main stage and drum pads

i want to connect a roland spds drum pad into main stage 2 somehow so we can hear the click and pre-recorded bass key sounds that i must play over live. how do i connect headphones to the macbook pro to hear the music and the click which i need in order to play in time?? thank-you

Is a PA in the picture as well - with the same mix (click and bass)? Are you using an audio interface or coming directly from the MacBook Pro?

 

If you're using the Mac's audio out, you're limited to two channels of audio. If the same audio is going to the PA and you don't want the click in it, you'll have to dedicate one channel to PA, one channel to headphone mix with click. As MainStage doesn't do mono outs, you have to pan channel strips to get the routing you need.

there would be a pa.mixing desk. i guess i would use the mac book audio out unless there is some other way of getting the sound from it??? i was thinking about buying an audio /midi box of some sort, would this solve the problem?

so if i take the sound straight from the mac i can only hear click on one side and the instruments on the other?

i would use the mac book audio out unless there is some other way of getting the sound from it???

 

You have two choices for audio: the output of the computer or buy an interface.

 

 

i can only hear click on one side and the instruments on the other

 

Not true. You could blend the two in each output. But I mentioned what i did as most people want a separate send for the click.

 

was thinking about buying an audio /midi box of some sort, would this solve the problem?

 

This could help immensely if you have something with more than two output channels - you might find you'd want something with a separate headphone mix.

ok, thats helps. what box do i need to buy to get more outputs??

what are they called ? and what do u recommend i buy?

thanks

There are a number of choices. To a certain extent you get what you pay for. I have some Apogee products - the Duet is nice, but only two outs. That works for me, as can the GiO, for guitar only.

 

I'm not well schooled in the different hardware available. I'd peruse this forum and others and see what people like. Or start a new topic on recommended hardware choices for MainStage (although I think there are already some).

 

You need to decide your budget and your needs. A two out interface doesn't help you as it provides the same number of outputs as the system audio. So I'd probably look at 4 -8 output units. These probably run from, say, $400 - $2,000.