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Releases: xDarkzx/GigChain-Keys
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GigChain Keys 0.5.0 (alpha)
Set GigChain Keys up like your keyboard: your sounds on buttons and pads, splits set by playing, a backup keyboard that just works, and no clicks when the sound changes.
New: the panel (sounds and parts on your pads)
For players coming from a Yamaha, Casio, Korg or Nord. The bar above the mixer works like their front panel (show or hide it with the grid button in the top bar).
Make your sounds
- SOUNDS shows the song's sounds; the one playing has a blue light. Click one to switch.
- Click + at the end of SOUNDS: Copy of "…" starts from the sound playing (same instruments, ready to change), Empty sound starts from nothing. Type its name and press Enter.
- PARTS shows the instruments in the sound playing (green light: on). Click one to take it out, again to bring it back. + adds an instrument.
- Double-click a sound to rename it; right-click to rename, duplicate or delete it.
Put them on your pads
- Click Pads…
- Tap a sound (it pulses amber: PRESS A PAD), then press the pad on your keyboard that should pick it. Its name appears under the button (PAD C1).
- Tap the next sound, press the next pad. Parts work the same way: a pad then brings that instrument in and out.
- Click Done. Pad 1 picks the first sound in every song, pad 2 the second, and so on. Any pad, button, footswitch or spare key works, and it is never played as a note.
Splits by playing: right-click an instrument strip, Keyboard Zone…, Set by playing, then press the lowest key it should play and the highest. Press your first and last pad instead and a drum kit plays on the pads while the keys play the rest (Keep them on the keys frees the pads from the other parts).
New: teach a backup keyboard
Playing a different keyboard (a backup, or the venue's)? Settings > MIDI > Teach… beside it asks for every knob, fader, button and pad you learned, one at a time and by what it does ("Next song", "Cutoff (3 songs)"): move the one on this keyboard that should do it, or Skip. Save, and every song, the mixer, the looper and your pads work on it. It is remembered for next time.
Fixed
- No clicks when the sound changes: faders, pan, mute, solo, sends, the master and the backing track's levels glide instead of jumping, and a patch or song change that keeps an instrument at another level no longer pops.
- Reverbs and delays ring out when the next sound keeps an instrument but not its effect.
- Panic stops everything: the backing track, stems, looper and song stop too, and a held sustain pedal no longer keeps notes ringing.
Full list: CHANGELOG. Questions or ideas? Join the Discord.
Install
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 | GigChainKeys-0.5.0-x64-setup.exe (installer: run it, it upgrades an older version in place) or GigChainKeys-0.5.0-x64-portable.zip (unzip and run GigChainKeys.exe) |
| macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) | GigChainKeys-0.5.0-arm64.dmg: open it, drag GigChain Keys to Applications |
| Linux (most distributions) | GigChainKeys-0.5.0-x86_64.AppImage: chmod +x, then run it |
| Ubuntu, Debian, Mint | gigchain-keys_0.5.0_amd64.deb: sudo apt install ./gigchain-keys_0.5.0_amd64.deb |
Your setlists and settings carry over from earlier versions.
About code signing
During the alpha, the Windows installer and the macOS app are not code-signed.
Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC": click More info,
then Run anyway. On a Mac, open the app once through System Settings >
Privacy & Security > Open Anyway. SHA256SUMS.txt lists every file's
checksum so you can check your download is the genuine one.
GigChain Keys 0.4.0 (alpha)
Added
- VST2 plugins: older and free plugins that only ever came as VST2 now
play too, found in the usual VST2 folders (on Windows the one your
installers chose, VSTPlugins, and the common ones). They load, play, keep
their settings and open their own windows like VST3 ones; a plugin
installed both ways is taken as VST3. Hosted through our own definitions of
the VST2 interface, not Steinberg's (no longer licensed) SDK. - Stems and markers: a song can play up to eight stems with its backing
track (right-click it, Stems…), locked together, each with its own
level, mute and outputs: the click and the guide to the in-ears, out of the
main mix. The flag button by the track's time jumps to named markers
(Add Marker at… marks where the track is). - One instrument for many songs: the mixer's Instrument slot offers
Same as in another song, and a duplicated song shares its original's
instruments. A shared instrument is loaded once, however many songs play
it (a big sampled piano used all night no longer fills the memory once per
song), and a change to it changes all of them, as MainStage's aliases do.
