Showcontrolpro is a program written to be used by live audio engineers in a live concert/performance environment. It works by recalling scenes, snapshots or patches in digital desks and outboard FX that respond to MIDI program changes. Each set of these snapshots (one for each device in your setup) is referred to as a cue.

New in this version:

Scp v 3.1 incorporates support for MIDI show control commands, thereby extending the functionality of scp for use in theatrical, and theme park environments. Any device which responds to MIDI show control (MSC) data can be controlled by MIDI packets tied to scp cues. Such devices include lighting consoles, fog machines and hazers, and animatronic devices. For more information on MSC, consult John Huntington's excellent book: 'Control Systems for Live Entertainment'. There is also a considerable amount of documentation about MSC available online.

The reason MSC support was not implemented in the first versions of scp is because the author (and many sound engineers to whom he has spoken) feels uneasy about using software in a live scenario which sends System Exclusive data to audio equipment. If there's any sort of transmission glitch, the receiving device is quite likely to 'hang up' - often with loss of output. This is why he opted for MIDI program changes, which in the case of a transmission problem, or computer crash merely leave the system in it's previous state. For those of you with faint heart, MSC can easily be disabled in the Setup window of scp!