Apple MainStage in a live musical theatre performance

[@andybrown9663]

Check out my new MainStage video on creating backing tracks from karaoke tracks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIalXqN9jryYY8U

[@davideaton3275]

I just wanted to say thanks for this video. It's been absolutely invaluable for creating my own setup for pantomime and it really is the only one of its kind (dealing specifically with MT) on KZbin. Nice one - honestly couldn't have done it without you.

[@ilnonnogigi]

I wished that this video would never end. I'm excited! I have no words. You're great!

[@bobwalton9298]

I have referred to this video many times - thank you for being so clear in showing and explaining. Much appreciated.

[@T4Cification]

Been a logic pro x user for some time now but just got this mainstage. It's very impressive what this can do for the price it cost. It's a great platform to fire up for composing and working out ideas wihtout having to start up Logic X. The set and patch set ups are great areas to experiment an load up quickly..seems endless the possibilities.

[@jayesshague]

This is amazing. Thank you for the walk through!

[@johnathanshuey7776]

I've been doing tracks for shows since 1994. Some of the licensing companies are renting tracks for their shows. The contract the theatre signs says no use of recording, computer sequencing, etc. in the agreement. Some of those companies have spot checkers show up at performances to see if you are in compliance with the contract. If not, they can warn you, fine you, or even ban you from renting future shows. The theatre is responsible and not the musician. My feeling is as long as you're paying the proper rights, you should be able to produce the best production possible with the talent around you. What are your thoughts? You did a fantastic job!!!

[@surferrosa1605]

Legend :) Thanks for taking the time to go through this and upload it on You Tube it's been very helpful!

[@MajorJamesWand]

Brilliant tutorial.. Very clear & a great way to tun a show!

[@pianoproductions9059]

Great video Andy!

[@andybrown9663]

Thanks!

[@laurenznitert2623]

Wow. Good video. I'm gonna be watching this a few extra times. Thanks a lot!

[@sandyande]

Brilliant information many thanks Sandy

[@WimJanin]

Very thorough explanation, very informative! Great job!

[@WilliamAsherMusic]

Hello, Andy. I'm reading your previous comment about vamps, fermatas, and tempo changes. I understand it all except the vamps. Would you PLEASE be able to do a video tutorial on it, I would LOVE to see this in action. It will make-or-break me as I switch to using MainStage for my next theatre performance. If you can't do a video tutorial, perhaps just a really in depth step-by-step article? Many thanks.

[@Jamie_kemp]

I've heard of people having the click a quarter tone out of tune so it doesn't blend in with any instruments

[@ianbrown1]

This video is brilliant! So clear! Is there any way this templates available?

[@andrewrwhitfield]

Awesome video. Thank you. Is it possible to automatically change patches based on song position? So instead of physically navigating the patches. The song marker (or something) changes the patch (instrument sound) for you? Thanks.

[@MokHoiHim]

This video is very useful!! But wanna ask how do you deal with Vamps? And different backing tracks in one song?

[@accentontheoff]

Hi. How do you go from the computer to the audio set up at the venue. Thanks.

[@MichaelMoore-nx5ue]

I have had a few of my samples, when brought into MainStage: sound heaven effected as if washed in reverb ? Has anything like that happed to you ?

[@andybrown9663]

Several of you have asked about vamps, fermatas, tempo changes. I had to prerecord the tempo changes in Logic as MainStage doesn't handle tempo change information. So, any tempo changes would have to be decided well ahead of time and burned in. For vamps, you can set up markers in Logic or Mainstage and have those markers loop until you decide you want to go on (or jump to any marker you wish). You can set it to jump to the next marker immediately or at the end of the bar or current marker. For fermatas, I did this at several points during "The Wiz" by breaking the song into multiple sets. I could hit the "next set" button and have it automatically start the track (or a very short count in)

[@steevidrums]

I have a question that I am finding hard to get answers for. Basically as MainStage doesn't handle tempo changes, one of the songs we play in the band has a Rall at the end and this causes MainStage to take a very long time to open when using this song in a concert. I converted the song audios to Wavs for this song only and it opens quickly now. But I have lost all the markers, which was a nice feature. Is that the only way? Or can I get the tempo markers removed from the Aiff files making open quicker but keeping the markers, or are they all part of the same info encoded into the Aiff?