Own copy for this song, above its window, gives one song its own. - What a channel takes from the keyboard: in its Keyboard Zone, a
channel can ignore the sustain pedal, the expression pedal, the mod wheel,
pitch bend or aftertouch. Layer a piano and strings, and only the piano
holds with the pedal. - Knobs that don't jump: a learned knob (in a plugin, or a fader or pan)
takes over only once it reaches the setting (pickup), so the sound never
jumps when you first touch it after a song change. Each learned knob can
also have a curve: straight, gentle start (for expression pedals) or quick
start. - More outputs: with an interface that has more than two outputs, send
the click to a pair of its own (your in-ears, never the audience), and any
channel to its own outputs (a guide or a pad to the sound desk). Each pair
has the safety limiter. - Chord trigger and arpeggiator: per channel (Keyboard Zone > MIDI
effects), one key can play a chord (major, minor, power, sus, seventh,
octaves), and held keys can play as an arpeggio (up, down, up and down, as
played; 1/4 to 1/16 at the song's tempo, up to 3 octaves). - Hardware synths: a song can call up a sound on up to four hardware
synths (Program Change and bank select on their MIDI outputs) when it comes
up: right-click the song, External Gear…. - Record the gig: ● Rec in the toolbar records what the audience
hears to a WAV file in your Music folder. - One shared reverb (aux send): the mixer's Aux strip holds effects
every channel can share (one reverb, one delay, loaded once). Each
channel's Send knob, above its pan, sets how much of it goes there;
each song keeps its own send levels. - Play a hardware synth from a channel: right-click a strip, Play
Hardware Synth: its keys go out to the synth on a MIDI output, through
the channel's split, transpose and MIDI effects. Add the synth's audio
input to the same channel to hear it through the mixer.
Changed
- A new look: the whole app now looks like a piece of stage gear, in the
style of MainStage and Logic: channel strips in framed sections with real
knobs and meters, a backlit display for the song, tempo and part, and
recessed panels for the setlist and the chart.
Fixed
- The toolbar on a narrower screen: the setlist's name no longer runs
over the Panic and Undo buttons when the window is less than about 1,700
pixels wide. - A short window: the mixer no longer runs off the bottom of the window;
it shrinks to fit and its strips stay whole, so the faders and buttons stay
in sight. - Scrolling by touch: on a touch screen, swiping the setlist or the
instrument list scrolls it again instead of starting a drag.
Downloads
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 | GigChainKeys-0.4.0-x64-setup.exe (installer) or GigChainKeys-0.4.0-x64-portable.zip |
| macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) | GigChainKeys-0.4.0-arm64.dmg |
| Linux (most distributions) | GigChainKeys-0.4.0-x86_64.AppImage (chmod +x, then run it) |
| Ubuntu, Debian, Mint | gigchain-keys_0.4.0_amd64.deb (sudo apt install ./gigchain-keys_0.4.0_amd64.deb) |
About code signing
During the alpha, the Windows installer and the macOS app are not code-signed.
Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC": click More info,
then Run anyway. On a Mac, open the app once through System Settings >
Privacy & Security > Open Anyway. SHA256SUMS.txt lists every file's
checksum so you can check your download is the genuine one.
GigChain Keys 0.3.0 (alpha)
Linux
- Linux downloads: an AppImage (one file for most distributions:
make it executable and run it) and a .deb for Ubuntu, Debian and Mint
(installs with a menu entry and opens.gigchainsetlists). No more
building from source.
