I’m refining my setup, and looking at a new approach to using Gig Performer as a do-it-all live host.
My setup is…
- One, possibly two, vocals. (Me, future guest.)
- One, possibly two, guitars. (Me, future guest.)
- MIDI Bass (Typically as a backing track. Mute when I get a basist.)
- MIDI Keys (Me, sometimes backing.)
- MIDI Drums (Me with a Zendrum, often backing.)
- Mix all this stuff!
With a Macbook Pro M1, I’ve generally been able to do this with one gig per song and one rackspace per song. Yeah, I could simplify things by pre-mixing backing tracks, but after years of composing to picture, this appeals. And yes, i can beat on the Zendrum, play stuff on the keys, and then go to guitar on one song.
I started worrying about hitting the CPU ceiling and I found that such highly integrated, per song, gigs were hard to manage. Creating new songs was a pain. So I’ve recently gone to multiple instances, and it’s been working great! The whole thing is more modular, as I can start with existing Performers (instances for guitar, bass, keys…) and one Producer (the mixer, effects, MIDI player, Setlist boss, etc.)
After developing my first “Producer” gig, I checked out the FoH Template and learned some new tricks. FWIW, my design wasn’t terribly different in concept:
Now I’m looking at creating V2. First, I will mainly use one Rackspace with variations for multiple Songs and Song Parts. Why? Load times. If I load the same bus strips over and over, it could get old.
This means that I will need a ton of widgets, so that the state can change from Song to Song. They would not “Ignore Variations” or “Reset on Rackspace Activation”, but I’ve found these features to not work the way I’d like, so I avoid that conflict.
But, how to deal with a zillion widgets? Here’s what I’m thinking…
- For mixing, I’ll create usable panels for faders, balance, solo, and mute. Nothing new.
- For plugins, I use the Open/Close Plugin Editor when I want to make an adjustment.
- To make the state savable, I can create a bunch of Widgets that are either hidden or small and Locked. the idea is that I never adjust things with the widgets. They are only used for visual feedback about the state. They never get bumped accidentally.
- Where the items are hidden, I can use a script to put the value on a label. In other words, I don’t need to make the knobs big, since I don’t manipulate it, and I don’t need a knob at all, since I can put numbers on labels. It’s really just for status presentation, so when the bass sounds weird, I can scan my panels for an overview. When I see the problem, I can open that Plugin Editor to fix it.
I might create a small number of Rackspaces, where one mixer is simple with gritty preamps for older songs and another has a clean pathway with a bunch of effects and surgical tools for recent stuff. But the number of mixer Rackspaces would be very small. I will mosty use variaitons for different Songs.
I’ve prototyped enough stuff to feel comfortable with next steps.
Any suggestions or words of warning?