up-next on the right.
- Side panel — compact cue list (label + timestamp + preset name) for the active song, or the ordered entry list for a setlist.
- Cue advance — five equivalent paths, all do the same thing:
- Foot — a VL3X footswitch mapped to PRESET UP advances; PRESET DOWN retreats.
- Spacebar, Right arrow, Down arrow — all advance.
- Left arrow, Up arrow — retreat.
- NEXT button on screen — touch / mouse fallback.
- TALK button in the header — fires the configured TALK preset (Settings → TALK Preset). Highlights bright amber when the current device slot already matches the TALK slot, sits darker amber otherwise, and is grayed out / disabled if no global TALK slot is set.
- Set BPM widget in the header — type a BPM, click Set. Writes the master tempo and stays in sync with the device. If a song has a default tempo set, it's written to the device automatically when the song loads.
- Exit — press Esc or F11, or click the exit button.
Reference
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Advance one cue (same as NEXT) |
| → Right arrow | Advance one cue |
| ↓ Down arrow | Advance one cue |
| ← Left arrow | Back one cue |
| ↑ Up arrow | Back one cue |
| Esc | Exit Performer Mode |
| F11 | Toggle Performer Mode on / off (global, works from any page) |
The five "advance" and "retreat" paths are equivalent — pick whatever's natural at the moment. Foot, mouse, and keyboard all converge on the same actions.
Interactive cue progress bar
Above the body, every cue in the current song appears as a labeled segment in a horizontal strip:
- Current cue — highlighted, larger, blue.
- Past cues — darker blue.
- Upcoming cues — gray.
Click any segment to jump straight to that cue. Useful for rehearsing a specific section, recovering from a missed cue mid-song, or skipping the intro to start practice from Verse 1.
Cue labels longer than 8 characters truncate visually but the full label still fires on the flash overlay when the cue runs.
Foot advance — Preset Up / Preset Down
Map any VL3X footswitch to PRESET UP (and optionally PRESET DOWN) on the Mixer page. In Performer Mode:
- Preset Up → advance one cue.
- Preset Down → back one cue.
Foot advance only acts when a song or setlist is loaded. In free mode (no song loaded), foot presses pass through as ordinary preset-up/preset-down on the device — see Free mode.
The first cue is armed, not auto-fired
When you enter a song, the first cue is armed: the side panel and header show its label but no preset or automation fires until your first NEXT press. This gives you time to get to the instrument before the backing track starts. The flash overlay shows Armed: [cue label] so you know the song is loaded and ready.
End of song, end of setlist — wrapping
What happens when you press NEXT past the last cue depends on whether you're inside a setlist:
- Standalone song (loaded from the Songs page) — NEXT past the last cue wraps to the first cue of the same song. The song doesn't exit on its own. Same for PREV before the first cue (wraps to the last). This is useful for looping a rehearsal section without leaving the song.
- Song inside a setlist — NEXT past the last cue of the current song exits that song and advances to the next setlist entry (the next song, preset, or talk-break). PREV before the first cue exits backward into the previous entry.
- Setlist as a whole — NEXT past the last entry wraps to the first entry of the setlist. (Doesn't exit the setlist.) PREV before the first entry wraps to the last.
Knowing this matters on stage: if you finish the last song of a standalone Songs page and hit Preset Up by reflex, you'll loop back to Verse 1 of the same song, not silence.
Backing-track-driven cue auto-advance
If a cue has a timestamp set and a backing track is loaded and playing, Performer Mode advances to that cue automatically when the track's playback position crosses the timestamp. Manual advance (foot, keys, button) still works at any time — they all converge on the same action.
Performance Clock (no backing track? no problem)
For solo or no-backing-track performers, Performer Mode includes a Performance Clock — a simple wall-clock timer that drives auto-advance for songs with timestamps but no backing track loaded. The clock has its own Play / Pause / Stop / Restart controls, rendered in amber to distinguish it from the cyan backing-track transport.
Auto-start scope — the clock auto-starts on the first NEXT press in a no-backing-track timed song, and only if the clock isn't already running. PREV doesn't auto-start. Clicking a cue in the progress bar doesn't auto-start either. The reasoning: firing the intro cue is the "go" signal; back-navigation and jumping around are editing actions, not performance signals.
Backing track wins over the clock — if a track is loaded, the track drives auto-advance; otherwise the clock does. Only one transport widget appears at a time.
Advance Cue CC (override)
Settings → Performance → Advance Cue CC lets you assign a specific MIDI CC to "advance one cue" — for footswitches you'd rather use without disturbing your normal preset navigation. The CC presses are debounced so momentary switches don't double-fire.
Free mode (no song loaded)
Performer Mode works without a song or setlist loaded. You get:
- Recent presets list in the side panel — every preset you've loaded this session, building up as you navigate. Click any to jump back.