On stage
- You move the song: the song no longer listens to the chords you play
to guess where you are (a verse and a chorus often share chords, so it
jumped to the wrong part). It moves with Play (at its tempo along its
flow), Next part, a tap on a part, a pedal, or your keyboard's buttons, as
MainStage and Gig Performer do. - Perform's transport: big Play / Stop, Next part and Loop
part buttons, made for a finger on a touch screen, with the bar you are
on and what is coming. A tap on a part's tile goes there at the next bar
line. Stopped, Next part chooses where Play starts. - Touch screens: a finger slid over the chart or the setlist scrolls it;
taps press the buttons.
Your keyboard's knobs and buttons
- MIDI Learn: right-click a channel's fader, its pan knob or the master
fader and choose MIDI Learn, then turn a knob or fader on your
keyboard. For a knob inside a plugin, click MIDI Learn above the
plugin, move the knob there, then the one on your keyboard. Each time it
says what was learnt. Forget MIDI Learn undoes it. - Transport buttons that just work: keyboards sending MIDI Start/Stop,
MMC or Mackie Control (the DAW mode of Korg nanoKONTROL, M-Audio,
Arturia, Novation, Akai and others) play and stop the song, move by part
(◀◀ ▶▶; with Shift, by song), loop the part and switch the click. A
keyboard's second "DAW" port is opened for its buttons and knobs only, so
it never plays a note twice (Settings > MIDI: Plays, Buttons and
knobs, Off). - More to learn: Play the song, Stop the song, Previous part and Click
on / off join the pedal and pad actions in Settings. - Expression, the mod wheel, breath, foot pedal and sustain go straight to
the instruments.
Instruments
- Name an instrument after its sound: double-click its name at the foot
of its strip (or right-click > Rename…, or F2). The same plugin twice is
numbered (Analog Lab V 2) until you name it.
Practice
- Warm-up: Practice > Warm-up runs a daily warm-up at your level
(Beginner, Intermediate, Pro): each exercise right hand, left hand, then
both, with the finger to use on every note. Each run is scored (notes,
timing, evenness, hands together, one tip); three clean runs with both
hands raise the tempo, and passing a level opens the next.
Downloads
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 | GigChainKeys-0.3.0-x64-setup.exe (installer) or GigChainKeys-0.3.0-x64-portable.zip |
| macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) | GigChainKeys-0.3.0-arm64.dmg |
| Linux (most distributions) | GigChainKeys-0.3.0-x86_64.AppImage (chmod +x, then run it) |
| Ubuntu, Debian, Mint | gigchain-keys_0.3.0_amd64.deb (sudo apt install ./gigchain-keys_0.3.0_amd64.deb) |
About code signing
During the alpha, the Windows installer and the macOS app are not code-signed.
Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC": click More info,
then Run anyway. On a Mac, open the app once through System Settings >
Privacy & Security > Open Anyway. SHA256SUMS.txt lists every file's
checksum so you can check your download is the genuine one.
GigChain Keys 0.2.2 (alpha)
An alpha update of GigChain Keys: free instruments a click away for new players, on top of 0.2.1's song timeline and instruments that all play together.
Testers wanted. This is an early test version. It works and is played on real rigs, but it has not yet met the wide range of computers, audio interfaces, keyboards and plugins out there. Please try it at home and in rehearsal before trusting it on a gig, keep copies of your setlists, and tell us what works and what breaks. Your feedback decides what gets fixed and built next.
Download
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) | GigChainKeys-0.2.2-x64-setup.exe: the installer (recommended; installs over earlier versions) |
GigChainKeys-0.2.2-x64-portable.zip: no install, unzip and run GigChainKeys.exe |
|
| macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) | GigChainKeys-0.2.2-arm64.dmg: less tested than Windows; Mac reports especially welcome |
SHA256SUMS.txt: the checksum of each file |
Setlists from earlier versions open as they are. Songs that have a tempo now run on their timeline; songs without one still follow the chords you play (switch either way in the song's Tempo…).
