Members whosthatguy Posted July 31, 2009 Members Share Posted July 31, 2009 So there was a similar thread to this recently, but I thought I'd start afresh for more specific responses I am soon to begin work with a covers band and am currently hypothesizing my set up! What fun it is. So many possibilities... Only thing is, I gotta get it right the first time coz where we're going, the band's working 6 nights a week and there are probably no music stores or repair centers. Check it out. This is what I've got: Nord Stage Compact Novation X Station 61 Macbook pro (2008), 4G RAM, 2.4 Ghz, OS 10.5 Mainstage V1.0 Small, simple, light weight for travel. That's the idea anyway. I want to run mostly Mainstage sounds/setups, with the Nord as back up. The X Station serves as both audio I/O and MIDI tethering to the Nord. I have slight reservations about relying on software so heavily, but I'm researching solutions for optimizing it's performance. The other thing is, I need sounds! The synths and keys that come with logic are great, but I've had limited success getting punchy brass and strings that work live the way a Kurzweil or Yamaha might perform. Does anyone have suggestions for cost effective plugins that could cover this simple task? I'm on horn duty in the band (it's only 4 instruments) so have to cover that funky Motown sound ala Amy Winehouse, Kool and the Gang, hell I think we're even doing some Earth Wind & Fire... So what do you think guys? Am I out of my tree? Can this work? Should I just bite the pillow and buy a Korg X50 or some {censored} that I can rely on? At any rate, looking at our repertoire, some click tracks might be on the cards. Cheers! Love messing around with this stuff! (FYI, I also have a Kurz PC3x which would be glorious but unfortunately weighs twice as much as all of this put together! Have to keep considering how I'll get my fat ass on a plane...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Strenge Posted July 31, 2009 Members Share Posted July 31, 2009 My band is still in the forming stage, but I am planning to rely on mainstage. We are way more parttime than you are from your description, but even so I need to work on a backup (I have only two midi controllers). Anyway, yes I've had the same issue with brass sounds, or the lack thereof, with the built-in synths. I have a non-pro macbook and so have to watch out a bit with the layers and sometimes even certain patches can cause cpu issues. Fortunately mainstage has been pretty stable for me. It's crashed a few times, but in every case it was in the "layout" mode when I was editing something to do with the controllers; in the other modes I've not had this happen. However, I've noticed a few times that settings were not where I'd left them (?). For example, the built-in logic organ has changed patches on me a couple times for no reason I can see.... Good luck to you, I'm really liking mainstage so far. Being able to have a whole set loaded up is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tombos Posted August 17, 2009 Members Share Posted August 17, 2009 but I've had limited success getting punchy brass and strings that work live the way a Kurzweil or Yamaha might perform. Does anyone have suggestions for cost effective plugins that could cover this simple task? I'm on horn duty in the band (it's only 4 instruments) so have to cover that funky Motown sound ala Amy Winehouse, Kool and the Gang, hell I think we're even doing some Earth Wind & Fire...(FYI, I also have a Kurz PC3x which would be glorious but unfortunately weighs twice as much as all of this put together! Have to keep considering how I'll get my fat ass on a plane...) Hi!I'm in a similar situation. I am planning to switch to Mainstage as the only soundsource on the stage. Right now I'm using Kurzweil K2500/2600 for more than 10 years. So I am used to play great sounds in my live-setup. Especially the brass sounds (wich I once created out of a Roland Sample-Library) is what I need in a very good quality. For example take the intro of Celebration from Kool and the gang or the intro of Everybody Needs Somebody from Blues Brothers.Has anyone done this with Mainstage right now? @whosthatguyYou say that the Kurz PC3x is great for that. Especially those funky brass sounds (see above) is what I am missing using my PC3x (in another band).Haven't I just not found them inside the Kurz? Would you tell me the numbers of the Programs or the way how you create them? Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whosthatguy Posted September 3, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 3, 2009 Hi!I'm in a similar situation. I am planning to switch to Mainstage as the only soundsource on the stage. Right now I'm using Kurzweil K2500/2600 for more than 10 years. So I am used to play great sounds in my live-setup. Especially the brass sounds (wich I once created out of a Roland Sample-Library) is what I need in a very good quality. For example take the intro of Celebration from Kool and the gang or the intro of Everybody Needs Somebody from Blues Brothers.Has anyone done this with Mainstage right now?@whosthatguyYou say that the Kurz PC3x is great for that. Especially those funky brass sounds (see above) is what I am missing using my PC3x (in another band).Haven't I just not found them inside the Kurz? Would you tell me the numbers of the Programs or the way how you create them?Thanks!! An update on my overseas covers gig featuring Mainstage.... I am taking Kurzweil PC3x after all, and leaving the Nord Stage at home. I feel much better about this as I haven't found Mainstage to be the Holy Grail of all my desires. WHAT I LIKE:Guitar sounds! Superb amp sims and varied samples. This is great considering we have only one guitarist. The Kurzweil guitars are not its forte. 