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Setlist Organiser — User Guide

From a fresh install to running a show. Keep this page open in a second window the first few times through — after that it'll be muscle memory.

1. Get connected

The DAW Setup Assistant opens by itself when you launch the app, until your DAW is set up. Pick the DAW you're running the show from: Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Reaper or Bitwig Studio. You can open it again any time from Help → DAW Setup Assistant… or with Run Setup Assistant… in Settings → DAW. For Pro Tools, the assistant sets up Smart Link — it talks to Pro Tools directly over PTSL, no manual OSC or MIDI setup required.

Pro Tools: the fastest setup

Timecode from Pro Tools comes through the Setlist Organiser Panel plug-in. There is no MIDI, IAC bus or Peripherals setup, and it keeps working while Pro Tools is in the background. The DAW Setup Assistant shows these four steps and ticks each one as it happens.

  1. Install the plug-in. The app installs it for you at launch. If it hasn't, press Install plug-in in the assistant, or Install under Pro Tools Panel Plug-in (AAX) in Settings → DAW.
  2. Quit and reopen Pro Tools. It only looks for new plug-ins when it starts.
  3. Insert the plug-in. In Pro Tools, click an insert slot on any track and choose plug-in → Other → Setlist Organiser Panel (mono or stereo). The assistant shows Plug-in connected.
  4. Press Play in Pro Tools. The assistant shows Timecode detected and the setlist follows.

Keep the app running: the plug-in sends Pro Tools' position to the app while both are open. Can't use the plug-in? Use the Setlist Organiser MTC port instead.

Pro Tools 2022 and earlier has no Smart Link support, so the app runs those versions in Compatibility mode (keyboard control) automatically — the badge then reads Pro Tools · Compatibility. You can also pick Compatibility (keyboard control) yourself in Settings → DAW instead of Smart Link (recommended). Compatibility mode can't read or write markers, so the Tools tab and Import from Pro Tools are not available there.

Space without keyboard control. In Compatibility mode, connect an MMC Output on the MTC Timecode tab and set Pro Tools to accept MMC on that bus. Space and the Show Mode play button then start and stop Pro Tools over MMC instead of sending it a keystroke.

Once connected, a small badge appears in the corner of the window. A green dot means you're live and talking to the DAW. If it ever turns grey or red, double-click the badge to force a reconnect — no need to restart the app.

Switch DAW from the badge. A single click on the badge opens a menu to switch to another DAW or reconnect; a double-click reconnects straight away.

Keeping your DAW shortcuts. Clicking Locate, Play or Stop in the app brings the app to the front, so your DAW's keyboard shortcuts would land in the app instead. By default, if you clicked over from the DAW a moment ago, the app hands focus straight back to it. Change this in Settings → DAW → DAW Focus: Stay in Encorly never switches back, Return to the DAW if it was in front is the default, and Always return to the DAW switches back after any transport click made in the app. Companion, network and MIDI controls never bring the DAW forward.

Marker edits in the DAW show up by themselves. Rename, move, add or delete a marker in Pro Tools (on Smart Link), Reaper or Bitwig and, within a couple of seconds of the transport stopping, the app updates its markers to match. Nothing is read while the transport is rolling. Each update is a single step: Edit → Undo (Cmd+Z) puts it back, and a line such as Synced from Pro Tools: 2 renamed, 1 added appears at the bottom of the window. Only what changed in the DAW is applied; markers you made in the app are left alone. If the DAW session was closed or switched, the app changes nothing and marks the Rescan & Sync button DAW changed instead, so you can review it first. Choose how this works in Settings → DAW → Marker Sync: Automatic (the default), Notify (only mark the Rescan & Sync button) or Off. Reaper needs the Setlist Bridge updated to 1.9.0 (quit Reaper before updating). Logic has no marker access, so this does nothing there.

Pro Tools without the plug-in: the Setlist Organiser MTC port

The Setlist Organiser Panel plug-in is the quickest way to get timecode from Pro Tools. If you can't use it, the app also publishes its own MIDI port, Setlist Organiser MTC, that Pro Tools can send timecode to. There is nothing to create in Audio MIDI Setup and no IAC bus to route. When both are running, the app uses the plug-in and ignores MTC.

