If your fans start running hot when you load Gig Performer, it’s probably not Gig Performer!

If your fans start running hot when you load Gig Performer, it’s probably not Gig Performer!

A few Gig Performer users have reported a problem where, after loading a gig file, the fans (laptop fans, not your audience!) turn on, your computer gets hot and your activity monitor or task manager indicates that Gig Performer is using a huge amount of CPU cycles.

We have been able to reproduce this behavior – here is the setup:

  1. Your computer is connected to a router that is not connected to the internet
    (Why would you do this? Because you’re using other devices such an iPad or Android tablet to interact with Gig Performer)
  2. One or more of the plugins you’re using is trying to connect to the internet and won’t timeout after some period of time
    (Why not? Probably because it’s detecting that there is a LAN and therefore there must be a connection)

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In our environment at least, this seems to be caused by plugins from Native Instruments (Kontakt, Absynth, FM8, Reaktor, Massive, Battery, Guitar Rig, and RC48 reverb plugin). It appears that in recent versions of these plugins, an option called Usage Data is enabled and that option is causing the plugins to try and connect to (presumably) Native Instrument servers. For some reason, the plugins don’t seem to give up when a connection can’t be made, perhaps they just keep retrying forever, we don’t know.

The solution turns out to be trivial: quit Gig Performer if you’re running it and open each of those Native Instruments plugins in standalone mode. In each one, open the options or preferences dialog and look for an item called Usage Data (In Absynth and FM8 it’s a menu option!). If it’s turned on, turn it off and close the plugin. After you’ve done it for all the plugins, restart Gig Performer and you should be fine.

Kontakt 6

Disable Usage data Tracking in Native Instruments Kontakt 6

Guitar Rig 5

Disable Usage data Tracking in Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5

Absynth

Disable Usage data Tracking in Native Instruments Absynth 5

Battery 4

Disable Usage data Tracking in Native Instruments Battery

FM8

Disable Usage data Tracking in Native Instruments FM8

Reaktor

Disable Usage data Tracking in Native Instruments Reaktor

Massive

Disable Usage data Tracking in Native Instruments Massive

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Related topics:
Strange CPU usage when using FM8/Absynth5 from NI (Community)
A plugin crashed! Find out which one
Why does Task Manager or Activity Viewer show a higher CPU usage value than does Gig Performer?
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.