[@andybrown9663]

You need to export AIFF from Logic to keep the markers because the WAV files do not contain that information. I've not seen MainStage take a long time to open files with tempo change information... it just ignores the tempo changes. You might diagnose a bit in MainStage if it is just that file (make a new MainStage project with just a playback control using that file) or something else.

[@steevidrums]

+Andy Brown actually I've since discovered you can actually add markers to WAVs in the playback plug in (above the tape simulation graphic)! I chose the click track to add it as it is clear to see where the bars start. After that it it performs fine, no massive opening times. I've also realised the problem was because I drew in the Rall at the end. If it did it in 8th note steps it would feel the same and not write hundreds of tempo markers.

[@ChrisDuquez]

Hi Andy! I was looking at your video for some help for putting together backing track for a band I'm currently about to tour with. Your video was very helpful in getting started with mainstage. I was wondering what you mean by having the tempo change information "burned in" ? Do i only make sure the play backs are in the same group and all the tempos will just line up? Or do i need to sync? Cause i know if i have to sync to tempo, i can only pick one tempo in mainstage. I was wondering if you could elaborate on this more? Please :D

[@steevidrums]

I can help you there. Yes, per song (set up as patches) all the audio stems on the same group (within the playback plug in on MainStage) You have to have all the stems bounced from the same point (the start) because. So when exporting regions in Logic, make sure they are all joined to the top of the song (even if nothing happens until the end on that region) it will play like it does in your Logic project. The sync function is if you want to be able adjust the tempo. If you get the tempo right in the Logic project, this shouldn't be a concern. The tempo and marker information is encoded into AIFF formats, maybe Caf too I don't know. The markers are very helpful for looping a section or for rehearsals, perhaps even missing out an intro for a shorter live arrangement or something. But if you have several tempos in a song, (or thousands if you have drawn in a tempo access/decel curve in the global track... I wouldn't ever do this, MainStage takes AGES to deal with this amount of tempo markers) I would like to mention about groups. Depending on how many stems totally you have in a concert, it could be 2 in one song. 8 in a few others, I am not sure what the total is, when you get to a certain point, you will need to change the playback group. Mainstay will warn you to change playback group... but will fall short of telling you why!

[@MusicManMN]

I apologize in advance if this has already been asked, but can you please tell me how you load a drum track from logic to play along through the instrument you've chosen as shown in your video, I only see you're triggering the click and background track ... I don't understand 'what' is being assigned to the drum sound nor how it knows what to play without a midi file sending it data ... I promise, I'm not a complete idiot ... I've been tested :) BTW ... 10 years old or not, this video is AWESOME ... I learned so much, you're amazing!

[@logicpromidihub1966]

Really nice video! I have a question.. how has your experience been using MainStage live? Any major issues? Any advice for potential MainStage users out there?

[@dorteneugebauer1351]

Hi, as a guitarist you miss a multifile player which everyone on the concert level Playbacks with MIDI controller operation can play. The player is available as a third-party plugin. (midi-audio-liveplayer.com) The volume of each of the 128 playbacks can be adjusted separately. Videos and MIDI files can also be played for other control tasks. Greeting

[@joshedwardsOTR]

How did you set up your tempo automation to have decimals in the tempo? When I try to do it it only allows whole values.

[@ultrasoundconcept]

That's really Amazing.

[@TuGinecologo]

hi, nice video, how do you sync the tempo change? what if you have a song with multiple time signature changes? how would you do that?

[@brianmason9803]

I have a very simple question but can't find the answer. Can I run Mainstage on my Ipad Pro, (O.S 16.5) without needing to install another piece of DAW software? I just want midi in with vst sounds out.

