MainStage Mondays: Split Two Sounds Across Your Keyboard

One of the handy features of MainStage is its ability to split and layer dozens of sounds across your keyboard. For instance, you could put a synth bass in the bottom half of the keyboard, and a piano sound layered with a pad in the right. Here’s how to create your first keyboard split: 

 

1. Open MainStage. Select a template.

 

2. Under Patch List in the LH corner, click the “+” button.

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3. Under the Channel Strip window on the RH side of the screen, click the “+” button to add a channel strip.

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4. Make sure it’s a software instrument.

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5. Repeat steps 3 & 4. 

 

6. Click on each channel strip, then select a sound from the Channel Strip Library on the bottom of the screen. I’m going to choose to add synth bass in channel 1, and piano in channel 2. 

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7. Click on channel 1 in the Channel Strips window, then select “Layer Editor” under the Instrument Channel Strip Inspector

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8. Click on the “learn” button for the “High Key”, then press the key on your keyboard where you want to create the split. 

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9. Repeat same process with the piano channel strip, but click the “Low Key” button instead. 

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When you finish, your patch should look like this: 

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