About code signing: during the alpha, the Windows installer and the macOS app are not code-signed. Code-signing certificates carry a yearly cost, and they will be added as the project grows and community interest and sponsorship make that possible. Until then, Windows and macOS show a one-time warning on first start. The builds are made from this repository's source by its public build scripts, and SHA256SUMS.txt lets you check your download (Get-FileHash <file> -Algorithm SHA256 on Windows, shasum -a 256 <file> on a Mac).
First start on Windows: if SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway.
First start on a Mac: drag GigChain Keys to Applications and open it once. When macOS refuses, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
What's new in 0.2.2
Free instruments to start with
- No instruments yet? The Instruments tab (and Help → Get free instruments) lists free ones for pianos, synths and pads, each with a Get it button to its download page: Splice INSTRUMENT (Spitfire's LABS sounds), Surge XT, Vital, Dexed and the Salamander Grand Piano. Install one, reopen GigChain Keys, and it is there.
From 0.2.1
The song's timeline
- Press Play and the song runs at its tempo along its flow (a chorus played twice is played twice): sounds change at each part, the current chord lights in the chart (the next one outlined), and Perform's tile shows how far through the part you are.
- Start it your way: the Play button, Space, your keyboard's own Play/Stop buttons, a learned pedal, or (optional) two quick presses of the sustain pedal.
- Live controls on the bar line, so the band stays in time: Next part (N, or tap a tile), Repeat this part (Shift+N), Hold this part until you let it go (H), Stop at the end of this part (Shift+Space). Pedals can learn them. What is coming shows next to the song display.
- The same chord twice in a row (D over two words) is two chords, each lit in its own place.
- Charts without section titles play too: the whole song as one part.
- Chord follow is now the option for free-time songs, and handles a repeated chord.
Sounds
- All instruments together: a sound's piano, pad and synth now all play on every chord (before, songs with chart sections played only the first instrument). Mute, solo, or let the song's sections choose per part.
- One at a time: the layers button in the top bar switches a sound to playing only the selected strip; click another strip to switch.
- A strip that would be silent now is dimmed and tells you why when you hover over it.
The full list is in the changelog.
Reporting
Use the bug report form; the support page says what to include and where the log file is. Ideas are welcome too: there is a feature request form.
GigChain Keys is free. If it helps your gigs, you can support it on GitHub Sponsors ♥
GigChain Keys 0.2.1 (alpha)
An alpha update of GigChain Keys: songs now run on a timeline like a band's playback rig, and every instrument of a sound plays together.
Testers wanted. This is an early test version. It works and is played on real rigs, but it has not yet met the wide range of computers, audio interfaces, keyboards and plugins out there. Please try it at home and in rehearsal before trusting it on a gig, keep copies of your setlists, and tell us what works and what breaks. Your feedback decides what gets fixed and built next.
Download
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) | GigChainKeys-0.2.1-x64-setup.exe: the installer (recommended; installs over earlier versions) |
GigChainKeys-0.2.1-x64-portable.zip: no install, unzip and run GigChainKeys.exe |
|
| macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) | GigChainKeys-0.2.1-arm64.dmg: less tested than Windows; Mac reports especially welcome |
SHA256SUMS.txt: the checksum of each file |
Setlists from earlier versions open as they are. Songs that have a tempo now run on their timeline; songs without one still follow the chords you play (switch either way in the song's Tempo…).
About code signing: during the alpha, the Windows installer and the macOS app are not code-signed. Code-signing certificates carry a yearly cost, and they will be added as the project grows and community interest and sponsorship make that possible. Until then, Windows and macOS show a one-time warning on first start. The builds are made from this repository's source by its public build scripts, and SHA256SUMS.txt lets you check your download (Get-FileHash <file> -Algorithm SHA256 on Windows, shasum -a 256 <file> on a Mac).
First start on Windows: if SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway.
First start on a Mac: drag GigChain Keys to Applications and open it once. When macOS refuses, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
What's new in 0.2.1
The song's timeline
- Press Play and the song runs at its tempo along its flow (a chorus played twice is played twice): sounds change at each part, the current chord lights in the chart (the next one outlined), and Perform's tile shows how far through the part you are.
