Performing Songs

There are multiple ways to select, play, and navigate songs.

The Transport

Helix Stadium provides multiple methods of controlling song playback:

• Transport Footswitch Mode

• On-screen Transport Panel

• Transport Buttons

This means song control is available regardless of the current screen or whether your hands are free!

Transport Footswitch Mode

Transport Footswitch Mode offers hands-free control of song playback. To enter Transport mode, press and hold FS6 (MODE) to enter More mode and then press the TRANSPORT switch.

Transport Panel

The Transport Panel can be displayed on the main Song screen by tapping on the location controls row, just above the Inspector. Tap the panel’s X button to close it.

Hardware Transport Buttons

The hardware Transport buttons are dedicated to Song transport functions, regardless of the screen you are currently working in. The middle Play/Pause button is dimly lit when paused, brightly lit when playing, and flashing when a song or marker is cued. Most of the same transport functions as available on the Transport footswitches and panel can be performed using these buttons.

Transport Functions

The following functions can be performed on the Transport footswitches, on-screen panel buttons, or hardware buttons.

• Play/Pause / : Plays a cued song or marker. Toggles song playback and song pause.

• Press Return To Zero (RTZ) to return the playhead to the start of the current song. From the Transport buttons below the Volume knob, press and hold to return to zero.

• Press Prev Song or Next Song to cue the previous and next song, respectively. Press and hold or to rewind or fast-forward the song.

• Press Prev Marker or Next Marker to cue the previous/next marker within the current song. From the hardware Transport buttons below the Volume knob, hold and press or to cue the previous/next marker.

• Press Cycle repeatedly for Cycle start, Cycle end, and Cycle clear. If a cycle is in memory, hold Cycle to clear the cycle. If a cycle is not in memory, hold Cycle to set to the closest adjacent markers (or Song Start/End flag) as the cycle. Also, see Repeating a Section of a Song.

Selecting Songs

1. Press Prev Song or Next Song to select the song you want to play. Alternatively, from the Song screen, turn the Upper Knob. The cue panel appears, displaying the cued song, flashing:

• FS6 changes to Cancel (for cancelling the song cue), and FS12 changes to :

2. Press to play the cued song.

Selecting Markers

Markers are a type of flag used to jump to—and therefore reorder—sections of your songs in real time. Markers can also trigger preset and snapshot changes on playback—see Adding Flags for details.

1. Press Prev Marker or Next Marker to select the marker you want to play. From the Transport buttons below the Volume knob, hold and press or to select a marker. The cue panel appears, displaying the cued marker, flashing:

• FS6 changes to Cancel (for cancelling the marker cue), and FS12 changes to :

2. Press to play the song at the marker’s location.

Repeating a Section of a Song (Cycle)

1. While the song is playing back, at the point you want the cycle to start, press Cycle .

2. At the point you want the cycle to end, press Cycle again. This sets the Cycle end location, and that section of the song repeats indefinitely.

3. Press Cycle a third time. The song continues as normal.

   • Cycle start and end are remembered. Press Cycle to toggle the cycle on and off.

4. To clear a Cycle from memory, press and hold Cycle .

   • Alternatively, if a cycle is not currently active, press and hold Cycle . Cycle start and end locations are automatically set to the closest adjacent markers (or Song Start/End flag). This lets you quickly set a section of the song to repeat indefinitely without manually setting Cycle start and end points.

Setting a Playback Location

Normally, you can just tap on the song’s flag field (waveforms) to jump to that location. You can also manually set a playback location:

1. From the main Song screen, tap the location row, just above the Inspector; The Transport panel appears:

2. Turn the knobs below the screen to set the playback location:

   • Knobs 1 and 2: Time Elapsed

   • Knobs 3, 4, and 5: Song’s location in Bars, Beats, and Ticks

   • Knobs 7 and 8: Time Remaining

Chasing the Song

By default, Chase is enabled, keeping the playhead (the right edge of the blue progress bar) centered on the screen. If you swipe to scroll the current view area, or touch-pinch or touch-expand to zoom in/out, Chase is disabled, letting you view another area of the song without it auto-scrolling away. Tap the Chase button to toggle it on and off.

• Chase Enabled: The playhead remains centered in the display during playback.

• Chase Disabled: The playhead moves freely and may leave the current view area when playing or jumping to markers.

• Chase is automatically enabled if you return to the beginning of the song or select a different song.

Setting Track Levels

The Matrix Mixer allows discrete mixes of the song from the 1/4”, XLR, and Phones outputs, including individual level, pan, mute, and solo for all eight audio tracks. See Main Volume/Matrix Mixer.

1. Press 1/4” , XLR , or Phones to select which output you want to control. Turn the large Volume knob to quickly adjust all audio for the selected output.

2. Use the mixer’s Song channel to adjust the song level fed to the selected output. This lets you balance the song against your preset, or mute song playback—for example, you could mute the song for the 1/4” outs so that it is only fed to the XLR and Phones outputs for your stage setup. If multiple band members are monitoring different Matrix layers—say, the guitarist from the 1/4” outputs and the drummer from the Phones—they can have drastically different monitor mixes of inputs, Home screen paths, and even song tracks. (“Hey, can I get a little less cowbell in the monitors?”)

3. Tap the button to the right of the Song channel to view individual track channels.