Guide

Using Light Helper AI

From the first message to cues on your console, step by step.

Getting started

  1. Open @light_control_ai_bot in Telegram and press Start.
  2. Choose the bot language: English or Russian.
  3. Choose your console (grandMA2, grandMA3, Hog 4 or Avolites) and firmware version. If your version isn't listed, press Custom and type it.
  4. Choose a mode: Timecode to analyze a track, or Consultation to ask about console commands.

Commands: /start restarts the setup, /language changes the language, /cancel leaves the current mode.

Timecode from a track

  1. Choose Timecode.
  2. Send the audio file. Sending it as a file (📎 → File) keeps the original quality; sending it as music works too.
  3. Supported formats: MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, M4A, AAC. Maximum size: 20 MB.
  4. Wait 20–60 seconds while the bot measures the beats, bars, sections and key.
  5. You receive a summary, the list of sections with timecodes, short instructions for your console and the files.
Tip. Analyze exactly the file that will be played at the show. A different edit, extra silence at the start or a fade-in shifts every time.

Reading the result

The summary shows the duration, BPM, key and number of sections. Below it is the section list: one line per section, which becomes one cue.

  • Number is the cue number in the sequence the commands create.
  • Timecode is the start of the section in HH:MM:SS:FF at 30 frames per second. It always falls on a downbeat.
  • Energy (▁ ▄ █) is low, medium or high compared with the rest of the track.
  • Group (in markers.csv) is a letter: sections with the same letter sound alike, for example both choruses.
  • Bar (in markers.csv) is the bar number where the section starts, counted from the first downbeat.
Section names are suggestions. They are chosen from position, repetition and loudness. If “Verse 2” is really a bridge, the cue time is still right: just rename the cue.

grandMA2 Beta

You get four files: markers.csv, commands.txt, ma2_macro.xml and analysis.json.

Option A: import the macro

  1. Check that Sequence 101 is free. If it isn't, open ma2_macro.xml in any text editor and replace 101 with a free number.
  2. Copy ma2_macro.xml to the importexport folder: on a USB stick it is gma2/importexport; on onPC use the importexport folder of your grandMA2 installation.
  3. On the command line type Import "file name without .xml" At Macro 1 (use a free macro number). The exact command is shown in the bot's message.
  4. Run the macro once. It creates the sequence with one empty cue per section, named Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1 and so on.
  5. Program your looks into the cues.
  6. Create a timecode show and add an event for each cue at the time listed in markers.csv or commands.txt, or record the events while the track plays.

Option B: command line

Type the lines from commands.txt on the command line one by one. The result is the same as with the macro.

Beta. The import is being verified on grandMA2 onPC. If the console shows an error, send the message, firmware version and file to the chat.

grandMA3 Beta

You get markers.csv, commands.txt and analysis.json.

  1. Check that the sequence number in commands.txt (101 by default) is free, and change it in the file if needed.
  2. Type the lines on the command line, or create a macro and paste them as macro lines.
  3. Program the cues, then add timecode events using the times from the file.

Hog 4 and Avolites

For Hog 4 the bot sends markers.csv and analysis.json. Build the cue list from the CSV and enter each start time as the cue's timecode trigger.

For Avolites Titan only the AI reference is available for now; timecode files are planned.

AI reference Beta

  1. Choose Consultation.
  2. Ask in your own words. The answer takes your console and firmware into account.
  3. Ask follow-up questions in the same conversation; /cancel ends it.

Getting better answers

  • Say what you want to achieve, not only which key to press: “I want cue 5 to fade in over 3 seconds”.
  • Mention what you already tried and what the console replied.
  • One question per message works better than a long list.
Check before the show. Answers come from large language models and can be wrong. Try commands on onPC first.

Troubleshooting

  • “Failed to analyze audio”. Try another format (WAV or MP3) or another export of the track.
  • “No steady beat found”. Normal for ambient or free-time music: sections are still found, but there is no beat grid.
  • “File too large”. Export as MP3 320 kbps, or trim silence at the end.
  • All times are shifted by the same amount. The show file starts differently. Use the same file, or offset the timecode start on the console.
  • Bar numbers drift. The track is probably not in 4/4. Use the section times and ignore the bar column.
  • Anything else. Write to the community chat.