Controlling Tracks as the Music Director
How the MD fires and navigates tracks — the main software options, why a MIDI controller beats a laptop, and a full behind-the-scenes tour of Bloom's MD rig, including how to bring 10 talkback mics in on a single channel.
If you use tracks, firing and navigating them is one of the MD’s jobs. Here’s how that works — and the gear behind it.
The software
Three main options:
- Ableton Live — the standard for live production.
- Multitracks Playback
- Loop Community Prime
How the MD drives tracks
The MD builds the tracks from the arrangements the worship leader loaded into Planning Center, then fires them in rehearsal and service — jumping to any section on the fly when the worship leader feels led (double the chorus, skip to the bridge). A bass-playing MD just lifts their rhythm finger for a second to hit the next section.
The best way to control all this is a MIDI controller (a laptop on stage works, but a controller is cleaner). Mike runs two at once: one mapped to the set list (songs 1–10), the other to sections — next, previous, loop, repeat, play, and stop.
You don’t need tracks to have an MD — Bloom rarely uses them. But if you do, the MD becomes supplementary: the tracks already call out sections, so the MD just handles the nitpicky stuff the band might forget. And if you have no MIDI controller, map your computer keyboard — 1–5 for songs, spacebar to stop — and you’re fine.
Inside Bloom’s MD rig
A behind-the-scenes tour of the actual setup:
- Behringer X-Touch Mini ($99, 16 buttons) — songs 1–6, tap tempo for the Ableton click, a “follow” button to audition the original track in rehearsal, previous/next, repeat, stop/play, and a rehearse button. A rotary boosts the click up to +6 dB or adds an extra 8th-note click; another knob rides the dynamic guide and cues; a filter sweeps all outputs up and down.
- Oakboard Mini (6 buttons) — previous/next, play/stop, and repeat. Simple and satisfying to press.
- An iPad for mixing the MD’s in-ears (no pulling out a phone).
- A mirrored Ableton output from the Mac Mini so the MD can see exactly where they are in the song.
There’s also a side-stage MD station with no instrument at all — main screen, a redundancy computer, its own mic, and a sign-off button that doubles for the monitor engineer.
Redundancy and the talkback trick
- A MIDI connectivity interface lets one controller drive two Mac Minis (an M1 and an M2) simultaneously — hit play and both start together, for full redundancy.
- Scarlett / Saffire 18i20 interfaces feed everything; a 1K tone switches between machines via Radial SW8s for redundant playback.
- The clever part: two Behringer Ultralink splitters bring 10 talkback mics into a single console channel (~$70 + ~$100 in gear). You don’t need 10 channels for 10 talkback mics — just one.
Application
- If you run tracks, decide on a MIDI controller (or start with mapped computer keys) and split control into “songs” vs. “sections.”
- If channel count is tight, look at a splitter to consolidate your talkback mics onto one channel.