A Musician's Guide
Everything you need to go from install to first gig. Prefer paper? Download the PDF.
What is MIDI Assistant?
MIDI Assistant is your backstage helper for Apple MainStage — a Mac app, an AUv3 plugin, and a companion iPad Remote that work together to give you superpowers MainStage doesn't have on its own:
- Complex MIDI automation — fire sequences of MIDI events with a single button press
- A real Mixer Console — a dedicated, fully customizable fader-and-matrix control surface for your whole rig
- Smart routing — route and rename MIDI between controllers without rewiring anything in MainStage
- A live performance surface — run the whole show from an iPad, in perfect sync with the Mac
The three pieces
| Piece | What it's for |
|---|---|
| MIDI Assistant (Mac app) | Where you build your rig: the Mixer, the Concert Editor, MIDI Routing, and Capture/Catalog tools. |
| AUv3 plugin (MidiAssistant Enhanced) | Sits on each MainStage channel strip MIDI Assistant plays. In Host FX mode MIDI Assistant's processing runs inside the plugin, sample-accurate, alongside your instruments; in App mode the Mac app does the processing. |
| iPad Remote | The surface you actually touch on stage — four interchangeable layouts, always in sync with the Mac. |
What's new in 0.3.3
| What changed | |
|---|---|
| 🥁 Tap, enter and override a tempo | A tempo cluster on the Mac and iPad Mixer: tap a tempo, or hold the pad to type or dial an exact one, then OVERRIDE plays it in place of the Scenes' tempos. While one plays, line up the next with TAKE. See Tempo on the Fly. |
| 🎛️ Launch Control XL drives the Mixer | The XL's User 8 template moves the Mixer's faders, knobs and Matrix with soft pickup, its lights follow the app, and a two-button push opens a fader's Sub-Screen. See Hardware Controllers. |
| 🎚️ Korg nanoKONTROL2 too | The nanoKONTROL2 drives the Mixer the same way: S opens a fader's Sub-Screen with one press, the transport buttons browse, focus and step layers, and its lights show what each button does. Use this controller in Controller Masks switches between the XL and the nano at once, no restart. See Hardware Controllers. |
| 🗺️ Controller Masks | Tools → Controller Masks... shows what every controller control does on each Sub-Screen and lets you change it, drawn with the controller's own rows: one Job button (such as Enable) for every plugin, SOLO layers for rehearsal, an optional Top row on the XL, and Main Mixer layers saved with the concert. |
| 📄 Page buttons | On Mainstage Pads, Mainstage Synths and InstrGroup, a button can show a slot's page: map it to the slot fader (M1 → Sampler) and the press shows that page. A ▸ watermark marks it. |
| 🎹 Drone keys from buttons | +Oct, −Oct and ALL CLEAR on any free button, always lit, with their watermarks just above the keyboard. |
| ↕️ Reposition | Knob stuck at its end stop? Press Bottom 7 + 8 on the XL (R7 + R8 on the nano), move it where you want; nothing is sent, and it picks up again with no jump. |
| 👀 Look, don't leap | Tap MUTE to browse Scenes and Sections without moving the song; tap it again to jump once. |
| 📚 One name, one Scene in the Catalog | Pushing a Scene whose name is already in the Catalog asks to Replace, and Refresh from Catalog… brings the Catalog's copy back. Every prompt warns before an older copy replaces a newer one. |
| ⚠️ Duplicate events shown | The event list flags a Section that sets the same control twice (red when the values fight). Saving a capture into a Section asks before adding a second event for the same control. |
| 🔌 Start in any order | Each plugin gets its settings a few seconds after MainStage loads it, so starting MainStage after MIDI Assistant no longer needs Restart UDP. |
| 🎹 Redirect is for keyboards | The Hardware Redirector lists only keyboards and asks before redirecting. Your MIDI Routing always decides which controllers feed its ports; a concert can no longer cut one off. |
| 🧩 One plugin | MidiAssistant Enhanced is the only AUv3 plugin. Replace any "MidiAssistant Standard" left in a MainStage concert with Enhanced. |
| 📦 Concert Pack 1.4 | An updated MainStage concert and example concert, the XL's User 8 template beside User 2, and the controller file for the XL and the nanoKONTROL2. Help → Export MainStage Concert Pack… exports the pack and offers to install the example concert and the controller file; the templates go into the XL with Novation Components. |
New in 0.3.2
| What changed | |
|---|---|
| 📚 Catalog status at a glance | The Setlist shows which Scenes are NEW (never saved to the Catalog) or CHANGED (different from the Catalog's copy), and Push All… saves them in one step. |
