Mainstage Patch Change

Having programmed more than a few productions on Mainstage, a couple of offerings of advice:

Mainstage will change patches as quickly as you can hit the foot switch. The sample headers are all loaded as a part of the Concert. It will also allow you to change patches smoothly while sustaining the previous patch (like a Kurzweil).

Depending on the controller that you're using, and whether or not you're also using sounds from it, you don't even need to use the program changes from the controller to select the Mainstage patches. Though you certainly could, if say, you had only a few patches that you needed for the show. My preferred method is to assign a controller to the foot switch, and "teach" Mainstage to respond to that controller to advance the patches. This way you can stay in one patch on your controller, and advance through your Mainstage concert patch by patch. Again, this is how I prefer to use Mainstage in the scenario that you're in, unless there are only a few patches needed for any given performance.

Hope that this helps.

No problem, I'm glad to help.

So just so I'm clear in my understanding...as long as you're not triggering an audio sample using Mainstage Playback plug-in (because there may be timing issues there), but you're using a software instrument based on sampled instruments as a plug-in to Mainstage, then yes, you can do it in the way I described (and possibly other ways). Essentially, you would create a patch with multiple channel strips. Each of those channel strips would contain the instrument plug-in, plus any effects, that you might need. You then use a combination of what I outlined before to send the right combination to the out and you should be good to go.

The way to test it is to use Logic's own instruments and create a variety of situations which would reflect your needs. Or if you already have the plug-in's you're talking about, then try those. When you get down to the details of the testing I can help you out more by describing in more detail if you like.

Again though, my advice would be to really think about what changes you want "within seconds" i.e. a patch change will work well for that (the technique of assigning specific PC's to direct you to a patch), versus "split second changes" where you should use the Send/Mute technique WITHIN a patch. You just need to think about what you want, when you want it, and plan accordingly.

No VST, Logic wants AU...technically speaking, you might be able to use a VST wrapper but (and I can only speak for myself) I would avoid that.

Sounds like a fun project..good luck!

J.

I agree with JimChik.

I and another guy I work with do a lot of Pit Orchestra gigs using MainStage.

It will quickly and seamlessly change patches and a foot switch is the best way to do it. You never have to take your hands off the keys this way.

The way MS will allow you to hold notes from one patch over across a patch change into another patch and play any new notes on the new patch is fantastic! I have several Kurzweils that will do this, but you can often hear the effects glitch as you make the change. MS handles this flawlessly, so you don't even need a 16th rest to make your change.

You can use pedals for other changes as well. If you have 2 sounds that go back and forth repeatedly, like arco and pizz strings, instead of creating a dozen patch changes, you can use the techniques Jas described to toggle the sound of a single patch between 2 different 'layers'.

While a pedal is the quickest if you are playing with both hands, you can of course, use any other button, knob, slider or wheel to make these changes, as long as that control sends a MIDI value when it is moved.

MS works great for what you are trying to do! I don't know of anything better.

Cheers,
Thomjinx

If by "change" patches you mean select, then I would suggest assigning each patch it's own unique MIDI PC number and program a MIDI controller (of your choice) to directly select your patches based on the PC number. The PC can be assigned in Mainstage under the Attributes tab in the Patch Inspector.

Also, if you like, you could treat each song as a Set and put the 5-10 patches for each song within that set just for organizational purposes.

Hope that helps,
J.

Yes, it will work but the term "fairly easy" is somewhat subjective 😉

For the split-second changes, you may have to do those differently since the patch change may not be quick enough for you. For those patches where you need very fast changes within a song, what I would suggest is to put those instruments all in one patch using multiple channel strips (for each sound) then use channel mutes or sends to control the sounds you want at the output.

For example, configure an Aux channel that goes to your output. Then use the Send of the different channel strips to the Aux and configure your midi switch(es) to control the send(s) based on your required sounds. Or where it's easier, just mute one (or some) and enable the others again using your midi controller. You should be able to come up with the right combinations that work for you with those Mainstage features.

I'd suggest creating some test sets and patches to work out and experiment with the best options for yourself.

I looked at the Ultralite and RME Fireface 400, and settled on the the Fireface. Others can chime in on the Ultralite. The Fireface accepts 8 audio inputs (2 include XLR with phantom power), and midi is via an included breakout cable that has 2 midi ins and 2 midi outs. The Fireface has extremely flexible i/o routing, but this takes some study. There is plenty of material online for either interface that will detail their connectivity.

I recently got an Ultralite. The original model.

I have been very pleased with its performance. It gives me the lowest latency of any interface I have ever used and I have used many.

It uses only 1 firewire cable for both audio and midi.

Thomjinx

...and if you run out of PC numbers, consider splitting the show content into two separate Mainstage Concert files.