Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, and Dionne Warwick keyboardist – Bob Luna
This episode of Backstage with Gig Performer features professional musician and music director Bob Luna. Throughout the interview, Bob discusses his long career, his transition from traditional keyboard hardware to modern software-based setups, and his reliance on Gig Performer for his live performances.
Key takeaways from the interview:
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Professional Background: Bob Luna has worked with iconic artists such as Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, and Dionne Warwick. He explains his dual role as a music director and a keyboardist who often has to emulate an entire orchestra when playing live (3:28 - 4:29).
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Technological Evolution: Bob reflects on the limitations of 1990s hardware, where he had to travel with his own rack-mounted samplers to ensure sound reliability (6:10 - 7:42). He discusses his preference for Kurzweil keyboards due to their robust split and layer capabilities (12:13 - 14:59).
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Discovery of Gig Performer: After experiencing reliability issues with other software like MainStage and Logic, Bob discovered Gig Performer at the 2019 NAMM show. He emphasizes its stability, ease of use, and the supportive community behind it (15:07 - 19:58).
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Live Performance Workflow: Bob demonstrates his sophisticated setup using specific songs like Live and Let Die and Rosanna. He details how he maps multiple VST plugins, handles complex orchestral layers, and manages MIDI routing to achieve a professional, full-band sound (20:18 - 59:58).
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Preparation and Reliability: Bob stresses that his preparation process is centered on rigorous hardware and software testing. He shares his philosophy of keeping things simple, using stereo outputs to front-of-house, and ensuring his patches are perfectly balanced before rehearsals (1:00:35 - 1:12:00).
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For Bob Luna, Gig Performer is a game changer because it provides the reliability and stability he lacked with previous software solutions (16:35 - 16:47). Having experienced devastating system lock-ups during professional rehearsals in the past, Bob was looking for a dependable host that could handle his complex, orchestral-style keyboard setups without failure.
Key reasons Gig Performer revolutionized his workflow include:
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Seamless Performance: It allows Bob to manage multiple heavy VST plugins, intricate MIDI routings, and layer splits without system crashes (22:45 - 25:00).
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Intuitive Organization: Unlike older systems where he had to manually re-map everything on the fly, Gig Performer enables him to build specific, stable rack spaces for each song that he can trust in a high-pressure live environment (53:06 - 54:00).
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Community and Support: Bob emphasizes that the human element—the support from the developers like David Jameson and the active user community—makes it much easier to learn and grow his setup (19:10 - 19:55).
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Scalability: Whether he is playing a simple piano part or orchestrating a massive, multi-instrument arrangement for a show like Live and Let Die, the software handles the load consistently (1:09:40 - 1:10:00).