| 🎛️ Multis on the Master Patch | Set a Master Patch's Multis once and every Scene under it uses them — no more propagating to each new Scene. A Scene can still override. |
| 📱 Restart UDP and Sync on the iPad | The iPad Mixer's toolbar has both buttons, so you can bring the rig up without walking back to the Mac. |
| 👆 Steadier iPad faders | A tap or double-tap on a fader never moves it; slide your finger to move it. |
| 🎹 MIDI channel control per instrument | Each Performance Hub channel can listen to chosen keyboard channels and send them on another. |
| 🎚️ Velocity Curve + Compress | Shape how hard you play into the sound, and squeeze it into a range — now in Host FX too. |
| 👻 Ghosts follow the Hub | Ghost Controls mirroring Performance Hub settings (Input, velocity, processing mode, inserts) update live. |
| 🪟 Sub-Screens open themselves | A Scene or Section can open the right Sub-Screen on the iPad. |
| 🎶 Held notes survive a mode switch | Switching a channel between App mode and Host FX lets held chords ring until you release the keys. |
Real-world use cases
1. One-button Scene changes
The problem: changing from your verse sound to your chorus sound means hitting multiple buttons, changing patch, adjusting volume faders, and hoping you time it right.
The solution: tap a single Section button — on the Mac or the iPad Remote — and MIDI Assistant fires the whole cued sequence: program changes, fader ramps, patch swaps, all at once.
2. Tempo-synced transitions
The problem: you want a filter sweep or volume fade that takes exactly 2 bars, every time, regardless of tempo — and you don't want it to jump when it starts.
The solution: convert a fader event to a Dynamic Ramp. MIDI Assistant reads the actual current value of the parameter and ramps smoothly from there to your target, timed in Bars, Beats, or Seconds, using Linear, Exponential, Logarithmic, or S-Curve shaping. No jump, no manual retiming when the tempo changes.
3. Controller name freedom
The problem: MainStage knows your controller as "Network Session 1" or "Launch Control XL" and you can't rename it. Your mapping list becomes confusing.
The solution: MIDI Assistant creates a virtual port with any name you want and routes your controller through it via a Namespace — a logical tag like Lead Synth instead of a raw channel number. Swap the physical keyboard later, and you re-point one Namespace instead of hunting down every mapping.
Key concepts
Scenes, Sections & Master Patches
Think of a Scene as a song, and its Sections as the parts of that song (Intro, Verse, Chorus, etc.). Each Scene also carries a Master Patch — the actual MainStage or external-synth program it loads — plus its own list of MIDI events per Section.
Multis belong to the Master Patch
When a Mixer fader hosts a rack of instruments (for example an Omnisphere Multi), MIDI Assistant shows the names of what's loaded on that fader's Sub-Screen, so you read instead of remember.
- Set them on the Master Patch. In the Master Patch inspector, the Multis section has one picker per instrument fader. Every Scene under that Master Patch uses those Multis — including Scenes you add later.
- A Scene can override. The Scene inspector's Contextual Plugin Multis still works. Leave a fader on Master Patch (…) to follow the Master Patch; choose a Multi there to use it for that Scene only. The inspector marks a Scene value as overrides Master Patch or own copy (same value, but stored on the Scene, so it won't follow later Master Patch changes).
- Older concerts keep their Scene values until you choose otherwise. To hand a concert over to its Master Patch: set the Master Patch's Multis, then press Clear Scene Overrides… in the Master Patch inspector (one step for all faders), or pick Master Patch (…) in a Scene and use Propagate to Match Master Patch (one fader at a time). Both can be undone with ⌘Z.
- A crossed-out entry marked no fader has this name is left over from a renamed fader; press Remove.
The Catalog
The Catalog is your library of Scenes, Master Patches and Presets, shared between concerts. Below Concert Start-Up Settings in the Setlist, a status line tells you how your setlist compares with it — for example Catalog: 17 new · 16 changed — and each Scene row shows a NEW or CHANGED badge (no badge means it's in sync).
- One name, one Scene. The Catalog keeps one Scene per name. Pushing a Scene whose name is already in the Catalog asks to Replace it (or Cancel) instead of adding a second copy.
