Patch Persist is working great for me when changing from 1 rackspace to another. I am using soft synths with midi controller and sustaining between rackspace switches. However, I am surprised that Patch Persist is not working when I change from 1 variation to another within the same rackspace. Should Patch Persist work when switching from 1 variation to another?
Patch Persist itself is a feature of rackspaces switching. It has nothing to do with variations.
If you use variations to change widget values that control such things as the tremelo rate of a plugin, or the cutoff frequency of a plugin filter, or the volume of a gain control, the notes will still sound.
Thanks for the reply. I am trying to think when I would ever use variations then since I can’t imagine I would ever want my audio to cut out when I am holding a chord and switching from 1 variation to another. Typically I’m using Omnisphere or Keyscape.
A variation is typically not used to cut the sound off by bypassing a sound producing plugin, trying to change its state completely etc.
You would rather use a variation to create a variation on your current sound. For example - you might change the length of your reverb in a “dry” and “wet” variation. You might want to switch the delay on/off based on your variation, change the cutoff frequency … many other things which can be changed while you are holding your notes down or playing your guitar for example.
If you need a new sound - we always recommend that you create a new rackspace for it.
Ok. That makes more sense to me. I guess I can think of times where variations would be useful. Still getting used to GP andthe possibilities that are now available to me.
Variations are VERY useful - for a start, many musicians often use the same few plugins all the time and they just need to do things like turn on echo, change reverb amount, adjust phase depth and so on. Any real-time adjusts you might make to a plugin by changing its parameters can be remembered in a variation if you have widgets attached to those parameters.
The only time you would have sound cut off is if you tried to change the actual preset of a plugin in which case the plugin will probably not be able to respond on real-time.
Many times, when one is using the same plugin architecture (i.e, the same plugins and effects connected the same way), variations can be used to control and change its behavior without needing to switch to another rackspace.
If notes are actually stopping when you switch variations then you’re either bypassing MidiInBlocks (which immediately sends a NoteOff to connected plugins to prevent stuck notes) or you’re trying to make a plugin do something that it’s not able to handle in real time. Or maybe you have a button connected to a Mute option of a mixer…could be many things going on there.
Still troubleshooting why notes are stopping. I am using Omnisphere Live mode, and I don’t want the notes to stop when I’m changing variations (and not changing omnisphere patches or part selections)
Live mode is really aimed at either standalone host usage or for use with hosts that can’t do the kinds of things that Gig Performer does by switching rackspaces. Gig Performer really has better ways of managing these kinds of things and so difficulties only arise when users are trying to make Gig Performer work the way their old host worked, generally not the best approach.
Having said that, please see the following blog article I wrote a few months ago on this topic
https://www.gigperformer.com/controlling-omnisphere-in-live-mode
Thanks. I read the article, but I still think I am doing something wrong. I am having the same issue when I am using Omnisphere not in Live mode. Switching from one variation to another while sustaining an Omnisphere patch either via sustain pedal or while still holding down notes kills omnisphere audio out.
I think I figured it out. Omnisphere notes are no longer stopping once I remove my toggle switch widget mapped to Plugin Bypass
I was about to ask you to tell us what parameters you were trying to control in variations. Yeah, bypassing a plugin will certainly stop the plugin — that’s what it means to bypass a plugin.
Glad you figured it out.
Well, my issue with bypass was not because the switch was on, rather it was the existence of the switch. Switch was off i both variations.
That’s very strange — I assume that the switch was attached to bypass of an Omnisphere instance?
Hmmm, I was able to reproduce this — this might be a bug — we will investigate
Thanks for looking into it.
I’m still familiarizing myself with GP functionality and best practices. I am not an advanced MIDI user, and I am still trying to understand how best to setup my rackspaces and variations in a way that works well for me. I appreciate the forum support!
Andy, this will get fixed in the next update, it’s a one line change internally
Thanks!
Hey Andy, just fixed that bug — thanks for your persistence - I’ve just tested it with Omnisphere in live mode and there’s no longer a problem when you have a widget attached to a bypass in multiple variations. This will be in the next update which hopefully won’t be very far in the future. Actually a great catch.
There is however another way to accomplish what you’re trying to do and it may be useful as a work around. Check out this blog article.
It’s a sort of “poor-man” patch-persist mechanism and it depends on plugins properly handling (i.e. ignoring) multiple note off events, which most should do. It’s a hack but one that seems to work well.