MainStage User Manual
K Apple Inc. © 2007 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or in part, without the written consent of Apple. Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying software license agreement. The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
1 Contents Chapter 1 7 7 8 9 9 11 11 12 12 An Introduction to MainStage What Is MainStage? Using MainStage With MIDI Controllers Using MainStage With Guitars and Other Instruments Adding MainStage to Your Music Setup Using MainStage in Live Performance Resources for Learning About MainStage MainStage Onscreen User Manual Apple Websites Chapter 2 15 15 16 16 Setting Up Your System Using MIDI Devices With MainStage Using Audio Devices With MainStage Using Effects Plug-ins With MainStage Chapter 3 17
33 34 Trying Out Full Screen and Perform Modes Customizing the MainStage Window Chapter 5 37 37 38 39 39 41 42 42 Working With Concerts Opening and Closing Concerts Saving Concerts How Saving Affects Parameter Values Using Tempo in a MainStage Concert Muting Audio Output Silencing MIDI Notes Working at the Concert Level Chapter 6 47 47 51 60 62 64 65 66 Working in Edit Mode Working With Patches in Edit Mode Working With Channel Strips in Edit Mode Mapping Screen Controls Working With Sets in Edit
Appendix A 93 93 93 94 94 94 94 95 95 95 Key Commands Concerts and Layouts Patches and Sets (Edit Mode) Editing Actions Parameter Mapping (Edit Mode) Channel Strips (Edit Mode) Screen Controls (Layout Mode) Window and View Help and Support Appendix B 97 97 98 Setting MainStage Preferences General Preferences Audio/MIDI Preferences Index 99 Contents 5
1 An Introduction to MainStage 1 MainStage turns your computer into a powerful and customizable musical instrument, optimized for use in live performance. The advent of fast, powerful portable computers has created new opportunities for musicians to use their computers in live performance. Now computer musicians can keep an entire library of sounds on their computers to use when they play live.
MainStage provides a simple, flexible interface for organizing and accessing your sounds in concerts. Concerts are MainStage “documents” that hold your sounds—a concert can store all the sounds you’ll use in an entire performance. In a MainStage concert, individual sounds are stored as patches, and each patch can contain one or more audio or software instrument channel strips.
Using MainStage With Guitars and Other Instruments If you play an electric guitar or other musical instrument, you can use MainStage as a powerful and configurable effects processor. After you connect your instrument to your computer using an audio interface, you select the audio input for your instrument in the audio channel strips in your patches, where you can add effects including amp simulation, EQ, compression, and reverb.
When you open a concert in Edit mode, the patches in the concert appear in the Patch List, where you can select them and start playing. You can edit patch parameters, add channel strips to existing patches or create new ones, and reorder patches to build your custom collection of sounds to use when you perform. You can also organize patches in sets for added flexibility. Sets are “folders” that can store groups of patches you want to keep together, which can be useful in several ways.
Using MainStage in Live Performance Once you have created and organized your sounds, customized your layout, and made your hardware assignments, you’re ready to play. When you perform live, you can use your computer as the final sound module and effects box in your rig. You can select a patch and start playing it instantly. MainStage switches seamlessly between patches and can sustain notes from the previous patch while you start playing the newly selected one.
MainStage Onscreen User Manual The MainStage onscreen user manual allows you to access information directly onscreen while you’re working in MainStage. To view this information, choose Help > MainStage User Manual. The MainStage onscreen user manual is a hyperlinked version of the MainStage User Manual, enhanced with features that make locating information quick and easy.
Other Apple Websites Start at the Apple homepage to find the latest and greatest information about Apple products: Â http://www.apple.com QuickTime is an industry-standard technology for handling video, sound, animation, graphics, text, music, and 360-degree virtual reality (VR) scenes. QuickTime provides a high level of performance, compatibility, and quality for delivering digital video.
2 Setting Up Your System 2 You can use MainStage with a wide variety of MIDI controllers and Core Audio compliant audio devices. Real-time generation and processing of digital audio requires intensive processing by your computer. If you plan to work on large or complex projects, using a computer with a faster processor and extra random-access memory (RAM) installed can facilitate your productivity.