- Live effect grid in the body.
- TALK button in the header.
- Foot / spacebar / arrow keys walk through preset slots 1–500 on the device directly. No cues fire, no automation runs — these are just plain preset changes. (Free-mode advance is clamped, not wrapped — pressing past slot 500 or before slot 1 does nothing.)
Use free mode when you want the stage display without committing to a setlist — sound-check, open-mic, or any "I'll see what feels right next" performance.
Visual cues at a glance
What every color, badge, and overlay means:
| Where | What you see | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Top-left of header | Green or red dot | Device connection — green = connected, red = disconnected |
| Header TALK button | Bright amber | Active — current device slot matches the TALK slot |
| Header TALK button | Dark amber | Idle — TALK slot is set but you're not on it |
| Header TALK button | Grayed out | Disabled — no global TALK slot configured (see Settings) |
| Cue progress bar | Blue (highlighted) | Current cue |
| Cue progress bar | Dark blue | Past cues |
| Cue progress bar | Gray | Upcoming cues |
| Effect grid | Full color | Effect is on |
| Effect grid | Faded / 50% opacity (tooltip "(estimated)") | HIT-gated — audible state depends on the device's HIT button |
| Effect grid | Gray | Effect is off |
| Setlist side panel | Blue left border | Song entry |
| Setlist side panel | Amber left border | Talk-break entry |
| Setlist side panel | Green left border | Preset entry |
| Setlist side panel | Dark gray background | The "up-next" entry |
| Transport widget | Cyan accents | Backing-track player (audio file loaded) |
| Transport widget | Amber accents | Performance Clock (no audio file) |
| Center overlay | Pulsing blue flash, 2 sec | Cue or entry fired — shows the cue label or status message |
Flash overlay messages you'll see during a performance: cue labels ("Verse 1"), Armed: [label] on a freshly loaded song, TALK when a talk-break fires, Cue failed if something went wrong, Audio: [error] if a backing track couldn't load, and free-mode preset names.
Default tempo
When a song loads, the song's default_tempo (set on the Songs page) is automatically written to the device's master tempo. You'll see the Set BPM widget reflect the new value. Cue-level tempo actions still override this for the duration of the cue.
No persistence across sessions
Exiting Performer Mode resets the cue index — re-entering puts you back at the armed (first) cue of whatever's loaded. The recent-presets list in free mode is in-memory only and clears when you exit. If you need to resume mid-set after closing the app, jump to the cue using the interactive progress bar or the side cue list.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Foot press triggers two cue advances | Likely the device's footswitch latch mode. Check the Mixer page → footswitch buttonmap → Latch toggle for that slot. |
| Performer Mode shows armed-but-not-fired forever | That's the first cue, by design — the flash overlay reads Armed: [label]. Press NEXT (foot / arrow / spacebar / button) to fire it. |
| TALK button is grayed out and won't click | No global TALK slot is configured. Settings → TALK Preset → set a slot, then confirm a preset exists there on the device. |
| TALK button is dark amber but pressing it does nothing audible | The configured TALK slot is empty on the device, even though VL Studio has a slot number. Pull All from the device to confirm what's actually in that slot. |
| Backing track doesn't auto-play when a cue fires | The cue's backing-track path is either unset or pointing to a file that isn't on this machine. The flash overlay reads Audio: [error]. Open the song on the Songs page and re-set the cue's Backing Track via Browse. |
| Set BPM widget value resets after a few seconds | Performer Mode keeps the displayed BPM in sync with what the device actually reports. If your write didn't stick, the page is showing you the device's truth. |
| Cue auto-advance doesn't fire even though the timestamp passed | Either the backing-track player isn't in Play state, or the Performance Clock isn't running for a no-track song. Hit Play on whichever source you're using. |
| NEXT at the end of a standalone song loops back to Verse 1 | That's the wrap behaviour — standalone songs loop. If you wanted to advance to the next song, load a setlist and put both songs in it; setlist NEXT moves between entries. |
| Free-mode arrow keys don't advance past slot 500 | Free-mode advance is clamped, not wrapped. Slot 500 is the device's last slot. |
| Recent presets list is empty | Recent presets build up as you navigate in free mode. They're session-only and clear when you exit Performer Mode. |
| Cue progress bar shows a cue I never fired | Clicking a cue segment fires it. Click them deliberately, or use foot/keys for sequential advance. |
See also
- Songs — authoring the cue timelines Performer Mode walks through.
- Setlists — assembling songs + presets + talk-breaks for a gig.
- Device — TALK button, effect grid, the underlying MIDI surface.
- Mixer — footswitch buttonmap (assign PRESET UP for foot advance), expression pedal setup.
- Audio — the backing-track deck that Performer Mode's transport drives.
- Settings — TALK preset slot, Advance Cue CC, nav order.