  1. Open the MTC Timecode tab. Setlist Organiser MTC is pinned at the top of the Timecode Input list. On a fresh install it is already selected and connected at launch; otherwise select it and press Connect. The status line reads Connected to Setlist Organiser MTC.
  2. In Pro Tools, open Setup → Peripherals… → Synchronization and set MTC Generator Port to Setlist Organiser MTC. It appears there as soon as you have pressed Connect; no Pro Tools restart needed.
  3. Press Play in Pro Tools. Timecode runs in the app and the setlist follows.

Good to know

Upgrading from an earlier build? The old Create Virtual Port button is gone — the port is now simply the first entry in the Timecode Input list.

Logic Pro: MMC in, MTC out, over one IAC bus

Logic has no Smart Link. The app moves Logic's playhead with MMC Locate messages and follows Logic with the MTC it sends back. Both travel over a single IAC bus, and Logic must be told to listen for MMC — that one checkbox is the step most often missed.

  1. Make the bus. In Audio MIDI Setup → Window → Show MIDI Studio, double-click IAC Driver, tick Device is online and add a bus (name it, for example, MMC LOGIC).
  2. Logic: listen for MMC. Open Logic Pro → Settings → MIDI → Sync (older versions: File → Project Settings → Synchronization → MIDI) and tick Listen to MMC Input. Without this, Logic shows MIDI activity when you locate but the playhead never moves.
  3. Logic: send timecode. On the same Sync page, tick Transmit MTC and set its destination to the IAC bus. In Project Settings → Synchronization → General, note the frame rate and the SMPTE time that bar 1 plays at (usually 01:00:00:00).
  4. App: choose Logic. In Settings → DAW, set Target DAW to Logic Pro. In the Logic Pro Setup box, set Session Start Time to the SMPTE start you noted. Leave Apply offset when checking stop markers ticked and leave Apply offset when importing MIDI markers unticked (see the tip below).
  5. App: enable MMC. Settings → MIDI: make sure Enable MMC transport control and Auto-connect MMC output on launch are ticked (both are on by default; MMC stays idle until you pick an output port below).
  6. App: connect the ports. On the MTC Timecode tab, select the IAC bus as the Timecode Input and press Connect, then select the same bus under MMC Output and press Connect. Leave the device ID at 0x7F (all devices). Set the app's frame rate to match Logic's.
  7. Test. Click a marker in the app: Logic's playhead should jump to it. Press Play in Logic: timecode runs in the app and the setlist follows.
Only add the hour once. Logic projects normally start at 01:00:00:00. The app adds Session Start Time to every marker when it sends a locate, so markers should be stored relative to the start of the project (00:00:00:00 onwards). If Apply offset when importing MIDI markers is also ticked, the hour is added twice: locates go to 02:00:00:00 and beyond, Logic ignores them, and stop markers never fire.

Good to know

Reaper: timecode comes from a Timecode Generator item

Reaper has no “send MTC” preference. It generates timecode from a Timecode Generator item sitting on a track, and that track’s MIDI output must be pointed at the app. Transport and locate already work over OSC as soon as you choose Reaper in Settings → DAW; the steps below add frame-accurate timecode on top, so the setlist follows Reaper exactly and stop markers fire on the frame.

