what equipment

i have just bought a macbook pro 4gb and want to use main stage 2 live.

i want to use the audio and midi files i recorded in logic as a backing track live but do i need to buy and external box or something to plug everything into? like an apogee box??

can i use main stage 2 for computer recorded bass, drums and key board sounds?

is there a limit on the number of instruments, both audio and midi which i can play back through the main stage live? or should i buy something like abelton?

im really confused what to buy?

i have just bought a macbook pro 4gb and want to use main stage 2 live.

i want to use the audio and midi files i recorded in logic as a backing track live but do i need to buy and external box or something to plug everything into? like an apogee box??

can i use main stage 2 for computer recorded bass, drums and key board sounds?

is there a limit on the number of instruments, both audio and midi which i can play back through the main stage live? or should i buy something like abelton?

im really confused what to buy?

You quack me up!

cool, i was hoping for something a little more constructive than that.

glad you've taken the time to respond anyway

i have just bought a macbook pro 4gb and want to use main stage 2 live.

i want to use the audio and midi files i recorded in logic as a backing track live but do i need to buy and external box or something to plug everything into? like an apogee box??

can i use main stage 2 for computer recorded bass, drums and key board sounds?

is there a limit on the number of instruments, both audio and midi which i can play back through the main stage live? or should i buy something like abelton?

im really confused what to buy?

You don't absolutely need an interface. The audio can be played back from the computer headphone jack.

If you want to control things you can hook up an USB controller of some sort.

If you use Midi, then you will need an interface. You might as well go with an audio/midi interface.

The MS manual explains the limitations of what it can do.

If you can give an in depth idea of what you think you want to do, perhaps everyone can input some ideas on an efficient set up.

cool, ok

i need to replay midi bass , drums and midi keyboard live

i also need to plug two additional keyboard into it and play these along with the backing track i hope

to play through the midi and the mac. i cant be more technical than that other as i dont know much. so essentially i need to play 5 lines of midi or audio through main stage and two keybaord with it. maybe thats 8 sounds in total. i need to know what wires to buy and what midi interfaces etc in order to do this.

thank-you

cool, ok

i need to replay midi bass , drums and midi keyboard live

i also need to plug two additional keyboard into it and play these along with the backing track i hope

to play through the midi and the mac. i cant be more technical than that other as i dont know much. so essentially i need to play 5 lines of midi or audio through main stage and two keybaord with it. maybe thats 8 sounds in total. i need to know what wires to buy and what midi interfaces etc in order to do this.

thank-you

Not technical, but detailed.

What you want to do is prevent everything and anything from screwing up.

Everything will work fine until you are in a position where you are not allowed to fail. That is usually where computers do their best to make you look bad no matter what you try.

I can assure you this is an easy thing to do with Logic and Mainstage.

So you will need a way to interface your keyboards into Logic/Mainstage. Many Keyboards have USB connectivity and do not require a midi interface. If you do happen to possess a keyboard with midi only connections, then you can use a midi interface.

Midi to USB converters are available too.

With Logic 9.x it is easy to convert your midi track to audio for your audio tracks. In other words, do your recordings and take out what you will be playing live (i.e. guitar or keys), do your mix and have it ready as an audio backing track. Mainstage will be your sound canvas for whatever instrument you are playing live (including vocals).

I recently changed my set up from some heavy midi type keyboards to two very lightweight USB keyboard controllers. They both go into a USB hub, then into the computer. I can send the audio out of the headphones (stereo) directly to an amp or the House PA.

For Solo work, I have my backing tracks on an iPod, Guitar is played thru a GNX4, vocals go thru a VL4, All three go to a small mixer. I am adding keys to this set up, so then I will eliminate the GNX4 and use Mainstage for guitar. This means I have to take up the space formally occupied by my GNX4 with the FCB1010. The name of the game is light and compact. I tried over and over to come up with a set up to where I walk in, open a box, and I am ready to go. It is not going to happen and I have accepted the fact.

There are many ways to do all this besides the ones mentioned above. Some players use aggregate settings to get iTunes (backing tracks) to play thru MS.