Some devices feature buttons that send program change messages. You can use these buttons to send program change messages to MainStage, but you cannot assign them to control other parameters using MainStage screen controls. Choosing a Controller Preset Some keyboard controllers allow you to choose different presets or “scenes” that reconfigure the messages sent by the controls on the device.
3 The MainStage Interface 3 You do all your work in MainStage in a single window, the MainStage window. The MainStage window is organized to make working with your patches and your layout easy as you edit your concerts. The workspace fills the center of the window, with inspectors and other editing areas on the left and right sides. When you are ready to perform, you can use one of two performance-oriented modes to maximize your onscreen layout for easy viewing on stage.
The main features of the MainStage window include: Â Toolbar: Includes buttons for common commands and tools. You can customize the Toolbar so that the commands you use most frequently are readily available. Â Activity Monitor: Shows your computer’s processor and memory usage, and shows the input from your MIDI devices as you edit and perform. Â Workspace: The “canvas” where you customize your onscreen layout, assign hardware controls to screen controls, and view your concerts.
Layout Mode Layout mode is where you customize your onscreen layout and make connections between your MIDI hardware and the screen controls in your concert. You drag screen controls into the workspace and arrange them onscreen to customize your layout, then make controller assignments between your MIDI hardware and the screen controls. In the Layout Inspector, you can edit layout parameters to customize hardware assignments and modify the visual look of screen controls.
Edit Mode Edit mode is where you create, customize, and organize your sounds. You can add patches, add and edit channel strips, create keyboard layers and splits, and edit channel strip parameters. Edit mode is also where you select and map screen controls to channel strip parameters and actions, and edit patch, set, and concert-level parameters.
 Channel Strips area: View and edit the channel strips in your patches or at the concert or set level. Channel strips appear in a vertical format similar to Logic Pro 8 channel strips, with many of the same controls. You can also add channel strips and save channel strip settings. The remaining two modes, Perform mode and Full Screen mode, are both optimized for performing live. You can use either one when you perform. Perform Mode In Perform mode, the workspace fills the entire MainStage window.
Full Screen Mode In Full Screen mode, the workspace fills your entire computer display so that your screen controls are as large as possible for maximum readability. Full Screen mode optimizes your display for live performance when you want to use MainStage exclusively while you play.
4 Getting Started With MainStage 4 You can quickly start working in MainStage by choosing a concert template and trying out the patches in the concert. This chapter provides a guided “walkthrough” you can follow the first time you open MainStage. Before You Begin Before you start working in MainStage, you should connect the hardware equipment that you plan to use, such as your keyboard controller, audio interface, instruments, or microphones, to your computer.
To choose a concert template: 1 Choose File > New Concert (or press Command-N). The Choose Template dialog appears. On the left is the Collection list, with collections for different instrument types. On the right is the Template list, which shows the available templates for the selected collection. Choose a collection from this column to see the available templates. Choose a template for a new concert from this column.
Selecting and Playing Patches The patches in the concert appear in the Patch List along the left side of the MainStage window. You can quickly try out patches to find the ones you want to use. If you are using a MIDI controller, you can play patches that have a software instrument channel strip using your controller. If you are playing an electric guitar or another instrument or are using a microphone connected to an audio interface, you can play or sing using patches that have an audio channel strip.
Adding a Patch You can add patches to a concert and organize them in the Patch List. The number of patches is limited only by the amount of available memory in your system. When you add a patch to a concert, you choose whether the patch is created with an audio or a software instrument channel strip. To add a new patch: 1 Click the Add Patch button (+), located in the upper-right corner of the Patch List. The New Channel Strip dialog appears at the top of the window.
Renaming a Patch When you add a patch, by default it takes the name of the channel strip added with it. You can quickly rename patches to make it easier to identify and distinguish between them. To rename a patch: 1 Double-click the patch in the Patch List. A field appears around the patch name, which is selected. Double-click the patch name, then type a new name. 2 Type a new name in the patch name field.