  1. App: connect the port. Open the MTC Timecode tab, select Setlist Organiser MTC at the top of the Timecode Input list and press Connect. Reaper can only see the port once you have pressed Connect.
  2. Reaper: enable the MIDI output. Open Options → Preferences → Audio → MIDI Devices. In the MIDI outputs list, right-click Setlist Organiser MTC and choose Enable output. Until it is enabled it will not be offered as a track output.
  3. Reaper: add the generator. Create an empty track, then choose Insert → Insert Timecode Generator. Drag the item’s right edge so it covers the whole show — Reaper only sends timecode while the play cursor is inside the item.
  4. Reaper: set the item to MTC. Double-click the item to open its properties. Tick Send MIDI (MTC), set the frame rate to match the project, and leave the start time so the item reads project time.
  5. Reaper: route the track. Click the track’s Route button and set MIDI Hardware Output to Setlist Organiser MTC, all channels. Keep the track unmuted; a muted track sends no timecode.
  6. Test. Press Play in Reaper. The status line on the MTC Timecode tab reads Connected to Setlist Organiser MTC, the timecode display runs and the setlist follows. Set the app’s frame rate to match the generator.
Save it with the project. The generator item and the track routing live in the Reaper project, so each show project needs them once. The app remembers its side, and the port is back the moment the app launches, so Reaper keeps it selected.

Good to know

2. Bring in your markers

The fastest way in: export your session markers from Pro Tools (or your DAW of choice) as a .txt file, then drag that file straight onto the All Markers panel. Timecode and notes come across automatically. The panel also takes a Reaper marker .csv, a Reaper project (.rpp) or a MIDI file (.mid).

If you're on Smart Link (or on Reaper with the Setlist Bridge), press Import from Pro Tools (Import from Reaper on Reaper) instead. It reads the markers directly out of the running session, so there's nothing to export at all. Later, Rescan & Sync brings in changes.

Just exploring? Help → Open Demo Setlist loads a ready-made setlist to try everything on.

From Logic Pro: export a MIDI file that contains your markers (File → Export → Selection as MIDI File… with the marker track included), then use File → Import → Import MIDI File Markers… or drop the .mid file onto All Markers. Marker times in the file are relative to the start of the project, which is exactly what the Logic setup in section 1 expects. Import Logic Pro Audio Markers reads markers embedded in an AIFF bounce; it needs AIFF (not WAV) and Logic does not always write markers into a bounce, so treat the MIDI file as the reliable route.

3. Build the setlist

Drag markers from All Markers into Groups to build songs or sections. On the Super Groups tab, press Add Group to put groups into a super group, to build full sets or shows. Drag markers up and down to reorder them; groups and super groups move with the ▲ / ▼ buttons.

Building the same show every week? Use File → Templates → Save as Template and Load Template to reuse a whole setlist structure in seconds. To move groups between sessions, use File → Export → Export All Groups (JSON)… and File → Import → Import Groups (JSON)… (⌘⇧I). The same commands are on the right-click menu of the Groups list.
Double-click to rename. Double-click a group or super group to rename it. On a marker row, double-click the name to rename it, the note to edit the note, or the time to edit the timecode. A single click on a row in the current group locates the DAW there; in All Markers, click the row's ▶.

4. Run the show

Show Mode (⌘⇧F, or the Show Mode tab) is the stage view: large CURRENT TRACK and COMING UP NEXT cards, a progress bar, and big PREVIOUS, PLAY, STOP, NEXT and PANIC STOP buttons. Pick where to begin from the Start at: list. Toggle Large TC opens a big timecode window you can size to fill a screen. During the show:

Remaining or elapsed? Click the time display in Show Mode to cycle between total, elapsed and remaining time. For a transport that floats over your DAW, use Window → Toggle Mini Control Bar.

5. Ask the Assistant

The Assistant in the Tools tab is a chat panel that can read and change your Pro Tools session for you — count songs, find and place markers, bounce sections to disk, and check that the resulting audio actually landed. Just type what you want in plain English; there's nothing to pick from a list. If you're not sure where to start, the welcome screen and the ✨ menu at the top of the panel both offer example prompts to try or adapt.

For a handful of jobs it's been taught properly, the Assistant follows a built-in, tested recipe instead of improvising — today that covers bouncing each song or section out as separate stem files, and diagnosing offline or missing clips that are breaking a bounce, guiding you through relinking them in Pro Tools. You don't need to ask for a recipe by name; describe what you want and it'll recognise the job and use the right one.

Every reply has a small ▸ N steps toggle underneath it. Expand it to see exactly what the Assistant did — and when it used a built-in recipe, one of the steps says "Checking a proven recipe…", so you can always check its working.

