So before I ask any more questions, (which I’m going to have) I want/need to take a few more steps in growing my live performances with GP. I’m using GP 4 with Macbook Pro with only 8g of RAM. Next future step is a new computer. I just purchased an Arturia Keylab 88mkII a few weeks ago. I created an initial rackspace with all the Keylab controls mapped out. My upper controller is a Nord Stage 3 Compact. Besides being my lifeboat, I have rackpaces where the Nord is my controller for the B3-X VST. My piano VST is Pianoteq 8. I’m struggling with Omnisphere 2.I have a handful of other VSTs as well, but I think this setup will work and also learn me more about GP:) I have created rackspaces with various setups. Some work as expected and others are making my head spin.
I really appreciate all your support!
My main suggestion right now is to study and USE the Rig Manager. This way you can have rackspaces using widgets controlled by only the controller knobs, switches or buttons needed for the sound desired for the particular rackspace.
^^This. 100%.
Rig Manager is an ‘optional’ aspect of GP but honestly, it really shouldn’t be left out of the equation, ever. Spend an hour with it, get to know how it works and if you’ve already made rackspaces, take the time to update the widget control mappings (using the learn function) to update and save their binding to the rig manager aliases you create.
I’ve used in the past a NumaOrgan2 to control B3-X but again, I set up all the aspects of that controller in Rig Manager first! From there it worked very well. If you play organically (pardon the pun) and use drawbars like an old-school hammond player with the preset in A#/B set-and forget mode and just trim drawbars to taste from song to song, you can put the B3-X in the global rackspace.
If you need to recall B3-X specific presets from song to song, you’ll need to put that in rackspaces for every song/sound you play, or… make a rackspace with a bunch of variations and have widgets binded to the parameters wtihin B3-X that will change song to song (drawbars obviously).
Difference in the different rackspace per song method and the rackspace with a lot of variations method is in basic terms the variation method will have jumps in the sound when you switch settings but be a lot quicker to load.
These days I use an XK-5 as my uppper controller and my sound engine but I have those surface controlls all learned into rig manager for other purposes and I run the XK-5 into GP to use IK’s Leslie sim which I prefer to the XK-5’s sim.
My lower keyboard mostly handles weighted action piano/epiano stuff… it’s an SL73… but I have structured my rackspaces so that I can block/un-block the midi note on message with a widget button and that allows me to use either keyboard to control any vst in my setup, per rackspace, so I often use the XK-5 with it’s waterfall keys and springy synth action to play Oberheim, Moog or Clav sounds.
I can also use my lower weighted action controller, with a widget button press, to play the lower manual drawbar sounds from the XK-5 or B3-X for a real dual manual approach.
Scripting will sove for some features you eventually decide you want but don’t get hung up on that out of the gate and there are enough scritping examples and people on here who can help when that time comes.
I attempted a go with rig Manager a while back with no success. I’m a little bit hesitant about jumping into it at this moment with what I’m already involved in. Unfortunately, it’s simply a time issue for me.
I’m missing the logic of setting up Rig Manager right now. My hardware setup does not change. Advice greatly appreciated
If your hardware setup will never change and you don’t have multiple identical keyboards, then you don’t need the rig manager.
You’re right David!