Use other Patches and plugins in Sunday Keys for MainStage

You're not limited to Sunday Keys sounds. You can bring in other MainStage Patches, MainStage's own presets, and plugins like Keyscape or Omnisphere.

Every MainStage sound library and Song Patch from SundaySounds.com is Sunday Keys compatible. They appear in the browser alongside your Sunday Keys Patches, and you can use them in Patch Builder.

1. Add the sound

• A downloaded .patch file: drag it from Finder into your Patch List.
• MainStage's own sounds: add a new Patch (+), click + in the channel strip area to add a software instrument channel strip, and browse the Channel Strip Library tab. We recommend channel strip presets over MainStage's Patch presets, which often aren't optimized for live use. See Explore MainStage's built-in sound library.
• A plugin (Keyscape, Omnisphere and so on): add a software instrument channel strip and choose the plugin.

2. Map it to the Extra section (quickest)

1. Label: click the text area at the top of the Extra section, click the empty space in the Inspector, and type a name. Sunday Keys uses Avenir Next Bold if you want to match.
2. Level meter: click the meter, open the Unmapped tab, click your channel strip's name, and choose Level.
3. Volume: click the fader, click Map Parameter (it turns red), click the channel strip's volume fader, then click Map Parameter again.
4. Range: set Range Max to 0 dB so the fader can't push it too loud.
5. Rename the Patch (adding "-extra" helps), then press Command-E to export it to Patch Builder > Extra (there's a User Created folder there).

Map it to a full section (1-4)

Do the same label, level and volume steps in that section, then map any knob, fader or button to a setting and label it. For example, to add a reverb knob:

1. Add SilverVerb to an empty audio effect slot.
2. Click a knob in the section, click Map Parameter, click the plugin's Wet slider, then click Map Parameter again.
3. Set the saved, maximum and minimum values in the Inspector, and label the knob.

To learn more, open Help > MainStage Help and look for Map screen controls, or try our free MainStage Basics Course. You can also click the modifiers in any Sunday Keys Patch to see how we mapped them.

Third-party sounds with their own samples

Some Patches need their samples installed in a specific folder. Check the instructions from whoever made them. A common fix when a sampled instrument shows as missing:

1. Right-click the downloaded concert and choose Show Package Contents.
2. Copy the Samples and Sampler Instruments folders into a new folder named after the Patch, inside Music > Audio Music Apps > Sampler Instruments.
3. In MainStage, open the Sampler for that sound, click the missing instrument, choose Refresh Menu, and select it from the new folder.

For Waves instruments like Grand Rhapsody, see Waves' install help.

MultiTracks Song Patches

They're built for MultiTracks' own template, but you can use them in Sunday Keys with some mapping. Players in our community have found:

• Faders and knobs may not line up after import, so reassign them in Layout mode.
• Some use instruments that don't come with MainStage.
• They may use buses differently. For example, their Bus 4 might be shimmer where Sunday Keys uses it for reverb, so the sound changes.

You can also set up sounds on the mod wheel the way our Song Patches do. See Mod wheel: fix it, or use a knob, fader or pedal instead.

Sunday Guitar and Sunday Keys together

Never open two MainStage concerts at once, as it can corrupt them. Instead, build your Patches in Sunday Guitar, export them, then load them into Sunday Keys and map them to the Extra section.