An Introduction to Mainstage - The Performance Page

Whether I'm talking with worship pastors, keyboard players, or customers at Guitar Center looking to integrate a computer into their live setup I am almost always asked the following question:

"Can I use a laptop to replace a keyboard like a Yamaha Motif or a Korg Triton?"

Obviously this can lead to a lengthy discussion but the short answer is YES! There are many ways to accomplish this but by far the best and most streamlined way to do this is with Apple's Mainstage. Mainstage is part of the Logic Pro suite which sells for $499.99 and is bundled with everything you need to create a professional product both live and in the recording studio. In all it installs over 50GB of data which includes loops, effects, software synths, and yes Mainstage among other programs! So how can Mainstage turn your laptop into a keyboard? Lets take a look!

A Glance At Performance Mode

Click the image above to see a full sized picture

This is a screen shot of the keyboard template that comes in Mainstage and really helps you visualize how it organizes sounds and can be viewed as a keyboard running on your computer. The column on the left is a list of all the different sounds you can play and in the main section you have a keyboard with controls for the current sound you have selected. When you have a MIDI controller attached to your computer it can play the sounds and you see the on screen keyboard keys light up to tell you it is receiving a signal from your keyboard. Many MIDI controllers have extra knobs, sliders, and pads on them as well which can be easily assigned to control anything you see on the screen. For example there is a Reverb knob on this screen so if you assigned it to a knob on your MIDI controller you could just reach up to your keyboard and adjust the Reverb level for that sound without having to touch the computer! Another example would be to assign a button on your controller to move to the next sound on the list when you press it and assign another button nearby to go back! Mainstage makes is incredibly easy to make these types of assignments which is one reason I enjoy using it so much. I spend less time getting over a learning curve and more time playing music.

This is just a taste of Mainstage so look for my next segment where I'll take a look at the Edit Page and talk about the components that make up what you see on the Performance Page!

Related Posts:
Behind the Scenes of Mainstage - The Edit Page
Customizing Your Design in Mainstage - The Layout Page