- Push All… adds every NEW Scene, then lists each CHANGED Scene with both dates so you can choose Replace (overwrite the Catalog's copy) or Skip (the default). A Scene you renamed in the concert also offers Save as New. To keep both versions of any other Scene, Skip it here and use Save as New Scene… on its right-click menu. Master Patches whose Multis differ are listed too, with Replace or Skip.
- Right-click a Scene to push just that one; the menu says what will happen (Push to Catalog (New), Replace in Catalog, or Catalog Is Up to Date). The same menu has Refresh from Catalog…, which brings the Catalog's copy into your concert (your concert keeps its own Master Patch), and Save as New Scene…, which needs a name not already in the Catalog.
- The Library and the inspector show when each copy was last edited and which is newer, and every prompt warns before an older copy replaces a newer one.
- Every Catalog save keeps a backup copy first, in the
backupsfolder of your data folder. - Scenes remember when their content last changed. Scenes saved before 0.3.2 show unknown until you next edit them.
Presets
Presets are reusable event bundles, most often used for plugin/effect settings. Unlike a Scene (a whole song), a Preset is a portable chunk you can drop into any Section.
- Store your favorite reverb settings and recall them across multiple songs
- Trigger a Preset independently, or attach it to a button's ON/OFF actions
- Right-click a Preset in the Concert Editor and choose Add to Current Section to copy its events straight into the Section you're working on
The Mixer & SubScreens
The Mixer Console is your main control deck — faders, a button matrix, and top/side utility buttons, all built dynamically from your Concert. When a rig has more depth than fits on one screen (32 Omnisphere matrix buttons, 40 organ drawbars), that complexity lives in a SubScreen — its own isolated control surface, reachable by pressing and holding (or right-clicking) a fader's name label.
Need quick access to one deeply-nested SubScreen control without leaving the main Mixer? Create a Ghost Control — a lightweight reference that mirrors the original control's value, label, and behavior automatically.
Radio Groups & Momentary buttons
Buttons default to Toggle (latching) behavior. Flip a button to Momentary for stutter effects or drum-pad style hits that only fire while held. Give several buttons the same Radio Group, and pressing one automatically turns the others off — perfect for "only one patch active at a time" selections.
Soft Takeover
Moving a scene to a new state can leave a physical (non-motorized) fader pointing at the wrong value. Soft Takeover prevents the jump: in Pickup mode the fader has to physically cross the current value before it takes control again; in Proportional mode it scales your movement so it catches up smoothly instead.
Fine moves on hardware knobs
Knobs with end stops, like those on the Launch Control XL Mk2, cover the full MIDI range of 128 values (0–127) in less than one full turn, so each value is only a few degrees of travel. Two things follow:
- A slow, small turn changes the value 1 point at a time. That is already the finest step MIDI allows, so fine-tuning is a matter of moving slowly and watching the value on the Mac or iPad.
- A fast turn can skip values. The knob reports where it is, not every value in between. That is normal, and it is what makes a quick sweep feel quick.
MIDI Assistant does not speed up or slow down your knob movements automatically, the way a computer mouse does. A mouse can do that because you can lift it and put it down again. A knob with end stops can't be lifted, so if the app scaled your movement, the knob would reach its end stop before the value reached its end.
Tempo on the fly: tap, enter, override
The band leader calls a medley, or the drummer pushes the tempo, and the song needs a tempo that isn't the one saved in its Scene. The tempo cluster, at the right of the Matrix on the Mac Mixer and the iPad's Mixer layout, gives you that tempo for as long as you need it. It never changes your Scenes.
Nothing plays until you press OVERRIDE. Tapping or entering a tempo only gets it ready. The pad's colour tells you where you are: white = the Scene's tempo, amber = a tempo waiting (not playing yet), green = your tempo is playing.
- Tap it. Tap the pad in time. A tempo appears after three taps, so a stray touch changes nothing. If you don't use it within 30 seconds, it goes away.
- Enter it. When you know the number, press and hold the pad. On the iPad a keypad opens (decimals allowed, no computer keyboard needed); on the Mac, a number field. With a Launch Control XL, the right-most knob of the bottom row dials it, 1 BPM per click (2 per click on a big turn). A short tap on the pad, or SET, keeps the number; CLEAR TAP or CANCEL discards it.
