![]() That is to say, the keyboard only makes a sound when you load the default template because the default mapping routes NoteOn and NoteOff MIDI from all keyboards to the first channel strip. The key takeaway here is that the input controls and what they do are decoupled via mappings. If I had a pedal connected I could map my pedal to this button and hey presto - it would call that Action. You can see from the example above that some of the buttons drive Actions in MainStage, but currently have no input device assignment. The faders may drive volume or other faders. ![]() The keys on my keyboard stay as NoteOn and NoteOff signals, and go to a software instrument. If I have a screen control for each of my devices I need to map each aspect of that device to something on on a channel strip. Mapping, in this context, refers to a link between an input screen control such as a keyboard, a button, a fader, or a myriad of other things, and a channel strip. The “Assignments & Mappings” screen for the default template shown earlier. Software plugins can be loaded, audio routed to busses, MIDI routed to external MIDI devices, etc. Channel Strips - built on the same UI as used by Logic Pro the channel strips are where output MIDI and Audio are routed, and are mixed, processed and themselves routed out in the same way as channel strips in Logic Pro to outputs on your sound card.Healthy defaults are already in place, so for instance, playing a key on the keyboard will play a note in a software synth - but this is just mapping. Assignments and Mappings - the input devices and triggers are all mapped to a channel strip or other action.These are all configurable, and all connected to some form of input device or control. Additionally we have two text labels, the time and the set list. You can see in the screenshot above, taken from a standard template in MainStage, that there is a keyboard, complete with expression wheel and pitch bend, a pedal, and 4 buttons. Layout - this is where the inputs are mapped to onscreen representations.MainStage is divided into 3 main concepts: MainStage allows you to build a Concert of Sets and Patches to enable you to quickly move through different settings quickly during a live performance, and for this reason is one of the main tools of the theatre industry, used in many professional and amateur theatres, as well as many churches, particularly in high budget “super-churches” which have many of the same technical elements as a theatre. MainStage v3.5.1 “Minimalist” template home screen This also means that when I use programming from a show I did two years ago it still works, even if the keyboard I’m using is different. These are all saved in a Concert file, and can then be transported easily to other rigs in other theatres, as long as they have a similar layout of hardware to run it. It is designed as a live performance tool, and makes simple the job of configuring input MIDI and Audio devices, and mapping them to internal and external instruments. MainStage is not a DAW, though it shares elements of Logic Pro. It is a massively versatile, sometimes esoteric, but very powerful tool for creating the programming for a show, concert or any other live event. I had no real use for it in the studio, but soon after I started working in theatres and it became one of my favourite tools for pit work. This reassuringly heavy box (given the price was 2x what it is today) included a number of applications: Logic Studio - a DAW, and the main reason for the purchase, WaveBurner, Soundtrack Pro, and the subject of this blog - MainStage. When I switched from PC based recording to Mac based recording nearly 20 years ago I purchased the Apple Logic Studio 9 box set.
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