Plugin Hosts

Software instruments — the Yamaha ESP, Keyscape, Diva, your whole plugin rack — live inside a host on a computer. Gigmeister treats that host like any other instrument: as you move through the setlist, it sends the program change that loads the right patch for the song. You just play.

Three hosts ship as known devices — Apple MainStage, Gig Performer, and Camelot Pro — and any host that responds to program changes works as a Generic device.

Same-Computer Setup

When Gigmeister and the host run on the same machine, they connect through a virtual MIDI port — no cables involved.

macOS — IAC Driver

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup → Window → Show MIDI Studio
2. Double-click IAC Driver and check Device is online
3. In Gigmeister (desktop app or Chromium browser), add the host as a device and pick the IAC bus as its MIDI Output Port
4. In the host, enable the IAC bus as a MIDI input

Windows — install a virtual MIDI cable such as loopMIDI and use its port the same way.

Apple MainStage

Patches are selected by their Program Change attribute:

1. In MainStage’s Edit mode, select a patch and open Patch Inspector → Attributes
2. Check Program Change and give the patch a number — that same number goes on the song in Gigmeister, using the Apple MainStage device
3. For more than 128 patches, also check Bank Select on the patch and use the matching Bank in Gigmeister — MainStage receives banks on the LSB with MSB 0, which is exactly what the device sends

Sets cannot be selected over MIDI — bank numbers are per-patch attributes, not Sets. Set MainStage’s display to 1-based in Preferences → MIDI so its numbers read the same as Gigmeister’s.

Camelot Pro

Camelot has a dedicated remote protocol, and the Camelot Pro device speaks it directly — each song in Gigmeister points at a Camelot setlist, song, and scene:

1. In Camelot, open Settings → MIDI and enable the Camelot Master remote on the port Gigmeister sends to
2. Add the Camelot Pro device in Gigmeister
3. On each Gigmeister song, pick the Camelot Setlist, Song, and Scene numbers as they appear in Camelot

Camelot also hosts plugins itself, on desktop and iPad — for a plugin rig without MainStage, Camelot alone can be the whole backline.

Perform from the iPad, Host on the Laptop

The setup worth knowing about: run the sounds on a laptop backstage, and perform from an iPad on the stand — with no MIDI cable between them.

Follow Leader does the work. A follower with MIDI enabled sends each song’s program changes itself, so:

1. On the laptop, run the Gigmeister desktop app next to your host, connected via the IAC bus — and enable MIDI in the perform view
2. On the iPad, open the same setlist and start leading
3. Connect the laptop as a follower — every song change on the iPad now fires the program change on the laptop, straight into the host

Two things keep this reliable:

• Enable MIDI on the host machine only. Every device with MIDI enabled sends its own program changes — one brain per rig.
• Follow Leader runs over the local network. Put both machines on the same access point or a phone hotspot, and connect before soundcheck. The laptop needs the desktop app — a browser tab cannot join as a follower.

Caveats

• Assign numbers explicitly. A patch without an assigned Program Change attribute cannot be selected over MIDI — check the attribute on every patch you gig with, and the number stays stable however you reorder the concert.
• One host, one channel. The host device in Gigmeister sends on a single MIDI channel; match it to the channel the host listens on.
• Test the Ping. Every device row has a Test button — if it reports a failure, the port or value is wrong before the gig, not during it.