5 For audio channel strips, choose mono or stereo format from the Format pop-up menu and choose the audio input from the Input pop-up menu. 6 Click Create. A new channel strip appears in the Channel Strips area, highlighted in blue to indicate that it is selected. The Channel Strip Settings browser appears below the workspace, showing available channel strip settings for the channel strip. 7 For audio channel strips, gradually raise the volume fader until you hear sound on the channel.
For general information about working with channel strips, see Chapter 10, “Working with Instruments and Effects” in the Logic Pro 8 User Manual. For more information about channel strips in MainStage, see “Working With Channel Strips in Edit Mode” on page 51. Changing a Channel Strip Setting You can quickly change the instrument, effects, and other parameters for a channel strip by selecting a new setting from the Channel Strip Settings browser.
Learning Controller Assignments When you select a patch or a channel strip setting, some channel strip parameters respond to the controls on your MIDI device instantly. MainStage responds to notes played on a keyboard controller, modulation and pitch bend wheel messages, and sustain pedal messages without your having to configure any screen controls to receive these messages.
The values in the Hardware Assignment pop-up menus change to reflect the type of hardware control learned by the screen control. While the assignment is being learned, incoming MIDI messages appear in the Activity Monitor above the workspace. After the assignment is learned, the screen control responds when you move the corresponding hardware control. This shows that the screen control is receiving MIDI input and is correctly assigned.
3 In the Screen Control Inspector, click the Map Parameter button. The Map Parameter button lights red to indicate that mapping is active. 4 To map the screen control to a channel strip parameter, click the control for the parameter on the channel strip in the Channel Strips area. 5 To map the screen control to a plug-in parameter, double-click the plug-in in the Inserts section of the channel strip to open the plug-in window, then click the parameter in the plug-in window.
3 Select the parameter you want to map. Click the channel strip with the parameter you want to map. Click the parameter in the submenu. The screen control is mapped to the selected parameter. You can continue mapping additional screen controls by clicking them in the workspace and then choosing parameters in the Parameter Mapping browser. Using the Parameter Mapping browser, you can map parameters that are not visible in plug-in windows.
Customizing the MainStage Window You can customize the MainStage window to suit your way of working. You can adjust the height of the Patch List, show or hide the Inspector and the Channel Strips area, and customize the buttons on the Toolbar. Resizing the Workspace You can adjust both the horizontal and vertical size of the workspace to give more room to the Patch List, the inspectors, and the browser.
Hiding and Showing the Channel Strips Area You can hide the Channel Strips area or show it if it is hidden. Hiding the Channel Strips area gives you more room for the workspace. To hide or show the Channel Strips area, do one of the following: m Choose View > Channel Strips (or press Command-6). m In the Toolbar, click the Channel Strips button. Customizing the Toolbar The Toolbar at the top of the MainStage window contains buttons for frequently used commands.
To add space or a separator to the Toolbar: m Drag a space, flexible space, or separator from the Customize Toolbar dialog to the Toolbar. To return the Toolbar to the default set of buttons: m Drag the default button set, located at the bottom of the Customize Toolbar dialog, to the Toolbar. You can also change the Toolbar so that it shows only icons or only text by choosing Icon Only or Text Only from the shortcut menu.
5 Working With Concerts 5 Concerts are the documents in which you create and organize the sounds you use in your performances and customize your onscreen layout. A MainStage concert holds all the sounds you’ll use for an entire performance or a series of performances. In a concert, you add, edit, and organize patches, and switch between patches while you are performing. You can reorder patches in the Patch List and also organize them into sets.
To open an existing concert, do one of the following: m Choose File > Open Concert, select the concert you want to open, then click Open. m In the Finder, double-click the concert. m In the Finder, drag the concert over the MainStage icon in the Dock. You can also reopen a recently open concert by choosing File > Open Recent Concert and then choosing a concert from the submenu. By default, when you open a concert, it opens in Edit mode. You can change the default behavior in MainStage Preferences.
