The Audio and MIDI Recorder

24 Jan The Audio and MIDI Recorder

Posted at 10:00h in Gig Performer Blog, GP2 New Features by

Gig Performer’s Recorder provides a simple way to capture every audio input channel to its own wave file, paving the way to capturing the entire raw live performance of a band for later post processing. The feature is aimed mostly at FoH engineers who are using Gig Performer to add live effects processing to a show (Yes, that’s right, Gig Performer isn’t just for keyboard players or guitarists!).

Important note: Gig Performer v4.5 and later can record both inputs and/or outputs in mono and/or stereo. Please check out this YouTube video for detailed guidelines.

Gig Performer can also record all incoming MIDI data and creates a standard MIDI format 1 file where each track represents each physical MIDI input device on your computer.

Sitting innocuously on the bottom left of the main window is a button called Recorder.

Gig Performer, the recorder button (bottom left), Audio and MIDI recorder

If you click the button, you will see the following dialog:

Gig Performer, Recording Options, Select Input channels

From this dialog you can choose which audio inputs are to be recorded. You also have the option of specifying the bit depth and whether you want to start recording immediately or specify a time in the future. The latter is useful if you’re doing your sound check at 5pm and the band will start playing around 8pm. Set it now and then you don’t have to remember to up on stage later to start recording.

You can optionally check the Record MIDI Input box and all incoming MIDI data will be stored to a standard MIDI file (.smf) where each track represents a physical MIDI input device on your system. The current tempo is also tracked and recorded so you get a tempo map as well.

The dialog also lets you specify the top level folder under which your recordings are to be stored and how much space is both available and required based on what you are recording. The actual tracks are stored in a subfolder whose name is a combination of your gig file name and the time at which the recordings actually start. That means you don’t have to worry about overwriting files. Just run the recorder at every show during your tour and at the end you’ll have collections of tracks that you can throw into your favorite DAW for post production.

As the recorder stores raw input, another benefit is the ability to give tracks to potential substitute band members so they can easily hear what the original musician did. This of course will make it easier for musicians to get up to speed quickly.

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Related topics:
– How to use recorder?

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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

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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

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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

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Input muting and output fading

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Faster Plugin Finder

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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

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