I’ve read quite a few posts on this topic, but most mention TouchOSC which I know utilizes IP addresses to communicate. This makes me nervous for SURE, particularly seeing that I plan to dumb down my Mac completely for live performance (which includes anything wifi).
So, what I’m wanting to do… and bear with me here… is be able to use my iPad to control my Mac which will be hosting GP5 and all plugs, obviously. Rather than be dependent on scrolling around with the touchpad onstage, which seems like another horrendous idea. I’d like to be able to
A) flip to any damn song I want (in a 35-40 song setlist) on the fly.
B) control the rather modest amount of controls I have set up for each song on the panel (usually involves either volume mix, or effects sends, etc, nothing major)
C) potentially, and this might be asking alot, be able to refer to sheet music. Using some damn sheet music software (this might be fodder for another topic).
I like the idea of Universal Control, because the iPad and Mac communicate via bluetooth (if I’m not mistaken) which means I can KILL all wifi and internet access to them both, and effectively makes my iPad a second screen for my mac, which can be closed and off to the side somewhere, along with a touch screen for it rather than fumbling with a touchpad and keyboard which would be impractical.
I’ve seen folks with setups invovling SEVERAL ipads, and a mac. I’m wondering how the hell THEY do it reliably enough to drag all that on stage.
I’m kinna new to this world although the amount of research I’ve done seems colossal at this point haha!!
MAN so much fun though.
Thanks for any info and discussion, I’m all ears to all opinions and thoughts!!
Pete
I’ve been using iPads for years for both of these functions — one of them runs MobileSheets (I used to run forScore but Mobile Sheets is more “tech friendly” (forScore seems more targeted at classical musicians) and I can select a song in MobileSheets which will then send PC message to GP to select the appropriate song, etc. I can also go the other way where selecting a song in GP (normally using a different iPad with OSC on it) and MobileSheets will switch to the proper song. I also have a couple of buttons programmed for moving forwards and backwards in the sheet music.
All done wirelessly using a router in my rack. The laptop is plugged into the router via ethernet but the iPads (and occasionally my iPhone) connect via wifi
Holy Sh1T Batman!! This might be exactly what I’m looking for!
So, you cart around a rack eh? My rig is insanely simpler (not by design) - One 88 board, a stand with an Arturia Minifuse strapped to it, a pedalboard connected via USB to my Mac. and a laptop stand. That’s it. So, am I to understand you use TWO ipads, AND a PC/Mac? Doesn’t this create a fairly large margin of error? Especially where wifi is involved?
So, tell me about MobileSheets… could I conceivably install this on my Mac, and have it control GP5 (in terms of song switching? you mentioned PC… does it run on Mac?)
My rack has my audio interface, network router, USB hubs, IEM transmitter, an interface for my Eigenharp and various power sources. I run up to four controllers and a MIDI Pedal board.
I normally have two iPads which are connected to GP via network but sometimes I have a third that’s connected to the venue’s FOH when the venue’s FOH supports personal monitoring.
There’s nothing special. I just prefer to have all the sounds I need for a particular song available all the time so that I don’t have to think about explicitly changing sounds in the middle of a song and having a specific range of keys sound different at different points of a song.
If one uses a single controller (say) but the song requires a lot of different sounds then you have to explicitly switch sounds as you play.
Gig Performer was designed to let you use either approach.
I agree with your approach. But until I can afford a roadie, I’m going to put up with splitting a single keyboard and have all of my voices available there. I made that decision after carrying, setting up and tearing down 3 keyboards for a 90 minute performance.
I didn’t have a roadie…. But because I was only using controllers that were USB powered (reducing cable connections) setup and tear down was pretty efficient, generally not taking more than 25 minutes.
I just posted up my TouchOSC template which I use to control everything I need remotely on a MacBook Pro from an iPad. I keep my iPad on my keyboard rig and my MacBook can be up to 300ft away and I can still control it from the iPad. I’ve done gigs where my computer isn’t even on stage. Maybe that can help? It’s over in the OSC forum
I use the iPad to control which rackspace (Panel) I’m on or which Song or Song Part I’m on as well as which widgets I’ve mapped to various controls within the rack/song. I haven’t incorporated any sheet music into my setup yet, though I do have OnSong and will likely add that in but that runs on my iPad anyway so I don’t necessarily need to have remote access to it since my iPad is on my keyboard stand anyway.
My laptop running Gig Performer is not always right next to me and can sometimes be out of reach, the TouchOSC interface lets me control what I need on the laptop without having it near me.
An iPad isn’t completely necessary. TouchOSC will work from a smart phone too, I think there are also versions of it for Android phones and tablets. I just happen to use an iPad.
Awesome info thank you so much! I can’t imagine using my phone for this though, too damn small. I would certainly opt for an iPad of some kind, especially if I’m going to be using notation.
I’ve used PhyOSC on an iPhone to send OSC messages to Gig Performer. It uses the accelerometer on the iPhone to generate messages so you can wave the phone in the air to trigger effects etc.
The other thing I would suggest is avoiding using Bluetooth. I bought a small pocket sized WiFi 6 router which is mounted in my rack and my iPad connects to it, as does my laptop. I did a gig with a 2.4GHz WiFi router and about 200 people showed up for it and I kept getting dropped. Bluetooth probably wouldn’t be much better. I also have the ability to run wired network from my keyboard stand back to my rack if needed but so far the WiFi 6 has been rock solid for me, even with larger crowds.
There are blog articles on the GP main page how to set up and make use.
I meanwhile moved away from unsing an iPad and use Bandheloper on my GP mac in parallel.
I never experienced any problems with a BlueTooth MIDI connection between the iPad and my MacBook. Otherwise you could also use a traditional MIDI/USB/Lightning interface on the iPad and connect by wire to the mac (or PC)
