Steve Force Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 So on Windows 7 I use (and really dig) Cantabile Performer; however, my main laptop now is a Macbook Pro. Unfortunately, Cantabile will not work on apple;therefore, what is available as a suitable substitute for my Macbook pro? thanks. Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 I don't know all that Cantabile Performer does, but have you looked at MainStage? "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Looking now. thanks, Joe! UPDATE: I googled Mainstage and found this KC thread that I will now read.. https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2330070/Best_host_for_VST_s_on_a_mac Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 MainStage, definitely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Thank you. Downloading now. It isn't that I necessarily need VST hosting (although that would be awesome!) I just need bread and butter sounds. Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Aiken Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Mainstage is truly a bargain for what it comes with. Highly suggest you go that route. Moog The One, VV 64 EP, Wurlies 200A 140 7300, Forte 7, Mojo 61, OB-6, Prophet 6, Polaris, Hammond A100, Farfisa VIP, ,Young Chang 6', Voyager, E7 Clav, Midiboard, Linnstrument, Seaboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Thank you. I installed it, plugged in a used and very abused M-Audio keyboard and am playing around with it now. Impressive!! Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Got tired of being an unpaid beta tester for Apple. MainStage never had the stability I needed. I use Ableton Live 8. Never failed me. If you have a completely dumb controller, then having all the smarts in software (MainStage) is a reasonable option. If however you have a controller that lets you set up basic zones and transmits program change then other programs, like Live, are more resource efficient and,for me at least, more stable. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Thank you for your information! Good stuff! Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Steve, haven't tried MS in a while. Might be solid now. I would still have issues regarding efficiency. It traps all incoming program changes for its own use. If you use soft synths that can be controlled by program changes you can't take advantage of it. For example, if I am using FM-8 and have a dozen presets that I want to use, in something like Live, I can set up FM-8 on its own MIDI channel and send program changes to get to the 12 presets. In Mainstage I would have to create 12 instances of FM-8. All Native Instruments synths (and many others) can be controlled using program changes, including Kontakt. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Thanks for your info. Right now, my main purpose is to not schlepp my rig to rehearsal, but to have bread and butter sounds available. For gigs, it will be my trusty CP-33, Hammond XK3-c and some of my Analog arsenal (right now controlled by my DSI Evolver.) Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 There's a ton of great synths in there. Just in case you want to dig into any of them in depth, I know of a pretty good book on the subject.... A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Kevin who? (thanks for the link--time for me to score it.) EDIT: Hey, if I send you my Kindle version will you autograph it? Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekewaka Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Ableton Live hosts VSTs. As for stability, it's been a known curse for a long time, 8.1.4 finally is the stable version of Live. I've use Mainstage 5+ hours non-stop with no crashes. It starts to drop out various velocity samples due to memory fragmentation, though, so I have to restart the app next time after let's say two hours of constant use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Ableton Live hosts VSTs. As for stability, it's been a known curse for a long time, 8.1.4 finally is the stable version of Live. I've found Live to be a highly stable product in general, but I'm talking specifically about using it to host VSTs for live playback. Not editing, mixing, looping audio, just playback of VSTs. Is that what you're referring to? I've used it hundred of hours in the environment and I can't recall a single time it let me down. I locked into specific version of Live and MacOS and didn't change. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Kevin who? (thanks for the link--time for me to score it.) EDIT: Hey, if I send you my Kindle version will you autograph it? Sure, I'll sign the first page! A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekewaka Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Ableton Live hosts VSTs. As for stability, it's been a known curse for a long time, 8.1.4 finally is the stable version of Live. I've found Live to be a highly stable product in general, but I'm talking specifically about using it to host VSTs for live playback. Not editing, mixing, looping audio, just playback of VSTs. Is that what you're referring to? I've used it hundred of hours in the environment and I can't recall a single time it let me down. I locked into specific version of Live and MacOS and didn't change. Busch. I saw Tribal Tech last year I think and Scott Kinsey had a hard time keeping Ableton Live up and running, he had to reboot his laptop from time to time. This was the 8.0.x series of terrible releases that forced Ableton to use a year of their engineering resources to rewrite their engine, hence the 8.1 and why 9.0 is so late. I didn't upgrade until 8.1 myself as I don't have time with crashing apps in the studio or on-stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 14, 2013 Author Share Posted February 14, 2013 OK, so I loaded Mainstage, USB'ed in my beat up M-Audio keyboard, and initially just used the headphone out. Worked like a champ. THEN... I went to the Apple store and scored a Firewire cable, cabled it into my Steinberg MR-816x and then used output 1 into my bass amp. FARCKING AWESOME. Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Dirk Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 I used the demo version of Audiofile Engineering RAX for a little while (over a year ago). I don't remember a whole lot about it, but I did like the visual layout of the Mixer, inserts, sends, etc. It supports a lot of MIDI functions but I never delved into those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Steve Mainstage is a champ. I have gone through countless gigs with it without a problem. Enjoy it Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekewaka Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 OK, so I loaded Mainstage, USB'ed in my beat up M-Audio keyboard, and initially just used the headphone out. Worked like a champ. THEN... I went to the Apple store and scored a Firewire cable, cabled it into my Steinberg MR-816x and then used output 1 into my bass amp. FARCKING AWESOME. Cool! Another option is to use something like the A&H Zed mixer with USB in so you could get a pristine connection from laptop to mixer and from mixer to monitoring/PA/amp. PS: I've done about eight long evening gigs now with Mainstage and an old 2008 laptop that was just gathering dust in the studio, 3Gb RAM, no problems. I tend to reboot the app or the laptop every 3 hours just in case memory fragmentation forces Mainstage to not load each and every velocity sample. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted February 14, 2013 Author Share Posted February 14, 2013 Well the steinberg D to A converters are pretty good.. (Yamaha built pro grade) as steiny is owned by Yamaha. Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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