How Saving Affects Parameter Values While a concert is open, any changes you make to channel strip or plug-in parameters are retained for as long as the concert is open. If you change parameter values in a patch, select another patch, and later select the first patch again, the parameter values will be as you left them when you selected the other patch. If you save the concert, the changed values are saved.
 Select the value and type a new value. Set the tempo in the value slider. You can drag, click the arrows, or click and type a value. 3 Select the Tempo checkbox to activate the tempo. You can use patches and sets to change the tempo when you select the patch or set while performing. For information about patch tempo settings, see “Using a Patch to Change the Tempo” on page 50. For information about set-level tempo settings, see “Using a Set to Change the Tempo” on page 63.
Muting Audio Output Sometimes when you are playing or editing sounds, you may want to quickly mute (silence) all audio output for the concert. MainStage includes a Master Mute button that silences the output from every patch in the concert. To quickly mute all sound, do one of the following: m Press Control-M. In the Toolbar, click the Master Mute button. m If you have mapped the Master Mute function to a screen control, press or move the corresponding controller.
Silencing MIDI Notes MainStage also includes a Panic function, which works like the Panic function in Logic Pro 8. The Panic function immediately silences any hanging MIDI notes. To silence all MIDI notes, do one of the following: m Press Control-P. m If the Panic button is visible in the Toolbar, click it. m If you have mapped the Panic function to a screen control, press or move the corresponding controller. You can also add a Panic button to the Toolbar and use it to silence MIDI notes.
Controlling the Overall Volume of a Concert A MainStage concert contains Output and Master channel strips that you can use to control the overall volume of the concert. The Master channel strip always controls the output volume of the entire concert. If the concert has multiple Output channel strips, each Output channel strip controls the volume level for a particular (mono or stereo) physical output.
In the example above, you would click the fader screen control, click Out 1-2 in the left column of the Parameter Mapping browser, and then click Volume in the second column of the browser. Screen controls can also display visual feedback about parameter values, including volume level. For example, you can also map the Output 1-2 Volume fader to a level meter screen control and have the level meter display the overall volume level while you are performing live.
3 Drag the Send knob next to the slot to set the amount of the signal sent to the bus. To add a concert-wide effect to a bus: 1 In the Patch List, select the concert. The busses in the concert appear in the Channel Strips area along with the concertlevel channel strips. 2 On the bus, click one of the Insert slots and choose an effect from the menu.
Adding Channel Strips at the Concert Level You can add a channel strip at the concert level and use the concert-level channel strip for a software instrument or audio input you want to use in every patch in the concert. Important: When you add a channel strip at the concert level, it takes precedence over the channel strips in the patches and sets in the concert.
6 Working in Edit Mode 6 In Edit mode, you create patches with your custom sounds, map screen controls, and work with patches and sets in the Patch List. You can create your custom collection of patches in Edit mode, and organize them in the Patch List so that you can easily access them in performance.
Skipping Items in the Patch List You can skip patches or sets in the Patch List. When a patch or set is skipped, you can still select the item by clicking it, but when you use the arrow keys together with the Control key to select items in the Patch List, skipped items are passed over and the next non-skipped item is selected. Skipped items are also skipped when you use the patch selector in Full Screen or Perform mode. To skip a patch or set: 1 Select the patch or set in the Patch List.
Changing Program Change Numbers When you add a patch to a concert, the patch is given a MIDI program change number (the lowest available number between 0–127) until all available program change numbers are taken. You can use program change numbers to select patches when performing by assigning buttons on a MIDI device to send program change messages. You can change the program change number in the Patch Inspector. To change the program change number for a patch: 1 In the Patch List, select the patch.
Using a Patch to Change the Tempo You can give a patch its own tempo setting so that when you select the patch, the tempo changes to the patch tempo setting. MainStage uses the new tempo until you select another patch or set with its own tempo setting, tap a new tempo, or until MainStage receives tempo information from incoming MIDI messages. For more information about using and changing tempo in MainStage, see “Using Tempo in a MainStage Concert” on page 39.
Working With Channel Strips in Edit Mode Channel strips are the building blocks of your patches. They contain the instruments and effects for the sounds you will use in performance. MainStage channel strips use the channel strip interface familiar from Logic Pro 8.
