This is good stuff. Thank you for all of the work you do to make worship keys more accessible. I started playing worship music in the 90’s and I wish I had a resource like this back then.
Some great tips here. Not a worship keys player, not even a keys player at all. But I use MainStage at home for using SSD5 drum plug in trigger to midi converter. It's pretty basic and I only have a couple of patches of some custom kits I have put together, but I am always tinkering. Currently I take a Mac out for live for tracks, using Logic and a separate drum module via pads. I am toying with the idea of incorporating it all as one device, the Mac is a pretty powerful one, not an M1 but the ones preceding it. I would still need the trigger to midi converter. I am slowly building a base level concert and patches per each song. The player consists of 4 playback strips: Track, Bass (for the occasions he's not on the gig) click and extras. So far not had any issues. But I am far from even getting a single set list yet as it's work in progress. I haven't heard or seen anyone using MainStage in this manner before, so any advice is welcome.
Concert size made me laugh. When I use MainStage outside of church I create a patch for every song on the set list. A gig could be over 40 songs so I easily have 60-70 patches. Songs are in set list order so I push a button to move down the list.
Excellent tips, especially the autosave one. I’ve had occasions where piano notes hang or sound after a few seconds delay. This autosave tip would explain that.
Good video - and ideal for guys who are often live ;) - sadly I see lots of guys they use the "live-computer" for Internet, office work and sometimes streaming - I leanr to hold the system clean inlc. not using this for Internet browsing or similar things. It cost more but i run differnet machines - one for my live rig (Keys and so) and one is for my mobile work (support clients and office work inkc. Messaging and Team-Calls).
These videos are really helpful - thanks for putting the time & effort into them. I'm relatively new to MainStage and finding the right guidance online is challenging. I'm a bass player and I'm trying to switch between patches but not achieving exactly what I want. Ideally, I would like to have the sound from my first patch (e.g. distortion) carry over from the last note that I played when I switch over to the next patch. For example, the first patch has a distortion effect and if I play a low open E string, then switch to the next patch, I would like to have that distorted E play and fade out while I have moved on to the next patch. I read in the manual that for time-based effects, the first patch should carry over into the next patch (also controlled through the global preferences, and the individual patch preferences). Knowing that, I added reverb and delays after the distortion as tests to see if that would make a difference. With a repeated delay, it kind of worked but I don't want a repeated delay signal. Do you know if what I'm aiming for is possible, or am I asking too much of MainStage? Thanks again for your insights.
Yes, I’ve looked at that and have mine set around 5 seconds right now. I’m wondering if it’s more about using a channel strip for my instrument at the set-level, and if I should be using the patches under the set for the effects only, or if I need to use busses or aux channels properly. This doesn’t seem to be documented well, but I’ll keep experimenting. Thanks again!
Thank you for those advices ! One question though : If I understand correctly, you have to open one instance of every plugin you want to use on a each patch ... Let's say you want to use Keyscape and Omnisphere on 6 patches ; there are 6 different instances of both plugins up and running, right ? If so, is there a way to have one main instance of each plugin and change presets inside those plugins when I go to the next song ?
HELLO FRIENDS. I'LL TELL YOU... I STARTED WITH A PROJECT IN MAINSTAGE 3 WHERE I ONLY NEED IT TO TRIGGER SEQUENCES CHANNEL 1 AND 2 STEREO TRACK, (BRASS UNDER SYNT) AND IN CHANNELS 3 AND 4 CLICK AND GUIDES (I USE A CARD WITH 4 OUTPUTS UPHORIA 204 HD ) I BEGAN TO CREATE MY OWN MODULE WHERE I CAN CONTROL MY TRACKS.. PLAY-STOP, LOOP VISUALIZATION OF MY TRACK MARKERS, (INTRO, VERSES, INSTRUMENTAL) I DID ALL OF THIS IN LOGIC AND THE FILES ARE CAF FORMAT, WHICH I USE THEM MAINSTAGE PLUGING ( PLAYBACK ). CREATE A CONCERT WITH 3 SET LIST. IN EACH SET LIST I HAVE ABOUT 4 TO 5 SONGS ALREADY PREPARED AS I EXPLAINED... THE DETAIL AND GREAT DETAIL IS IN THAT EVERY TIME I WANT TO OPEN THE CONCERT. IT TAKES ABOUT 10 TO 15 MIN TO OPEN... THE DOUBT IS IT WILL BE MY MACBOOK PRO. OR IS IT MAINSTAGE,,, THIS WILL BE NORMAL.. THE PROJECT IS BARELY WEIGHING 1.5 GB.. IT CAUSES ME INTRIGUE THAT NOTHING OF THIS WORKS. I NEED TO START CARRYING OUT TESTS,, (WHEN I GO TO FINDER TO FORCE CLOSE THE APP, IT TELLS ME THAT MAINSTAGE IS NOT ANSWERING IN RED... BUT WHEN I LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 10 OR 15 MIN, IT OPENS,,, MY MACHINE IS A MACBOOK FULL OF THE 2013 I7 FOUR CORE 16GB RAM AND 750GB SSD TYPE M2
