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MainStage is a music application developed by
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
designed for use in live performance.


Features

MainStage might be thought of as a companion app to Logic Pro. It works in much the same way and bears a similar user interface. The focus however, is on live use rather than features like recording and editing that are available in a DAW such as Logic. Instead of a timeline for instance, there is an editable "Workspace". This allows a user to drag out an object that acts as a software representation of a hardware controller like a button, knob or fader and assign that to a parameter such as volume, pan or even more complex things. MainStage comes bundled with a number of
sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...
software instruments (such as pianos, guitars, drum kits and pads) as well as effects. These instruments can be played using a pre-recorded MIDI file or via a controller device that uses the MIDI protocol, such as a keyboard or drum pad. It can also act as a "host" and centralize any third-party virtual instruments or
audio units Audio Units (AU) are a system-level plug-in architecture provided by Core Audio in Apple's macOS and iOS operating systems. Audio Units are a set of application programming interface (API) services provided by the operating system to generate, ...
that users might have installed on their computers. Virtual instruments that can be used with MainStage can also be used with Logic Pro. A MainStage concert can display a patch list which displays all the patches created by a user for that concert. Each patch might have a different instrument or effect assigned to it and various parameters can be changed during a performance by cycling through the list. Other features include: * Recording of any audio signal passing through. * Multi-effects processing for external inputs (e.g. a guitar or a microphone/vocals). * Playback of pre-recorded backing tracks. * MIDI transformation via MIDI FX plugins and routing via external instrument channel strips.


Release history

The first version of MainStage was introduced on September 12, 2007, alongside
Logic Studio Logic Studio is a discontinued professional music production suite by Apple Inc. The first version of Logic Studio was unveiled on September 12, 2007. It claims to be the largest collection of modeled instruments, sampler instruments, effect plu ...
. The second version, MainStage 2, was released on July 23, 2009, along with updated releases of many of the other applications in the Logic Studio package. Version 2.1 released in January 2010, introduced a 64-bit mode. Since version 2.2, updates are available only from the
Mac App Store The App Store (also known as the Mac App Store) is a digital distribution platform for macOS apps, often referred to as Mac apps, created and maintained by Apple Inc. The platform was announced on October 20, 2010, at Apple's "Back to the Mac" ...
. MainStage 3 was released alongside
Logic Pro X Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which later went by Em ...
on July 16, 2013 as a paid update and available only as a download from the Mac App Store. There is a free iPad companion app available designed for use with Logic Pro X, MainStage 3 and GarageBand, which can act as a hardware controller for various parameters. With the release of the version 3.5 on November 12, 2020, the long-standing compatibility with
OS X 10.9 OS X Mavericks (version 10.9) is the 10th major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mavericks was announced on June 10, 2013, at WWDC 2013, and was released on October 22, 2013, wo ...
or later was dropped due to the new requirement of Metal; MainStage is now only available for
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,
Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ...
, and Monterey. With the release of the version 3.6 on March 14, 2022, MainStage is now only available for
Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ...
and Monterey.


See also

* Logic Pro * GarageBand *
Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Ableton Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool ...


References


External links


MainStage WebpageLogic Pro WebpageLogic Remote Webpage
{{Apple software Apple Inc. software Audio software