Mainstage 2 - Adding a backing track - Part 1 of 3

[danielito6914]

Yo quiero utiliizarlo como consola para cantar en vivo con un mic y pistas para los show , alguien me puede ayudar???

[Maumusica]

this is not a program to make music, dont get it wrong... u can make music with your hands only or singing if you want to... THIS IS JUST A TOOL, to be used by musicians, is not suppoused to replace the musical experience, just to make certain things easier and faster... if humanity were ruled by that way of thinking, we wouldn even have electricity right now, because its too complicated... come on!

[mindstormsabrewin]

Just get a guitar and an AMP! All this technology has made making music torture. Nothing works. It's all a LIE sold to us by the geeks that make software to trap creative people in their web and FORCE us creatives to think like robots. The problem with all this software is that it's designed by guys who live in computer labs. I am at the end of my patience with all this. It's been YEARS of trying systems that just DON'T WORK!!! Computers have killed my desire to create music. Thanks nerds!

[JasTheMusicman]

@mindstormsabrewin LOL, a well-stated alternative and a good point :)

[mindstormsabrewin]

@JasTheMusicman Sorry to rant like that but making music is supposed to be fun. Anything that comes with a 1000 page manual is over complicated. It should be designed like a video game. Games are incredibly complex pieces of software, but the intended user is not required to be a "computer person" in order to play and enjoy. You learn the game as you go along in a virtual environment. Those that write music software can learn a lot from game creators. Just my (limited) opinion.

[JasTheMusicman]

@mindstormsabrewin No worries at all man, you have a perfectly good and valid opinion and I'm glad you contributed!

Many people have worked long and hard to figure out this stuff. It's still in it's early stages and definitely needs to get better, no question about that.

Well said!

[ToneSpacer]

I have spent Tens and hours trying to get new FCB1010 to switch on/off guitar effects in MainStage 2. Have copied your demos on youtube. No success.

Would it be possible for you to share a screenshot of Matrix view iFCB settings for this?

Just installed UNO chip, no success. Then came across one of your posts about it not being as compatible with MainStage as Factory FCB chip.

Just wanting to play my guitar again and get past all this configuring and setup.

[JasTheMusicman]

@ToneSpacer Hey, sorry for the delay...just getting caught up during the holidays! Did you get this problem fixed? If not, let me know and I'll work it out with you.

[ratheepanraj]

Hey dude - I love this video. I am actually dabbling into Main stage for this exact purpose ! Now can you please extend this video tutorial to show can we setup a concert to have more than ONE backing track ? How do we set this up accordingly in the layout view ?? Also Im going to be drumming ..so i guess I can add controls to the Drum template that comes from Mainstage ?

[JasTheMusicman]

@ratheepanraj Thanks, I'm glad the video helped! Great suggestion on extending the series - ok, will cover that. Yeah, if you're doing MIDI drumming you can use the pad trigger control from the Palette in Layout mode or use the template and modify to your needs.

[JamesM608]

Great Video Jas, It has inspired me to upgrade to the latest version of Logic and buy a FCB1010. Can you explain how you get the FCB1010 to talk with mainstage? The portion of the video where you select the learn button and press the footpedal on the fcb1010 and mainstage maps it automatically, this is the part I can't get to work, please help :)

[JasTheMusicman]

@JamesM608 Awesome, glad you're inspired - that will take you far! :)

Sure, if that part isn't working then it sounds like your Mac hasn't recognized the FCB1010 as a MIDI device yet. Could just be connections.

Could you please tell me what equipment you're using and how you're connecting up the FCB. i.e. to what interface and where are the cables going. I'm sure we can figure it out and help you get going.

[bdemon1]

This is the only tutorial on dealing with backing tracks & Mainstage 2 that I can find--and it's a good one at that. Thanks! My question...how do you set up a bunch of songs for a gig? Do I have to make a different "set" for each song? I've done that, but then when I go to perform mode I can only work with that one song...I have to go to "edit" to select another song then back to perform mode again--not a very smooth way to change from song to song. Ideas?

[JasTheMusicman]

@bdemon1 Thanks! There are a couple of ways to approach the song/set thing...if you have a number of different patches for a specific song then I'd suggest you map a set to a song and have the different sounds set up as pattches/presets within the set. This is also important if you're using backing tracks since you can put the backing track at the set level and it will continue to play as you switch patches. If you put the backing track on the patch, it will stop when you go the next patch.

[JasTheMusicman]

@bdemon1 As for patch selection in Perform Mode, you need to use a midi controller and map switches to the patch up/down buttons, that way you can be in full screen perform mode and just step or press your switch/key to navigate through patches and sets. Hope that helps, feel free to drop me a note if it's still not clear.

[AshleyCowanMusic]

I am still the deer in the headlights with Logic and Mainstage! :)

[tjmpiano]

I must tell you... I was feeling overwhelmed by Logic and Mainstage until I came across YOUR EXCELLENT videos..All the books and pdfs and even paid for tutorials left me a deer in the headlight look... It is one thing to know this stuff... but entirely another for being able to show the way...

Thank you Jaz...

