Ask Patch Foundry: Sending Program Change Messages To A Keyboard or Synth

One of our readers wondered if it was possible to change patches on an external keyboard or synth when changing patches in MainStage. Here’s how to get MainStage to do it: 

 

1. Open MainStage. Select a template. 

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2. Under Channel Strips, click the “+” button. 

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3. Select “External Instrument” and select your midi input and output. 

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4. Under the External Instrument Channel Strip Inspector, select MIDI Output and “send program change” .

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5. Select the program change message you want to send to your synth or keyboard (check out the documentation that comes with your keyboard to figure out what that looks like). 

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When you select your patch, your MainStage patch should automatically send the program change message to your keyboard and change the preset. 

 

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