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Importing Patches from MainStage


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I've looked around the net and I see a lot of tutorials on exporting VSTs to be used in MainStage; however, I do not see any for importing MainStage patches into Cakewalk? Can this be done?

The patches are in .exs format. Is there any way of converting these file types to VSTs, or some format that can be imported into Cakewalk?

Thanks

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Honestly I don't see how your question could   have a simple answer .

MainStage is a Mac only application  . Cakewalk by BandLab is a PC only application .

I have both MainStage 2 on both  of my older Mac's  .  I also have Cakewalk by BandLab on a couple of PC's .

Yes MainStage is amazing . A lot of Bang for the buck .Those sounds combined w 3rd party and what comes w BandLab could really help  go a long way as to creating some choice tones .

The only thing I can tell you is when ever I want to incorporate  MainStage sounds into a Cakewalk  project I will treat my Mac as if it is a hardware synth and or as an external rack mount channel strip.

I usually do it 2 different ways . Both Old School .

#1 , Once I dial up a patch I want to bring over to Cakewalk I simply use MainStage as a combination  . MainStage becomes   my pre amp / midi tone module and I will  run MainStage with my Macs sound card into my PC / Cakewalk project ...

I have an Apogee and a Yamaha Sound Card for my Mac.  I will run either sound card into my P C VIA a Focusrite 2i4 ...to capture my sounds .

MainStage is a performance / synth and sound creation tool and application , I will play my performance in real time VIA my Mac and use my PC to capture my performance . As audio .

This is not very different than what MainStage was designed for since most people that use MainStage on a regular basis end up gigging w it ..( Church P & W , Broadway , Clubs as a scaled down portable rig ...Home Project Studio ...ect ect...)

#2, I have also used MainStage as an external midi synth / work station  / tone module . 

The times I used MainStage  that way  I would  use my Midi out from Cakewalk VIA a midi cable from my 2i4  into  my Mac's midi input  into MainStage  . 

While my Cakewalk project played I would then set up and audition my sounds and patches in MainStage .

Once I was Happy I would record in Cakewalk ( in real time ) the sounds I had dialed up in MainStage ...

I guess I had gotten used to doing things this way because back in the day I used to run hardware stand alone midi  sequencers into hardware synths ...

Honestly , it's not much different doing it that way now and one could get a lot of mileage out  of  using  this type of approach  ...

 

Kenny

 

 

 

Edited by Kenny Wilson
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+1 to just treat the Mac like a hardware synth.  Good write-up, Kenny.

Pro tip for those not used to working with hardware synths:

On the audio track that hosts the input from the Mac, Shift+click the solo button to enable Solo Override so you can solo the MIDI track(s) driving MainStage without losing input monitoring of the incoming audio.

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You could also Download Cantabile 3 - The free version 

Or demo of Blue Cat's PatchWork - 

Both of these are great - My preference would be Blue Cat's PatchWork - Even though I play around with both.

Then you could create your favorite patches with Keyscape / Omnisphere - or any stack of virtual instruments that you already own.

 

You can also get pads from "That worship sounds"

https://thatworshipsound.com

Worship Essentials for Omnisphere 1,2,3 - These are close to some of the mainstage patches/pads.

 

Max Arwood

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