From: musicdish@gmail.com   
      
   With Gig Performer, Deskew Technologies established a powerful and versatile   
   cross-platform host program that enabled keyboardists, guitarists, vocalists,   
   and entire bands to assemble their favorite plug-ins into worry-free onstage   
   rigs. Both virtual    
   instrument and audio processing plug-ins alike could be patched and   
   interconnected in any scheme the musician desired, then controlled via   
   user-built panels that accessed key parameters via customizable "Widgets" such   
   as knobs, faders, and switches. That    
   patching and control panel setup is called a Rackspace. Now, Gig Performer 1.5   
   ups the ante with even more features that make getting through a live set as   
   stressless as when working with hardware instruments.   
      
   Headlining these new features is predictive loading. If loading all the   
   plug-ins for an entire set of music might ask too much of your computer's CPU   
   and/or RAM, you can now pre-load only the plug-ins that will be needed by the   
   next few Rackspaces in    
   your Gig. These load in the background, so they're ready the instant you need   
   to play the next song. Jumping randomly to Rackspaces beyond those that are   
   preloaded might incur a slight delay (for example, if a new plug-in needs to   
   load a large sample    
   library), but with just a little bit of planning, transitions are absolutely   
   seamless.   
      
   Speaking of seamless, Patch Persist is a Holy Grail among keyboardists, and   
   Gig Performer 1.5 has it. If you switch Rackspaces, notes you've been holding   
   down—either via a sustain pedal or your fingers on a keyboard—will not be   
   cut off by the "patch    
   change." Instead, they'll ring out through their natural envelope release   
   until you lift off the keys or pedal, and new notes struck will play sounds   
   from the new Rackspace. You can even control how long the audio "tail" from   
   the previous Rackspace will    
   persist.   
      
   New Widget groups empower you to command multiple parameters with a single   
   movement of your mouse or hardware MIDI controller. This works like the   
   "macro" knobs on many software synths, but with the advantage of letting you   
   see how all relevant    
   parameters are being changed at once, right from Gig Performer's panel view.   
   Of course, you have complete control over the scaling (parameter sweep range)   
   of any parameter, which makes it easy to implement useful musical moves such   
   as cross-fades.   
      
   With tap tempo support, plug-ins using time-based functions such as tap delay   
   or looping will now march to the beat you conduct via a pedal, MIDI   
   controller, or Open Sound Control (OSC) message. Tempos specific to your   
   current Rackspace can also co-exist    
   alongside a "global" tempo for the entire Gig file, which is a lifesaver if   
   your set list includes backing elements at different tempos.   
      
   Significant enhancements to OSC support include an updated template for the   
   Lemur touch-control app on iPad — even Gig Performer's built-in guitar tuner   
   can now show up on the Lemur display! Sticky notes lend "latch" behavior to a   
   MIDI note-on message,    
   with the note-off not being sent until you strike the note again; this is   
   great for triggering and then silencing loops. An internal MIDI filter plug-in   
   can block unwanted MIDI data from destinations you'd prefer not receive it,   
   and the related MIDI    
   monitor can display all MIDI messages coming into Gig Performer globally, or   
   just those messages going from a specific MIDI-in Block to a specific   
   destination.   
      
   Further additions include velocity layers, which can make selected MIDI-in   
   Blocks trigger only those notes within a certain velocity range. As on a   
   hardware synth workstation, you could trigger one sound (say, a piano, string   
   section, or synth) playing    
   normally, then an accent sound (say, a cymbal, orchestra hit, or EDM   
   pitch-rise) if you dig in and play hard. Likewise, you can scale layers to   
   output notes at specific velocities.   
      
   Main panel I/O faders are now grouped in sets of 16, which makes it easier to   
   manage large numbers of channels you've mapped to inputs and outputs on your   
   audio interface hardware. Changes in Widget values can be excluded from   
   Rackspace variations, so    
   that (for example) you don't need to worry about an abrupt jump in the volume   
   of this or that plug-in.   
      
   Last but not least, Gig Performer 1.5 supports copy-pasting of Widgets—which   
   saves time if you want to create multiple Widget sets for frequently-used   
   controls such as organ drawbars or synth envelopes—and "hardens" plug-in   
   validation so as not to    
   crash if a problematic plug-in is encountered.   
      
   As always, Gig Performer's benefits include:   
   • Instant and glitch-free switching of Rackspaces (multiple plug-in setups).   
   • Full MIDI and Open Sound Control (OSC) support; controllable from outboard   
   interfaces such as TouchOSC and Lemur.   
   • Easy transpose, split, layer, and other functions you'd expect on a synth   
   workstation.   
   • Intuitive and fun user interface for creating your Rackspaces.   
   • Low CPU usage compared to competing live plug-in host software.   
   • Works on both MacOS and Windows, with VST support on both and AudioUnit   
   support on MacOS.   
   • Built-in tuner.   
      
   "I haven't encountered a live-oriented host program that combines radical   
   open-endedness with relative ease of use as effectively as Gig Performer   
   does." – Stephen Fortner, Keyboard Magazine.   
      
   Gig Performer has an MSRP of US $249.00. Special pricing is currently   
   available for $124.00. For more information about Gig Performer and to   
   download a 14-day trial, please visit www.gigperformer.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)