Hey Jake, could you run a tutorial for the Arturia Keylab 88 mkii? About to purchase and want to make sure I run FULL capabilities with Sunday Keys!! TYIA
Thank you for this extremely helpful video. I have a problem with MainStage, I'm looking for information on the internet but I can't find what I'm interested in, I'll try here. Inside a concert it happens that some Patches with 1 or more instances of Omnisphere or Keyscape loaded inside do not play. The midi signal arrives, but not the audio. Other patches with the same plugin loaded in the same concert play, but in the 'corrupted' patch I can't even open the plugin which seems to be frozen. I don't understand if it depends on Mainstage or Omnisphere. If I restart MainStage everything goes back to ok and the patches all start playing correctly again. it's a problem that doesn't always happen, but let's say one time in ten using this gig. What can it be caused by? How can I make sure it doesn't happen again? Thank you
Hi brother Praise to the Lord I am using mainstage for rythem pads SPD 30 and I am making some patches in battery and some times my page is suddenly quitting and some times hanging could you tell me why how to lighten the weight
I cannot change the resolution of the mainstage. Any one knows why? Also, when i am using alchemy it looses it's quality. The sound is very distorted(only of the alchemy sounds)
Good info, wondering if i use alias for patches in a set, instead of having a long list of patches,when I import a patch will it work or do i need to load that software instrument again?
Hi and thank you for the video! I have a question about mainstage 3.4.3. I have a project with 4 different patches, and in each patch I have loaded multiple audio files (.wav). I consolidated the project with all the audio files copied inside the project. But, randomly, when I open the project audio files are mixed up in the wrong channel strip. Could you help me to fix this? Is this a bug of the 3.4.3?
Lots of great advice! Excellent video. Since I'm still in the research phase, I'm wondering if you recommend MainStage with Arturia KeyLab 61 Essential? Can I make the faders and knobs interact with MainStage, so I don't have to do a lot of clicking on my Mac while performing? Thanks
Thanks for this David! Do you have any advice for optimizing 3rd party plugins that cause pops and clicks when added to your templates? When we swap out your sampled piano and add Native instruments Alicia's keys or some Arturia piano V2 plugs to your concerts, it usually chokes!
Increasing the sample rate will do that - but it will also require much more CPU resources so not recommended for live performance as you really aren't going to notice the better audio quality in a full mix. Increasing the buffer size will increase the latency, but give you better CPU performance.
Hi, David. Please answer, Do you need an expensive electric guitar to connect to the main stage in order to extract high-quality sound through plug-ins and inserts? Thanks a lot!
Hi; after your videos I decided to try out Mainstage; selling my Kronos, Triton, Kurzweils, Hammond Clone etc… I‘ve tried Mainstage; BUT may be anyone can help here: I created a main concert; I created different Sets (As a Kind of Album folder), I created within the Sets the patches (like songs); Using a lot of the Vintage B3 Plugin; It doen‘t save my drawbar setting per Song/Patch; I saved within the actual plugin, saved as a patch, saved Mainstage global. After restart MS, the Patch /Song I choose does not saved my drawbar setting, and Settings for Percussion and sus pdl to toggle; got to reload the Patch/User within the b3 plugin… Why??Thank you so much; Jerome Switzerland
Such a great clear concise presentation….Spot on…not ONE wasted word.
This is good stuff. Thank you for all of the work you do to make worship keys more accessible. I started playing worship music in the 90’s and I wish I had a resource like this back then.
what a good teacher you are. So clear, so effective. I applied everything thst you recommended and it saved me a lot of time.
thank you so much ? 🙏
I am looking to move from a hardware setup to a software one so coming across this video was a Godsend.
Some great tips here. Not a worship keys player, not even a keys player at all. But I use MainStage at home for using SSD5 drum plug in trigger to midi converter. It's pretty basic and I only have a couple of patches of some custom kits I have put together, but I am always tinkering.
Currently I take a Mac out for live for tracks, using Logic and a separate drum module via pads.
I am toying with the idea of incorporating it all as one device, the Mac is a pretty powerful one, not an M1 but the ones preceding it. I would still need the trigger to midi converter. I am slowly building a base level concert and patches per each song. The player consists of 4 playback strips: Track, Bass (for the occasions he's not on the gig) click and extras. So far not had any issues. But I am far from even getting a single set list yet as it's work in progress.
