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Best setup for live sessions

Hi!

1- Can you tell me please if with MainStage 3 i can REALLY play live session with severals VST Instruments loaded inside and a macBook pro i5 + 16G ram?


There is anyone that play live with MainStage that can tell me something, please?


2- And then, do you know if exist a reference or glossary Guide for writing my midi script with the script editor...i can't find anything about the language used by mainstage...applescript or javascript or other?!!


PLEASE give me some informations i'm going crazy 😟 ?


Thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Feb 18, 2015 1:10 AM

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Posted on Feb 18, 2015 4:27 AM

Hi DinoDcn,

I'm not an expert at this, but I have been experimenting with using MS3 live in a pop/party/dance cover band. I've tested it on a 2.5GHz i5 Mac Mini with 4GB RAM and a 2.53 Core Duo Mac Mini with 6GB RAM and a SSD. Both computers have run a variety of VSTs without overloading either processor. The Core Duo with the SSD actually runs faster than the i5. The processor is a lot slower but the SSD makes loading and recalling data a lot faster. I will eventually look at upgrading to a fast i7 Mac Mini with lots of RAM and a SSD, but I can't afford it now.


The strength of the system is the quality of the sounds and the ability to edit them and switch from patch to patch quickly. In the end, I plan to rack mount a Mac Mini with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for audio and an AirPort so I can communicate with MS3 and the Mac Mini when required. This is mainly for shutdown of the system. I have MS3 opening in performance mode on power up.


Anyway, I've run through several rehearsals and I have been super pleased and have not had a malfunction. I think I'm going to use a Panorama P6 for my primary controller with the possibility of throwing in my Roland RD30GX if I need weighted keys.


I don't know anything about MIDI script. What are attempting to control?

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Question marked as Best reply

Feb 18, 2015 4:27 AM in response to DinoDcn

Hi DinoDcn,

I'm not an expert at this, but I have been experimenting with using MS3 live in a pop/party/dance cover band. I've tested it on a 2.5GHz i5 Mac Mini with 4GB RAM and a 2.53 Core Duo Mac Mini with 6GB RAM and a SSD. Both computers have run a variety of VSTs without overloading either processor. The Core Duo with the SSD actually runs faster than the i5. The processor is a lot slower but the SSD makes loading and recalling data a lot faster. I will eventually look at upgrading to a fast i7 Mac Mini with lots of RAM and a SSD, but I can't afford it now.


The strength of the system is the quality of the sounds and the ability to edit them and switch from patch to patch quickly. In the end, I plan to rack mount a Mac Mini with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for audio and an AirPort so I can communicate with MS3 and the Mac Mini when required. This is mainly for shutdown of the system. I have MS3 opening in performance mode on power up.


Anyway, I've run through several rehearsals and I have been super pleased and have not had a malfunction. I think I'm going to use a Panorama P6 for my primary controller with the possibility of throwing in my Roland RD30GX if I need weighted keys.


I don't know anything about MIDI script. What are attempting to control?

Feb 18, 2015 9:11 AM in response to trinitycadet

Yes is the answer... I've been using my macbookpro 15inch for a while and it works. There are a couple of problems that I've had tho. First was finding a usb sound device which didn't glitch, I tried a few before I found the Focusrite 6i6. The 2nd prob which still happens is that the sound of the MS organ degrades as I play it, it kind of loses polyphony or registers from the voice. This one's a pita but it resets itself on patch change so I keep those parts short, and it doesn't happen for any other instruments. In my setup I have two keyboards feeding plain old MIDI into a Midisport USB device and a USB Korg Nanocontrol for volume and other controller duties (both connected thro a cheap USB hub, the 6i6 is on its own port).


Regarding the midi scripting... IIRC there's no scripting for MS, it hasn't been implemented. Most people recommend Bidule or something like that if you want to get into deep midi details.

Feb 19, 2015 8:34 AM in response to mikmanmikman

Thank you again!

Sorry but i'm new with the world of mainStage and apple.....so, what is "IIRC"? 😝

This software "bibule" can be integrated in mainstage "scripter" midiPlugin ?


I have to play my patches with two master keyboards, using my mac as Library sound.

So i have to make some split, layers, control some note on/off or play the same sound in différents zone...etc...


So with the mainstage interface i can make some of them but only with midiPlugin called "scripter" i was able to do some commands that i need.

But now i need a reference or glossary Guide.


Thanks 🙂

Feb 19, 2015 8:35 AM in response to DinoDcn

I've tried using the following (but my info is a few years old!):


ProTools, once in a gig, quite difficult to set up but easy to use during the gig. Reliable, but I wouldn't recommend it. I know someone who did loads of gigs with PT but recently swapped to MS.


LiveProfessor on a Windows laptop, used once for a gig as well. Not easy to set up either but it has a time delay feature for controls which may be what you're after in the scripting (e.g. you can fade volume over time say, or adjust a CC number over time).


Forte on windows, but again, its a host for VSTs rather than a visual representation of what you're doing. As used by Marillion keys player Mark Kelly.


Cubase - not used live but for playing around and testing. Just a host again. I know a band who used this but it and the hardware proved to be too unreliable and they eventually invested in a Kronos instead.


Basically for me its the GUI of MS that makes it good, entirely because it displays the keyboard with the layers on top. This makes it so easy to set everything up and to visually see that its working correctly. Particularly when I'm under pressure in a rehearsal for example. All the other solutions above just don't seem to have this type of display, they hide the important things away in text fields etc, which makes it much harder to manage.

Feb 20, 2015 2:20 AM in response to mikmanmikman

mikmanmikman wrote:


The 2nd prob which still happens is that the sound of the MS organ degrades as I play it, it kind of loses polyphony or registers from the voice.


Hi mikmanmikman,


This sounds like a double trigger problem. The organ seem too die out over the course of some notes, if it receives the same note again. This can happen, if you have a MIDI-keyboard with layered zones sending on the same channel, or you use two keyboard, play the same notes on both, which might be the case in your setup. To circumvent this, I'd put the organ from single keyboard mode to multi keyboard mode and assign different MIDI channels for the MIDI keyboards.


Let me know, if this works.


DaCaptain

Best setup for live sessions

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