We received this email from a reader this week: 

Hi Eric,

I'm very new to Mainstage and I have been hunting for a way to auto swell. I can see that you can use a compressor in Logic, but I can't see how to do it in MS.

I have a swell pedal on it's way, but would prefer to automate for one song.

Thanks in anticipation,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for writing! There’s a number of ways to do this, but the easiest way to tempo-sync a swell on a track is with a tweaked tremolo effect. Here’s how to do it: 

1. Open MainStage. Select a template. 

2. Select the Tremolo plugin on the instrument you want to effect.

3. In the RH side of the Tremolo plugin window, set the phase to 0. 

4. Adjust the rate and the smoothing to get the right swell curve, and you’re good to go.

Have a question for Patch Foundry? Write us and we may feature your question in an upcoming post!