I haven't heard or seen anyone using MainStage in this manner before, so any advice is welcome.
10 Golden advices, thanks a lot. God bless you
Super valuable! Thank you so much, greetz from Germany :)
Excellent info and outstanding communicator.
Glad it was helpful!
Ooooooh great backup tips before updating. Thanks.
Concert size made me laugh. When I use MainStage outside of church I create a patch for every song on the set list. A gig could be over 40 songs so I easily have 60-70 patches. Songs are in set list order so I push a button to move down the list.
Excellent tips, especially the autosave one. I’ve had occasions where piano notes hang or sound after a few seconds delay. This autosave tip would explain that.
Great tips!!! It is pretty much impossible to watch ANY of your videos and not learn at least one cool thing. Great work! I am thankful.
Good video - and ideal for guys who are often live ;) - sadly I see lots of guys they use the "live-computer" for Internet, office work and sometimes streaming - I leanr to hold the system clean inlc. not using this for Internet browsing or similar things. It cost more but i run differnet machines - one for my live rig (Keys and so) and one is for my mobile work (support clients and office work inkc. Messaging and Team-Calls).
Great presentation and concise.. thanks so much, you really helped my MainStage journey. Keep up the great work dude.
All I wanna say is thank you and it really did help😊
These videos are really helpful - thanks for putting the time & effort into them. I'm relatively new to MainStage and finding the right guidance online is challenging. I'm a bass player and I'm trying to switch between patches but not achieving exactly what I want. Ideally, I would like to have the sound from my first patch (e.g. distortion) carry over from the last note that I played when I switch over to the next patch. For example, the first patch has a distortion effect and if I play a low open E string, then switch to the next patch, I would like to have that distorted E play and fade out while I have moved on to the next patch. I read in the manual that for time-based effects, the first patch should carry over into the next patch (also controlled through the global preferences, and the individual patch preferences). Knowing that, I added reverb and delays after the distortion as tests to see if that would make a difference. With a repeated delay, it kind of worked but I don't want a repeated delay signal. Do you know if what I'm aiming for is possible, or am I asking too much of MainStage? Thanks again for your insights.
Hi, in MainStage Audio Preferences, try increasing the "Silence Previous Patch" setting.
Yes, I’ve looked at that and have mine set around 5 seconds right now. I’m wondering if it’s more about using a channel strip for my instrument at the set-level, and if I should be using the patches under the set for the effects only, or if I need to use busses or aux channels properly. This doesn’t seem to be documented well, but I’ll keep experimenting. Thanks again!
Great job on the MainStage tutorial!
Thank you for the valuable tutorial , God bless you
Thanks for this and the other videos!
Thank you for those advices !
One question though :
If I understand correctly, you have to open one instance of every plugin you want to use on a each patch ...
Let's say you want to use Keyscape and Omnisphere on 6 patches ; there are 6 different instances of both plugins up and running, right ?
If so, is there a way to have one main instance of each plugin and change presets inside those plugins when I go to the next song ?
hey thanx brother ....
HELLO FRIENDS. I'LL TELL YOU... I STARTED WITH A PROJECT IN MAINSTAGE 3 WHERE I ONLY NEED IT TO TRIGGER SEQUENCES CHANNEL 1 AND 2 STEREO TRACK, (BRASS UNDER SYNT) AND IN CHANNELS 3 AND 4 CLICK AND GUIDES (I USE A CARD WITH 4 OUTPUTS UPHORIA 204 HD ) I BEGAN TO CREATE MY OWN MODULE WHERE I CAN CONTROL MY TRACKS.. PLAY-STOP, LOOP VISUALIZATION OF MY TRACK MARKERS, (INTRO, VERSES, INSTRUMENTAL) I DID ALL OF THIS IN LOGIC AND THE FILES ARE CAF FORMAT, WHICH I USE THEM MAINSTAGE PLUGING ( PLAYBACK ). CREATE A CONCERT WITH 3 SET LIST. IN EACH SET LIST I HAVE ABOUT 4 TO 5 SONGS ALREADY PREPARED AS I EXPLAINED... THE DETAIL AND GREAT DETAIL IS IN THAT EVERY TIME I WANT TO OPEN THE CONCERT. IT TAKES ABOUT 10 TO 15 MIN TO OPEN... THE DOUBT IS IT WILL BE MY MACBOOK PRO. OR IS IT MAINSTAGE,,, THIS WILL BE NORMAL.. THE PROJECT IS BARELY WEIGHING 1.5 GB.. IT CAUSES ME INTRIGUE THAT NOTHING OF THIS WORKS. I NEED TO START CARRYING OUT TESTS,, (WHEN I GO TO FINDER TO FORCE CLOSE THE APP, IT TELLS ME THAT MAINSTAGE IS NOT ANSWERING IN RED... BUT WHEN I LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 10 OR 15 MIN, IT OPENS,,, MY MACHINE IS A MACBOOK FULL OF THE 2013 I7 FOUR CORE 16GB RAM AND 750GB SSD TYPE M2
Hey Jake, could you run a tutorial for the Arturia Keylab 88 mkii? About to purchase and want to make sure I run FULL capabilities with Sunday Keys!! TYIA
thx, it's helpful!