[@andybrown9663]

hi @brianmason9803. No, MainStage only runs on OSX, not iOS.

[@wesheriveaux9325]

Hello Andy, I love the tutorial. Quick question, is there anyway you can do a video on how you have this set up? the metronome coming out of the headphone,, mixers, etc for the musicians. I am trying to set my musician section up so that we can communicate better and the metronome as well

[@andybrown9663]

Hi Wes. Thanks! I don't have time to make a video, but I'm happy to explain that. At 13:42 in the video I show briefly how to attach various channels in mainstage to various channels of your audio interface. Your audio interface would be connected to some kind of mixer/headphone amp for your musicians. In the video (18:25) I was using a "jamhub", but you can use any kind of mixer/headphone amp. I'm currently using a Presonus RML32AI rackmount mixer, which gives each musician control over their own mix via their smartphone. And I use a talkback mic now as well, so I can give audible cues direct to the musician's headphones without anyone else hearing.

[@wesheriveaux9325]

Thanks so much Andy, I did notice that.

[@jwalkproduction2375]

Very helpful and impressive!

[@chrisking8379]

I wanted to ask a question regarding the onscreen volume meter - how do I get it display a range of 0-20 rather than 0-127?

[@WADFOU]

Hello i want a driver or file that allows me to control logic 10 with may axiom49 mk2 help me please

[@DallasKruse]

this is a great video. Question: does the Axiom come with software where you can edit its internal Midi Parameters (not unlike "Enigma" used to be for M-Audio controllers)? Also... how CPU/RAM intensive is this Project? Would you mind giving us the specs on your MacBook Pro? (RAM, CPU, etc).

[@andybrown9663]

Axiom does have the ability to edit internal parameters, but it's not intuitive. Hopefully most things you'd need to edit you could do in Mainstage itself and save yourself the hassle. It's a MacBook Air, 2 GHz i7, 8 GB ram only! I'm surprised it worked so well, honestly!

[@martinocando3072]

You just opened my mind to do so many more things. MainStage never ceases to impress me. For $30 we get a whole lot more that we bargained for. And with free updates to boot. I see you use the Playback plugin heavily. I'm having an issue that if I trigger a loop, and I'm holding a chord, the chord gets muted, and I need to re-play it. Is there a way to avoid that? Thanks for the tutorial. I wish it was longer and even more detailed. Outstanding work.

[@andybrown9663]

I've not experienced that issue. You're right, I use the playback plugin a lot... that's how I can trigger and sync backing tracks. I've never seen it choke when I'm playing something on the keys at the same time. That sounds like an audio hardware issue, or possibly memory or hard drive speed. You might check Mainstage's CPU/RAM monitor, or even OSX's activity monitor and see if something maxes out when that occurs. I run Mainstage from a 6 year old MacBook air so I know it doesn't need much power!

[@martinocando3072]

Actually the one that chokes is the KORG WAVESTATION strings sound that I'm holding when triggering the sample. I can't remember if it happened when I was using that same sound, but sampled on the ESX24, so it might be something to do with the Wavestation plugin. Definitively not hardware related, I'm using a maxed out 2016 15 in MBP, and CPU use is very low, since I'm using a lot of sampled instruments. I discovered that instead of using a Kontakt instrument, for example, if it doesn't have too many articulations, or is kind of a basic sound, is much to better sample it with Auto-sampler, and it reduces the memory and cpu consumption to the minimum. But I still have some sounds with the original plugins, being the Wavestation one of them for some sounds.

[@MeikolMusic]

Great video! Question: is this method also effective in a show full of fermates and vamps? I'm doing Legally Blonde and you've inspired me to make backing tracks for my band, but is there any way of making your click track repeat certain bars on cue (vamps) and pause at certain counts, to continue on cue?

[@musicjazzvez]

Thank you for sharing, is posible to do the same thing with GarageBand and Sibelius? Any ideas? Thank you!