- Play it. OVERRIDE always says what it will do: PLAY 96 plays a waiting tempo; ON means your tempo is playing, and pressing it returns to the Scene's tempo at once.
- Keep it, or not. FROZEN (the default) keeps your tempo through every song change until you turn OVERRIDE off; the pad flashes briefly at each song change to remind you. UNTIL NEXT SCENE lets it go at the next song. HOLD keeps a waiting tempo ready without playing it.
- Line up the next one (TAKE). While your tempo is playing, enter another one: it waits as NEXT 124, and OVERRIDE reads TAKE 124. In FROZEN it plays when you press TAKE, on cue. In UNTIL NEXT SCENE it plays by itself when the next song starts. Changed your mind? One press of CLEAR TAP drops it.
- Put it under your hands. Any Matrix button, and through Controller Masks any Launch Control XL button, can be a Tap Tempo, Tempo Override, Hold / Frozen, Clear Tap or Clock button (Control Editor → Magic Wand → Transport). Holding a mapped Tap Tempo button opens Tempo Entry too, and on the XL the Override button flashes when a tempo is waiting.
MainStage follows the new tempo through MIDI clock. Set MainStage to follow external clock, choose the port in Settings → Clock → Clock Output Port, and press CLOCK so it reads RUNNING.
Look, don't leap
Want to check what's coming without moving the song? Tap MUTE (on the Mixer's mode strip, Mac or iPad, or on the Launch Control XL). The arrows now move an orange LOOK highlight, and the Mac and iPad show the highlighted Scene with all its Sections. Tap MUTE again to jump there, once. DEVICE, or 30 seconds without a press, cancels. Your foot pedal keeps working while you look.
Hardware controllers
A Novation Launch Control XL or a Korg nanoKONTROL2 can drive MIDI Assistant's Mixer directly, with lights that follow the app. Pick the one you use in Tools → Controller Masks... → Use this controller (the other is parked; switching needs no restart).
The Launch Control XL
- Two templates, two jobs. User 8 belongs to MIDI Assistant. User 2 goes straight to MainStage, as before. The Concert Pack's MIDI Assistant example concert switches the XL to User 8 when it opens.
- Set up once: send the Concert Pack's User 8 template to the XL with Novation Components. Then let Help → Export MainStage Concert Pack… install the XL's controller file, and relaunch MIDI Assistant. Start from the Pack's example concert (or Save As from it): it holds the XL's Main Mixer layout.
- On the Main Mixer: faders, knobs and the two button rows move the Mixer's faders, knobs and Matrix. The arrows change Scene and Section. Controls pick up smoothly, without jumping a value. Lights: bright = on, dim = off, dark = does nothing here.
- Sub-Screens: press a column's Top and Bottom buttons together to open that fader's Sub-Screen, and again for its next one. The knobs and buttons then drive that screen. DEVICE switches between the screen and the Main Mixer. SOLO steps through the screen's extra layers.
- Keep live controls on the first layer. SOLO layers are for rehearsal changes and building. If you run out of buttons for a live part, open the Top row in Controller Masks instead.
- Controller Masks (Tools → Controller Masks...) shows what every XL control does on each Sub-Screen and lets you change it. The easiest kind of assignment is a Job, such as Plugin Enable: one button that switches the plugin on or off on whichever plugin's screen is open.
- Reposition: a knob at its end stop with nowhere to go? Press Bottom 7 + 8 together; they flash. Move the knob where you want it: nothing is sent. About a second after you stop, it picks up again from there, without a jump.
The nanoKONTROL2
- Set up once: keep the nano's factory layout, and in the KORG KONTROL Editor set LED Mode = External (Browse → Common), then Write Scene Data, so the app lights its buttons. Then tick Use this controller for it.
- S opens a fader's Sub-Screen with one press. Play switches between the screen and the Main Mixer, ◀◀ / ▶▶ step the layers back and forward, Cycle browses ("Look, don't leap"; Stop cancels), Track and Marker change Scene and Section, and R7 + R8 is Reposition.
- Lights are on or off: a lit S / M / R button does something on this screen; S shows where you are.
Both
- Watermarks on the Mac and iPad show which controller control drives each control. The eye cycles Off → Faint → Clear (clear for building).
- Page buttons: on screens that change page from their faders (Mainstage Pads), map a button to the slot fader and its press shows that page. The lit button is the page showing; a ▸ watermark marks it.
