2

Stage 4: Customizing the Visual Layout of Your Concert to Match Your Hardware
Devices
In Layout mode, you arrange screen controls in the workspace to create the visual layout
corresponding to your hardware controls. MainStage features a variety of screen controls,
including keyboards, knobs, faders, pitch bend and modulation wheels, foot pedals, drum
pads, and more. Also included are screen controls to display parameter and system
informaton, text and images, and a selector that you can use to view and select patches
or markers while performing.
You can quickly add screen controls to the workspace, and move, resize, and copy them
to create your layout. Alignment guides and other tools make it easy to visually arrange
screen controls, and you can customize display color, text labels, and other parameters
in the Screen Control Inspector. You can also group controls and arrange the grouped
control as a single unit.
For information about working with screen controls in Layout mode, see Working with
Screen Controls.
Stage 5: Making Connections Between MainStage and Your Music Hardware
In Layout mode, you connect physical controls on your MIDI hardware to the screen
controls in your concert by assigning the physical controls to the corresponding screen
controls in the workspace. You can move and resize screen controls in the workspace
and customize the display of visual feedback for parameter values and other information.
You only need to make hardware controller assignments once for an entire concert,
greatly reducing the amount of work required to connect your hardware with your
computer.
For information about making hardware assignments, see Assigning Hardware Controls
to Screen Controls.
Stage 6: Mapping Screen Controls to the Parameters You Want to Control in
Performance
Edit mode is where you map screen controls to channel strip parameters. You can map
whichever parameters you want to modify for each patch to screen controls so they can
be easily manipulated from your hardware when you perform live. You can also map
screen controls to MainStage actions, such as selecting the next patch you want to play.
For information about mapping screen controls, see Mapping Screen Controls.
You need not follow these steps in a strict order; however, in most cases you will find
working easier if you create your layout before making hardware assignments and make
hardware assignments before you map screen controls. If you plan to use one of the
existing concert templates without modifying its layout significantly, you can concentrate
on stages 1 to 3 and stage 6.
15Chapter 1 Introducing MainStage