- Start it your way: the Play button, Space, your keyboard's own Play/Stop buttons, a learned pedal, or (optional) two quick presses of the sustain pedal.
- Live controls on the bar line, so the band stays in time: Next part (N, or tap a tile), Repeat this part (Shift+N), Hold this part until you let it go (H), Stop at the end of this part (Shift+Space). Pedals can learn them. What is coming shows next to the song display.
- The same chord twice in a row (D over two words) is two chords, each lit in its own place.
- Charts without section titles play too: the whole song as one part.
- Chord follow is now the option for free-time songs, and handles a repeated chord.
Sounds
- All instruments together: a sound's piano, pad and synth now all play on every chord (before, songs with chart sections played only the first instrument). Mute, solo, or let the song's sections choose per part.
- One at a time: the layers button in the top bar switches a sound to playing only the selected strip; click another strip to switch.
- A strip that would be silent now is dimmed and tells you why when you hover over it.
The full list is in the changelog.
Reporting
Use the bug report form; the support page says what to include and where the log file is. Ideas are welcome too: there is a feature request form.
GigChain Keys is free. If it helps your gigs, you can support it on GitHub Sponsors ♥
GigChain Keys 0.2.0 (alpha)
The second alpha of GigChain Keys: easier chart editing, how to play any chord at a glance, chord follow that keeps to the way your song is really played, and keyboard shortcuts for everything you do on stage.
Testers wanted. This is an early test version. It works and is played on real rigs, but it has not yet met the wide range of computers, audio interfaces, keyboards and plugins out there. Please try it at home and in rehearsal before trusting it on a gig, keep copies of your setlists, and tell us what works and what breaks. Your feedback decides what gets fixed and built next.
Download
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) | GigChainKeys-0.2.0-x64-setup.exe: the installer (recommended; installs over 0.1.0) |
GigChainKeys-0.2.0-x64-portable.zip: no install, unzip and run GigChainKeys.exe |
|
| macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) | GigChainKeys-0.2.0-arm64.dmg: less tested than Windows; Mac reports especially welcome |
SHA256SUMS.txt: the checksum of each file |
Setlists from 0.1.0 open as they are.
About code signing: during the alpha, the Windows installer and the macOS app are not code-signed. Code-signing certificates carry a yearly cost, and they will be added as the project grows and community interest and sponsorship make that possible. Until then, Windows and macOS show a one-time warning on first start. The builds are made from this repository's source by its public build scripts, and SHA256SUMS.txt lets you check your download (Get-FileHash <file> -Algorithm SHA256 on Windows, shasum -a 256 <file> on a Mac).
First start on Windows: if SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway.
First start on a Mac: drag GigChain Keys to Applications and open it once. When macOS refuses, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
New to GigChain Keys? Read Getting started, or press F1 in the app.
What's new in 0.2.0
Charts
- The chart edited as cells: click a line and each word gets a chord box above it. Type a chord (Tab: the next word), click one to change it, drag chords between words and lines, double-click a word to change it.
- Pasted chords land on their words, even when the chord site put them a letter or two into the word.
- A paste is one undo step (Ctrl+Z), and the chart scrolls with the mouse wheel again.
Playing
- How to play a chord: tap a chord on stage (or right-click it in the editor, or tap its name in Practice) for a keyboard with a dot on each key to press, its notes by name, and its inversions. Keep the one you like for the song.
- The song's flow: the Flow bar over the chart sets the order the song is really played in (a chorus three times, a verse after a verse…). Perform's part tiles and Practice follow it; tap a tile to go to that very part.
- Chord follow keeps to the flow: it only moves forward (the next chord, one missed chord caught up, the next part's opening) and no longer jumps to another part that opens with the same chords.
Keyboard shortcuts
- Space plays and stops the song; → / ← change sounds and ↑ / ↓ change songs. N next section, T tap tempo, C click, M mute everything, P panic.
- Loop station: R records on the selected channel, L plays or stops its loop, Shift+L stops them all.
- Click a song and press Delete to remove it (Ctrl+Z brings it back), F2 to rename, Ctrl+D to duplicate; click a channel strip and Delete removes it. Never in Perform.
