Gig Performer

I purchased Gig Performer in August last year. I am a guitar player and had been previously using Reaper exclusively as my plugin host. Why I started looking at Gig Performer was because I wanted something I could just open and start playing, and that would give me quick access to many different setups (I was also not recording much so it didn't make sense to be using a DAW).

I have used wiring/connection UI's previously, but that was on really outdated free hosts. It really couldn't be simpler in Gig Performer: add some overdrive plugins, your amp sim (S-Gear all the way), and some post FX plugins for reverb and delay, maybe the in-built audio player for a backing track - connect them up - and you're away. If you want to create a different setup, just create a new 'rackspace' (or duplicate your original as a starting point). The other great thing about wiring views is that it is extremely easy to set up parallel FX chains or other more complex setups.

It took me a while to get used to creating 'widgets' on the front/panel view, but for me the benefit of these is the other major drawcard for Gig Performer: 'variations'. These are like presets within a preset - so within your rackspace setup, the widgets you have linked to different plugin parameters can be saved/changed per-variation. So that allows you to have variations created, for example, for 'Clean', 'Crunch', and 'Lead' tones, where the variations will: bypass or activate your overdrive plugins, or switch on the delay, or reduce the reverb mix level, or increase the amp drive and sag of your amp sim etc. These variations can be accessed directly using program change messages from your MIDI controller, or you can move up/down using global MIDI control change messages.

The other really nice feature I've been using is the ability to use the variations to send MIDI messages out to external gear. I wanted to use my analog guitar pedals with my Gig Performer setup, so I bought a midi-controllable pedal switcher. So now my variations for 'Clean', 'Crunch' and 'Lead' can also activate/deactivate my analog pedals.

There's a great setlist/song feature, which allows you to set up setlists and songs that re-use your previously created rackspaces and variations. It also manages audio tail 'spillover' nicely so you don't cut off your reverb or delay when you change rackspaces.

I've also found that Gig Performer is extremely usable with other audio apps. I have been successfully using virtual audio ports to route multiple output channels from Gig Performer to Reaper for recording, or to a looper app. I have also used virtual MIDI ports to send MIDI message from these apps back to Gig Performer to automatically change rackspaces or variations at specific positions on your transport timeline. I've also dipped my toe in using the scripting language to have greater control over Gig Performer than what is available in the standard UI.

In all, it is now my daily-driver and I'm extremely happy with my setup. It can definitely cover all bases from simple to extremely complex workflows. A great app.