Pre-sales / newbie questions regarding synths, external control etc

General discussion about Gig Performer
1

hello,
I am trying to evaluate if GP is the product for me, i have looked at another “vst rack” program and found it very difficult to make work.

my setup is simple
1 laptop
2 synths - casio M560 and caso xw-p1 at the present
1 ferrofish b4000+ B3 organ module external and controller keyboard
several vsts like mellotron etc., i guess a 3rd synth
1 extra keyboard controller to run the vst instruments

I use mobilesheets pro for my song charts, it can not only display chordpro, pdf files, it can pass midi to usb ports on keyboards or midi ports with interface…

I NEED TO KNOW HOW AND TRY IT ON GP,

  1. have Moblesheets send midi program command to make GP setlist select a specific song / thus racks assigned to it. i know of Loopmidi tool.

  2. within GP how to tell an external synth like the casios how to change patches (sounds) with midi codes, ie where in GP do i setup the midi codes from input to output into the keyboard synth.

  3. can GP "learn’ the midi codes to use from the external synth keyboards so i dont have to look them up and type them in long numeric sequences? Mobilesheets does it by listening, does GP do something like this?

i understand how to add vst and make them work with keyboard controller, but i dont know how to make gp work with external synth keyboards like a korg, casio, nord etc.

If i can make GP my rig controller for the full setup, life would be better during a performance, especially if i can auto change patches at various parts of a song.

thank you in advance
mike

2

Did you take a look at this?
it shows how to send midi messages to external hardware

Send a MIDI message out when song part changes

3

Hello and welcome to the forums.

Yes - GP can do everything you are looking for.

If you want to send a Program Change number to your external synth - you can simply insert the appropriate MIDI Out block and select the program change/bank. Using this method - every time you switch to that rackspace - GP will send that PC number out to your external synth.

If you want to send arbitrary data to one or more of your synths when switching to different song parts - simply insert the appropriate MIDI Out block for that device, then right-click on the block and “Set Handle” to something like “mySynth”. Now go to the properties of a song part and type in mySynth: …data… (data can be easily generated by clicking on the link to use the tool that we provide online https://gigperformer.com/support/midi-to-hexstring-generator.html).

If you want to learn and control a GP widget using any external midi device - yes. Simply click on a widget, go to the MIDI tab of its properties and click “Learn” now move a knob or a slider or anything else and it will lear it.

I hope this gets you started. Don’t forget to read and use our user guide here
https://gigperformer.com/docs/Userguide36/index.html

All of this, and more, is explained in it.

4

thanks for the fast answers, i’ll check this out in two days
after i finish my practice gigs on the road.

i got some 32bit vsts working with jbridge, nice

i’ll work on getting mobilesheets to select song from setlist
and get song in setlist to send midi codes to physical synth keyboard

i will review all video’s and guides and inquire in the forum before asking questions,
mike

5

so i think i will need more information
how and where do i tell GP to listen for a song change from an external software program on the same pc,
would that be the midi-in device, osc setup handle and put in the code
created from the website link provided above? wouldnt that be by the rack, i would think i would want it by the set list? confused, still reading

any help would be appreciated.

6

GP always listens for MIDI PC messages and it can also listen for OSC messages. Not sure which external application on the same PC you are using, but those are the methods you can utilize.

7

You can do either - depends on whether you want to be in rackspace mode or in setlist mode — each of those modes has benefits depending on what you’re trying to do.