I get many questions about poor computer performance when using MainStage 3 for keyboard programming, so I’ve compiled a checklist of essential items to do prior to using MainStage 3 in a live performance situation.
Computer Settings for MainStage
Close all programs not needed for MainStage
This includes Mail, Messages, Remote Desktop, and anything else that’s not absolutely essential for running MainStage 3.
In addition, if there are any programs that automatically start and log you in during startup (such as Dropbox, Time Machine, etc), disable these as well.
Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth
This can cause serious performance issues with your computer when running digital audio. Searching for and staying connected to networks will drain your CPU.
Disable Spotlight indexing
This can wreak havoc on your system performance. When your computer decides that it’s time to begin indexing your files so that they’re easily found during the next Spotlight search, it will noticeably slow down your machine and can greatly impeded performance in MainStage 3. To disable Spotlight indexing, do the following:
System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
Select the + button in the lower left corner of the screen
Select your home folder, select “choose”, then select “Okay” when the dialogue box appears
Free up hard drive space
Not having enough free space on your computer’s hard drive will surely slow down computer performance as your system needs a certain amount free in order to perform basic functions. You should make sure you have at least 15% of your hard drive free, if not more.
Clear your computer’s desktop
Storing files on your computer’s desktop will create a noticeable lag in computer performance. If you really need to hold onto all the files on your desktop and aren’t sure where to put them at the moment, create a new folder on your desktop and store all of your files there. Better yet, move that new folder to your documents folder.
MainStage 3 Settings to Adjust
Set “Autosave modified concerts” to “Never”
If your MainStage 3 concert is trying to save your modified concerts regularly, this is not only a drain on your CPU, but it also will take up extra space on your hard drive. You can select when to save your concerts (hopefully it will be frequently), and when to do a “Save As”.
Cmd – , to get to MainStage preferences
In General preferences under “Autosaving”, select “Never”
Set Hot Plug behavior to “Do Nothing”
This will prevent your computer from trying to use a video monitor with audio (or other such devices) as your audio output when you plug these in or startup MainStage.
Cmd – , to get to MainStage preferences
In the audio preferences, Hot-Plug Behavior is near the middle of the screen.
Select “Do Nothing”
Set I/O Safety Buffer to “Off”
You’re better off experimenting early to determine the correct buffer settings for your setup rather than relying on this option, which will add to the signal path and CPU usage by constantly monitoring your MainStage 3 and computer performance to determine if additional resources need to be allocated to prevent audio clicks and pops.
Cmd – , to get to MainStage preferences
Go to audio preferences
Select “Advanced Settings”
Uncheck “I/O Safety Buffer”
I/O Buffer Size
Also in the audio preference pane of MainStage 3, you should take care to select the proper buffer size for your setup. You’ll need to balance system performance with the resulting latency. This is especially true for piano and other percussive sounds as those are the ones in which latency will be the most obvious. For programming that has many pads and lush string patches, erring on the larger buffer size will be much less noticeable. Generally, with more recent computers with sufficient RAM (16GB) and an SSD drive, you should be able to set this at 128 or 256 samples easily.
CPU Usage
Also in the audio preference pane of MainStage 3, you should take care to select the proper CPU Usage setting based on the number of processors your computer has. You may need to experiment with this setting depending upon the complexity of your programing, the number of cores your computer has, how much RAM you have, and whether you’re using any third party plugins that may or may not be able to take advantage of multi core processing.
Summary
By making these adjustments, you should notice an improvement in computer performance when using MainStage for your keyboard programming. Additionally, you should find that your rig will run much more reliably. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have and I’ll be glad to assist.