- On a Mac the shortcuts use ⌘, delete and Return the Mac way, and ⌘Q / ⌘M work. The full list is under Help (F1 or ⌘?).
Practice
- Left hand: the bass note, an octave, root and fifth, or the full chord.
- Right hand: smooth, root position, or the inversions you chose.
Fixed
- Perform's part tiles no longer light one too early after a part with no chords (a spoken intro).
- Renaming a section keeps its place in the flow and its instruments.
- A MIDI clock test failed on machines without sound hardware; it now skips and says why.
The full list is in the changelog.
Reporting
Use the bug report form; the support page says what to include and where the log file is. Ideas are welcome too: there is a feature request form.
GigChain Keys is free. If it helps your gigs, you can support it on GitHub Sponsors ♥
GigChain Keys 0.1.0 (alpha)
The first public alpha of GigChain Keys: your whole keyboard rig on stage, with sounds, setlist, chord charts and practice in one free, open-source app.
Testers wanted. This is an early test version. It works and is played on real rigs, but it has not yet met the wide range of computers, audio interfaces, keyboards and plugins out there. Please try it at home and in rehearsal before trusting it on a gig, keep copies of your setlists, and tell us what works and what breaks. Your feedback decides what gets fixed and built next.
Download
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) | GigChainKeys-0.1.0-x64-setup.exe: the installer (recommended) |
GigChainKeys-0.1.0-x64-portable.zip: no install, unzip and run GigChainKeys.exe |
|
| macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) | GigChainKeys-0.1.0-arm64.dmg: less tested than Windows; Mac reports especially welcome |
SHA256SUMS.txt: the checksum of each file |
About code signing: during the alpha, the Windows installer and the macOS app are not code-signed. Code-signing certificates carry a yearly cost, and they will be added as the project grows and community interest and sponsorship make that possible. Until then, Windows and macOS show a one-time warning on first start. The builds are made from this repository's source by its public build scripts, and SHA256SUMS.txt lets you check your download (Get-FileHash <file> -Algorithm SHA256 on Windows, shasum -a 256 <file> on a Mac).
First start on Windows: if SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway.
First start on a Mac: drag GigChain Keys to Applications and open it once. When macOS refuses, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
New to GigChain Keys? Read Getting started, or press F1 in the app.
What's in 0.1.0
Sounds
- Plays the VST3 instruments and effects on your computer, each with its own window; an instruments list with artwork, search, favourites and ratings.
- Mixer with instrument and effect slots, pan, faders, meters, mute and solo; a master strip with its own effects; a safety limiter.
- Audio inputs (a mic or guitar through effects), keyboard zones, velocity layers, and knobs learned to any plugin setting.
Setlists and songs
- A setlist of the night's songs, each with its own sounds, in one file. Instant song changes: held notes and tails ring on.
- Change songs from the keyboard, pedals and pads, or Program Change. Undo and redo for every edit.
Charts
- Chord charts: paste from any chord website, import ChordPro/OnSong/text, or type. Edit where you read: click above a word to add a chord, drag chords onto words.
- Sections that change the sound, by bars or by following the chords you play.
On stage
- Perform mode: full screen, the chart big and clear, the song's parts as tiles.
- Tempo, tap tempo, click, MIDI clock in and out, backing tracks per song.
- Loop station: per-instrument loops with layers, in time with the song, controlled from your keyboard.
Practice
- Practice mode: the song's chords fall as glowing notes onto a keyboard. Listen, Play along or Wait for me, from 25% speed, looping a section.
Help and safety
- A user guide in the app (F1) with search; About with version and credits.
- Plugins scanned in a separate process; a plugin that crashes while loading is switched off; an unplugged keyboard or audio interface comes back by itself; crash reports.
Reporting
Use the bug report form; the support page says what to include and where the log file is. Ideas are welcome too: there is a feature request form.
GigChain Keys is free. If it helps your gigs, you can support it on GitHub Sponsors ♥