Gig Performer’s ‘Setlist View’ features a large
display of your Panels, the Setlist and Songs
and also live performance oriented options for
quickly jumping around Song Sections, Tap
Tempo, Tuner, Transpose, etc. When it’s time
to perform you can cycle through Songs and
Song Sections quickly and easily with your
virtual panels, plugin settings, and tempo and
MIDI seamlessly following along.
BRING YOUR OWN PLUGINS
If you’re someone who’s currently using
MainStage because of the low cost of entry
and the huge variety of built-in sounds, Gig
Performer isn’t designed to be a one to one
replacement in that regard. While MainStage
(and Ableton Live, though to a lesser extent)
comes with an expansive collection of both
software instruments and audio and MIDI
effects you’ll find that’s not the case with Gig
Performer. Rather, it is assumed that those
who are looking to put together detailed,
flexible live performance rigs already have their
own collection of purchased or free plugins
and hardware that will be integrated into Gig
Performer as the host.
In my case, that hasn’t been a big deal because
I already own plugins like Omnisphere, piano
sample libraries, etc. Because I’m a Mac user I
was also able to utilize MacOS’s library of Audio
Unit plugins that are available to any audio
program on Mac.
For those on a tight budget, the need to source
all the plugins separately from Gig Performer
could prove cost prohibitive when comparing
Gig Performer to an option like MainStage.
Bottom line, if you already have a large library
of third-party plugins you’re relying on, you’ll be
set from the get-go with Gig Performer. If you
don’t have a lot of plugins already, you’ll need
to set aside some of your budget to get what
you need or invest time and energy in pulling
the sounds and effects you’ll need from ‘free to
use’ plugins.
GREAT FLEXIBILITY, LIVE PERFORMANCE RELIABLE
In my time spent with Gig Performer I had
several moments where I got really excited
about potential use cases that just aren’t
easily achievable in other software. The ability
to change Panel displays at will, easily saving
Rackspaces and their variants, and the complex
routing that’s possible within the Connections
view are all really fascinating to me and present
a picture of deep and robust integration for
those who need advanced, detailed control of
their live rigs.
With that in mind I think that Gig Performer
truly does earn its share of the live performance
space. CPU usage was very low during
my testing and the platform was generally
responsive with very little delay between
clicking or dragging something and seeing the
action reflected on screen. In the same way
hardware assignments were immediate and
snappy and patch changes happened very
quickly as well, even when Panel displays were
altered drastically.
Whether Gig Performer makes more or
less sense for you than other options like
MainStage or Ableton Live depends a lot on
your budget, your goals, and your preferences.
I will say that I was really impressed by the
flexibility and robust functionality Gig Performer
demonstrated during my review process. If
your live performances demand lots of context
switching and detailed control all within a
relatively streamlined environment that doesn’t
take too long to get the hang of, Gig Performer
is definitely worth considering.
Gig Performer runs on both Mac and Windows
and is very responsive with low latency.
$149.00 for Mac or Windows
$199 for cross-platform bundle
www.GigPerformer.com
David Pfaltzgraff
Founder and Lead Sound Designer at
SundaySounds.com, a site that resources worship
keys players and guitarists around the world.
David currently resides in Des Moines, IA with his
wife and two boys. He enjoys volunteering in his
church’s worship ministry, old synthesizers, and a
good super-hero movie.
SundaySounds.com
98 August 2020
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