Apple MainStage User Manual

MainStageUser Manual

10 Chapter 1 An Introduction to MainStage When you open a concert in Edit mode, the patches in the concert appear in the Patch List, where you c

100 Index LLayout Inspector 19Layout modedescription 19switching to 67layouts 8exporting 82importing 82Logic Studio, learning about 13MMainStag

Chapter 1 An Introduction to MainStage 11 Using MainStage in Live Performance Once you have created and organized your sounds, customized your

12 Chapter 1 An Introduction to MainStage MainStage Onscreen User ManualThe MainStage onscreen user manual allows you to access information directl

Chapter 1 An Introduction to MainStage 13 Other Apple WebsitesStart at the Apple homepage to find the latest and greatest information about Apple p

2 152 Setting Up Your SystemYou can use MainStage with a wide variety of MIDI controllers and Core Audio compliant audio devices.Real-time genera

16 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System Some devices feature buttons that send program change messages. You can use these buttons to send program chang

3 173 The MainStage InterfaceYou do all your work in MainStage in a single window, the MainStage window. The MainStage window is organized to mak

18 Chapter 3 The MainStage Interface The main features of the MainStage window include:Â Toolbar: Includes buttons for common commands and tools.

Chapter 3 The MainStage Interface 19 Layout ModeLayout mode is where you customize your onscreen layout and make connections between your MIDI hard

K Apple Inc.© 2007 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or in part, without the written c

20 Chapter 3 The MainStage Interface Edit ModeEdit mode is where you create, customize, and organize your sounds. You can add patches, add and edit

Chapter 3 The MainStage Interface 21 Â Channel Strips area: View and edit the channel strips in your patches or at the concert or set level. Chann

22 Chapter 3 The MainStage Interface Full Screen ModeIn Full Screen mode, the workspace fills your entire computer display so that your screen cont

4 234 Getting Started With MainStageYou can quickly start working in MainStage by choosing a concert template and trying out the patches in the c

24 Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage To choose a concert template:1 Choose File > New Concert (or press Command-N). The Choose Template d

Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 25 Selecting and Playing PatchesThe patches in the concert appear in the Patch List along the left side of

26 Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage Adding a PatchYou can add patches to a concert and organize them in the Patch List. The number of patch

Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 27 Renaming a PatchWhen you add a patch, by default it takes the name of the channel strip added with it.

28 Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 5 For audio channel strips, choose mono or stereo format from the Format pop-up menu and choose the aud

Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 29 For general information about working with channel strips, see Chapter 10, “Working with Instruments an

3 1 Contents Chapter 1 7 An Introduction to MainStage7 What Is MainStage? 8 Using MainStage With MIDI Controllers 9 Using MainStage With Guita

30 Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage Learning Controller AssignmentsWhen you select a patch or a channel strip setting, some channel strip p

Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 31 The values in the Hardware Assignment pop-up menus change to reflect the type of hardware control learn

32 Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 3 In the Screen Control Inspector, click the Map Parameter button.The Map Parameter button lights red t

Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 33 3 Select the parameter you want to map.The screen control is mapped to the selected parameter. You can

34 Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage Customizing the MainStage WindowYou can customize the MainStage window to suit your way of working. You

Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage 35 Hiding and Showing the Channel Strips AreaYou can hide the Channel Strips area or show it if it is hidd

36 Chapter 4 Getting Started With MainStage To add space or a separator to the Toolbar:m Drag a space, flexible space, or separator from the Custom

5 375 Working With ConcertsConcerts are the documents in which you create and organize the sounds you use in your performances and customize your

38 Chapter 5 Working With Concerts To open an existing concert, do one of the following:m Choose File > Open Concert, select the concert you wan

Chapter 5 Working With Concerts 39 How Saving Affects Parameter ValuesWhile a concert is open, any changes you make to channel strip or plug-in par

4 Contents 33 Trying Out Full Screen and Perform Modes 34 Customizing the MainStage Window Chapter 5 37 Working With Concerts37 Opening and Closing C

40 Chapter 5 Working With Concerts  Select the value and type a new value.3 Select the Tempo checkbox to activate the tempo.You can use patches an

Chapter 5 Working With Concerts 41 Muting Audio OutputSometimes when you are playing or editing sounds, you may want to quickly mute (silence) all

42 Chapter 5 Working With Concerts Silencing MIDI NotesMainStage also includes a Panic function, which works like the Panic function in Logic Pro 8

Chapter 5 Working With Concerts 43 Controlling the Overall Volume of a ConcertA MainStage concert contains Output and Master channel strips that yo

44 Chapter 5 Working With Concerts In the example above, you would click the fader screen control, click Out 1-2 in the left column of the Paramete

Chapter 5 Working With Concerts 45 3 Drag the Send knob next to the slot to set the amount of the signal sent to the bus.To add a concert-wide effe

46 Chapter 5 Working With Concerts Adding Channel Strips at the Concert LevelYou can add a channel strip at the concert level and use the concert-l

6 476 Working in Edit ModeIn Edit mode, you create patches with your custom sounds, map screen controls, and work with patches and sets in the Pa

48 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode Skipping Items in the Patch ListYou can skip patches or sets in the Patch List. When a patch or set is skipped, y

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 49 Changing Program Change NumbersWhen you add a patch to a concert, the patch is given a MIDI program change number

Contents 5 Appendix A 93 Key Commands93 Concerts and Layouts 93 Patches and Sets (Edit Mode) 94 Editing 94 Actions 94 Parameter Mapping (Edit Mode) 9

50 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode Using a Patch to Change the TempoYou can give a patch its own tempo setting so that when you select the patch, th

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 51 Working With Channel Strips in Edit ModeChannel strips are the building blocks of your patches. They contain the