It tells you what actually happened, even when that's a failure — it won't claim something worked if it didn't. Anything destructive asks you to confirm first. And it needs Pro Tools connected for anything that touches your session.

The Assistant works with Pro Tools and needs an activated licence. Every message uses AI credits; buy credit packs from the Assistant's settings (⚙).

6. Phone companion

Open Settings → Network → Show Companion QR Code… (also on the Window menu) to reveal a QR code. Scan it with your phone to open the companion — no app install needed, it's a web page. It follows the show live and keeps reconnecting on its own all night, even if the venue Wi-Fi drops for a moment. From the phone you can play, stop, step to the next or previous song, tap a marker to go to it, and pick a group or super group.

View Only. Handing a phone to someone who should only watch? In the companion's Settings, tick View Only. That phone can browse and scroll but sends no transport or marker commands; a VIEW ONLY badge shows it's on. It affects only that device.

Sharing the connection from a phone

Once one phone is connected, it can pass the connection on. Open the companion's Settings (the gear) and tap Share connection… — or tap the connected-devices badge in the header. The phone shows the same pairing QR code the main computer shows, plus the link as text with a Copy link button, so the next person can scan it right there instead of walking over to the desk. It works for both the local-network and the Remote code, and needs no internet.

Anyone who scans that code can control the show, so hand it out as carefully as you would the code on the main computer. If you'd rather only the main computer can show it, untick Settings → Network → Companions can share the pairing code (QR) on the desktop; the option disappears from every connected phone straight away.

Away from the venue network: Encorly Anywhere

The companion normally needs the phone on the same Wi-Fi as the computer. When that isn't possible (hotel Wi-Fi that keeps devices apart, a phone on cellular, a different network), Encorly Anywhere routes it through our cloud relay instead. The computer connects out to the relay, so there is no router or port setup.

Running a second computer as a backup rig? That's the next step.

7. Main and backup rig

Run Setlist Organiser on both your main and your backup computer and pair them once, like Bluetooth:

  1. On one Mac open Settings → Network → Pair a Mac… and click Pair next to the other Mac.
  2. Both Macs show the same 6-digit number.
  3. If the numbers match, click Confirm on each Mac. If they don't, click Doesn't match on either one and nothing is paired.

That's it — from then on they find each other on the same network with no setup. One becomes the host, the other a follower, and the follower mirrors what the host does: the selected marker, the current group or super group, Next / Previous, marker moves and reorders, and the active tab. Click a song on either machine and both Pro Tools sessions locate to it.

Why pair? A Mac that isn't paired can't control yours, even on a shared venue network. Paired Macs are listed under Settings → Network; select one and click Forget to revoke it. Always check the two numbers really are the same before you click Confirm — that check is what keeps anyone else on the network out. If a show is running on the other Mac, its request waits quietly as a Pairing request button next to the network status and never jumps in front of Pro Tools; requests expire after two minutes. Updating from an older version? Pair your Macs once after the update — until then each one stays host on its own.

If the venue Wi-Fi blocks automatic discovery, use Copy this host's link on the host, then Connect to a host manually… on the backup — both live in Settings → Network. If the other Mac isn't listed when you pair, type its address under Other address — the hosting Mac shows it at the top of its own Pair a Mac… window.

Play / Stop can be mirrored too. It is off by default. Tick Mirror Play/Stop to networked instances (may add latency) in Settings → Network on both machines, and a press from any control — the Show Mode button, Space, a Grid pad, the mini bar, a MIDI trigger — starts or stops the other machine's Pro Tools as well, from the host or from the follower.

Pro Tools sync is the foundation; instance sync is an option on top of it. Mirroring sends the same cue to both rigs a few milliseconds apart — it starts them together, it does not hold them together. Keep both Pro Tools systems chasing one timecode source (LTC or MTC into a SYNC HD, or Satellite Link) exactly as you would without this app. Use instance sync so that one press cues both rigs, never as the only thing keeping them in step.
Network acting up? Help → Diagnostics → Restart Networking restarts the app's networking without quitting, and Network Diagnostics… in the same menu shows what the app can see.

