Mainstage 2 - Adding a backing track - Part 3 of 3

[joegrant413]

Thanks much, bro! A couple of comments -- it would be wonderful if your templates would available for downloads. Also, I have both Ableton Live (lite) and MainStage 2, so I'm kinda' torn between which one I really want to focus on for practicing guitar and bass.

[JasTheMusicman]

@joegrant413 Yeah, good point on the downloads...I'll try to make them available. Good question on Ableton Live (Lite) vs Mainstage 2. Both products are good and either way will work as you know, so it's somewhat down to personal preference but personally I find it easier to do guitar and bass in Mainstage, especially for practice. For Live, I just might choose "Live!" ;) MS has been known to have some stability challenges which could be real bad in a Live gig as you know.

[joegrant413]

@JasTheMusicman Thx for the reply! My gut says I won't really know MS's value until I get past the learning curve on Layouts (which is why I asked for templates.) For tossing up audio, MIDI, live recordings, playing together or individually at will on-the-fly, you still can't beat Live.

[JasTheMusicman]

@joegrant413 Anytime man! You're right, once you can do the Layout and assign MIDI controls and plug-in functions, you'll understand it. Feel free to flip me a note anytime if you need help. Meanwhile, I'll look at posting up for d/load.

[Elephantelep]

Thank you so much for this tutorial, it helped me out a lot!

I still don't hear any sound after doing all this though. How do i fix this?

[JasTheMusicman]

@Elephantelep No problem, sorry for the delay...did you get this fixed? I'm guessing you had to turn up the volume on the Master channel strip.

[Elephantelep]

@JasTheMusicman Yes this was the problem but thank you for the response anyway. Do you know of a way to map a piano pedal through midi to a note, such as a drum? It doesn't seem to allow it, but I haven't had any more luck with an application such as MidiPipe either. Let me know if you are familiar with this. Thanks again!

[JasTheMusicman]

@Elephantelep What's the make/model of the piano pedal?  You need to make sure it's not analogue and is capable of MIDI support.

[Elephantelep]

@JasTheMusicman Yes it is midi supported and i have successfully mapped it to other functions such as a play/pause button, but using a drum pad layout does not work. I guess I could work around it by using a prerecorded track and using a play/pause button...

[Elephantelep]

@JasTheMusicman Thanks so much. Yes this was the problem. I have another problem that i still haven't figured out which is how to assign a midi damper pedal to the bass drum. MainStage seems to not allow me to assign it. Maybe I should use MidiPipe for this instead?

[clswall]

Thank you. So helpful!

[JasTheMusicman]

@clswall Thanx for taking out the time to comment...much appreciated and glad it helped! Just msg me if I can help in the future :)

[LALOCHAMORRO]

thanks 4 your time and answer, ok i have the multitrack session of the songs that they were recorded for the studio album of the performer, in our road tour sometimes we don't have the complete musical assembly that we have on the record so I at the moment use the nDigital Performer to shot at live the multitracj session following the instruments that we don't have on the stage, i have 2 computers one for DP and the other for main stage and i think that i can do everything with mainstage can i?

[JasTheMusicman]

@LALOCHAMORRO Ok understood. Yes, Mainstage will work well for that. You can either create multiple presets with one backing track each or one preset with multiple backing tracks by using the Playback plug-in. The playback tracks can be grouped together so that when you trigger one, they all trigger at the same time.

Mainstage also has an 8 track mixer pre-built template layout that might be able to use/modify.

[LALOCHAMORRO]

Hi well mm i'm from Mexico city and i have a question, im in a professional road with a singer so in the road sometimes we need to sequence some strings or some kbd and stuff so we need like a multitrack session. Can i do that with the main satge??? thanks 4 your time and excelent tutorials

[JasTheMusicman]

@LALOCHAMORRO If you have pre-recorded MIDI sequences, no Mainstage won't do that since it can't play back MIDI files/tracks, only audio.

You can have a software instrument with a MIDI controller (keyboard, etc) as input but this works for live playing, not pre-recorded MIDI.

There is a kinda fancy way you can do it via Logic into Mainstage using the IAC bus but that can be complex.

The better option may be Logic.

If you want to send me more details, I can help you work it out.

[onenitestandwichita]

Excellent. My only question would be how to add in the tap tempo portion of this say to map it to a foot pedal. You are most helpful. Thanx

[JasTheMusicman]

@onenitestandwichita Sure, check out my video titled "Mainstage Tutorial Tempo/Tap Tempo and FCB1010" that should help get you started.

[Maumusica]

great video man!

[JasTheMusicman]

@Maumusica Thanks!! Just drop me a line if you have any questions that I can help you with.