3rd party samples! I've satisfied my need for punchy brass with a set of third party samples called KICK ASS BRASS. It's an older sample set but comes with EXS files to load in Logic's sampler. I've found layering the naked trumpet sample over the Kurzweil's less realistic but fuller brass patches gives the sound of a full section. (#60 MeanSalsaSection works well) Analogue Modelling! It's really complicated on the PC3. Mainstage has graphical interfaces and sounds fantastic. WHAT {censored}S ME OFF:I discovered Mainstage stops numbering patches after 127. You can have more than 127 patches, you just can't select them via MIDI bank/patch change sends. WTF are you supposed to do when you have a repertoire of 300+ songs you need to call on at the drop of a hankerchief? Finger a tiny mouse pad and select them yourself? Or tell the audience to talk among themselves while you load up another Concert for 5 min? Perhaps Mainstage 2 solves this issue? Anybody have experience with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whosthatguy Posted September 3, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 3, 2009 My band is still in the forming stage, but I am planning to rely on mainstage. We are way more parttime than you are from your description, but even so I need to work on a backup (I have only two midi controllers).Anyway, yes I've had the same issue with brass sounds, or the lack thereof, with the built-in synths. I have a non-pro macbook and so have to watch out a bit with the layers and sometimes even certain patches can cause cpu issues. Fortunately mainstage has been pretty stable for me. It's crashed a few times, but in every case it was in the "layout" mode when I was editing something to do with the controllers; in the other modes I've not had this happen. However, I've noticed a few times that settings were not where I'd left them (?). For example, the built-in logic organ has changed patches on me a couple times for no reason I can see....Good luck to you, I'm really liking mainstage so far. Being able to have a whole set loaded up is nice. Watch out for the B3 plugin with Mainstage. It responds to more than one MIDI channel, so if you change channels from your controller, you might get a different sound. Either the lower manual or pedals. Change your basic MIDI channel in the CONTROLS view of the plugin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thod76 Posted September 3, 2009 Members Share Posted September 3, 2009 I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whosthatguy Posted September 4, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 4, 2009 Wouldn't ya know it?! I had a Micro X for a while last year but sold it to fund a Prophet 08 when I decided I just wanted to 'cool' gigs. Damn, it would have been very handy for this project. I recall it had some pretty decent sounds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mildbill Posted September 4, 2009 Members Share Posted September 4, 2009 Have you guys considered maybe using a Kurzweil rack mount unit with a controller?Not as immediate as the keyboard, but it'd get you the sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whosthatguy Posted September 4, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 4, 2009 Bring on the PC3 rack! I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Strenge Posted September 4, 2009 Members Share Posted September 4, 2009 After playing my buddy's Motif (the original Motif 6, he paid $500 used) I could easily see myself using one. It felt *great*, loved the keybed. It would handle the bread-and-butter sounds like piano, organ, strings in a pinch, and it had enough synth-ey sounds to be able to contribute in a non-emergency. I'm now working on convincing him he needs a newer one, so he'll sell it for even less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thod76 Posted September 5, 2009 Members Share Posted September 5, 2009 Maby Nord Stage Compact + Motif rack and the microx on top... Bring an extra sustainpedal to tap tempo on the micro. If you have a tight drummer you can use the arpeggiator for cool stuffs i newer music. Put it on a K&M "table-stand" and you are safe as hell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whosthatguy Posted September 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 5, 2009 I am currently sequencing all the horn parts for Earth Wind and Fire "September" using PC3. It has a Metronome function I should be able to route to the Aux output for the drummer to follow. The PC3 sequencer is pretty comprehensive once you get into it. Should be rock solid live too! I like the tap tempo pedal idea too. You can record short sequence "riffs" and trigger them live without worrying whether it's gonna rush the band or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thod76 Posted September 24, 2009 Members Share Posted September 24, 2009 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vnCIreAgesI/Src83BiT0pI/AAAAAAAAAmE/HEzNHaC5UIg/s1600-h/20090918002.jpg Finaly a pic of my setup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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