 MainStage channel strips do not have a Record Enable or Bounce button.  MainStage audio channel strips do not have an input monitoring (i) button. You can use the Mute button to silence the channel strip.  In MainStage, you can use the Format button to select mono or stereo format. MainStage does not support surround input or surround processing.  MainStage channel strips do not have a Group pop-up menu.  In MainStage, the selected channel strip is indicated by a blue rectangle.
Choosing Channel Strip Settings You can quickly change the instrument, effects, and other parameters for a channel strip by choosing a new channel strip setting. You can choose a new channel strip setting in one of two ways: by using the Channel Strip Settings browser, or by using the Settings button at the top of the channel strip. To choose a channel strip setting from the Channel Strip Settings browser: 1 In the Channel Strips area, select the channel strip you want to change.
3 If more than one channel strip has the text as part of its name, choose Find Again from the Action menu to cycle through the channel strips with names containing the text. 4 To change the channel strip setting, click the name of the new setting in the Channel Strip Settings browser. The Channel Strip Settings browser shows all channel strip settings available to Logic Studio applications, including settings that may not be useful in MainStage, such as surround and mastering settings.
Renaming a Channel Strip When you add a channel strip to a patch, the channel strip has a default name. You can rename channel strips to distinguish your custom settings from the default ones. To rename a channel strip: m In the Channel Strip Inspector, select the name in the Name field and type a new name. Type a new name in the field. Choose a color from the menu. Choose an icon from the well.
Creating Keyboard Layers and Splits If you play a keyboard controller, you can easily create keyboard layers and splits in your MainStage patches. You create layers and splits by adding two or more channel strips to a patch and defining key ranges for each channel strip. Defining a Key Range The key range defines the range of notes on the keyboard that trigger sound from a software instrument in a channel strip.
Floating split points can be explained using an example. If you set the Low Key of a key range to C1, set a floating split point value of 3, then play notes immediately above C1 (for example, the notes F1-Eb1-D1), and continue playing downward past C1 (for example, the notes C1-Bb0-A0) the split point moves down to include those notes, up to the floating split point value (3 semitones).
A message appears in the Channel Strip Inspector asking if you want to override the concert- or set-level key ranges. (The text indicates whether the key ranges are at the concert level, the set level, or both levels.) Click the checkbox to override key ranges of channel strips at the concert or set level. 3 Select the checkbox next to the message. Setting the Velocity Range and Offset By default, the velocity of a channel strip extends from 1 to 127.
In addition, you can remap input values for any one of these four message types to output values for one of the other types. For example, you can remap MIDI volume values from your controller to send expression values to the channel strip, or remap input breath values to send modulation values. The Controller Transform feature provides a very flexible way of remapping both the values and the output destination for these MIDI control messages.
Filtering MIDI Messages You can filter some MIDI messages for a channel strip in the Channel Strip Inspector. When you select one or more MIDI message types in the Filter section of the Channel Strip Inspector, the corresponding MIDI message types are filtered out of any incoming MIDI data and are not sent to the channel strip.
Mapping Screen Controls to Actions You can also map screen controls to MainStage-specific actions and to AppleScript scripts. The Actions folder, which appears in the Parameter Mapping browser along with available parameters, contains actions for selecting patches and sets, showing the Tuner, activating tap tempo, Master Mute, or Panic, and others. The Actions folder also contains an AppleScript subfolder with useful scripts.
Removing Screen Control Mappings If you want a screen control to be free of any mappings, you can remove its existing mapping. This can be useful with controls that pass through MIDI messages (for example, for pitch bend and modulation wheels, or expression pedals) when you do not want them to send MIDI messages for their pass-through control type. You do not need to remove the mapping for a screen control when you remap it.
Renaming Sets When you create a set, it is given a default name. You can rename a set in the same way you rename a patch in the Patch List. To rename a set: 1 Double-click the set in the Patch List. A text field appears around the set name, which is selected. 2 Type a new name in the set name field. Using a Set to Change the Tempo You can give a set its own tempo setting so that when you select the set, the tempo changes to the set tempo setting.
