So I guess what I'm asking is if Mainstage basically is Logic but taylored for live use, and would it work for my purposes? Or should I realize now sooner than later that Ableton is the far better choice for live use, even for a Logic user unwilling to learn new things?
From what I have seen Mainstage reminds a lot of the workflow and layout in Logic that I know so well, and the few times I have tried Ableton I have felt like such a noob, and it feels like a very big mountain to climb to learn a new software from scratch. I have never used either Mainstage or Ableton, and I'm struggling to figure out what to choose. I also need to be able to send click tracks to the drummers in ear monitors. What I want is a software that is easy to use to play my VST synths and control some loops and maybe some basic audio effects on the keys and loops. I have this band project where I'm also going to play some keyboards and run backing tracks from my Mac.
If you’re on a Mac and you don’t own MainStage, you have no excuse (unless you already own Logic.Hi, I'm a trumpet player/producer, I've been using Logic Pro for more than a decade for recording and producing music. Lots of guitarists have home studios and need keyboards sometimes.
What does this have to do with guitars? Nothing, but I’m also a keyboard player with a home studio. It’s probably worth $399, and Apple sells it for $39. I mean, there’s nothing for $39 on Windows that comes anywhere close to MainStage.
Personally I’m glad MainStage is available and cheap. But I wonder if Logic would sell better if MainStage wasn’t a thing. It IS nice to be able to launch one program instead of two. So basically, you could get Studio One or Ableton or whatever, and then just use MainStage and get all of Logic’s keyboards for $39? What’s the catch? There isn’t one.Īpple has been trying to turn Logic into DAW Of All Trades by giving it a screen that sorta kinda works like Ableton.
I trigger MainStage patch changes from Ableton Live and it works great. It’s called MainStage.įor my live rig, I use backing tracks and I run an entry level version of Ableton Live, because it’s the best DAW there is for live use (super CPU efficient, easy to program in patch changes and DMX lighting changes, etc). But that’s not actually true, because you can get ALL of the keyboards in Logic for $39. Yup, Logic Pro has a great, killer collection of keyboards, which make it THE DAW of choice on the Mac if you play keyboards. Ableton Live is like $100 for the entry level version, but to get a ton of instruments you’re up around $500.
In the case of Logic Pro, it slaughters the competition when it comes to built-in keyboards at the base price… meaning Logic Pro is $199, and while you can get great add-ons for the other DAWs, you won’t get them without going way over $199. Every DAW has things it can do better than the others. IF you own a home studio AND you have a Mac, the big question is “What DAW do you use?” Most Mac users run Logic, but there’s a lot of people running Pro Tools, GarageBand, Cubase, Ableton Live, and Studio One.