[@graceandpeacecos]

Well, you could record tracks, including click and backing tracks, and play them back in GarageBand (or Logic) but you wouldn't have the control to start/stop/loop, etc. You'd be essentially loading a new file for each song and starting/stopping playback in GarageBand. I believe Sibelius is more for engraving/writing, not a sequencer.

[@musicjazzvez]

Andy Brown thank you for responding. I forgot to mention I do have main stage too, so with is still posible? Or I do have to get logic? Thank again!

[@graceandpeacecos]

You don't need Logic. Any sequencer (like Garage Band) could create the click and backing tracks for you.

[@rmcbeats2]

Hey andy so the macbook air is compatible with this program ?

[@mightygangstamcoc4699]

Thanks for the tutorial vids, it opened up my mind. Appreciate it :)

[@guyardon]

Great video Andy!! You mentioned a sort of "metronome backing track" that the band members hear in their headphones. Can you explain how you set MainStage so the metronome comes only out of the headphone output and not out of the main outputs. Also, is there a way for the drummer to start the metronome as he starts playing so that the prerecorded background tracks are synced with the rest of the band?

[@andybrown9663]

Hi Guy, The click track and the backing tracks are 2 different playback tracks that were set to different outputs (around 13:12 and 13:55 I demonstrate quickly). You need to have an external audio device capable of multiple stereo channels to be able to do this. The drummer or the keyboardist could trigger the "start" event for the track. Any midi input could be used, once you "assign" MainStage to listen for it.

[@guyardon]

Andy Brown Very useful! Thank you, I will use this with my band.

[@jay666er]

+Andy Brown can you elaborate on this? I'm struggling to do exactly this. I have a Tascam audio interface and an old 16 channel mixing board.

[@andybrown9663]

+jay666er Your Tascam interface needs to have more than 1 stereo output. Assuming it does, you would route those channels in MainStage to output to the channels you desire. This is at 13:50 on the video. Click on the output for each channel strip and route them however you desire.

[@jay666er]

When I click on the Output of each channel strip in MainStage, my only options are Main or 3-4.

[@hollinsheadfamily2377]

How do you get it to play the bells

[@andybrown9663]

I used the built-in orchestral bells in Logic

[@ua1439]

Very helpful. Thanks for sharing. I'd like to ask about the "using a keyboard for the drums thing". It seems this is the only way to hook up an electronic drum set to control sounds in Mainstage. Is that correct?

[@andybrown9663]

That's correct. Each new midi instrument (keyboard, drums, etc) would need a new keyboard/midi input in your layout

[@paulsp80]

you can just use the midi activity monitor button instead if you want to save some space on the layout.

[@ua1439]

Thanks, very helpful

[@joshuagreen3531]

Hi Andy, I came across your video as I am hoping to get back into Mainstage - after a few years away - as I will be Musical Director for my school's production of... The Wiz. I will be in a similar situation as you since we are light on several of the instruments required. It's great to see you have the patch for both keyboards and drums together since I was thinking this but looking to place more of the orchestral percussion patches there instead of kit - again, lacking those instrument as well. What would it take to get copies of your Logic and Mainstage files for The Wiz?

[@andybrown9663]

Hey Joshua. As I understand it, it is not legal to share these files I created off the copyrighted material.

[@joshuagreen3531]

Hi @@andybrown9663, I hear you. As my school is in the process of procuring the show license from Samuel French, I will have the same full rights. Since I am a teacher at an International School, we have the added educational buffer which provides a little more copywrite wiggle room. By sharing your files, it would provide me and my students with a much bigger leg up on this process. If you're willing to speak in more detail, please shoot me an email at [e-mail] Cheers

[@grahamcmusic]

Thank you Very helpful 🎶

[@presto1122]

Great video! My question is how do you set it up so the text box changes for each patch or set?

