![]() The instrument packs I picked were “Harps”, “Vibes”, “Celeste” (which includes Glockenspiel), and “Xylo” (which includes Marimba). The Zynthian OS has integrations for Pianoteq, so I purchased the standard version and additional instrument packs. One of the challenges that Mainstage makes me take for granted is finding decent, realistic sounding, orchestral instruments. I did not use the Zynthian in the December 13th event, as I was still learning how to use it but I am much further along now. ![]() It didn’t involve any soldering, but some plugging in and wire clipping. Assembling the kit wasn’t the easiest task, but it wasn’t horrible. It shipped from Spain and took some time to arrive. I ordered a full kit and got a 4GB Raspberry 4B on my own. It consists of a metal enclosure, a HifiBerry DAC, a custom board for audio input and output and MIDI DIN ports, and a custom board to control a touch screen and 4 push buttons and 4 push knobs. The third option, and ultimately the one I went with, was Zynthian. I cannot remember the name, but I don’t know if that project ever took off. Another was something on a crowdfunding site. The first I found was Pisound, but it did not seem like a complete live performance solution. I researched and found three possible solutions for using a Raspberry Pi with my Xylosynth. Maybe something involving a Raspberry Pi and a small touch screen, but I don’t want to make many compromises in the sound quality of the voices. I would also like to figure out a different live-performance solution that doesn’t involve me bringing my large, expensive MacBook Pro. I find it difficult to consistently compensate for this, but increasing the sustained note length on the Xylosynth seems to mostly fix this problem, but it is a compromise. I naturally seem to try to pedal based on my ears, and I am pedaling late and some notes were getting dampened instead of sustained. It became increasingly noticeable when trying to use my sustain pedal with vibraphone parts. Another thing I have noticed more and more is the slight latency, which I attribute to the MIDI-DIN-to-USB Interface. The most obvious being the need to take an expensive laptop along with my expensive instrument. There were some disadvantages too however. They sound pretty realistic, and the software was pretty easy to learn and set up with multiple patches, my foot switches, and an expression pedal. The Mainstage instruments I use are pretty top notch. I like the Macbook Pro + Mainstage setup. I also used my Xylosynth with the same setup and other instruments to record a multi-layered song for DGR_Dave. The video of that concert is posted on the Pensacola Bay Concert Band’s website. I varied which instrument patch I used, depending what I thought would sound best. I used my Macbook Pro + Mainstage setup as discussed before. I was never able to use it in a performance since getting it. I was asked to play glockenspiel, but since was given creative liberties, I decided to play the melody and parts of the 2nd and 3rd clarinet parts on my Xylosynth, since there was only one clarinet available. Track 1Īnd here a track which I created on Logic Pro (before I had the MainStage setup) it’s again just played, each instrument in sequence, with no click or quantization: Sequenced.Starting in late November, I was involved in 3 outdoor rehearsals for a caroling event at Christ Church on Dec. ![]() It’s just me, and all you hear is played live with no overdups (here is a video where you can see how this worked with my previous setup) I just did a bit of mastering using the Ozone plugin. musical improvisation) played on April 2022 at my home studio. These are all real-time compositions (i.e. Here is the music (License: Creative Commons by-nc-sa). After a bit of experimenting around I was finally able to create a decent setup with MainStage, so that I can play the bass on the lower part of the Motif keyboard, the piano on the upper part, and the drums on my Studiologic 17 note pedalboard there are also two Korg microKeys stacked on the Motif keyboard on which I play e guitar, horns, organ or the arpeggiator. It’s an M1 Mac mini running MainStage with a couple of great plug-ins such as Trilian, EZ Drummer, Pianoteq and Ample Guitar L and LP. Posted by me on in Recordings | 3 comments
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |