Use a separate Gig Performer instance as your “effects box”

13 Jan Use a separate Gig Performer instance as your “effects box”

Posted at 23:19h in Gig Performer Blog, Knowledge Base Articles by

Gig Performer 3 allows you to create multiple “gigs” at the same time and they are completely independent of each other, each one separately controllable.

Multi instance support in Gig Performer, audio plugin host for live performance

We had a couple of scenarios in mind for this feature for your live performance such as allowing vocals to use an independently controllable (and typically much smaller) set of rackspaces for vocal EQ and effects or to be able to keep a looper going while you change rackspaces many times or even to allow a small band to use a single computer on stage or during rehearsals.

However, if you install SoundFlower (Mac, free) or JACK (Mac/Windows, free),  Loopback (Mac, paid)  or Virtual Cables (Windows, Paid) you can create a virtual audio interface. Once you have done that, you can create an aggregate device consisting of your real audio interface and a virtual audio interface. Configure Gig Performer to use that aggregate audio device. Now you will have some extra input and output audio channels through which you can pass audio between the two Gig Performer instances much like you can already do for MIDI using the IAC ports.

Now, you can treat your second Gig Performer instance as an “effects box” to which you can send audio from your plugins in your first Gig Performer instance to add effects which can then be sent out through your physical audio interface. Your “effects box” can have just one rackspace containing your desired effects or perhaps just a few rackspaces. If you are someone who doesn’t need to have completely different effects in every rackspace then this approach can make it even easier for you to build a rig.

For even more fun, consider that you can use MIDI Out blocks in your main Gig Performer instance to send program change messages to your second Gig Performer instance (using an IAC virtual MIDI port on a Mac) so your effects can change automatically as needed.

Gig Perfomer 4 introduces the Global rackspace, with which you can achieve similar applications. Check out the links below to learn more.

.

Further reading:
– How to use multiple instances in Gig Performer 4
– The Global rackspace (User Guide)
– Multi-instance support (User Guide)
– How to create two Gig Performer instances with a single client ASIO Driver on Windows
– How To Use Global Rackspace In Gig Performer 4 (Youtube)

Print page
3 Likes


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.

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

MIDI Message Helper

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

 

  

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

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

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

  

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad

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.

 

Dismiss ad