Deleting Sets You can delete a set if you decide you no longer want it in the concert. To delete a set: 1 Select the set in the Patch List. 2 Choose Edit > Delete (or press the Delete key). When you delete a set, the patches in the set are also deleted. If you want to delete only the set “folder,” move the patches outside the set before you delete it. Working at the Set Level You can add channel strips at the set level and play the set-level channel strips together with every patch in the set.
Overriding Concert- and Set-Level Mappings By default, mappings you make at the concert level (to parameters and actions) take precedence over mappings to individual patches or sets in the concert. If you map a screen control to a parameter at the concert level (for example, to Master Volume), that screen control cannot be mapped to a parameter or action in a patch or set, unless you override the concert-level mapping.
Sharing Patches and Sets Between Concerts You can export patches and sets from a concert and import them into another concert. When you import a set, all the patches in the set are imported. To export a patch, do one of the following: m Drag the patch from the Patch List to the Finder. The patch appears as a .patch file in the Finder. m Select the patch, choose Export Patch from the Action menu in the Patch List, then click Save.
7 Working in Layout Mode 7 You visually arrange your onscreen layout and make connections between your music hardware and MainStage in Layout mode. You can’t change the position of faders, knobs, and other controls on your instruments or other music hardware, but you can arrange the screen controls in your MainStage concert in any order you like by editing the layout. You can modify an existing layout or create one from a template, and you can export a layout and import it into another concert.
Changing the Grid Resolution When you switch to Layout mode, MainStage determines the appropriate grid resolution for your display. In the Layout Inspector, the Grid Resolution pop-up menu shows the current grid resolution. In most cases you should use the default grid resolution unless you plan to perform using a different size of display than the one you use to create your concerts.
Screen Control Types There are two types of screen controls you can use in a MainStage layout: panel controls and shelf controls. In Layout mode, each type has its own palette (the Panel Controls palette and the Shelf Controls palette) located below the workspace. You can add screen controls to the workspace by dragging them from one of the palettes to the workspace. Panel Controls When you add a panel control to the workspace, it appears surrounded by a flat, glossy panel.
Adding Screen Controls In Layout mode you can quickly add screen controls to your layout and arrange them in the workspace. To add a screen control: m Drag the screen control from one of the control palettes to the workspace. As you drag the screen control to the workspace, a white outline appears, showing where it will be added. You can use the grid to align the screen control with other items in the workspace. You can drag screen controls into the workspace in any order.
Copying and Pasting Screen Controls You can cut, copy, and paste screen controls using the standard Mac OS X menu items and key commands. To paste a copy of a screen control: 1 Select the screen control you want to copy. 2 Choose Edit > Copy (or press Command-C). 3 Choose Edit > Paste (or press Command-V). You can also create a copy by Option-dragging a screen control.
Resizing Screen Controls You can resize screen controls to make them more easily visible, or to fit them into a smaller area. When you select a screen control, blue resize guides appear over it, which you can drag to resize the control. To resize a screen control: 1 Select the screen control in the workspace. Blue resize guides appear over the screen control. 2 Drag the resize guides to resize the screen control. Drag the outer resize guides to resize the screen control.
Merging Screen Controls When you place screen controls close together so that their edges are adjacent, the panels (for Panel controls) or the shelves (for Shelf controls) merge. The merged panel or shelf “grows” to encompass all of the adjacent screen controls. Move screen controls close together. Their panels or shelves merge. Merging screen controls does not affect how they work, but helps organize them visually in the workspace.
2 Drag the lower alignment guide (the one aligned with the front of the shelf control). Drag the lower alignment guide down to make the angle steeper (as though you are looking down on the shelf control from above), or drag it up to make the angle less steep (as though you are looking at it from the front). Drag the front (lower) alignment guide to change the angle of the shelf. Moving the Shelf Vertically You can also move the shelf vertically to change its position in the workspace.