- Drone keys: put +Oct, −Oct and ALL CLEAR on free buttons; they stay lit, and their watermarks sit just above the keyboard.
MIDI channels and velocity, per instrument
Each channel in the Performance Hub has two small controls next to its key range:
- Input — which MIDI channels this instrument listens to. Omni listens to everything; switch it off to tick only the channels you want (handy for a keyboard that sends a layered split on channels 1 and 2). Send on moves a channel to another one on the way to the instrument. Reset to Omni, Same puts it back.
- Velocity — a curve (Linear, Soft 1–2, Hard 1–3, Fixed) followed by Compress, which scales every note into a Low–High range. Every note still plays and the shape of your dynamics is kept, only squeezed — useful when a sound is too jumpy for the room. Works in App mode and in Host FX.
Both can be changed from a Scene, a Section, a Preset or a Ghost Control, so a song can set its own touch.
The Legato Engine
Changing scenes mid-chord shouldn't cut your sustain dead. MIDI Assistant's Legato Engine keeps the old patch sounding until you actually release those notes, then cleans up automatically — no special playing technique required.
The same applies when you switch a channel between App mode (shown as Hub Processing in the Performance Hub) and Host FX: notes you're holding keep sounding until you lift the keys. Channels using a Priority (mono/legato) mode still release at the switch, for stability.
Setting up for your first gig
What you'll need
- MIDI Assistant installed on your Mac (macOS 13 or later)
- MainStage, with the MidiAssistant Enhanced AUv3 plugin on each channel strip MIDI Assistant plays (the Concert Pack's MainStage concert is set up this way)
- MIDI Assistant Remote on your iPad, on the same local network as your Mac
- Your controllers (Lemur, Launch Control XL, hardware keyboards, etc.)
Quick start
- Open MIDI Assistant on your Mac.
- Open the MIDI Routing window and set up your virtual ports and hardware interceptions — this is where physical controllers get routed and (optionally) renamed via Namespaces.
- Open MIDI Assistant Remote on your iPad; it connects to the Mac automatically over your local network.
- Build your first Concert in the Concert Editor: add a Scene, rename
Section 1to something real (Intro), and set a Master Patch trigger so the right sound loads with it. - Switch to the Performance Hub (Mac) or the Remote's Stage or Mixer layout to run the show live.
The iPad Remote: four ways to look at the same show
Switch layouts from the toolbar's mode menu — no reconnecting, no lost state:
| Mode | Use it when… |
|---|---|
| Compact | You want the smallest footprint alongside other apps. |
| Stage | The iPad is the show — big touch targets, big labels. |
| Setlist | You just need to pick the next song. |
| Mixer | You want the fader-grid mixer, iPad-side. |
Tap a Section pill to jump straight to it. Tap the Scene name for a menu of every Scene and Section — a direct jump from anywhere to anywhere. If a Section has a duration, tap its progress bar to pause or resume the countdown.
Mixer toolbar: Restart UDP and Sync
The Mixer layout's toolbar has the same two rig buttons as the Mac Mixer:
- SYNC (tap) — pulls in the values MainStage announced when it loaded or changed patch, so every control on the Mac and iPad matches MainStage. It sends no MIDI.
- RESTART UDP (press and hold until the green fill completes) — restarts MIDI Assistant's routing engine and reconnects the plugins in MainStage. A quick tap only shows HOLD: on stage, a stray touch must never cut your sound. It shows SENT when it fires.
Faders
- Slide to move a fader. A tap or double-tap on a fader never changes its value — it only selects the fader (yellow label) for the nudge buttons. The nudge buttons sit behind the switch at the top of the mode strip: + / − shows them, MODES goes back to DEVICE / MUTE / SOLO (it also goes back by itself after 10 seconds).
- Double-tap the name label under a fader to open its Sub-Screen; press and hold the label for the list of Sub-Screens.
Sub-Screens that open themselves
A Scene can open a Sub-Screen on the iPad when it starts (Auto-Open View in the Scene inspector), and a Section can do the same with an Open Sub-Screen (iPad) event. You can always navigate away; nothing re-opens until the next Scene or event asks.
A day in the life: Concert workflow
Before the gig
- Build or update your Concert in the Concert Editor — Scenes, Sections, Master Patch triggers.
- Dial in your rig's routing profile for the venue (a simple solo setup vs. a full band rig with multiple controllers).
