Replacing Mainstage with Cantabile 3 solo

Cantabile
1

Hi all, I’m replacing my Macbook with a Surface Pro 4 and the software that seems to offer the same possibilities as Mainstage is Cantabile Solo. I’m having trouble with the simplest of tasks - I want to use Ivory II, Lounge Lizard EP4, and a couple of Kontakt instruments and select them via Program Change midi sends from my Yamaha P500 keyboard. This I was easily able to do in Mainstage but is giving me headaches in Cantabile! This is making me feel very stupid despite much experience with midi and software on the Mac. I’ve read the manual but I need walking through this seemingly simple setup so I can press a few program change buttons on my keyboard and select four or five individual sounds in Cantabile. Can anyone help me with this? I’d be soooo happy!

Paul

2

Hi Paul,

Here’s a way to do what you want:

First, I’m assuming you have midi port setup ok in the options. Next you create slots for your plugs in the routing page (the inputs in the input section will be automatically wired to the master keyboard when created). Once that is done you create states (use the new state button to add states under states tab) for each instrument you want to sound by disabling the inputs to the plugs you don’t want to sound under the routing tab ( orange x is off check mark is on). Here is an example of this already set up for 3 vsti’s I have…

explain two.jpg1331×567 64.9 KB

Now you can create the bindings by going to bindings tab and adding the bindings you need. I created some examples of a binding like this in the following pic …

Explain binding.jpg1265×241 23.9 KB

The program changes are converted into state changes to achieve the task. Hope this helps but if you have more questions post here. Good luck! :smiley:

3

Thanks so much - this worked and took me a couple of minutes following your clear instructions instead of the hours I’ve already spent on it! Now, I’m running the trial version and had been using ‘Solo’ which is the one I was hoping to buy. Your instructions are for ‘Performer’ which uses ‘States’ so my next question is: can this same result be achieved in ‘Solo’ or not? Thanks again.

4

Hi @clp560

You can achieve a similar result with Solo, but switching times will be slower. You can simply create three songs files, each with a different instrument, put the songs in the set list and use a program change binding to switch songs.

(If you’d like to try this but need more details on how to set it up, let me know)

Brad