Apple Releases MainStage 2 for Mac

Apple released this week the Mac app MainStage 2 that lets you take your Mac to the stage. It offers users a full-screen live interface, unmatched hardware control, and a massive collection of plug-ins and sounds.

It features:

The ultimate live rig

• Perform live with 120 instrument and effect plug-ins or work with your Audio Units plug-ins
• Import settings from Logic Pro and GarageBand to bring your studio sound to the stage
• Combine instruments and live audio, such as keyboard and vocals, in a single patch
• Seamlessly switch between patches without stopping sound output or cutting off held notes
• Design rich keyboard patches using splits and layers

Hardware control

• Connect your favorite hardware and use it to play and control your plug-ins 
• Use any USB and MIDI-equipped controllers like keyboards, foot pedals, and drum pads
• Instantly set up a large variety of hardware using automatic device recognition
• Quickly assign hardware knobs, buttons, and faders to onscreen controls 

A new view of the stage

• See only what you need during your performance using a customizable, full-screen live interface
• Easily see your Mac screen from a distance using a high-contrast, full-screen performance view
• Get started quickly using prebuilt templates that cover typical live performance setups

A smarter, faster, more efficient use of your Mac

• Perform with confidence using a rock-solid tool built for demanding live performances
• Use the processing power of multiple cores on your Mac
• Go to your gig with a massive collection of even the most memory-hungry instruments thanks to 64-bit support

Instrument plug-ins

• 40 built-in instruments including synths, vintage keyboards, a drum machine, sampler, and more
• Trigger Apple Loops and stereo or multitrack backing tracks using the Playback plug-in

Effect plug-ins

• Create and layer your own loop recordings with the Loopback plug-in
• 80 effects including reverbs, delays, EQs, dynamics, amps, stompboxes, and more

Sound library

• Add backing tracks using more than 15,000 royalty-free Apple Loops
• Play from a huge library of more than 1700 sampler instruments

Minimum system requirements: 2GB of RAM (4GB recommended), display with 1280-by-768 resolution or higher, minimum 6GB of disk space. 19GB of optional content available via in-app download.

The app is available for $29.99 in the Mac App Store [Link].