- Use Ad-Hoc Capture to grab a perfect soundcheck balance straight into a Section, instead of hand-typing every fader value.
During the gig
- Launch MIDI Assistant on the Mac; open MainStage.
- Run the show from the Performance Hub (Mac) or the iPad Remote — whichever surface you're actually standing behind.
- Hit your Section buttons and let the Legato Engine, Dynamic Ramps, and Soft Takeover handle the details.
After the gig
- Save any on-the-fly Ad-Hoc Presets you want to keep.
- Review anything that felt off — a Section that ran long, a fader that jumped — and adjust.
Tips from the stage
1. Always test before the gig
Play through your setlist end to end with the actual rig connected, not just on the bench.
2. Use descriptive names
Name your Sections "Intro", "Verse 1", "Chorus" — not "Section 1", "Section 2". Your future self will thank you.
3. Start simple
Get basic routing and one Scene working before layering on Ramps, Ghost Controls, and SubScreens. Build up gradually.
4. Capture instead of retyping
If a mix sounds perfect at soundcheck, use Snapshot → Save Ad-Hoc Preset rather than hand-entering thirty CC values.
5. Lean on Dynamic Ramps for safety
A ramp always starts from the fader's real current position — it can't jump, even if the previous Section left things in an unexpected state.
6. Glance at the Catalog line before you close
If the Setlist says Catalog: N new · M changed, press Push All… before you leave — that's your library catching up with tonight's work.
7. Change heavy effect presets in three quick steps
Changing presets on a heavy effect plug-in, such as the BigSky reverb, while it is running can make MainStage show a System Overload. To avoid that, give the Section three events, each with its own Delay Offset (in the Event Editor):
| Delay Offset | Event |
|---|---|
| 0 ms | Turn the plug-in off (its Enabled / bypass control) |
| 10–20 ms later | Send the preset change |
| 10–20 ms after that | Turn the plug-in back on |
For example: off at 0 ms, preset at 20 ms, on at 40 ms. The whole change is over within about 60 ms, too quickly to hear, and MainStage shows no overload.
Save the MainStage patch with the plug-in disabled. Loading the concert then doesn't load the heavy plug-in in its running state. Your Section events switch it on when the song needs it.
Troubleshooting
"My iPad isn't syncing with the Mac"
- Confirm both devices are on the same local Wi-Fi network (or a stable wired/ad-hoc connection).
- Check macOS's local-network permission prompt for MIDI Assistant hasn't been dismissed as Deny.
"My hardware fader jumped when I changed scenes"
- Turn on Soft Takeover for that port in the MIDI Routing window, and pick Pickup or Proportional depending on feel.
"A fader feels noisy or twitchy when I'm not touching it"
- That's electrical jitter from the analog control. The Jitter Lock Filter handles this automatically, but check the port's routing settings if it still seems too sensitive or too sluggish.
"Host FX Mode in MainStage isn't responding"
- Confirm the AUv3 plugin is loaded on the correct channel strip and that its Processing Mode is set to Host FX rather than Hub Processing in the Performance Hub.
"The plugins stopped responding" / "a port went silent"
- Press Restart UDP — on the Mac Mixer, or hold it on the iPad Mixer's toolbar. It takes a second or two and does not change your concert.
"The controls don't match MainStage after loading"
- Press Sync (Mac or iPad). MIDI Assistant deliberately holds MainStage's burst of values at load and patch changes; Sync applies them.
"MainStage shows a System Overload when a Section changes a BigSky preset"
- The preset changed while the plug-in was running. Turn the plug-in off, change the preset, then turn it back on, 10–20 ms apart (see Tips from the Stage → 7). Also save the MainStage patch with the plug-in disabled.
"MainStage says Plug-in may cause audio delay every time the concert loads"
- This appears when P-Shift is enabled in the MainStage concert. It reports a delay of about 80 ms. You can generally ignore the message, but whether that delay is acceptable is your call.
"The Launch Control XL does nothing in MIDI Assistant"
- Check the XL is on its User 8 template (the Pack's MIDI Assistant example concert selects it when it opens).
- The XL's controller file must be installed (Help → Export MainStage Concert Pack… → Install), and MIDI Assistant relaunched afterwards.
- On the Main Mixer, the concert must hold the XL layout: use the Pack's example concert or a concert saved from it.
- If you switched to the nanoKONTROL2 earlier, the XL is parked: Tools → Controller Masks... → Device: Launch Control XL → Use this controller.