List your specific equipment and try to explain things as detailed (not technical) as you can. Do not leave it up to anyone to guess or ask 1000 question.

The getting started with mainstage is a very good place to start and it walks you thru the process of using MS.

ah that kinda helps! i read that i need to buy abelton live and use a rewire to get the logic sounds whatever that is, so im really confused now ; (

i have a macbook 4gb laptop and i want to connect a prophet 08 and a roland juno 106 into the laptop live for some of the songs because i want to use the sounds in logic ex24 intermittently. they both have midi outputs. i have a midisport 2x2 box it has 4 outputs on it.

i am going to use live drums, well snare and kick drum anyway and wanted to connect these into mainstage to use the sounds in the laptop, can i do this or do i need to buy a sound module box along with the triggers for the acoustic kit?

while all this is going on , we need to play along to the backing track which will consist of bass guitar as midi files in logic using logic sounds and keyboard and drum loops a mix of audio and midi. i was going to use a voice box called tc helicon for the vocals, i guess this is connected separately? do i need an apogee box? i read i did but i dont

any ideas would be appreciated as i really dont know what i need and how it all connects. many thanks

ah that kinda helps! i read that i need to buy abelton live and use a rewire to get the logic sounds whatever that is, so im really confused now ; (

i have a macbook 4gb laptop and i want to connect a prophet 08 and a roland juno 106 into the laptop live for some of the songs because i want to use the sounds in logic ex24 intermittently. they both have midi outputs. i have a midisport 2x2 box it has 4 outputs on it.

 

 

i am going to use live drums, well snare and kick drum anyway and wanted to connect these into mainstage to use the sounds in the laptop, can i do this or do i need to buy a sound module box along with the triggers for the acoustic kit?

 

while all this is going on , we need to play along to the backing track which will consist of bass guitar as midi files in logic using logic sounds and keyboard and drum loops a mix of audio and midi. i was going to use a voice box called tc helicon for the vocals, i guess this is connected separately? do i need an apogee box? i read i did but i dont

 

any ideas would be appreciated as i really dont know what i need and how it all connects. many thanks

I can only offer a few suggestions to help you along.

The midisport 2x2 has 2 midi in and 2 midi out and can also combine/convert the midi to USB. If you are going to use the Prophet and Juno for sounds, AND as a controller for Logic sounds, you may need a mixer to keep things separate.

You will need triggers for the drums in order to use Logic's drums.

A USB 2.0 Hub will be useful for the USB connections. The midisport and the drum triggers can all be converted to USB and sent to the hub.

Your vocals can go directly to the mixer.

Backing tracks are usually set up to play the songs out of one channel (left or right) and the click track on the other channel. Only the drummer/band needs to hear the click preferable thru earbuds.

If you are not doing any live 'looping' and your backing tracks play from beginning to end for each song (or groups of songs), you can mix the midi files in Logic and play them back via iTunes.

I usually bounce them into iTunes and them upload them to an iPod. Music on one channel and the click on the other.

MainStage can be used as the sound canvas for your Keys and Drums. The 'Patches' will already have the presets set up and ready to go unlike Logic constantly reloading samples.

So how much will be live, and how much is Logic? How many people are in this group/band?

Who will be in charge of controlling Logic/Mainstage?

Who will be running your sound?

After re-reading all this, it looks like you would be better off getting a sound module for the drums and pre recording any EX24 keyboard parts you'll need. All you will need to do is play the backing tracks and everyone can play 'live.' No real need for Logic or Mainstage. It may not seem as fun and exotic as using 'the computer,' but it will save you a headache for now.

This will help get you playing out sooner while you mess around with the Logic/Mainstage set up. The audience doesn't know and doesn't care one way or another about what you do up on stage. You need to keep the music going and keep them entertained. The last thing you will need is for Logic/Mainstage to mess up and not know what to do to fix things. PLaying live on stage is not the place to learn this. Things will go wrong at some point to some degree so it would be a good idea to be in command of every aspect of the performance.