Touch Bar shortcuts in MainStage
If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can use gestures to select and play patches, turn on and off the Tuner or the metronome, switch between modes, activate key commands, and quickly perform other tasks. The controls in the main area of the Touch Bar (to the left of the Control Strip) change depending on what mode you are using and what is selected in the app. In addition, most of the Touch Bar controls can be customized using the Customize Touch Bar window.
For more information about the Control Strip, see MacBook Pro Essentials. To learn more about the Touch Bar, see the macOS User Guide Use the Touch Bar on Mac.
Primary Touch Bar shortcuts
These shortcuts appear in the Touch Bar when you open MainStage.
Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Toolbar | Switches to the Toolbar screen. |
 | Layout | Switches MainStage to Layout mode. |
 | Edit | Switches MainStage to Edit mode. |
 | Perform | Switches MainStage to Perform in Window. |
 | Tuner | Turns the Tuner on or off, if there is an audio channel strip with an assigned input in the current patch. |
 | Panic | Immediately silences any hanging MIDI notes. |
 | Play/Stop | Starts or stops playback at the current transport position. |
 | Metronome | Starts or stops the metronome. |
 | Master Mute | Mutes or unmutes all sound. |
Toolbar shortcuts
When you tap the Toolbar button 
, the following controls appear in the Touch Bar:
Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Close | Returns you to the Primary screen. |
| Toolbar | Returns you to the Primary screen. |
 | Select Screen | Shows additional Touch Bar commands for the selected MainStage mode. |
 | Key Commands | Switches to the Key Commands screen. |
 | Keyboard | Switches to the Keyboard screen. |
Layout mode shortcuts
When MainStage is in Layout mode, if you tap the Select Screen button 
, the following dynamic controls appear in the Touch Bar.
Note: To switch between buttons in the same position of the Touch Bar, press Control.
Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Select Screen | Returns you to the Toolbar screen. |
  | Group/Ungroup | Groups and ungroups selected screen controls. |
  | Lift/Stamp | Lifts or stamps parameters from the selected screen controls. |
 | Align Left | Aligns the left edges of selected screen controls. |
  | Align Horizontal Center/Distribute Centers Horizontally | Aligns the horizontal centers or distributes the centers horizontally of selected screen controls. |
  | Align Right/Distribute Spacing Horizontally | Aligns the right edges or distributes the spacing horizontally of selected screen controls. |
  | Align Top/Distribute Centers Vertically | Aligns the top edges or distributes the centers vertically of selected screen controls. |
  | Align Vertical Centers/Distribute Spacing Vertically | Aligns the vertical centers or distributes the spacing vertically of selected screen controls. |
 | Align Bottom | Aligns the bottom edges of selected screen controls. |
For information on how to customize the buttons on this bar, see Customize the Touch Bar in MainStage.
Edit mode shortcuts
When MainStage is in Edit mode, if you tap the Select Screen button , the following controls appear in the Touch Bar:
Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Select Screen | Returns you to the Toolbar screen. |
 | Show/Hide Workspace | Shows or hides the Workspace area. |
 | Show/Hide Plug-ins | Shows or hides any open or previously opened plug-in windows. |
 | Workspace/Assignments & Mappings | Toggles the Workspace between the Workspace and Assignments & Mappings tabs. |
 | Tap Tempo | Tap this button rhythmically to set MainStage’s clock. |
| Panic | Immediately silences any hanging MIDI notes. |
| Master Mute | Mutes or unmutes all sound. |
For information on how to customize the buttons on this bar, see Customize the Touch Bar in MainStage.
Perform mode shortcuts
When MainStage is in Perform mode, if you tap the Select Screen button , the following controls appear in the Touch Bar:
Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Select Screen | Returns you to the Toolbar screen. |
 | Previous Set | Selects the previous set. |
 | Next Set | Selects the next set. |
 | Previous Patch | Selects the previous patch. |
 | Next Patch | Selects the next patch. |
| Tuner | Turns the Tuner on or off, if there is an audio channel strip with an assigned input in the current patch. |
| Metronome | Starts or stops the metronome. |
| Panic | Immediately silences any hanging MIDI notes. |
| Master Mute | Mutes or unmutes all sound. |
For information on how to customize the buttons on this bar, see Customize the Touch Bar in MainStage.
Key Commands shortcuts
When you tap the Key Commands button 
, the following controls appear in the Touch Bar:
Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Key Commands | Returns you to the Primary screen. |
 | Save | Saves current concert. |
 | Previous Patch | Selects the previous patch. |
 | Next Patch | Selects the next patch. |
 | Previous Set | Selects the previous set. |
 | Next Set | Selects the next set. |
 | Play/Stop | Starts or stops playback at the current transport position. |
 | Panic | Immediately silences any hanging MIDI notes. |
 | Master Mute | Mutes or unmutes all sound. |
For information on how to customize the buttons on this bar, see Customize the Touch Bar in MainStage.
Keyboard controls
When you tap the Keyboard button 
, you can use the Touch Bar to play a software instrument on the selected software instrument track.
Tap the keys on the Touch Bar keyboard to play notes.
To adjust the octave range of the Touch Bar keyboard, tap one of the Keyboard Octave buttons to the left of the Touch Bar keyboard.
To limit notes to a musical scale: Tap the Scale button, then tap to select the root note and the mode.
Tap the Close button
to return to the previous Touch Bar screen.