3.5

621MainStage Instruments
Utilities
MainStage Utility instruments
The Utilities found in the instrument plug-in menu include:
• MainStage External Instrument lets you route hardware MIDI sound generators through
the Mixer, which you can then process with MainStage effects.
• MainStage Klopfgeist is an instrument that provides a metronome click.
• Test Oscillator can be used as an instrument or effect. It is used to calibrate tuning of
studio equipment and instruments.
MainStage External Instrument
You can use External Instrument to route hardware MIDI sound generators through the
Mixer, which you can then process with MainStage effects. The plug-in is inserted into
instrument channel strips in place of a software instrument. External Instrument supports
MIDI communication through the instrument channel strip, enabling you to control both
MIDI and audio routing of an external sound module with a single plug-in.
An instrument channel strip used for an external MIDI sound module behaves just like a
standard software instrument channel. This enables the following benefits:
• You can use the sounds and synthesis engine of your MIDI module with no overhead
on the computer CPU—apart from effects used in the channel strip (or destination
channels).
• You can use insert and send effects. To use send effects, route the instrument channel
strip to aux channel strips.
Tip: To avoid constant repatching of devices, it is best to use an audio interface that
supports multiple inputs and outputs.