Mainstage with Midi-enabled Guitar

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Level 1

0 points

Mainstage with Midi-enabled Guitar

I'm thinking of buying Logic Studio and Mainstage is one of the most appealing things for me. I'm wondering, though, if anyone has used a Midi guitar with it.

I have a Godin LGX-SA which has the Midi outputs and I'm wondering if and how my guitar might work with Mainstage. If I plugged it into a Roland module there are knobs and switches that actually act as controllers...would Mainstage recognize these? Would I be able to assign certain instruments to the guitar signal? Would the amp modeler work via Midi or would I have to use an audio signal for that?

I realize I have a pretty odd guitar and there aren't a lot of people who even know who Godin is, but any suggestions or similar experiences would help.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Sep 22, 2008 11:35 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 24, 2008 12:07 PM in response to sftl99

Hi
I have been playing a Godin (Multiac nylon SA) for a year or so but have only just recently bought a midi interface for it (Axon AX50). I am now preparing a repertoire using midi pedals (Yamaha MFC10) to trigger loops, play bass parts etc. while playing and singing through Mainstage.
So far I have been getting good results even though the Mac is relatively lightweight (iBook G4 1.3 MHz / 1.5 Go ram), but am struggling at present to get SuperLooper to work with it for live looping.
Any help with that would be appreciated...

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Answer 2

Sep 24, 2008 12:11 PM in response to patient teacher

...continued: just wanted to add that I'm using the guitar mainly in 'common' mode - i.e. all strings playing one midi channel- as my feet are doing a lot of the work, however in 'seperate' mode you should be able to do a lot in Mainstage.

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Answer 3

gilapuki

Level 3

530 points

Nov 9, 2008 11:44 AM in response to sftl99

I use a custom built Manson electric fitted with a Shadow synth guitar pickup as a bridge nut. I connect to Logic or Mainstage via a Roland GI-20 MIDI interface for guitar synths. The acoustic part of the signal is fed in via a MOTU 828. I use an Evolution UC-33 as a MIDI controller for both Logic & MainStage. I have had no trouble controlling six or more synths simultaneously at the same time as playing natural guitar sounds. Not recommended as the sound can get very muddy in a short time, but it can be dnoe.
To answer your questions:
1 Yes, MainStage should recognise your controllers with no difficulty. Read the manual section on assigning synth controllers. It is very simple to do.
2 You can assign any of Logics synths to your guitar. Some will be more effective than others, but they will all work.
3 By amp modeler, I assume you mean the Guitar Amp Pro plug-in. Yes, it will work both for guitar & for your synth patches.

Godin guitars give a very good signal. I haven't used one with MainStage, but I was very impressed when I ran one through Logic 7. I would buy one, but the fingerboard is too narrow for me, I trained as a classical guitarist & a lutenist. My electric has a classical width fingerboard.

Enjoy the world of MIDI guitar!

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Answer 4

sftl99 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 17, 2008 12:10 PM in response to sftl99

I have a Godin LGX-SA as well. You have to understand that the output is not actually MIDI. It's a 13-pin synth output that is made to work almost exclusively with the Roland synths. If you're going first into the Roland, then from that into your computer, you might be able to route the switches on the guitar to certain controls in Mainstage. But keep in mind that you will not be able to go directly from the Godin into Mainstage. Even if there were a 13-pin to 5-pin MIDI adapter (which I don't think there is), it wouldn't be sending actual MIDI signals.

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