Hi all,

Wanted to share a couple of pieces of software that have become central parts of my musical life with my computer.

The first is called GigPerformer http://www.gigperformer.com This is designed to be an alternative to MainStage or other similar plugin hosts. Personally, I never really liked MainStage for a number of reasons and did not use it. GigPerformer however is fantastic. The main things I like are the super flexible visual routing as well as the fact that it has proven to be CPU efficient and very very stable.

Here's is a screenshot of my favorite Stick routing.

http://www.dropbox.com/s/jdajt75jrbahaz ... rStick.jpg

Explaining; The melody side comes in on the left side of my Focusrite Scarlett audio interface, the bass on the right side. Following the signal paths, the melody and bass sides each pass through a compressor, an eq plugin, and gain control. Then they each have a send to a reverb, the melody also has a delay inline and then the wet and dry signals are summed at a limiter before going to a master volume and out of the Scarlett.

At the same time, both sides of the Stick are routed to an instance of JamOrigins Midi Guitar software to convert pitch to midi. That midi data is then sent to an instance of U-he's Hive synth, which I use for a soft ambient pad background wash kind of thing. The Hive has a gain control before being summed at the limiter and on out.

On the far right, you can see an instance of Ircamlab's The Snail tuner being fed by both sides. More on that later.

Like Mainstage, you can create panel interfaces to control any parameter of any plugin in the chain. Mapping is super easy. Here's a simple litter interface I made to control basic parameters. You can create as complex a set of controls as you can imagine including multiple racks and ganged controls. Again, has proven to be super stable.

http://www.dropbox.com/s/0xl57bcth4lr6p ... _Panel.jpg

Works on Windows and Mac though I have only used it on Mac. Love this thing. Like I said, on my Mac it has been really really stable. You can see on the left side I also use it for straight virtual instrument patches for keyboards.

The second piece of software to recommend is Ircamlab's The Snail tuner. Works as a plugin or standalone. http://www.ircamlab.com/products/p2242-The-Snail/

The main thing is that it processes both sides of the stick without having to change inputs and it is super accurate and stable. I've used a number of tuners over the years including Peterson. This one is hands down the best tuner I've ever used, software or hardware. I bought mine from AudioDeluxe where it's on sale right now https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products/ircam-lab-snail.

Anyway, that's it... I'm not associated with any of these companies. Just sharing on a quiet morning in NC.

Best
Karma

Karma, thanks
Had a good look at that , pretty interesting. Not at that stage myself but hopefully heading that way,cheers.

Karma, this looks very interesting, and is also a very timely post. We've been talking about various virtual pedalboards setups through various threads on Stickist lately. We've looked at the MOD Duo and also Mainstage.

I like the visual GUI and look of the software, and that you can map out your effects just like how Dean (Skydiver) has been showing with his MOD Duo and also Mainstage threads.

I also like that you can use it on your existing computer, both MAC and PC. That is both an advantage and a disadvantage over the MOD Duo, in that it has a small footprint and dedicated hardware, but you are limited by the onboard processing power. (I hear you, Gusset, that it's powerful enough for most needs!) I have been building a rig using Pro Tools to house all my many plugins, the same way people use Mainstage. Gigperformer looks like another way to arrange a virtual pedalboard.

At $129, it's quite a bit more than Mainstage (which I've never used), but it's less than Pro Tools (which is where I'm making my virtual pedalboard). I think this might be a great solution to many of us--particularly the PC folk who can't do Mainstage. (I think Mainstage is only MAC.)

Hi Karma,

I've heard the Ircam stuff is amazing and always been on my radar.

I always wondered what alternatives to Mainstage are out there... especially software that will work on windows for non-mac users.

The Jam Origin Midi Guitar 2 looks amazing. I wish they made some kind of hardware version like the Sonuus G2M...
It's possible to make a plugin for the Duo but it would use up all the CPU...

Thanks for sharing!

@WerkSpace... Not sure why you're pointing out Reaper. ???

Thanks
Karma

I just installed Reaper on a friend's teenage daughter's laptop so she can record her singer/songwriter stuff and got her a Focusrite 6i6 for an interface. Nice rig. It's easy to get around on - a little different than other DAWs but in interesting ways. For example Reaper can live on a flash drive and be operated from any old computer that you happen to plug it into - Mac or PC. Try that with any other DAW. It comes with a lot of pretty great plug-ins and can work with most 3rd party plugs.
$60 for that puppy. Reaper is happening.