Mainstage 2 looping rig screen design

The challenge in designing a laptop rig is to keep the screen design simple and informative. I play all improvisations with this electronic instrument and prefer a few highly playable functions displayed rather than cluttering the screen with meters for all possible processing inside the box.

 

The normal signal chain has three levels, of which I most often use the first two - skipping over the last stage of multiple loop's track's outputs:

 

1) Patches (pre looper) - "the unlimited stompbox".

Chose a patch to play through from the patch list on the left side. Sets organize acoustic input, electric line-in and MIDI input (EWI). All three kinds of patches have different types of effects that are playable from foot pedal, like for example freezing a reverb or sweeping resonant filters. The Mainstage on-screen objects for that are included in the stomp box design at the upper right corner. Two physical expression pedals are used to send four alternative CC#'s.

 

2) Looper Mobius AU - loaded with cool scripts for processing the audio.

Here the AU plugin window is displayed in the middle, covering an area of Mainstage's workspace. Some looper functions are binded to their triggering MIDI events directly in Mobius and feed a direct MIDI input while for other looper functioins graphic objects are created in Mainstage and binded to the incoming control events on the outside and to Mobius parameters on the inside. My setup is a combination of both methods to control Mboius. Above the Mobius window are some parameters I need to adjust and play with while making music. The tempo is not manipulated on the screen. A tempo only appears after it has been set by the first loop created in Mobius and from then on Mainstage's effects and processing follow that tempo. To change tempo I record a new loop at the new tempo, making sure I do that on Mobius "Master Track" thus replacing the old "first created loop". If there are parallel track's loops, they do not change with the new tempo sent out to the host Mainstage. This is a very musical method of changing tempo to play around with poly rhythm and since having tried it you may never want to go back to typing on the screen, turning a knob or similarly lame ways of setting a tempo.

 

3) Output: 8 channel mixer.

At the bottom are the eight separate outputs of Mobius eight tracks. The big deal with this is that I can cut out sub bass right at the source, the loop. Different channels pass through optional effects like Autofilter, Tremolo or distortion (all externally tweakable) and a compressor before getting summed at the main stereo ouput that is connected to the house PA system. Dynamic fade in/out scripts of Mobius happen pre ouitput mixer fader and you can see the Mobius output level in the character box under each output mixer fader. I work a lot with scripts in the looper and in that context the eight output mixer faders rather take on the function of a gain control.

 

(Disclaimer)

Since I posted this I have settled with a rig that does not use "3) Output: 8 channel mixer". The reason is twofold, to save CPU power and to make live performance more fluid. This means I mix and sum all Mobius tracks inside Mobius. After Mobius, on the instrument track I have Low Cut filter to take out sub bass (may be a lot if pitching down loops four octaves). On the main output I have first a Multipressor and then a Limiter.

 

Here's a shortlist for how to set up Mobius (as tempo master) in Mainstage:

 

1. Make your patches (input EQ, compression, effect chain etc).

2. Set all your patches to "Output = Bus 1" (or any other bus).

3. On concert level, create an instrument channel strip and open Mobius as the instrument.

4. Open Mobius plugin graphic user interface window, go the "Side Chain" slot up right and select Bus 1 as the side chain input.

5. In Mainstage Edit Mode at concert level, tic the box "Get Tempo From MIDI Input" and select "Device = IAC Bus".

6 In "Mobius/Configuration/MIDI Devices" select "IAC Bus" as "Plugin Output Device" (now we have sync).

7. While in this window also select a MIDI In port on your system under "Plugin Input Devices" (in order to send external control MIDI directly into Mobius plugin, thus side-stepping Mainstage's AU based graphic control object system).

 

If you rather want to use Mainstage objects on the screen, binded to your external MIDI and targeting parameters in Mobius, you may skip over #7 above. Personally I like setting up the MIDI control in Mobius and have it work as I'm used to even outside Mainstage. You may also totally mix host based parameter control through Mainstage and direct plugin MIDI input if you like.

 

(Disclaimer)

Today I NEVER use Mainstage on-screen control objects for Mobius functions. I now totally rely on Mobius listening directly to the laptop's MIDI inputs. This is because Mobius to me is a well tuned musical instrument that I'm learning to play and as such I need Mobius to work exactly in the same way no matter if hosted in Mainstage, Ableton Live, Bidule or any other host.

 

Bottom line recommendation:

- Use Mainstage MIDI clock slaved to Mobius tempo.

- Control Mobius by direct MIDI input, not going through the host application Mainstage.

 

Done