Song Steps

Song steps let you divide a song into sections — Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Solo, Outro — each with its own MIDI settings, tempo, backing track, and MIDI clip. During performance, you navigate through steps within a song, and everything switches automatically.

This is especially useful for keyboard players who need different patches per section, or for bands that use backing tracks and click tracks with section-specific automation.

Enabling Steps

Steps are optional and off by default. To enable them:

1. Open a song in the editor
2. Go to the Steps section
3. Toggle Enabled

Once enabled, the song switches from a single set of MIDI settings to per-step configuration.

Creating Steps

Tap Add Step and choose:

• Create New Step — Define a new section from scratch
• Add Existing Step — Reuse a step you already created (the same step can appear multiple times in the sequence)

Each step has a name (e.g., “Verse 1”, “Chorus”) and a position in the sequence. Drag steps to reorder them.

Note

Reusing steps is useful for repeating sections. If your song goes Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus, create one “Verse” step and one “Chorus” step, then add each twice. They share the same MIDI settings and tempo, so changes apply everywhere.

Step Settings

Each step can be configured independently:

MIDI Programs

Assign different MIDI program changes per step. When you advance to a step, each device receives its own program change — your keyboard loads a different patch, your guitar rig switches presets, all at once.

Tempo

Set a per-step tempo (BPM). If left empty, the step uses the song’s tempo. For gradual tempo changes, set a transition duration in seconds — the tempo ramps smoothly instead of jumping.

For example: a bridge that drops from 130 BPM to 110 BPM over 2 seconds.

MIDI Clips

Upload a .mid file per step. Configure whether it auto-plays when the step starts or waits for manual trigger, and set loop behavior (single shot, 2x, 4x, 8x, or infinite loop). You can also target a specific MIDI device for clip playback.

Backing Tracks

Upload audio backing tracks per step with the same auto-trigger and loop options as MIDI clips.

Auto-Advance

Enable auto-advance to progress to the next step automatically after a set number of measures. This requires the click track to be running so the app knows where you are in the bar.

Configure:

• Duration (measures) — How many bars before advancing
• Transition timing — When to trigger the switch:
  • Immediate — Jump right away
  • On measure boundary — Wait for the next downbeat
  • On beat boundary — Wait for the next beat

TTS Announcements

When using auto-advance with a click track, Gigmeister can announce the upcoming step name through text-to-speech in your earpiece. Per step, you can override this to always announce, never announce, or follow the global setting.

Navigating Steps During Performance

In performance mode, step cards appear at the bottom of the song view. The current step is highlighted.

Touch / Mouse: Tap a step card to jump to it.

Keyboard shortcuts:

• Left/Right arrows — Previous/next step
• Spacebar — Next step
• Home — Jump to first step
• A — Toggle auto-advance

Foot pedal: Map the “Next Step” action to a MIDI CC in Settings > MIDI Devices > MIDI Controls. When you’re on the last step, “Next Step” advances to the next song.

Example

A song with steps might look like this:

Step	Tempo	MIDI (Keys)	MIDI (Guitar)	Measures	Auto-advance
Intro	120	Synth Pad	Clean	4	Yes
Verse 1	120	Rhodes	Clean	8	Yes
Chorus	125	Piano + Strings	Overdrive	8	Yes
Verse 2	120	Rhodes	Clean	8	Yes
Chorus	125	Piano + Strings	Overdrive	8	Yes
Bridge	110	Organ	Tremolo	4	Yes
Outro	120	Synth Pad	Clean	8	No

With auto-advance enabled and a click track running, the band plays through the song and every patch change, tempo shift, and backing track trigger happens automatically.