MainStage comes with a selection of great stock sounds and plugins. As you get more familiar with the keyboard programming, you may want to experiment with third party sample libraries to broaden your sonic palette and capabilities. Fortunately, MainStage 3 is compatible with any third party sample library or plugin that is available in 64 bit AU (audio unit) format. Here are a few sample libraries and plugins you should look into.
Virtual Instruments & Plugins in Apple MainStage
Before you start programming, it’s important to know the different kinds of virtual instruments, Audio FX plugins, and MIDI FX plugins available in MainStage. This way, you’ll always know what tool to reach fo . In this chapter, we’ll briefly discuss the virtual instruments and plugins you’ll likely use the most, and present a few common challenges you may encounter while programming a show.
Sunset at Griffith Observatory
The sunset over Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles was amazing.
The Best Headphones For Practicing Piano
If you’re like me and do a lot of practicing on a digital piano, it’s a good idea to invest in a nice pair of headphones. I’ve found that a good monitoring system results in more productive practice sessions. My piano software of choice is Synthogy’s Ivory II. It’s a great virtual instrument, and I love the Steinway D and Yamaha C7 samplesets. I’ve also used Pianoteq in the past, but it hasn’t seen much use since I purchased Ivory II.
Apple MainStage Tutorials
Apple MainStage Keyboard Programming
In this series, take an in-depth look at all the possibilities that MainStage offers, and how to integrate these concepts into your own keyboard setup.
Sunrise at Baker Beach
Kevin and I woke up super early to get some sunrise shots at Baker Beach in San Francisco.
Remember That Time We Saw Aliens?
I was browsing Reddit earlier today, and came across this thread about alien encounters. I’m a firm believer in extraterrestrial life. The universe is mind-numbingly huge, and the idea of intelligent life outside Earth isn’t crazy to me. Anyway, this thread was very interesting to me because I experienced something very similar to a few of the commenters.
Here’s the story.
Hokkaido - June 2016
Two days before our scheduled departure from Osaka, Ben misplaced his passport. We were able to schedule an emergency appointment at the United States Consulate in Osaka to get a new passport, but we ended up missing our flight up north Hokkaido. Last minute flights to CTS from KIX were prohibitively expensive, so we ended up taking the Shinkansen to Tokyo after the passport appointment. Flights from NRT were substantially cheaper, so I used some extra AsiaMiles to book a one night stay at Hilton Narita, and we flew to CTS the following afternoon.
Osaka - June 2016
Two weeks ago, we were in Tokyo and now we’re in Osaka. We flew from Hong Kong to Osaka on Hong Kong Express, and it was a terrible flight. While sitting on the ground at HKG due to worsening weather conditions, the pilot informed us there would be a two hour wait before departure. Fortunately, we were able to takeoff about an hour later. Unfortunately, the rest of the flight was the most turbulent 3.5 hours I’ve ever experienced.
Tokyo - June 2016
Last December, I visited Japan for the first time in my life. It was a short-lived trip, and I promised to return soon. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be traveling to quite a few destinations in Japan including Tokyo, Osaka, and Sapporo. Stay tuned for photos, stories, and more!