Selecting and Playing Patches

The patches in the concert appear in the Patch List along the left side of the MainStage window. You can easily access the patches in your concert by selecting them in the Patch List. You can quickly select patches by clicking them in the Patch List.

Using a MIDI controller, you can play patches that have a software instrument channel strip. If you are playing an electric guitar or another instrument connected to an audio interface, or are using a microphone, you can play or sing using patches that have an audio channel strip. Before playing through an audio channel strip, first make sure that the channel strip is set to receive input on the channel (or stereo pair of channels) to which your instrument or microphone is connected.

With the patch selected, try moving some controls on your MIDI controller and check to see if the screen controls in the workspace respond. Some screen controls, including the keyboard, modulation and pitch bend wheels, and sustain pedal screen controls, respond to appropriate MIDI messages without needing to be assigned or mapped.

You can continue selecting and playing patches in the concert to find sounds you want to perform with or to use as a starting point for creating your own custom patches. You can also add new patches and edit their channel strip settings to create your own unique sounds.

For more information about organizing and selecting patches in the Patch List, see Working with Patches in Edit Mode.