KEYS
MAINSTAGE KEYS RIG FROM SCRATCH | David Pfaltzgraff
Now that 2022 is ( believe it or not ) underway many of us are either a ) teetering on the brink of dropping our resolutions or b ) staring a few weeks back in the rear-view mirror where we left them behind mid-January .
Jokes aside , I always find it helpful to take stock at the start of each year and as a worship leader or musician you ’ re likely prone to the same behavior when it comes to your worship band . Perhaps your ministry budget received a refresh for the new year as well and you ’ re debating taking the plunge into updating that dilapidated old keyboard rig onstage .
As I was taking stock myself , I realized I ’ ve been writing articles for [ WM ] going on three years now . One of the first pieces I wrote back in January of 2019 was titled ‘ Ingredients to Create a Reliable MainStage Rig ’. I read through that article again and realized that the concept would benefit from a refresh .
Technology and trends seem to move ever faster so how can someone approach setting up a first-time MainStage rig from scratch in 2022 ? Dear reader , read on .
PURPOSE IN MIND By now I ’ d say more worship leaders and keys players than not have at least heard of using software like MainStage for their keys rig . If you ’ re not doing it already you might feel like it ’ s something you ’ re supposed to be doing . As in any other area of life , however , just because it ’ s popular doesn ’ t mean it ’ s right for you .
Before you dive into a MainStage-based worship keys rig approach you have to take the time to understand what it can do for you , it ’ s pros and cons , and have a purpose and vision in mind that will help you navigate unexpected challenges and guide your choices .
MainStage is highly flexible but can also be frustratingly complex or intimidating to volunteers . Leaving behind the ‘ just use this piano and pad sound on the hardware ’ approach will also require you or someone on your team to devote some time to setting up and maintaining / growing the MainStage setup your band will use . That ’ ll also mean you or someone else will likely need to have the flexibility and time to take the computer with you to do that preparation .
I ’ m a big proponent of MainStage , and really most any software-based keys rig approach , so don ’ t get me wrong : the pros outweigh the cons hands down , in my opinion . But you have to make sure the timing is right and that you ’ re ready to truly commit to the change in order for it to be successful .
PROPER GEAR When I wrote that initial MainStage article three plus years ago one had to be very particular about choosing a Mac computer that was powerful enough to reliably run MainStage on stage . Thankfully with improvements to computer technology and specifically Apple ’ s development of their own M1 processor chip that now ships in all laptop form-factor Macs , that ’ s both much less of a concern and less of a financial burden .
Even a new MacBook Air featuring the M1 chip is more than up to the task of running MainStage in its base configuration . This is one of the biggest developments that MainStage users have benefitted from over the last few years .