8. Stay safe

Autosave and timestamped backups are on by default — you don't need to turn anything on. If the app or the Mac itself goes down mid-show, just relaunch: a green bar reading A newer recovery file was found for your last session. offers to restore exactly where you left off. Click Restore and you're back. The restored session is untitled, so save it again with ⌘S. Backup and autosave options are in Settings → General.

9. Section Transfer (Pro Tools ⇆ Reaper)

A whole multitrack section — the audio across every track you pick, plus the markers and the tempo inside it — can be lifted out of one session and dropped into another, even when the two sessions are in different DAWs. It moves Pro Tools → Pro Tools, Pro Tools → Reaper, Reaper → Pro Tools or Reaper → Reaper.

Section Transfer is a paid add-on — buy it in Tools ▸ Section Transfer (the Buy button opens the checkout; your licence key arrives by email and is entered with Enter licence key…). The same purchase also unlocks the separate Encorly Section Transfer app, which does the same job outside Setlist Organiser — one licence, activated on the same machine.

The tool's own ? button opens its full how-to — every option on the Capture and Place steps, and what each DAW needs before you press the button.

Play the same section in Pro Tools and Reaper, locked together

Once a section has been placed from Pro Tools into Reaper, Reaper can play it along with Pro Tools — as a second playback source or a warm spare. Pressing Play in both is not enough: each DAW takes its own time to start and each audio interface runs on its own clock, so they start a little apart and drift further apart over a song. Instead, Pro Tools sends timecode and Reaper chases it: Reaper follows wherever Pro Tools is, from the first frame to the last.

Pro Tools can send timecode to only one port, and the app's own Setlist Organiser MTC port feeds only the app. So for this setup, send timecode to an IAC bus that both the app and Reaper listen to.

  1. Place the section. Use Section Transfer to place the section from Pro Tools into Reaper at the same timecode position it sits at in Pro Tools.
  2. Mac: make an IAC bus. Open Audio MIDI Setup → Window → Show MIDI Studio, double-click IAC Driver, tick Device is online and add a bus, for example TIMECODE.
  3. Pro Tools: send timecode to it. Setup → Peripherals… → Synchronization, set MTC Generator Port to the IAC bus.
  4. App: listen to it. On the MTC Timecode tab, select the IAC bus in the Timecode Input list and press Connect. If the Setlist Organiser Panel plug-in is in the session, the app already takes its timecode from the plug-in and you can skip this step; the IAC bus is then only for Reaper.
  5. Reaper: enable the input. REAPER → Settings… → Audio → MIDI Inputs: make sure the IAC bus is Enabled.
  6. Reaper: turn on chase. Right-click the Play button in Reaper's transport bar (on a trackpad, click with two fingers or hold Control and click) and choose Timecode synchronization settings…. Tick Enable synchronization to timecode, set the input to MIDI on the IAC bus and the frame rate to match the Pro Tools session. No right-click? Press ? in Reaper to open the Action List, type timecode and run the synchronization action from there.
  7. Reaper: match the start time. Pro Tools sessions usually start at 01:00:00:00 and Reaper projects at 00:00:00:00. Set File → Project Settings → Project start time in Reaper to the Pro Tools session start, or use the offset in the synchronization settings.
  8. Test. Press Play in Pro Tools. Reaper waits a moment, locks and plays in step. Stop, locate and Play again: Reaper follows every time.

Good to know

10. The Tools tab

The Tools tab collects helpers that work on your DAW session: placing STOP markers, converting markers between Bar|Beat and Absolute, labelling and cutting regions, stem bouncing and more. It appears when the app is talking to Pro Tools over Smart Link, or to Reaper with the Setlist Bridge running. It lists only the tools that work with the DAW you're on. Every tool has a ? button with a full how-to (the Assistant's is the What can I ask? link).

