What to do if Gig Performer 4 can’t find or use your Intel plugins on the new Mac M1 processor

What to do if Gig Performer 4 can’t find or use your Intel plugins on the new Mac M1 processor

Background

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Apple recently released a new line of computers using their new M1 ARM based microprocessors, also known as Apple Silicon. These processors cannot directly run applications developed for older Intel processors.

To address this issue, Apple uses an intermediary application called Rosetta that converts (on-the-fly) older Intel programs so that they can run on the new M1 processors.

Newer programs are often available as “Universal” applications meaning that they contain both Intel and ARM versions of the underlying code. This enables them to run natively (i.e, as fast as possible) on both architectures with the correct version selected automatically.

Gig Performer 4 is available as a Universal application and so can run on both Intel and ARM based Apple computers.

However, if you run Gig Performer 4 on an ARM based computer but your VST/VST3 plugins are still Intel only, Gig Performer 4 (or indeed any audio plugin host running natively) will not be able to access those plugins.

How to solve this problem

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You have two choices:

  1. Wait for ARM versions of your plugins to become available – check the plugin developer websites
  2. Explicitly run the Intel version of Gig Performer 4 under Rosetta and accept a slight loss of efficiency (see instructions below)

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How to run Gig Performer 4 under Rosetta

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Close Gig Performer if it is running.

Navigate to your Applications folder, right-click with your mouse (or left-click with your mouse while holding the Ctrl key down or tap with twofingers if you’re using a trackpad) on Get Info.

Applications folder on Mac. Right click on GigPerformer 4 and select Get Info.

When the Info window appears, click on the checkbox called “Open using Rosetta”

GigPerformer4 info window on Mac; Click on Open using Rosetta.

Now, when you start Gig Performer, the Intel version will be loaded instead of the ARM version. You will now be able to access all your Intel plugins.

But how come my Intel AudioUnit plugins still work?

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What confuses many customers is that Intel based AU plugins are in fact visible when you run Gig Performer in native ARM mode. It turns out that Apple made a special exception for Intel AU plugins. If an ARM based audio plugin host (like Gig Performer) tries to access Intel AU plugins, those plugins are loaded through Rosetta but some extra work is done under the covers to allow those plugins to communicate with the native host. We assume that Apple did this so that their own plugin hosts (Logic Pro and Mainstage) running natively on ARM processors would have access to customers’ existing Intel plugins seamlessly. Sadly, Apple did not see fit to do the same thing for VST/VST3 plugins, hence the problem.

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Related topics:
Tips to troubleshoot your computer-based setup



Scaling Curves


Scaling curves allow you to control the shape of the output of a widget or convert an incoming note velocity to a new velocity. Various predefined curves are available and they can be tweaked as necessary. You can also just draw your own curve as well to achieve the effect you require.

 

MIDI File Player Plugin


You can load up to 128 MIDI song files in a single plugin instance. Switch from one song to another, mute tracks and/or change their channel numbers. Tempo can be controlled by individual songs or you can use the global tempo and tap tempo to control the BPM interactively.

 

Favorites and Presets


Create a sound by placing and interconnecting your desired plugins, such as a synth, some effects and perhaps a mixer. Select them all and then save the selection as a named favorite. The favorite will subsequently show up in all plugin insert menus, making it easy for you to recreate that configuration whenever you need it again. This feature is also very powerful for creating your needed sounds on your studio computer and then transferring them to your touring laptop.

 

Probabilistic Sound Designer


Parameters you select in an open plugin are captured into the Probabilistic Sound Designer dialog window. When you click Randomize, you're only adjusting those selected parameters. Each entry in the PSD dialog has a curve but unlike widgets where the curve controls scaling, in the PSD the curves are used to define the probability of particular values being selected. Make sure the filter cutoff never gets too slow so as to block all sound. Perhaps adjust the max range of the VCA attack parameter so that the sound doesn't have too much delay. Constrain the octave ranges of the oscillators, perhaps ensuring that 1/3rd of the time we select 8' and 2/3rds of the time we select 4'. The possibilities are endless.

 

More Widgets


Numerous new widgets are included in Gig Performer - a new sustain pedal, plastic knobs, drum pads and more colored sliders. Shapes can be colored with different borders and fill colors and morphed from rectangular to circular. Your creativity is now the limit to creating fabulous front panels in Gig Performer.

 

MIDI Message Helper


Select MIDI devices by name. Choose the MIDI message type and adjust the appropriate parameters for the specific type

 

  

Layout management


Gig Performer supports arbitrary resizing. Layout your widgets the way you want - resize the main window and the widgets will grow or shrink as necessary to maintain the same interrelationships. No matter what size screen you have, your front panels will still be neat and usable.

 

Undo Support


If you move your widgets around and/or resize them, or even delete them by mistake, the Undo facility will correct your mistake. Minor moves to a widget by mistake will no longer spoil your design

 

Plugin Channel Count


Some plugins support a large number of outputs and they depend on the traditional channel strip to control how many ports should be available.   When you only need a stereo pair, it is convenient not to have a large horizontal block. In Gig Performer, the number of available ports  is controlled by the channel count override, which can be applied to individual plugins and will be remembered when the gigfile is reloaded or if the plugin is saved as a favorite.

 

Input muting and output fading


Rather than a single audio length tail, Gig Performer 4 gives you the ability to control input muting and output fading separately. Input muting controls how much time it takes for audio input to be silenced when you leave the rackspace. Output fading controls how much time will be taken for audio to fade out when you leave the rackspace.

 

Faster Plugin Finder


Instead of searching through menus of perhaps hundreds of plugins (you know who you are!), the Quick Plugin Finder makes it easy to find the plugin you need by simply typing partial strings. For example, as shown here, to find the Modartt Pianoteq 7 plugins, it's enough to type pia mod 7 (in any order, by the way)  to restrict the list of available plugins to those matching your query. The Quick Plugin Finder also knows about manufacturers, presets and favorites.

 

  

Touch Friendly Input


Any entry field can be changed by either dragging your mouse (or finger) up or down, or by using the large popup touchpad where you can just tap on the squares to enter a value. The large popup keypad also does validation so you can't enter an invalid value. You can also just tap the BPM field to pop up a larger view where you can quickly change tempo, tranpose, trigger Tap Tempo and enable Ableton Link, the last allowing you to synchronize Gig Performer with any other application that also supports Ableton Link.

 

New Tuner Display


The tuner view makes it easy for guitarists to quickly check and adjust their tuning. You can toggle into the tuner view from any other view and toggle right back as soon as you're done. All output will be silenced automatically while you're in tuning mode. You can adjust the concert reference pitch from its default of 440 Hz to suit your own needs. The tuner view fills the entire screen so you can easily see it from a distance.