Recording your guitar (or vocals)

25 Nov Recording your guitar (or vocals)

Posted at 09:12h in Knowledge Base Articles by

Gig Performer is an audio plugin host (AU, VST3 and VST host) for live performance that allows you to capture what are you playing. As of Gig Performer 4.5, you can record inputs and outputs in mono or stereo (watch this video to learn more). 

If you need to record the processed results of your playing on multiple places in your signal chain, you can use the free MRecorder plugin from Melda Productions.

Here’s an example showing the Wiring view in Gig Performer of a possible layout which of course you can easily modify or recreate to suit (you can click on these images to see a full-size view):

Example showing the connections view in Gig Performer, recording guitar or vocals

Gig Performer Wiring view

Notice that a mono input from your audio interface is being passed through a mono-to-stereo attenuator and then on to various plugins. Near the bottom is a gain control representing your final output and the audio is then being sent to your audio interface for monitoring as well as to the MRecorder plugin. Double-clicking to open that plugin, you can set the location to where you want your output to be saved (as WAV files) and then click the RECORD and/or PAUSE buttons on that plugin as needed to capture your performance.

Free MRecorder plugin from Melda Productions, in Gig Performer, cross-platform audio plugin host

The MRecorder plugin editor window

Of course, if you’ve got a MIDI pedalboard you can also create a front panel view in Gig Performer with buttons that will control the MRecorder and then “press” those buttons from your MIDI pedalboard which of course makes it much easier as you don’t have to take your hands away from your guitar to control the recording process.

Widgets on a front panel control the recording process in Gig Performer, plugin host

Add widgets on a front panel to control the recording process.

Note: modern audio interfaces do come with the option to assign the main outs to different internal channels. Once done you can see the main outs coming in normally on selected internal channels. Learn more in this Community thread.

For Gig Performer versions before v4.5 you can use Gig Performer’s input recording feature (click here to learn more).

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Related topics
 – Recording to wav from GP using Melda MRecord (Community thread)
 – How to combine guitar plugins to create a unique sound
 – Top websites for free audio plugins and how to use them in Gig Performer

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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MIDI Message Helper

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

 

  

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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.

 

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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

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

  

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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.

 

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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.

 

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