Built in and free: Place STOP Markers, Snap Stops to Audio End (Pro Tools), Markers to Absolute (Pro Tools), Markers to Bar|Beat (Pro Tools), Label Regions (Pro Tools), Regions to Markers, Region Cutter, Stem Bouncer, Setlist.txt Namer, Clear Markers, Cross-DAW Marker Export, Macro Builder (chain tools into one run) and Tempo Map. Reaper also gets Silence Splitter, Export Marker List, Auto Color, Render Regions and Region Gap Closer.

A paid tool you haven't bought shows a 🔒 page with a green Buy it – $49 button (with that tool's price) and Enter licence key…. Every licence includes a 14-day taster of the paid tools; after that, tools you haven't bought lock again.

11. Tool Marketplace

The Marketplace button on the Tools tab opens the Tool Marketplace: every Encorly tool in one list, with All, Installed and Available filters. Tools that come with the app show Included ✓. Paid tools show Buy, which opens the checkout, and then Owned ✓ once your key is entered. The list is fetched from encorly.com, so it needs an internet connection.

12. Grid View

The Grid View tab turns your markers into drum-style pads. Tap a pad to locate the DAW to that marker. Choose the Source (Current Group or All Markers) and the Grid size, and page through banks with ◀ Prev and Next ▶. Drag a marker onto a pad to put it there.

Play pads from the keyboard. With Grid View showing, keys 1–9, 0, - and = trigger pads 1–12, and [ / ] (or Page Up / Page Down) change bank. Press MIDI Learn to assign pads to a hardware controller in place.

13. Video on stage

A marker can carry a video that plays in sync with the DAW. Right-click a marker and choose Associate Video…. When the timecode crosses that marker, the video starts at the right point and stops at the next STOP marker. Open the output with Window → Video Output (⌘⇧V), pick the Display for your stage screen and press Fullscreen.

Use ▶ Test Play in the Video Output window to check a clip before the show, and the -50ms / +50ms buttons to nudge sync. Turn on Show Video column in marker tables (Settings → General) to see at a glance which markers have a video.

14. MIDI controllers

Drive the app from a pad controller or footswitch. MIDI → Edit Controller Mappings… lets you press a control and assign it to an action (MIDI Learn), such as play, stop, next and previous, or Grid View bank changes. MIDI → Controller Profiles… keeps sets of mappings, and MIDI → Controller Manager… connects controllers separately from your timecode input.

15. Shortcuts and tricks

SpacePlay / stop
⌘⇧SpacePANIC: stop the DAW and video
LLoop on / off (Reaper and Bitwig)
⌘1 … ⌘5Groups & Markers, Super Groups, MTC Timecode, Large LTC Display, MIDI
⌘0Bring the main window forward
⌘⇧FShow Mode
⌘⇧PProgress Timer window
⌘⇧VVideo Output window
⌘IImport markers
⌘Z / ⌘⇧ZUndo / redo
⌘DReset to the default layout
⌘,Settings
Make them yours. Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts… lets you change any of these.
Pop a tab out. Double-click any tab's title (or right-click it and choose Pop Out Tab into New Window) to give it its own window, for example Super Groups on a second screen. Layout → Save Layout as Preset… remembers the arrangement.
Open the DAW session with the setlist. File → Link DAW Session… ties the setlist to its DAW session, and File → Launch DAW Session opens that session for you.

16. Licence, demo and updates

Without a licence the app runs as a demo. Each demo session lasts 20 minutes; then the app stops and you can restart it for another session. The demo never expires. To activate, open Help → License, enter your key and press Activate. Deactivate This Machine in the same window frees the licence for another Mac.

The app checks for updates in the background when idle, never during a show. Turn this off with Check for updates automatically in Settings → General, or check now with Help → Check for Updates…. Beta builds are offered beta updates; release builds only see releases.

17. Need help?

Help → Report a Problem… packages up diagnostics as a ZIP, shows it in Finder and offers Open Email App with a prefilled email to support@encorly.com. Attach the ZIP and send — the fastest way to get us the information we need. Help → What's New shows what changed in this version.