This is super useful. Thanks so much for sharing. How do you assign patches to buttons on Irig Keys Pro with Mainstage?
Thank you for this extremely helpful video. I have a problem with MainStage, I'm looking for information on the internet but I can't find what I'm interested in, I'll try here. Inside a concert it happens that some Patches with 1 or more instances of Omnisphere or Keyscape loaded inside do not play. The midi signal arrives, but not the audio. Other patches with the same plugin loaded in the same concert play, but in the 'corrupted' patch I can't even open the plugin which seems to be frozen. I don't understand if it depends on Mainstage or Omnisphere. If I restart MainStage everything goes back to ok and the patches all start playing correctly again. it's a problem that doesn't always happen, but let's say one time in ten using this gig. What can it be caused by? How can I make sure it doesn't happen again? Thank you
great!!
Hi brother Praise to the Lord
I am using mainstage for rythem pads SPD 30 and I am making some patches in battery and some times my page is suddenly quitting and some times hanging could you tell me why how to lighten the weight
Check out our videos on MainStage CPU usage here on the channel :)
I've mistakenly resized the main workspace and I cannot view the left hand side tones...
Can you pls help me ?
Reach out to our customer support team, and they'll help you out. sundaysounds.com/contact.
Any idea of how to change the resolution on monterey?
The optiin is not tbere. I run 12.2.1
I cannot change the resolution of the mainstage. Any one knows why?
Also, when i am using alchemy it looses it's quality. The sound is very distorted(only of the alchemy sounds)
Good info, wondering if i use alias for patches in a set, instead of having a long list of patches,when I import a patch will it work or do i need to load that software instrument again?
Hi and thank you for the video! I have a question about mainstage 3.4.3. I have a project with 4 different patches, and in each patch I have loaded multiple audio files (.wav). I consolidated the project with all the audio files copied inside the project. But, randomly, when I open the project audio files are mixed up in the wrong channel strip. Could you help me to fix this? Is this a bug of the 3.4.3?
Lots of great advice! Excellent video. Since I'm still in the research phase, I'm wondering if you recommend MainStage with Arturia KeyLab 61 Essential? Can I make the faders and knobs interact with MainStage, so I don't have to do a lot of clicking on my Mac while performing? Thanks
Yes, I have the Keylab 88 and it works perfectly with MainStage.
@@joshuamartin38 Great! Thanks for the info 😊
Thanks for this David! Do you have any advice for optimizing 3rd party plugins that cause pops and clicks when added to your templates? When we swap out your sampled piano and add Native instruments Alicia's keys or some Arturia piano V2 plugs to your concerts, it usually chokes!
First try to increase the buffer size.
How can I use NI on MainStage?
Me watch is this after I updated Mainstage and the memory is like “🚀”
Hi David, I'm using Main Stage and MIDI key only outputs a certain note (E3) as sustain sound. Is this Main Stage problem? or MIDI in general?
Hi, this sounds like it could be a bad cable, some midi to usb cables have been reported to do this.
im confuse, because when i set sample rate to 192khz the latency is lower than 44khz😵
Increasing the sample rate will do that - but it will also require much more CPU resources so not recommended for live performance as you really aren't going to notice the better audio quality in a full mix. Increasing the buffer size will increase the latency, but give you better CPU performance.
Hi, David. Please answer, Do you need an expensive electric guitar to connect to the main stage in order to extract high-quality sound through plug-ins and inserts? Thanks a lot!
Hi; after your videos I decided to try out Mainstage; selling my Kronos, Triton, Kurzweils, Hammond Clone etc… I‘ve tried Mainstage;
BUT may be anyone can help here:
I created a main concert;
I created different Sets (As a Kind of Album folder),
I created within the Sets the patches (like songs); Using a lot of the Vintage B3 Plugin;
It doen‘t save my drawbar setting per Song/Patch;
I saved within the actual plugin, saved as a patch, saved Mainstage global.
After restart MS, the Patch /Song I choose does not saved my drawbar setting, and Settings for Percussion and sus pdl to toggle; got to reload the Patch/User within the b3 plugin… Why??Thank you so much; Jerome Switzerland
I have the same problem, sometimes it worked when I saved my preferences inside the plug-in settings, maybe you did it already