MIDI in Mainstage 2 Playback plugin

Hi

William F. wrote:

1. Is there a way to drop MIDI patch change messages into the Playback plugin (or elsewhere in Mainstage) so that I could have my guitar patches change in time with the song (e.g., clean sound for verses, diry for choruses, etc.)? If yes: can this be done internally, without having to route to an external MIDI interface?

Playback only does audio, so MIDI program changes are out.

Mainstage2.2 does have a "MIDIFile" capability, but it is of limited use (imho). You can get MS to transmit a MIDI file to an external deevice "on patch change", but once you have triggered the file, there is no way to stop it.

You may be able to knock something together such that the MIDI File & Playback start on Patch Change, with the file sending out PG messages which are then looped back into MS.

William F. wrote:

2. As my other band mates also use Mainstage, is there a way to send multiple patch change messages out of the box to their respective laptops so that their patches change as well (I have an old Emagic Unitor 8 MIDI interface on hand)?

This one is easier. Setup External MIDI channels with the MIDI Port/Channels appropriate for the "remote" Macs. Cable up via MIDI interfaces. For each Patch, you can assign a MIDI Prog Change message for each External Channel.

CCT

Now that Mainstage 3 is out, has the Playback plugin been updated to do this? It is a very common request.

Hi

erikbojerik wrote:

Now that Mainstage 3 is out, has the Playback plugin been updated to do this? It is a very common request.

Since Playback ONLY deals with audio, this has not changed in MS3

CCTM wrote:

Playback only does audio, so MIDI program changes are out.

CCT

William,

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!! I was waiting, it seemed forever for MS3 to come out. How to my disappointment there was not a MIDI player. That was the one feature I was looking for the most. I use DMXIS for my lighting needs and have programmed all my songs lighting at every verse, chorus, climax and sultry softs in LP with lighting effects. MS, after all, is a program for LIVE music... and what is a great show without amazingly choreographed lighting? I have been searching all over for a MIDI player that I can sync with MS as an AU plugin. Have you found any? I have yet to explore using LP via the AIC driver, but cringe at the thought of loading two programs at the same time during a live performance, and is it even possible to control the two at the same time via MIDI and have them synced? This is SOOOO disappointing. And just like you, I was about to start programming all my guitar patch changes automatically for all my songs via LP MIDI player/sequencer. How do we find a work around? Please, group help??!!!

Thanx for enduring the rant...

CCTM wrote:

Hi

erikbojerik wrote:

Now that Mainstage 3 is out, has the Playback plugin been updated to do this? It is a very common request.

Since Playback ONLY deals with audio, this has not changed in MS3

Booooo

Having Playback also play back MIDI is not *that* far outside the box. Is the point.

Hi

erikbojerik wrote:

Booooo

Having Playback also play back MIDI is not *that* far outside the box. Is the point.

I agree completely that MS should have some useful way of playing MIDIfiles, since the current efforts are useless for anything other than short MIDI messages.

I doubt that the functionality could be added to Playback, but you would think that there would be an easy way to do it.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/mainstage.html

CCT

CCTM,

I didn't mention, that I am at the end of my production limits using LP live, as 9.1.8 uses only one core for live tracks... big bummer. But since, MS3 has no midi player, I am stuck with LP live. Do you know if they have updated the live core usage in the LPX? And have you heard of anyone syncing MS with LP via IAC for the LP midi sequencer which uses very little CPU? The main issue with this, is that the LP midi sequencer/player would have to be synced with the MS Playback. Any suggestions? I am about ready to flood the user groups... ****. (yes, I will beg for the MS midi player in the feedback support page once again 😢)

Hi

By all accounts, using the IAC bus with MS can cause all kinds of problems with MIDI feedback loops (much as can happen with Logic). If you really need to slave up Logic it might be better to actually send MIDI out and back via hardware?

CCT

CCTM,

Here is the link for my response to erikbojerik in relation to this post: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4770770?answerId=22562609022#22562609022&ac_cid=tw123456#22562609 .

As you can see, we are needing a very elementary MS MIDI player that will play a file that I set up in the LP MIDI sequencer, that is in sync with a music file, that is then turned into a Playback file for MS. This is purely for automation to free up hands/feet for performance enhancement. It only needs to send MIDI messages to lighting/guitar/etc MIDI hardware.

I recognize the potential problems with IAC, and I certainly do not want two programs running at the same time. But alas, I am trying to find a stable, reliable workaround. Since MS3 is now a dead-end for me, I will result to staying with LP live, which then turns this discussion to an earlier post I made in LP posts. You were the last person to respond to that post in 2011, so I will move there and reply to you regarding "ONE Core Live procesing". thx

See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3397660?answerId=16997616022#16997616022