Grouping Screen Controls You can group screen controls together. When you group screen controls, moving or resizing one of the grouped controls moves or resizes the others by the same amount. Grouping screen controls has no effect on how they work in performance, but makes arranging them in the workspace easier. To group screen controls: 1 Select the screen controls you want to group together. 2 Choose Group from the workspace Action menu (or press Command-Option-G). The screen controls are grouped.
Deleting Screen Controls If you decide you no longer want a screen control in your layout, you can delete it from the workspace. To delete a screen control: 1 Select the screen control you want to delete. 2 Choose Edit > Delete (or press the Delete key). When you delete a screen control, any assignments or mappings for the screen control are deleted as well.
Assigning Knobs MIDI controllers can have different types of knobs or rotary controllers. Knobs can be either absolute controllers, which send a fixed value determined by the knob’s position, or can be relative controllers, which increment or decrement the previous value regardless of their exact position. Knobs can either have a fixed range of movement, or be continuous (sometimes called endless rotary encoders).
To change the function of a momentary button: 1 In Layout mode, be sure the button screen control is selected. 2 In the Layout Inspector, choose either Single Value or Alternating Value from the Type pop-up menu. Choose Single Value if you want the button to function as a single value button, or choose Alternating Value if you want the button to function as an alternating value button. You cannot change the function of a single value or alternating value button to match the function of a momentary button.
 Lowest Key Learn button: Click the Learn button, then press the lowest key to have MainStage learn it. The Number of Keys and Low Key affect only the visual appearance of the screen control. They do not affect what notes are received from your keyboard controller. Layer Display  Display keyboard layers checkbox: When active, a layer is displayed above the keyboard in the workspace for each software instrument channel strip in a patch.
Text Labels  Display pop-up menu: Choose what information is displayed in the text display area for the control, and how many lines are used to display it.  Add Custom Text checkbox and field: Select the checkbox, then type custom text in the field to display it on the top line of the control’s text display. Drum Pad Parameters You can edit the following parameters for drum pad screen controls. Hardware Assignment  Device pop-up menu: Shows the name of the device containing the drum pad.
Image Parameters You can edit the following parameters for image screen controls. Â Stretch to Fit checkbox: When selected, the image stretches to fill the area of the Image screen control as completely as possible. Â Show frame around image checkbox: When selected, a darker frame appears around the image, showing the borders of the screen control. Â Image well: Drag an image to into the well to display it using the Image screen control.
You can also filter incoming MIDI messages for individual channel strips. For information on filtering MIDI messages, see “Filtering MIDI Messages” on page 60. Exporting a Layout You can export a layout so that you can save it independently from the concert, and import it into other concerts. To export a layout: 1 Choose File > Export Layout (or press Command-Shift-Control-S).
Because of the wide variety of possible layouts, not all assignments and mappings may be converted as you intended, depending on the differences between the layouts. After you import a layout into a concert, be sure to try the screen controls in the concert to see if they work as expected. After importing the layout, you may need to manually reassign some controls and then manually remap screen controls in your patches for the concert to work with the new layout.
8 Performing Live With MainStage 8 Now that you’ve created and organized your sounds and set up your layout, it’s time to play! MainStage features two modes, Full Screen mode and Perform mode, optimized for live performance. Before the Performance Starts Here are a few things to check before you start performing: Â Make sure your MIDI controllers, instruments, microphones, and other music equipment is connected to your computer and is working.
To switch to Full Screen mode, do one of the following: m Choose View > Full Screen (or press Command-4). m Click the Full Screen button in the Toolbar. To leave Full Screen mode, do one of the following: m Press the Escape (Esc) key. m Click the circled “X” in the upper-left corner of the screen. m Use the key command for one of the other modes (Command-1 through Command-3).
When performing, keep in mind the difference between patch parameters and parameters controlled at the concert level. When you select a patch, its parameters are set to the values at which you last saved the patch. If you have previously played the patch since you opened the concert, they are set to the values at which you left them when you played the patch. Parameters at the concert level, however, remain at their current value when you select new patches.
