I am using Cantabile Solo for some time and I am perfectly happy with the features, that fit my needs and definitely it’s my software of choice for rehearsing, live playing and also some homerecording/composing. However there’s one thing that’s missing for me. I guess that this feature is somehow implemented in Cantabile Performer (however I am not 100% sure), but for me purchasing the Performer license only to have the feature I am looking for, would be rather an overkill (I don’t really need advanced features and “rapid” song loading, what Solo version does is just enough for me).
But… to the point. I am looking for a simple VST plugin that, basing on the given MIDI signal, displays some text (preferably - big and colourful) on screen. The idea is to have the little help while performing live. I am using Cantabile as the controller for the guitar virtual amps and effects and to be honest, looking if some virtual led on the virtual amp is lit or not, is not very comfortable while playing live. The ideal situation would be if:
both, guitar “amp” and effects and the “text” plugin would communicate with the same controller (easy peasy with Cantabile routing);
then, for example when switching channels in the guitar “amp”, the huge text would appear on the screen, saying e.g. “CHANNEL 1” or “REVERB” or whatever, easy visible even from the distance and with a short blink of an eye.
Did you have a look at MeldaProduction MNotepad (free plugin)?
Did you try the Show Notes option in Cantabile?
Maybe one of these two would do what you want to.
If you’re playing live, Performer is great for other reasons as well (linked racks, and thus memory and cpu efficiency, fast switching songs); you would not regret it. Best investment I have made in recent years… I think you can try it first, to check if the notes option is what you are looking for
I definitely believe that Performer is awesome, however I am still not 100% convinced if I need all its features Solo seems just enough for handling guitar effects I am using.
It is very simple from my use. It does not like state changes so if you had more than one message in a song you would need multiple instances of the plugin for each message. You can also control the visibility with states and bindings. The colors are song based.
I use this tool to do exactly what you are describing - and I use it across two devices - Cantabile on my Live Laptop creates the messages, then sends them via Midi sysex to my LivePrompter tablet, where MidiAlert then displays them…
But if there’s nothing else, I’ll consider it.
Solo seems just enough for handling guitar effects I am using.