I am considering the purchase of Gig Performer 3, but wanted to get some feedback on how well it works with rackmount hardware synthesizers. I have two Studiologic MIDI controllers that drive a rack with a Motif-Rack XS, Roland XV-5050, E-Mu Proteus 2000, and Korg TR Rack. I currently use BandHelper to switch programs/patches on the controllers and rackmount gear through songs and setlists. I plan to someday move to VSTi’s, but need to stick with the old school gear for now. Is there anyone out there using GP3 with multiple hardware MIDI synths/ROMplers and if so, then:
how well does it work?
how easy was it to setup and configure?
are you using setlists and songs?
are there other/better software options for my situation?
A lot of GP users have a similar setup. Whitin GP, an hardware synth/rack is represented by a MIDI out block that you can rename to fit the model of your synth for more convenience. Each particular configuration takes place in a rackspace/variation, that’s where you “patch” virtually your setup and where you put the MIDI out blocks with the appropriate program change (PC) for your synths. In GP a song, composed from different parts (intro, verse, refrain, chorus or whatever you want). Each part is associated to a rackspace/variation and can be recalled from an external PC message coming from an iPad app.
I am pretty sure you will love GP. It is very easy to understand and to use, but it is better to go through the manual at least once
What would be your usecase in this scenario?
What should Gig Performer do for you?
You could created keyboard splits and route to different midi outs to control your hardware.
You could send PC messages and SysEx Messages, control the volume of your hardware etc.
When this is your scenarion, Gig Performer can do that all for you.
My use case is live performance with a band, using setlists and songs with scenes/parts to switch patches or keyboard mapping mid-song or within medleys. Not planning on using VSTi’s at this time. I would be happy with just replacing BandHelper (running on Android) with GP on my Surface Pro 3 to trigger the patch and scene changes.
I currently use splits and layers extensively on both controllers, so knowing this is possible through GP is good news. I’m currently sending MSB/LSB/Program changes, but not any special SysEx messages. I also like that I can assign certain controls to the rack spaces to change filter, cutoff, resonance, etc. on the fly.
If anyone has any screen shots of their GP rackmount hardware setups, that would be helpful to get me started building my own config.
This is rather straightforward from a GP perspective. Assuming you connect to all of your outboard hardware on the large majority of songs, I would recommend creating a ‘template’ rackspace to use as the basis for all of your other rackspaces as a go-forward strategy. In your ‘template’ you would add all of the midi outputs for all of your gear, plus at least one midi in representing each of the controllers.
You can then simply duplicate that ‘template’. Creating all of your widgets in panels for that template would be a wise choice as well.
I use a blend of VST and 2 physical workstations plus I also send patch changes to my drummer’s Roland Octapad for all songs in our setlist. GP works great for this purpose. The routing and filtering are extremely flexible.
In your particular situation, all you’re really going to be doing is using Gig Performer as a sophisticated MIDI router so you’ll create MidiIn blocks to represent your keyboards (and desired splits) and you’ll essentially just be connecting them to MidiOut blocks associated with your hardware. For example, here’s a simple connection where the SL88 (coming in on channel 1) is going to a Kronos synth and all output to that synth is on channel 7
I have this project with which I manage keyboard and rack hadware above, below vst, With the help of script codes (thanks PianoPaul) I manage to change patch, transpose, channels and keyboard split. let me know and I’ll send you the file so you can see how it’s built! IMG_0457|375x500