"The nanoKONTROL2 does nothing" / "its buttons stay dark"
- The nano ships parked: Tools → Controller Masks... → Device: nanoKONTROL2 → Use this controller. If it is not in the Device list, your controller file came from an older Concert Pack (XL only): export the Pack again and choose Replace for the controller file (yours is backed up first), then relaunch.
- It moves the Mixer but the buttons stay dark: LED Mode = External was not written to the nano (KORG KONTROL Editor → Browse → Common, then Write Scene Data). Dark buttons while MIDI Assistant is not running are expected.
"A Performance Hub switch is greyed out" / "my controller isn't in the Redirect list"
- A channel that belongs to your MIDI Routing (for example USB Sync In) is switched on and off in the MIDI Routing window; in the Performance Hub its switch is read-only ("Set in Midi Routing: this port is part of the rig's wiring.").
- Redirect is for keyboards. A controller whose MIDI Routing ports are marked Hide from Perf. Hub (a Launch Control XL, a Lemur) is not listed, and only hardware ports are offered as targets.
"MainStage says MidiAssistant Standard is unavailable"
- Since 0.3.3 only MidiAssistant Enhanced ships. Replace Standard with Enhanced on that channel strip. If MainStage still lists Standard, quit MainStage and open it again so it rescans its plug-ins.
"I pressed OVERRIDE but MainStage's tempo didn't change"
- MainStage hears the new tempo only through MIDI clock. Check that CLOCK reads RUNNING, that Settings → Clock → Clock Output Port names the port MainStage listens on (a change there needs a relaunch), and that MainStage is set to follow external clock.
- If the pad is amber, the tempo is still waiting: OVERRIDE reads PLAY or TAKE, and a press plays it.
"I set a Multi on the Master Patch but a Scene still shows the old one"
- That Scene has its own value, which overrides. In the Scene inspector pick Master Patch (…) for that fader, or press Clear Scene Overrides… in the Master Patch inspector.
Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Concert | Your full setlist — every Scene, Section, and mapping for a show. |
| Scene | A song in your setlist. |
| Section | A part of a Scene (Intro, Verse, Chorus, etc.). |
| Master Patch | The actual MainStage/external-synth program a Scene loads. |
| Preset | A reusable, saved bundle of MIDI events. |
| Namespace | A logical tag standing in for a hardware channel, so mappings survive a gear swap. |
| SubScreen | An isolated control surface for a deep instrument's parameters. |
| Ghost Control | A lightweight reference that mirrors another control's value on the main Mixer. |
| Radio Group | A set of buttons where turning one on turns the others off. |
| Dynamic Ramp | A smooth, jump-free transition from a parameter's live value to a target. |
| Soft Takeover | Prevents a physical fader from causing a value jump after a scene change. |
| Legato Engine | Keeps a sustained chord alive across a scene change until it's released. |
| Catalog | Your library of Scenes, Master Patches and Presets, shared between concerts. |
| Multi | The named set of instruments loaded under one Mixer fader (e.g. an Omnisphere Multi). Set on the Master Patch; a Scene may override. |
| Override | A value stored on a Scene that takes the place of its Master Patch's. (Not the same as Tempo Override.) |
| Tempo Override | A tempo from the tempo cluster that plays in place of the Scenes' saved tempos until you turn it off. It never changes a Scene. |
| Tempo Entry | Hold the tempo pad to type or dial an exact tempo instead of tapping it. |
| TAKE | What OVERRIDE reads while one tempo plays and the next one waits: press it to play the waiting tempo. |
| Controller Masks | What each Launch Control XL control does: on the Main Mixer (stored in the concert) and on each Sub-Screen (your rig's roles, edited in Tools → Controller Masks). |
| Role / Job | A role tells an XL knob or button which control to drive on a Sub-Screen. A Job is a role that works on every screen with that kind of control, such as Plugin Enable. |
| SOLO layer | An extra set of XL assignments for a Sub-Screen, reached with SOLO. For rehearsal and building; live controls stay on the first layer. |
| Reposition | Bottom 7 + 8 on the XL: move knobs and faders without sending anything, so they line up again. |
| App mode / Host FX | Where a Performance Hub channel's processing runs: in the Mac app (shown as Hub Processing) or in the plugin inside MainStage. |
| Compress | Scales every note's velocity into a Low–High range after the Velocity Curve. |
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