In this guest blog article Jeffrey Naness shares his seasonal gratefulness for the Gig Performer Community.
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Intro
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‘Tis the season to appreciate your friends and family. But, in this blog post I would like to express my appreciation for the Gig Performer Community.
In my last (and first) blog article on the Gig Performer web site, I acknowledged the great help offered by fellow Gig Performer Community member, Frank den Blaauwen (@Frank1119), who went above and beyond the call of duty in helping me implement the Ultimate Power Plan in my Lenovo laptop that seemed resistant to it.
I managed to “pay it forward” a bit by providing a link to another Community Member who ran into the same problem.
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New tricks and tips
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Of course, this was not the only time I have drawn on the resources of the Gig Performer Community. I do have to admit that I check out the Gig Performer community forum pretty frequently. I use it as a diversion from my “real” work (lawyer). But, I also find it is a great way to learn new tricks and tips for using Gig Performer. In many cases, these are not something I need right now, but I store them in the back of my mind and then go back and explore them when the need arises.
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Example: Triggering samples using a Streaming Audio File Player
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This happened recently when I decided to add the motorcycle sound effect in the song Would I Lie to You (Eurythmics) and the arpeggiated synth effect in She’s A Beauty. In the past, I had used a simple (free) drum sample program to trigger samples like these. But based on a number of posts about the Streaming Audio File Player, I decided to try to use that instead to trigger samples. In addition to being far more flexible and capable, the Streaming Audio File Player also does not load the full audio file into RAM, so my RAM footprint will be reduced a bit.
Once again, I called upon the Gig Performer Community for an assist. First I read some prior posts about the Streaming Audio File Player and reviewed the manual (at least a little bit). When I ran into a roadblock, I asked a “dumb” question on the forum about triggering the sample and, with the help of Gig Performer members Florian and edm11, I was up and running in no time.
In the process of writing this article, I reviewed some of the questions I have posted along with solutions received. This includes concerns about Windows updates and license activations, assigning the pitch bend to the “expression” function when using SWAM saxophones, and advice on whether to use one particular plugin that has not quite been optimized to use in Gig Performer (I passed on that one).
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Using the Pitch Bend Wheel to Control Expression In SWAM Instruments
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I transitioned to Gig Performer a bit differently than most users. I was a bit unsure about my technical abilities and incurring the expense of making the transition. Up to that point I was using two moderately priced Casio keyboards in my cover bands (Casio CTK-7200 and PX350).
I also had several duplicates at home at my rehearsal space (I tend to be a fan of redundancy). So I decided to try to slowly integrate Gig Performer into my setup, while continuing to use internal keyboard sounds.
Several years later I still use the two Casio keyboards in my setup. In general, it has worked out well for me. But one of the weaknesses of those keyboards is the lack of a modulation wheel (instead the CTK-7200 has a modulation button!).
So, when I picked up SWAM saxophones, I decided to see if I could use the pitch wheel to control “expression.” After floundering a bit on my own, I once again sought advice at the Gig Performer forum. Once again, I received assistance from the Community. In this case, I was helped by Gig Performer developer and co-founder David Jameson and community member, Ed (edm11).
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The Tone of the Gig Performer Community
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The tone and tenor of the Gig Performer Community is one of its highlights. Members are genuinely nice to each other as well as being helpful and supportive. Considering the polarized world in which we live, it is a nice refuge.
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A special shout out
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I could not finish this article without making a special shout out to one of the developers and co-founder, David Jameson. I am grateful that David seems to spend most of his time with the forum page open responding to multiple questions posed by me and other members. Don’t know if there is a better resource for users like me. Thanks, David! (And yes, on occasion I do RTFM!)
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Wrapping up
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So, after your third cup of eggnog or yet another holiday party gig, remember to appreciate your fellow Gig Performer Community members and the Gig Performer developers for letting use do what we love: make music.