[JasTheMusicman]

@tjmpiano Hey Tom, thank you so much for taking out the time to comment, it's much appreciated! I'm glad I could help you. I'll definitely do some more :) Meanwhile, feel free to drop me a line if you need any help or have any questions that your stuck on. All the best till next time!

Jas

[mrtechno2u]

hey jasthemusicman,i use logic for creating electronic music and i was wondering if it was possible to play live using mainstages backing tracks section,not using keyboard etc etc,just having my tracks laid out on each channel somehow,(eg)kick on 1,clap on 2,synth on 3 etc etc.........would love to be able to find out,thanks

[JasTheMusicman]

Hey techno.

Cool idea and yes, for sure you can do that. There's a number of ways to do it depending on your needs and how you want to interface. There are a couple of templates that might be good starters for you. Theres one under Drums that has a template that includes pad controls that you could map to your samples, the other is in Mixers and has a mixer-type layout for backing tracks. I'd suggest playing around with those and also add other controls as you need them.

[mrtechno2u]

@JasTheMusicman thanks so much jas,if u were ever to do a video on this subject let me know! thanks again,

sean

[JasTheMusicman]

The other thing to think about is if you're using samples to use the EXS24 instrument in Mainstage instead of the Playback plug-in. Try both and see what works best for you.

Let me know how it goes!

[femerolo]

thanks again!!!, i just added you in skype, let me know when it would be a good time to give a call.Some additional information: Im using an m-audio firewire 1814, i have backing tracks in the same group a, the sync function is off, snap to marker and play from star. Im using a mac book pro 13", buffer size 128, sample rate 44

[femerolo]

Thank you very much for replying so quickly. I am not using the software metronome, i am using another audio backing track for click. I tried to used for a life performance with one of my bands, I ended up panning the click and the other backing track, and using only outpouts one and two. But the backing track with instruments sounds horrible that way!!!!! I was going try to use up to for backing tracks with markers, but i came up with this problem!

[JasTheMusicman]

No problem, happy to help!

Ok, understood, thx for the additional info.

There are a few things you need to check but first let me also mention that if you're using that many backing tracks at one time, then you should use the Group function. i.e. assign the backing tracks to the same group for them to start together. The group option is at the lower right of the Playback plug-in screen.

Other things to check are the tempo settings for the presets you're using and if ur using synch feature.

[JasTheMusicman]

Also, this one might need a Skype call/screenshare to sort out...let me know if you're on Skype and we can set something up and I can do a walk-through for you.

[femerolo]

Hello, very helpful! im using main stage for playback, using one track through the main output with markers, I tried using a click track in separate channel, through outputs 3 and 4, but the second channel gets behind!!!?????, i have not been able to fix it!!!!. Is i change the output back to main 1 and 2, the everything is sincronized!!. Any ideas???

[JasTheMusicman]

Thanks, I'm glad the videos helped you!

How are you generating the click track? Are you using Mainstage's metronome or an audio backing track?

[matkogrgas]

JasTheMusicman, thank you sir! :)

[JasTheMusicman]

Anytime!

Glad it helped :)

[JasTheMusicman]

Sure, no problem...assuming you have an interface with multiple outputs that you can dedicate one to the drummer, go into Mainstage, Preferences, General, Metronome, and set the metronome to the output you want routed to the drummer.

[randallpatrickc]

James,  do you know if you can use regular qwerty keys to map to (for example) the play buttons? I put this in an applequestion too since I see you are a regular there!

Patrick

[JasTheMusicman]

Yes, you can use the musical keyboard (CMD K) which will send note on/off using the keyboard but you will need to do the Learn (in Layout mode) with a regular keyboard to do the mapping. You can then use the typing keyboard in Edit and Perform modes.

[randallpatrickc]

Jas - this is really sparking my attention! I got L9 just to update myself from L5.5. I was planning on arranging songs in L9 then using Ableton Live to play the back live (church worship band). This MS with Playback seems so cool but not well documented (unless I'm missing something). You videos are really informative and I will be trying all this in the next few days or so. Well done! Blessings to you for being so generous.

[JasTheMusicman]

Hey Randall, congrats on getting L9! that will be a big leap up from 5.5 :)

Yeah, you're right...it's not very well documented, but I'm glad the videos helped you!

There is another way to play back tracks if it's backing tracks you're working with. It's a method that accesses iTunes from Mainstage...again not well documented and I'll be doing a video on that soon as well.

Give it a try and don't hesitate to let me know if you need any help at all...I'm happy to assist you wherever I can.

[seanpowtube]

your video has helped me alot! thanks. I'm a keyboard player who works with damian marley and Nas (rapper) and i was wondering if you could tell me how to add markers when using playback! We would love to trigger sample while the drummer gets a click track separately. i heard it was possible to go to chorus anytime during a song. any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

[FaithJunkieMusic]

@seanpowtube yo u gotta add ur markers in logic first, and when u import in mainstage they already there..then u can do ur triggering

[JasTheMusicman]

Hey Sean,

See my video series on How To Use Markers In Logic and Mainstage.

Intro + Parts 1-4.

J.

[seanpowtube]

nice wall paper!!!!!

[JasTheMusicman]

No doubt :)