Managing multiple soft instruments and program changes
Hello,
I would like to switch between different software instruments (as plugins in Mainstage) during a performance, as well as switch between programs within the plugins themselves.
I have a MIDI keyboard with 8 knobs and buttons, so the buttons will be for this purpose, and I also have available several other unassigned buttons on another MIDI controller.
I understand that Mainstage uses MIDI program change commands to switch between patches, so these can be used for switching to different software instruments (or multiple instances of the same instrument). For this, I should load whatever instrument I need at the patch level -- is that correct?
As for switching between programs within the active instrument plugin, is it possible for some MIDI program change commands to bypass Mainstage and be sent to the plugins?
I know there are many possible ways of managing this depending on my own preference, but I was wondering if there was a common-sense approach that I'm not aware of... And curious how others have set up multiple instruments and programs, and how to quickly switch among them.
Thank you for any advice.
MainStage, Mac OS X (10.7.3)