Selecting Patches Using Program Change Messages If your MIDI device has buttons or other controls that send program change messages, you can select patches in your concert by program change number. You can use program change messages to select patches, but not sets. For information about how your MIDI device sends program change messages, consult the documentation that came with the device or the manufacturer’s website.
Performing With Guitars and Other Instruments You can play electric guitars and other music instruments connected to your computer, using MainStage as a multi-effects processor. You choose the audio input to which the instrument is connected in the audio channel strips you want to use with the instrument. You can use guitar and bass amplification as well as other effects commonly used with guitars, or try using different effects for unique sound possibilities.
Using the Tuner MainStage includes a Tuner that you can use to tune guitars and other instruments you play through an audio channel strip. The Tuner shows pitch on a circular scale with the note name and octave displayed in the center of the scale. When you play a single note on your instrument, the pitch is shown in relation to the correct pitch for the note displayed. To tune an instrument using the tuner: 1 Select the audio channel strip to which the instrument you want to tune is connected.
Tips for Complex Hardware Setups It is highly recommended that you test your concert thoroughly using the same setup you plan to use in live performance prior to performing, at the performance location or venue if possible. This is especially important for more complex hardware setups.
Key Commands A Appendix A The following tables show the key commands for MainStage, grouped by function.
Editing Key command Function Command-Z Undo Last Command Command-Shift-Z Redo Last Undone Command Command-X Cut Command-C Copy Command-V Paste Command-D Duplicate Command-A Select All Actions Key command Function Control-P Panic Control-T Tap Tempo Control-M Master Mute Parameter Mapping (Edit Mode) Key command Function Command-L Map the selected parameter (turn on mapping) Command-F Find in Parameter Mapping browser Command-G Find again Channel Strips (Edit Mode) 94 Key co
Screen Controls (Layout Mode) Key command Function Command-L Learn controller assignment (turn on the Learn process) Command-Option-G Group Command-Shift-Option-G Ungroup Command-Shift-L Lock Command-Shift-Option-L Unlock Window and View Key command Function Command-1 Layout mode Command-2 Edit mode Command-3 Perform mode Command-4 Full Screen mode Command-5 Show/Hide Inspectors Command-6 Show/Hide Channel Strips area Command-M Minimize Command-, (comma) Open MainStage Preferenc
Setting MainStage Preferences B Appendix B General Preferences These preferences let you set the tuning of software instruments, choose what happens when you open MainStage, choose different graphics performance settings, and set whether screen controls highlight when their parameter values change. Â Tuning slider: Sets the tuning for all software instruments in MainStage. Tuning is centered around A440 Hz, in the range of ±100 cents.
Audio/MIDI Preferences These preferences let you set the audio output and input drivers, set the size of the I/O buffer, set the audio sample rate, and choose which note is displayed as middle C. Audio  Audio Output pop-up menu: Choose the device you want to use to hear the audio output from MainStage.  Audio Input pop-up menu: Choose the device you want to use as the source for audio input.  I/O Buffer Size pop-up menu: Choose the size of the buffer for audio input and output in samples.
A Action menu for Channel Strips area 55 for Channel Strip Settings browser 53 for Patch List 20, 48, 49 Layout mode 75 actions, mapping screen controls to 61 Actions folder 61 Apple Store 13 Apple websites 12–13 C Channel Strip Inspector 20 channel strips 51 adding 27 adding at concert level 46 adding at set level 64 changing color 55 changing icon 55 creating controller transform 58 deleting 60 differences from Logic 51 filtering MIDI messages 60 mapping screen controls to parameters 60 renaming 55 reset
L Layout Inspector 19 Layout mode description 19 switching to 67 layouts 8 exporting 82 importing 82 Logic Studio, learning about 13 M MainStage, onscreen help 12 Master Mute 41 microphones, using 9 MIDI filtering 60 passing through messages 81 MIDI controllers, assigning controls 76 P Panic 42 Parameter Mapping browser 20 patches 8 adding 26 changing icon 50 changing program change number 49 changing the tempo with 50 deleting 50 exporting 66 importing 66 naming 27 overriding concert-level key ranges 57
