Transition from Mainstage to Gig Performer

Hi, I’m evaluating GP as an alternative to Mainstage which I have been using for +5 years. One of my concern is how to handle the transition. I’m thinking, during the transition period, while converting songs, I could use Mainstage simultaneously with GP and address it as an external MIDI device from GP. I “proof-of-concept-tested” it in the GP trial and it did work as expected.
Have any of you been using this setup during transition from Mainstage, or even as a longterm solution to access the plugins in Mainstage that are only available from within Mainstage?
Cheers / Mattias

When I was switching from MainStage to Gig Performer I did a 100% migration and then used Gig Performer.
I never thought of using Gig Performer and MainStage in Parallel.

2 Likes

I wrote an article on this topic years ago to address this specific question but given where GP is today, I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble any more.

2 Likes

Also, here is an article somewhat along the lines of what you probably did for how to use hose proprietary plugins.

4 Likes

Just do it :slight_smile: I also switched 100% to GP and never used MS since then. I also did not have the need to run both in parallel. For the tricky things I made some screenshots etc. and was fine with this.

And yes: you have to replace the Apple Instruments from MS/Logic as they are not available in GP or any other DAW…

4 Likes

Hi @tripleB … I was just about to thank David for posting a link to his article about leveraging proprietary DAW instruments in Gig Performer. (His post is the one right before yours.) I haven’t finished reading it yet but you may want to have a look.

@OldTimerBill I know about this trick/workaround regarding the usage of IAC drivers. However I don’t like them. You could even integrate MS this way. I’m more a fan of a clean GP installation with limited interfaces to other programs/instances using the same audio/MIDI resources. With the introduction of the Global Rackspace I even got rid of my 2nd GP instance…

But for a transition period this of course will work.

I think the typical way to build a live rig of a Mac user often starts with MS. You can check out and try a lot of things with the integrated/internal instrument and effect plugins. Then the collection phase of 3rd party plugins begin (or continues) and then it‘s more easy to switch to GP.

BBB

1 Like

@tripleB I agree that it is best to keep things simple.

My introduction to Mainstage was not typical. I installed Mainstage because I wanted to use the Mainstage template from SundayKeys. I just learned the basics of setting up controllers in Mainstage. I never got into it too deeply. Now Sunday Keys is rolling out an ipad version of their template (I’m a part of the large team of beta testers). Lots of people have switched to the ipad version but I am using both.

Good luck on your GP journey.

1 Like

For a long time, I felt that nothing would be able to replace Mainstage. I was on the fence forever thinking about moving to something less CPU-intensive, but I could never figure out what the replacement answer was. Add to this - I grew very fond of and reliant on the included plugins within Mainstage, thinking that there weren’t any viable alternatives to them if I went to another host.

Boy, was I wrong. When GP4 finally came to light, I finally realized it was time to jump the MS ship… And the replacement plugins I got are as good if not better than the included MS plugs. For example : MS Vintage EP is now replaced with Lounge Lizard and Keyscape EPs. MS Vintage Organ is now replaced with Hammond BX-3. MS Vintage Clav is now replaced with both Arturia Clavinet V and Kontakt/Scarbee VIntage Keys (Clavinet/Pianet).

All my bread and butter sounds like brass, strings, pads, etc. that used to be done with the MS Sampler, are now done with the amazing Korg Triton/Triton Extreme VST/AUs. As far as the synths go - there is nothing within all the Logic/MS synths that cannot be done with the Triton, U-he Repro 5, Synapse Obsession, the Korg Collections, the latest Arturia collection, and Omnisphere 2 plugs.

Do I miss MS3? With my great collections of plugins and the way-more-versatile and CPU-friendly GP4 - not a chance!! So happy to be free from the shackles of Apple Mainstage!

13 Likes

Thank you so much for your comments, review and comparison.

We’ll continue to improve, innovate and push the boundaries of what’s possible together with you guys as your experiences an suggestions will continue to drive our development making sure that GP remain the best and premium musician’s performance tool out there.

Cheers

8 Likes

And this is an absolutely truthful statement!!

2 Likes