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This is about live performance rigs. I have used Apple MainStage for a number of years to do programming for theater, which I still continue to do. I've also used it a number of times for live gigs. It's great for keyboardists who want to get the most out of their rig in live situations. Recently I've been working on live duo project, and MainStage just wasn't cutting it. The audio playback for backing tracks is broken in the most recent version, and Apple has not been responsive. I decided to try Gig Perfomer instead, and I'm amazed! Aside from an audio interface, I can completely replace a hardware rack, and do just about anything I want - keyboard layers/splits, vocal processing, fancy routing, you name it. I have separate "rackspaces" for our vocals, my guitar, and keyboard rig. just wanted to put it out there for anybody wanting to go more computer-based in their live situations. It's rock solid, and you can not only have audio backing tracks, you can also plug NI EzPlayer in and use it to play midi tracks, which I use to control a vocal harmonizer, but you could also use it to control anything midi, even lighting. It also has a scripting language, so if you can program, you can use it to do some amazingly complex things. It's the best thing I've added to my setup in a long time, so I had to share.

Thanks for this post! I do quite a bit of live stuff, and have ALWAYS thought mainstage was lackluster in so many ways. I feel like it’s the red headed step child that Apple refuses to pay any attention to for some reason.

I’ll have to check out Gig Performer!

Andrew

Guitar player, here; I went a different way. I'm comfortable with pedals so I put together a loop system I can control with my feet. I leave all the MIDI gear at home, but I can have looped sections with strings, drums, bass, brass, complex harmonies or a full orchestra with verses, choruses, bridges, breakdowns, etc and load the next or previous loop on the fly. The Jam Man Solo XT is no bigger than a Boss pedal, but holds hundreds of loops on a cell-phone-size smart card, plus there's internal memory. I can overdub anything going through the mixer on top of those, bring that in or out, plus there's a secondary system just for live looping the djembe and whatever miscellaneous percussion I'm using. Both stereo and mono loopers come up on mixer channels. Makes load in simpler, cuz there's just the one rack for the PA, but I can incorporate everything I have at home. Having a synchronized light show would be really fun, though, now you mention it.

Nice! I've played around with the Jamman a little, but wasn't impressed with the stock sounds/beats. From what it sounds like though, I guess you can import your own stuff?

For my live stuff, I'm usually either using ableton live or my looper on my H9. My pedal board is a bit of a monster atm, but I can't for the life of me think of something I wouldn't want on it, lol. (I'd actually be ok with adding a few things, haha)

Andrew