[ceejay642000]

great tutorial man thanks....you just told me exactly all the things I needed to know

[JasTheMusicman]

@ceejay642000 Thanks! Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.

[chriskeyz]

Thanks! Very helpful tutorial.

[JasTheMusicman]

@chriskeyz Thanks!!

[Paulfga]

I want to use mainstage 2 as a backing track payback machine for a live band. No click track is needed only stereo files or stems. Is it possible to load up a set list? Be good to know as I'm deciding to either upgrade Logic Studio or look at other options. Thanks for the great instructional Videos on using main stage Jas

[JasTheMusicman]

Yeah, Mainstage is absolutely perfect for that. You can either create Presets within a Set and load a single backing track for each song at the Preset level or you can load up a series of tracks at the Set level and they will appear on every preset. Mainstage is hierarchical so if you create a Playback at the Set level it automatically shows in every Preset within that Set.

The other way to do it is to use Logic in conjunction with Fluqe's Onstage app (only around 30 bucks), check it out.

[Paulfga]

@JasTheMusicman thanks for that, hard to imagine without MS 2 in front of me, Will it run through a whole set without prompts? Will it playback 2/3/4 tracks at a time? Checked out Fluqe its not quite it, I want no gaps between songs and the set to run on auto. Show cue systems looks the best for my needs so far. I was hoping to go with MS & Logic (as I've had Logic since 2002) but its a different approach compared to theatre based software which is more niche & complex performance wise.

[JasTheMusicman]

@Paulfga Good question. No, the Set won't run natively on auto unless you have an external MIDI sequencer sending MIDI PC commands to navigate to the next Preset, etc. Having said that, I have a video posted where I use Logic to send the MIDI commands to Mainstage to do exactly that, so it is possible - the functionality just doesn't exist as part of the native Mainstage. i.e. Mainstage has no automation so you have to use Logic together with Mainstage to do it.

[111nuthead]

Absolutely brilliant tuts !! Thank U very very much for taking time and making them . With respect . Musician

[JasTheMusicman]

Thanks much for taking the time to comment...much appreciated!

[sickwitdastix08]

great vid man!

[JasTheMusicman]

Thanx!

[sickwitdastix08]

@JasTheMusicman Naw thank you bro big help! 

[jpowell121]

This video pulled together almost everything I needed to know about MainStage. I was looking for adding backing tracks as well as learn a little more about mapping and creating screens. This video made it all "connect" for me at the same time. I am making MainStage do what I want it to do now. Thank you so much for taking the time to create and post this!

[JasTheMusicman]

Thank you so much for taking out the time to comment - I very much appreciate your feedback. I do try to explain things as best as possible and will continue to make my videos better as I go along.

Once again, thank you!

[CDFfilms]

i cant hear my backing track

[musicloverSF]

Hey bro I'm trying to control the looper start and stop from a "Ground Control" foot controller and I can't do it, it's set to midi channel 1 and it switches amp presets. but I anc't get it to control the looper or the playback. help please.

[JasTheMusicman]

Heya...if it's switching amp presets, then it suggests it's sending PC's and not CC's. The Playback and Looper controls need CC's. But I'm just guessing, do you know the exact midi message it's sending out when you press the buttons?

Also, if you don't already have it, I recommend d/loading Midi Monitor from Snoize (it's free) and will tell you exactly what messages are being send from the GC.

Just let me know and I'll be able to help you some more.

[musicloverSF]

@JasTheMusicman Thanks I'll load Midi Monitor and check. cheers.

[xenomeme]

Thanks so much for this! It helped me get the main concepts quickly.

[JasTheMusicman]

Thanks! Anytime, glad it helped :)

[ryzzup]

Thanks very much for taking the time to do this! Great stuff.

[JasTheMusicman]

No problem, thanx! :)

[dhcgirlx]

This video was EXTREMELY HELPFUL. Probably the most informative I've seen. I was attempting to use my M-Audio Keyrig 49-key keyboard to trigger playback instead of a footswitch or a pad, I mapped the play/pause, cycle, and mute buttons to 3 keys on the piano keyboard, and although they're triggering the way they're supposed to, the piano tone is still playing - which I don't want. Any tips on how to get around that?

[13happyendings]

Thanks so much this was really helpful

can you add more than one backing tracks?

[JasTheMusicman]

Yes, absolutely no problem..add as many tracks as you like and need. There's no hard limit, the only limitiation is your memory and CPU.

[TheLeonski]

@JasTheMusicman

Hey thank you heaps for your help. Just wondering...How can i have multiple backing tracks in one project without it playing all at once? I imported 2 of the Playback things but when i hit play both songs play at the same time... :( could you help me?

