Question about midi, rackspaces and songs

I want to select songs by midi program changes, and son parts by next / previous song part midi mappings.

It seems that each backspace automatically gets a PC number assigned. How does the PC assigned to the song relate to the PC assigned (automatically) to the backspace? Does the Setlist mode override the backspace view in this regard?

So if I send PC 0, it will select Song 0 and not Rackspace 0?

Is this correct?

For Songs: You can assign a PC message to a Song Part.
This is independent from PC message assigned to to Rackspace Variation.

And what is selected depends on the View you selected.

Ok, thanks.
If you have a lot of songs, it becomes a bit daunting to keep track of all PC changes for both songs and parts. When playing live, its ok for me to select a song using PC and then use next song part with a mapping in the rig manager…

With OSC it is much easier, you know OSC?

Yes, I do. But I’m using a Lab4Musis SIPario to control GIG Performer, I would rather not have any networking on stage right now. I have a very simple setup and can carry everything with me on the bus!

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You are never assigning a PC to a song……only to a songpart.

Ok. How is the incoming PC routed? The backspaces have automatic mapping of PC numbers, it seems. So first backspace have 0 and so on. I haven’t configured any PCs on the Song parts, but when I send a PC of say 0, the song using the backspace with PC 0 is selected. I like the incoming PCs to select the songs (or first song part).

Those defaults can be overridden with explicit PC values.

This is all documented in our online manual. Have you reviewed the documentation? For example,

Yes, of course I’ve read the manual :slight_smile:
Not easy to get it all into your head though. It’s not all clear in this area, I think.

So, what I should to is to assign PC values to the first song part?

I don’t know. It depends on exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. Some people will do that and then step through, others might assign PC messages to every song part or assign CC messages to each song part and trigger using a midi pedal board. Others might use specific notes on a controller to switch parts……

I will play around a bit and try the best method for me. Thanks for the help.

Hm. If I assign a PC to a song part, I get this message:

Program number 2 is automatically assigned to:

“Outdoor Miner”

Assigning this PC message here will override the automatic mapping to that Rackspace.

Are you sure you want to do this?

So, if I don’t do this and use a rackspace in more than one song part, which song part is selected when the PC assigned to the rackspace is received?

Are you in setlist mode?

Again, this is covered in the docs.

When you are in setlist mode, PC values always refer to song parts and never to rackspace variations.

You can even configure GP to automatically switch to setlist mode when a PC value is received.

Ok. So I missed this: It seems like each song (or maybe the first song part) indeed does get a PC assigned by default. I created a new set with 4 songs, and each respond to PC 0 to 3, which is also indicated in the song title. So I don’t need to assign a PC to the first song part. Where in the docs is this mentioned? I can’t find it. In the setlist docs, there is this:

Ways to switch to a song part:

  • Click on a tile in the part bar at the top of the Setlist/Song view.

  • Click on the part name in the Setlist browser.

  • Select a song part with a MIDI program change message assigned in the [Song Part Properties](Song Part Properties) dialog.

  • Use the up/down arrow keys on your computer keyboard to select the song part above/below the current one respectively.

We could be more explicit but it is mentioned in the documentation when first introducing rackspaces and variations and the concepts mapnalmost identically to songs and song parts. I guess we just assumed that users would learn about rackspaces before learning about songs

Assign a permanent program change number - when this toggle button is turned on, you can specify the program change number and, optionally, the bank select numbers (in Gig Performer 4, you set MSB and LSB values separately) used to switch to this variation. Note: if a program change number has been assigned, that number will appear to the left of the variation name. If there is only one variation in the rackspace, the program change number will also appear to the left of the rackspace name; if there is more than one variation, an asterisk will appear there instead.

Thank you! Now I understand. Maybe I’m a bit slow… :thinking:

Not to worry! GP is a new way of thinking about things than we are used to from previous practical MIDI implementations. The good news is, it’s designed by very smart gigging musicians - with a lot of response from other gigging musicians with other approaches. Have fun with GP, it has revolutionized the performing lives of many of us.

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