MainStage allows you to build a Concert of Sets and Patches to enable you to quickly move through different settings quickly during a live performance, and for this reason is one of the main tools of the theatre industry, used in many professional and amateur theatres, as well as many churches, particularly in high budget “super-churches” which have many of the same technical elements as a theatre. MainStage v3.5.1 “Minimalist” template home screen
This also means that when I use programming from a show I did two years ago it still works, even if the keyboard I’m using is different. These are all saved in a Concert file, and can then be transported easily to other rigs in other theatres, as long as they have a similar layout of hardware to run it. It is designed as a live performance tool, and makes simple the job of configuring input MIDI and Audio devices, and mapping them to internal and external instruments. MainStage is not a DAW, though it shares elements of Logic Pro. It is a massively versatile, sometimes esoteric, but very powerful tool for creating the programming for a show, concert or any other live event. I had no real use for it in the studio, but soon after I started working in theatres and it became one of my favourite tools for pit work. This reassuringly heavy box (given the price was 2x what it is today) included a number of applications: Logic Studio - a DAW, and the main reason for the purchase, WaveBurner, Soundtrack Pro, and the subject of this blog - MainStage.
When I switched from PC based recording to Mac based recording nearly 20 years ago I purchased the Apple Logic Studio 9 box set.