[JasTheMusicman]

No problem, anytime.

It sounds like you may have grouped the two backing tracks together. Check that and ungroup if you did.

If not, I'd be interested in taking a look at your concert so I can see what's going on first hand. If you want me to take a look just, send me a message and I'll be happy to check it out.

[KingdomMusic88]

This Really Help me man!! Thanks!! I've just used Logic and Never opened Mainstage!! Until Now!!!

[JasTheMusicman]

Hey Maestro, glad it helped!

Yeah, sometimes people have Mainstage for a while and don't know what it really is then they open it and their eyes are opened :)

Good luck and just message me if you need any help.

[fatorrh]

Jas, thank you so much!

It was wonderful! Before this, I used the Logic to play my samplers and virtual instruments. Now I got the right app to do that. And, thanks to you, I'm using the right way.

[JasTheMusicman]

Anytime! Glad it helped :)

Your performances will be much easier to manage now as well...good job taking advantage of what's available to you.

[bobbykayuk]

hi mate all going great now thanks for you help omly thing i canyt do is triger the start stop from fcb1010 been through you vids and cant see how you did it ?

[JasTheMusicman]

Great news!!

I'll be happy to help you on out and walk you through on Skype if you like, it's the easiest way to do it.

[mooks1oooo]

Thank you Soo Much!!!! these videos have helped me alot =D, iv got one question, its it possible to add effects, like a filter, to a backing track with the control nobs on a axium 25? thanks =]

[JasTheMusicman]

Anytime mooks!

Sure, just add the effect as an insert right after the Playback plug-in on the same channel strip or do a Send of the Playback to an Aux channel that has the filter effect on it. Then whichever method you use, go into Layout mode, create a knob for you to see the filter level and assign one of your Axiom knobs to it by doing a "Learn". Then in edit mode, assign that virtual knob to whichever filter parameter you want. Just msg me if anything isn't clear and I'll help you out.

[t3hjames]

Really great video, thanks a lot man, I shall be setting up the bands live setup with this!

[JasTheMusicman]

Great! You're on the right track for sure...I get a lot of bands saying that they'll be doing the same thing to fill out their live sound, help with the performance, etc .

I'm glad it was informative and I'm sure it will help you bring an even more enjoyable performance to your fans! :)

[Crying22Freeman]

thanks for your quick reply and sorry about the double post. gotta love youtube...

That track tempo situation might be the problem.

But what I really want is to have the metronome on so I can pick up the tempo and when I hit play I want 4 more clicks and then the playback should start.

Now it just kinda does what it wants and I never know when the playback is gonna start. Also I have more than one track for a playback. They sometimes don't start at the same time.

[JasTheMusicman]

Sure, if the count-in switch is on, you will get 4 clicks at the tempo and then it will start.

btw, did you assign them to group?

With them starting at different times, if it isn't a group problem then it could be that the lead-in's on each backing track are different and may have to be edited.

It's tough for me to know exactly what's going on without seeing it. If you can upload the concert file to a hosting site e.g. Mediafire I can download it and take a look to see what's going on.

[Crying22Freeman]

great video man. one thing I am having problems with is adding a click to a backing track. When I start a click and then wanna start the backing track I never know how many times its gonna click before it actually starts the playback. Kinda sux when you have to count in the rest of the band.

U got any ideas?

[JasTheMusicman]

Thanx!

btw, just noticed ur tag...I seem to remember Crying Freeman was an anime series, is that what the name is after or is that just random? ;)

If you click the count-in button on the transport of the playback plug-in, that will give you a count of 4 based on whatever tempo you have set. Unfortunately, you can't change the 4 count, but it will give you an accurate 1,2,3,4,Start.

[JasTheMusicman]

One other important point...the count tempo is based on the tempo information from the audio file. If your audio file has no tempo info then you'll have a problem. In that case I would suggest you drag the audio file into Logic, assign it the tempo you want, bounce it, and the use that new bounced track with the tempo information in your playback plugin.

[nimerz]

great video thanks.

[JasTheMusicman]

Thanks!

[fernandoscolletion]

Thank you for the webinar! During the video I had a idea. It would be very good to have a Playback List!! I mean to access to a list of AIF only with a botton so it could be the same patch but only new playbacks... Maybe over automation/action in Finder?

Perfect would be to assign a number to each AIF so you only need to tip for example 134 and you get the song 134 (from a previous defined list) into the patch. To much imagination? ;-)

[JasTheMusicman]

Thanks!

Good idea, I'll think about how to do that.