52 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode  MainStage channel strips do not have a Record Enable or Bounce button. MainStage audio channel strips do not h

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 53 Choosing Channel Strip SettingsYou can quickly change the instrument, effects, and other parameters for a channel

54 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 3 If more than one channel strip has the text as part of its name, choose Find Again from the Action menu to cycl

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 55 Renaming a Channel StripWhen you add a channel strip to a patch, the channel strip has a default name. You can re

56 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode Creating Keyboard Layers and SplitsIf you play a keyboard controller, you can easily create keyboard layers and s

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 57 Floating split points can be explained using an example. If you set the Low Key of a key range to C1, set a float

58 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode A message appears in the Channel Strip Inspector asking if you want to override the concert- or set-level key ran

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 59 In addition, you can remap input values for any one of these four message types to output values for one of the o

60 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode Filtering MIDI MessagesYou can filter some MIDI messages for a channel strip in the Channel Strip Inspector. When

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 61 Mapping Screen Controls to ActionsYou can also map screen controls to MainStage-specific actions and to AppleScri

62 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode Removing Screen Control MappingsIf you want a screen control to be free of any mappings, you can remove its exist

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 63 Renaming SetsWhen you create a set, it is given a default name. You can rename a set in the same way you rename a

64 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode Deleting SetsYou can delete a set if you decide you no longer want it in the concert.To delete a set:1 Select the

Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode 65 Overriding Concert- and Set-Level MappingsBy default, mappings you make at the concert level (to parameters and a

66 Chapter 6 Working in Edit Mode Sharing Patches and Sets Between ConcertsYou can export patches and sets from a concert and import them into anot

7 677 Working in Layout ModeYou visually arrange your onscreen layout and make connections between your music hardware and MainStage in Layout mo

68 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode Changing the Grid ResolutionWhen you switch to Layout mode, MainStage determines the appropriate grid resolutio

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 69 Screen Control TypesThere are two types of screen controls you can use in a MainStage layout: panel controls a

1 7 1 An Introduction to MainStage MainStage turns your computer into a powerful and customizable musical instrument, optimized for use in liv

70 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode Adding Screen ControlsIn Layout mode you can quickly add screen controls to your layout and arrange them in the

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 71 Copying and Pasting Screen ControlsYou can cut, copy, and paste screen controls using the standard Mac OS X men

72 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode Resizing Screen ControlsYou can resize screen controls to make them more easily visible, or to fit them into a

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 73 Merging Screen ControlsWhen you place screen controls close together so that their edges are adjacent, the pane

74 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 2 Drag the lower alignment guide (the one aligned with the front of the shelf control).Drag the lower alignment

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 75 Grouping Screen ControlsYou can group screen controls together. When you group screen controls, moving or resiz

76 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode Deleting Screen ControlsIf you decide you no longer want a screen control in your layout, you can delete it fro

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 77 Assigning KnobsMIDI controllers can have different types of knobs or rotary controllers. Knobs can be either ab

78 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode To change the function of a momentary button:1 In Layout mode, be sure the button screen control is selected.2

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 79 Â Lowest Key Learn button: Click the Learn button, then press the lowest key to have MainStage learn it.The Nu

8 Chapter 1 An Introduction to MainStage MainStage provides a simple, flexible interface for organizing and accessing your sounds in concerts .

80 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode Text Labels Display pop-up menu: Choose what information is displayed in the text display area for the contro

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 81 Image ParametersYou can edit the following parameters for image screen controls. Stretch to Fit checkbox: Whe

82 Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode You can also filter incoming MIDI messages for individual channel strips. For information on filtering MIDI mes

Chapter 7 Working in Layout Mode 83 Because of the wide variety of possible layouts, not all assignments and mappings may be converted as you inten

8 858 Performing Live With MainStageNow that you’ve created and organized your sounds and set up your layout, it’s time to play! MainStage featur

86 Chapter 8 Performing Live With MainStage To switch to Full Screen mode, do one of the following:m Choose View > Full Screen (or press Command

Chapter 8 Performing Live With MainStage 87 When performing, keep in mind the difference between patch parameters and parameters controlled at the

88 Chapter 8 Performing Live With MainStage Selecting Patches Using Program Change MessagesIf your MIDI device has buttons or other controls that s

Chapter 8 Performing Live With MainStage 89 Performing With Guitars and Other InstrumentsYou can play electric guitars and other music instruments

Chapter 1 An Introduction to MainStage 9 Using MainStage With Guitars and Other Instruments If you play an electric guitar or other musical ins

90 Chapter 8 Performing Live With MainStage Using the TunerMainStage includes a Tuner that you can use to tune guitars and other instruments you pl

Chapter 8 Performing Live With MainStage 91 Tips for Complex Hardware SetupsIt is highly recommended that you test your concert thoroughly using th

93AAppendixA Key CommandsThe following tables show the key commands for MainStage, grouped by function.Concerts and LayoutsPatches and Sets (Edi

94 Appendix A Key CommandsEditingActionsParameter Mapping (Edit Mode)Channel Strips (Edit Mode)Key command FunctionCommand-Z Undo Last CommandComm

Appendix A Key Commands 95 Screen Controls (Layout Mode)Window and ViewHelp and SupportKey command FunctionCommand-L Learn controller assignment (t

97BAppendixB Setting MainStage PreferencesGeneral PreferencesThese preferences let you set the tuning of software instruments, choose what happe

98 Appendix B Setting MainStage PreferencesAudio/MIDI PreferencesThese preferences let you set the audio output and input drivers, set the size of

99IndexIndexAAction menufor Channel Strips area 55for Channel Strip Settings browser 53for Patch List 20, 48, 49Layout mode 75actions, mappi