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OSCulator – convert any input to any output

If you're on a Mac, there's a great app out there called OSCulator that can be used to transform pretty much any input to any output. For example, you can configure it to receive MIDI notes and have it send keystrokes (yes, that's right, as...

Audio latency, buffer size and sample rate explained

I hear the term "Latency" a lot when talking about audio processing. What does it really mean? How do you set your gear and Gig Performer to work for you, not against you? What is latency? It's simply the amount of time that passes between the sound...

Predictive Loading in Gig Performer

We are very excited about a new feature introduced in Gig Performer 1.5. It's something we've wanted from the very beginning and it's something that we believe many people will really find incredibly useful. Normally, Gig Performer preloads all rackspaces, which means that all plugins that will...

Controlling multiple parameters simultaneously with widget groups

A lot of people asked about controlling multiple parameters from a single knob or slider and wondered why we didn't have such a facility in our first release. In fact we got quite a bit of criticism for the lack of such a feature. Apart from...

Using Lemur with Gig Performer

Gig Performer has a sophisticated OSC implementation that can be used for a variety of purposes, one of which is to allow bidirectional control with an iPad running a control surface such as Lemur or TouchOSC (Using Touch OSC with Gig Performer). To help you get...

Migrating slowly from other audio plugin hosts to Gig Performer

Yeah, we know, you've spent months or even years creating your set list, tweaking your plugins, changing them, getting your sound just right. Now you've got hundreds of patches and the notion of having to start all over again seems really painful. But here's a...

List of best free VST and AU plugins you should try out!

When it comes to selecting plugins, there is a myriad of choices and decisions to make. Everyone has their favorites and everyone is trying to find the right combination of plugins to create that great sound on stage. If you are a guitar player or a singer,  you will be leaning more towards the effect plugins.  If you are a keyboard player then you are likely to pay more attention to instrument plugins. A great write-up of what a pro player is using these days comes from our own David Jameson. Read his “Go-to plugin list” here /my-go-to-plugin-list Easily combining, inserting and tweaking those plugins is essential for any serious musician. That’s why a great host application (hint: Gig Performer😀) is a must. Otherwise  you might very well try a plugin and a few of its presets but then give up on it before you explore all the cool options it might offer. When it comes to pricing, usually you get what you pay for. Creating a great sampler plugin for example takes a lot of development and studio time, using great instruments and great players to capture a particular instrument faithfully. Then some serious development time to actually allow players to play those samples back properly. Having said that, there are some hidden gems that are absolutely free! Typically they are used as promotional tools for other commercial plugins made by the same company. Anyway, you can never have enough plugins – right? Most of the plugins listed here will have an installer so all you have to do is install them and restart Gig Performer. Some, however, come only as compressed files so you will have to manually drag the files to the appropriate folders. These will usually have instructions within the archive.

Without further ado - here is my go-to list for some of those free VST and Audio Unit plugins.

My go-to plugin list

As a performing musician touring with several bands including The Security Project and Beyond The Wall, there are certain plugins I can't do without on tour and I thought I'd mention some of them here in case anyone is interested. Note that I have no relationship...

Gig Performer Stress Test Video

Here is a short video showing a part of our testing process for Gig Performer. We have been using Gig Performer live, on stage, for a while now (even before it went into the first beta stage). We have a long and grueling beta stages where...

A Chapman Stick player describes his setup with Gig Performer.

I received an interesting email from Jim Meyer, a Chapman Stick player in Vancouver who is using Gig Performer. His setup is intriguing so with his permission, I'm reposting the email he sent me. So, here’s the fun I’ve been having with Gig Performer: I have a Chapman...

Using Gig Performer on tour with The Security Project

The Security Project is a prog rock band that performs the early progressive repertoire of Peter Gabriel. I've been performing with them for about 4 years now, going on a couple of tours per year. My main software system was a custom developed application using...