The other ingredients remain the same as they have been for a long while . If your existing keyboard at church is less than thirty years old you can buy an inexpensive MIDI to USB cable to connect it to your computer and you ’ re good to go . Audio out from the laptop can be as simple as using the headphone jack or if you want a more robust solution any number of inexpensive audio interfaces available on the market .
A TIMELINE AND PLAN Over the last few years at Sunday Sounds we ’ ve had the chance to help many churches implement MainStage for the first time . Through this process we ’ re able to learn a lot about the differences between churches who ’ re able to dive right in and hit the ground running and churches who struggle initially , some to the point of abandoning the software approach entirely .
The main difference between worship bands who succeed and fail is this : the teams that succeed take the time to come up with a plan for implementing MainStage , learn the basics before they start using it onstage , and communicate all these changes proactively and repeatedly to every keys player on their team .
I can ’ t tell you how many hero volunteers we hear from who discover MainStage for themselves , tell their worship leaders about it and then go through a process over a month or two of bringing all the other keys players into the same headspace , creating a platform where everyone can feel more inspired and able to approach their keys playing creatively .
I could also tell you some stories though , of folks who don ’ t quite take the time to appreciate that there are more variables to think through when it comes to software and that the best time to implement an all-new piece of technology into your band is probably not Easter weekend . But I digress .
NOW , NEVER ? If you ’ re one of the folks that has a desire to level-up the keys rig at church and think MainStage might be a good solution , I ’ d encourage you to test the waters further and see how it goes . Advances in hardware and technology , a rapidly expanding community of worship teams around the world who ’ re all using MainStage and volunteers who ’ re more motivated than ever by the desire to sound like the worship bands whose music you ’ re playing all coalesce into what I think is a great opportunity for you to improve and empower the keys position at your church .
There are genuine reasons to choose a different path for your keys rig and it ’ s absolutely possible to get amazing results from a near infinite number of hardware and software choices . MainStage ’ s drastically low barrier to entry both in financial and hardware terms makes it a great fit for many churches , not all . Yours ? You won ’ t know for sure until you investigate and give it a try .
David Pfaltzgraff Founder and Lead Sound Designer at SundaySounds . com , a site that resources worship keys players and guitarists around the world . David currently resides in Des Moines , IA with his wife and two boys . He enjoys volunteering in his church ’ s worship ministry , old synthesizers , and a good super-hero movie .
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