[@andybrown9663]

Thanks Jonathan! It's easy. In "Layout" mode, add a text box where you want it to appear. Then in "Edit" mode, select the patch or set that you want to change the text on. Then click the text box and enter your new text in window below it. You might need to check the "override" button if you want to change text between the set and the patch, or if you apply some text at the concert level. Hope that helps!

[@gobrad]

Hi Andy are you still here

[@vicmena01]

Dude.... one word..... Wow....!

[@Normanjazz1]

Andy: I watched your video and curiously I am a musical director/ pianist for musical theater, and I was wondering if there is a way to control the tempo of tracks whether it's backing tracks or click tracks in real time by tap tempo in live performance? I'm talking about starting the tracks at my wanted tempo by tapping that tempo and it follows my nuance. So that will be the tempo that it automatically plays at, and if I need to make a tempo adjustment on the fly like say there is a place in the score where the tempo has a ritardando, I can just start tapping in the ritardando, and the tracks will slow down with me and the stays at the tempo that I slow it down to until if I make another adjustment in the song. I'm most typically interested in using something like that in kids productions in which you should be more tempo sensitive due to the age group. Also, if something happens like if a singer doesn't come in on the right time or even at the right measure would there be away to do something on the fly like jumping some beats either forward or backwards plus adding some extra beats, or looping? What would you do? I do understand that Mainstage has these features. However I don't have Mainstage 3 or 2. I only have Mainstage 1 that came with my current version of Logic Studio 8 in which I purchased back in 2008. Also, based on what I am describing about the real time tap tempo control to control the click tracks, or I guess I should say any tracks to use for myself and some other rhythm section musicians, would I be able to assign them to be controlled by foot pedal for when my hands are not free? If so, is Mainstage 1 good enough to do everything that I would want it to be doing, or do I have to upgrade?

[@andybrown9663]

Hi Normanjazz1, You can control the playback tempo but I've not had good experience doing that live, especially in a ritardando. I've used it more to lock in arpeggiators to a tempo that is being set by a drummer. That works well. Trying to do something like a rit with the tap tempo function is a bit outside of what that is designed for and I wouldn't trust it. (support.apple.com/kb/PH13659?locale=en_US). You can set up markers in your pre-recorded audio files (I do this in Logic) and have MainStage loop those sections until getting a trigger (pressing a certain drum pad on the keyboard, for example) to advance to the next section. This is useful for vamps and fermatas where you need to wait for a certain action/line on stage. Sometimes I also break a song up into multiple songs for this same reason. You could advance forward or backward to any marker, useful also for rehearsals where you want to start at a certain section. I generally burn my tempos into Logic, including any ritaradandos, and the click tracks. MainStage ignores tempo change information so I have to provide a click track straight from Logic and not use Mainstage's concert tempo settings. MainStage 1 had most of these features, so I'm not sure upgrading is necessary!

[@robertramaker]

Nice Video. I want to try it for a musical performance. But I don't get the part where you have Mainstage loop a section and waits for a trigger. It would be nice to have mainstage play a song until the vamp measure and repeat the vamp until the trigger. But I don't see how. Can you help me out?

[@andybrown9663]

Hi Robert. In the playback control you would turn on looping, which would repeat between the adjacent markers until you give it a trigger to go to the next marker. You'd have to set markers in Logic on the bars you'd want to loop... i.e. a "vamp start" marker and a "vamp end" marker. Alternatively, you could also split a song into multiple parts (using multiple sets in MainStage) so you've got a vamp set that automatically starts the playback when the set entered and loops the playback.

[@beccajune6469]

I am choosing a MacBook Pro in hopes of this type of setup; what specs would you recommend? Also, you may have answered this already, but how does your sound card handle 8 outputs? Thank you! Very talented and admirable work.

[@andybrown9663]

Hi Becca. I used a MacBook Air without any hiccups, so it doesn't require much to pull this off. But it does require a good sound card. You'll have to buy one of those. I used an old Edirol FA-101, but anything with multiple outputs will work.

[@joewilliams5396]

Thanks for that it was very good

[@angusbabb4913]

Excellent!

