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Chapter 4 Get started with MainStage 34
Learn a controller assignment
When you select a patch or a channel strip setting, some channel strip parameters respond to
the controls on your MIDI device instantly. MainStage responds to notes played on a keyboard
controller; volume, pan, and expression messages; modulation and pitch bend wheel messages;
and sustain pedal messages without your having to congure any screen controls to receive
these messages. For other controls such as faders, knobs, and buttons, you must assign these
hardware controls to MainStage screen controls before you can use them in your concert.
In MainStage, you assign hardware controls to screen controls in the Layout Inspector.
Learning controller assignments is a quick and easy method for assigning hardware controls to
screen controls.
Note: To be able to assign a hardware control to a screen control, the hardware control must
send standard MIDI messages. For more information, see MIDI devices overview on page 14.
Learn a new controller assignment
1 In the workspace, select the screen control you want to learn.
The selected control appears highlighted in blue.
2 Click the Assign & Map button at the top of the workspace.
The button glows red to indicate that the assignment process is active.
3 On your MIDI device, move the control you want to assign. Move faders and knobs through their
full range of motion, and press buttons exactly three times (not too quickly) to enable MainStage
to correctly learn the MIDI message types sent by these controls.
After the assignment process, the screen control responds when you move the corresponding
hardware control. This shows that the screen control is receiving MIDI input and is
correctly assigned.
4 While the Assign button is red, you can learn additional controller assignments by selecting
another screen control and moving the hardware control you want to assign to it.
5 When you are nished assigning controls, click the Assign & Map button again to turn o the
assignment process.
For information about working in the Assignments and Mappings pane, see Assignments and
mappings overview on page 76. For information about making controller assignments in Layout
mode, see Controller assignments overview on page 111.
Map a screen control
After you have learned controller assignments for the screen controls you want to use, you can
map the screen controls to the parameters in the patches you want to control when you are
performing. You will likely want to map screen controls to parameters in each patch in a concert,
so that you can easily access and modify the parameters you want for each patch when you
perform live. You can also map parameters at the concert level to control master volume, view
master levels, or modify concert-wide eects.
There are two ways to map screen controls to parameters: by visually selecting parameters
on channel strips or plug-in windows, or by choosing parameters in the Parameter Mapping
browser. To learn how to map a screen control to a channel strip or plug-in parameter, see Map
screen controls to channel strip and plug-in parameters on page 69. To learn how to map a
screen control to an action, see Map screen controls to actions on page 71.