Is it possible to pause (and re-start) automation?

[Pongo]

Hi Arlo,

I find that sometimes, when playing live with a backing track and automation (sending MIDI patch changes, scrolling lyrics, etc.) that there are times when it would be nice to hit a pause button (foot switch) that will stop everything in SLM. An example would be a breakdown in a song where instead of coming back in after a one measure rest...it might be nice to hold the pause a bit longer, especially if the dance floor is packed and people are really enjoying the song. I know that I can pause/restart the audio recording, but by doing this the automation track is no longer in sync with the recording for the remainder of the song.

Is there a way to do this now and, if not, will you consider adding this to a future update?

Thanks

[arlo]

Pausing the automation track would be tricky, but I can put it on my wish list.

Beyond that, we would need to define what "stop everything" means, and every part of that definition would be an additional effort. This would probably be best presented as a "master pause" feature that pauses the auto-scrolling, recording, tempo, automation track ... anything else? Then if someone wants some of those things to be paused but not others, a new batch of settings would be needed. And then restarting some of those things will create issues, like restarting a tempo or recording at exactly the right time. So, you can add further details about your requirements here, or I can follow up if I am able to work on this task later.

[Pongo]

Thanks for your reply Arlo.

In my example, there would be no need for anyone else on stage using SLM to `see' anything differently, so that would simplify this request quite a bit I suspect. Even limiting it to the master device (for those of us that are the only user in a band) would be a great starting point. If it works, then expand the possibilities to include how it would work on slave devices.

Yes, a master pause feature would be perfect. The pause would simply stop the automation track and anything/everything that has been recorded onto that track. If there was something else happening `outside' of the automation track, such as auto-scroll, it would not be paused.

This has always been one of, if not THE, biggest caveat of using backing tracks live, because unlike playing with live musicians, the `machine' doesn't know how/when to adjust for stretching out a song sometimes. LOL!

Thanks!

[arlo]

In the new app version 2022-12-12 released today, you can click the automation button to pause it and click again to resume, and any recordings, videos or tempos that were started by the automation track will be paused and resumed.

I don't know how useful this will be in performance since the backing track would suddenly stop and you'd have to bring it back in at the exact right time. But it should be good for rehearsing at least.