[@JMANORminor]

Hey Andy! Do you still have these sessions saved? If so, would you be willing to sell The WIZ sessions? Thanks..

[@andybrown9663]

Hey +Jermaine Manor. I'm fairly certain that I'd be violating copyright by selling it or even sharing the files for free. I suppose if you licensed the show you could hire me to record the orchestrations (which I still have) which I could send to you.

[@Jeremiah2004S]

Do you do any freelance work? I am producing a musical next Summer and wanted a full orchestral sound and was thinking of pre recording everything. Would you be interested in something like this?

[@andybrown9663]

I might be... depending on my schedule. What do you have in mind?

[@icewoz]

Andy, do you still follow this page? I'm trying to do the same thing and have some questions for you.

[@andybrown9663]

Hi Steve. I do!

[@icewoz]

@@andybrown9663 how do you handle vamps, holds, stops with Logic/MS in a musical?

[@andybrown9663]

@@icewoz I've pinned a comment to this channel that might be helpful. For a vamp, you want to place markers in Logic on the start/stop measures of the vamp and when importing into MainStage set it up to loop between markers and then jump at the end of the current marker (when you press a button that you assign to do that function). For stops, it might be easiest to start a new set (with auto-start on set change) that picks up the next beat. For holds, you could pre-record a hold much longer than you'd need and set a marker where it resumes again, or start a new set like the stop.

[@kainejoyes2981]

Excellent thank you

[@Ourfrienddave]

Carlsberg don't do Mainstage walk throughs, but if they did, they'd probably look like this.

[@0eneus]

What Soundcard/Audio interface are you using?

[@andybrown9663]

It's a Edirol FA-101, a few years old, with a firewire interface that I plug into the thunderbolt port using an adapter. It has 8 inputs and 8 outputs, which was enough to provide 4 stereo channels for keys, drums, backing track, and click

[@Normanjazz1]

I also forgot to ask if There isn't a way for the program to do what I am asking about, are there any programs or units out there that can do all the things that I wanting to be able to do tempo wise and the other things I had asked about?

[@andybrown9663]

The only thing I'm aware of out there in the musical theater world that is similar is Sinfonia (www.rms.biz/products/sinfonia/). I'm not a fan of their virtual instruments so I've never used that system personally, but it does have an interesting constant tap tempo feature.

[@jtlazarus]

Sinfonia rep here. While I stand behind our sounds (it's been used all over the world in the highest professional contexts: West End, Cirque du Soleil, multiple National tours), judging it by sound alone is really missing the point. What makes Sinfonia special is its unique ability to integrate with and respond to live performance. If you want 'tracks,' I agree: Sinfonia won't compete with the sound of good band or orchestra properly recorded. But when you go that route, you lose all capacity to ebb and flow with the live performance or react seamlessly to typical live performance circumstances. People who use Sinfonia generally do so because they want that flexibility. That and because it's very easy to integrate with a smaller band. When it's used to enhance a smaller band (the way it was designed), Sinfonia fools the vast majority of listeners. Having said that, a coming version will allow users to take advantage of their own virtual instruments, if they prefer theirs to ours. Sound after all is very subjective.

[@guitarramaster1]

Nice, thanks :)

[@jwalkproduction2375]

All from a mac book air lol wow!

[@jacobmorgenstein6788]

Stop speaking so close to my ears !!!

[@praestant8]

It’s hard to find string players?? This is just pre sequencing and producing a track for a show, this is nothing new, and unless rights were given to do this for the show is quite illegal.

[@andybrown9663]

It was hard to find string players in East Africa. I hadn't realized it was illegal to sequence and supplement instruments. Really?

[@jwilsonface]

Andy Brown it's not, as you've bought the rights for the band to play live. Most local and even professional orchestras use a keyboard interface like this to supplement the orchestra! I think the confusion is that; it is illegal to create and use full tracks (with no band) without permission or buying rights to do so. So no worries on both ends. Cheers mates!