Use multiple or multichannel controllers with Vintage B3 in MainStage
By default, Vintage B3 receives the notes for the upper and lower manuals, and for the pedalboard, on three consecutive MIDI channels, mapped as follows:
MIDI channel 1: You play the upper manual sound.
MIDI channel 2: You play the lower manual sound.
MIDI channel 3: You play the pedalboard sound.
This allows you to simultaneously play Vintage B3 with up to three MIDI controllers. You can also use a single-manual master keyboard—with different keyboard zones, or a keyboard split feature—that sends data on different MIDI channels to address all three Vintage B3 sounds simultaneously. Each keyboard zone can be transposed independently. See also Set a Vintage B3 MIDI control mode. You can use any of your MIDI interface inputs for your master keyboard or pedalboard. Regardless of the input devices used, the only relevant factor is the MIDI send channel.
Note: See the user manual for your master keyboard to learn how to set up splits and zones or how to set its MIDI transmission channel (often called TX Channel).
There are three keyboard modes: single, split, and multi.
In MainStage, click Main in the control bar, then click the Split button at the lower right.
Set the switch to the left of the keyboard in the central display to Single, Split, or Multi.
Single: Uses the entire keyboard. You can only play the upper sound.
Split: Divides the keyboard into two. You can play the upper and lower sounds in different keyboard zones.
Multi: Divides the keyboard into three. You can play the upper, lower, and pedalboard sounds in different keyboard zones.
Changing MIDI channels can be useful when you perform live and require quick access to another sound module.
In MainStage, click Main in the control bar, then click the Split button at the lower right.
Set the switch to the left of the keyboard in the central display to Multi.
Change the channel numbers for the upper, lower, and pedal manuals.
In MainStage, click Main in the control bar, then click the Split button at the lower right.
Set the switch to the left of the keyboard in the central display to Split.
Horizontally drag the split icons to create the pedal/lower zone and the lower/upper zone.
If you select the same value for both split points, the lower manual is turned off. If the lower/pedal split is moved above the upper/lower split, the other split point is moved (and vice versa).
You can make transpositions that are independent of the global Tune parameter or transposition features of MainStage. These have no impact on the preset keys which is particularly important when you want to use preset switching. See Use Vintage B3 preset keys when split keyboard mode is active.
In MainStage, click Main in the control bar, then click the Split button at the lower right.
Set the switch to the left of the keyboard in the central display to Split.
Choose an octave value (+/– 2 octaves) from the Pedal Transpose, Lower Transpose, or Upper Transpose pop-up menu.
