Hi, I'm using MainStage on tour for live concerts. I'm only using one hardware synth (Access Virus), everything else is from plug-ins on my MacBook Pro (Logic & 3rd party). I think I'm pushing the MBP and/or MainStage to the limit as it's starting lagging & glitching out. I've noticed that the .convert file is 6gb where other concert files on other gigs are only a few mb. It feels as if I've accidentally saved all the sounds and instruments to the .concert file when presumably I didn't have to because they're already in the laptop. I've tried upping the I/O buffer but the latency is pretty bad now. Is there a way of saving the .concert file without all the sounds & instruments like you can with a Logic song? That presumably would be more economical. Should I have all my sounds/samples & instruments on a separate external hard drive so none of it is actually in the MBP? Thanks, David

Hi David - It should be ok to have the library sounds on your MBP HD as long as that HD is not too full. Remember, the internal/startup drive should always be at least 20% empty -- if it gets too much more filled up then you might start to see sluggish behavior, and if it's really full then potentially glitchy behavior. Other factors would be the amount of RAM -- 16GB is a minimum for serious DAW work these days -- and HD speed. A mechanical HD could potentially be more sluggish if there are a lot a streaming/sample-based instruments in use -- a SSD [solid-state drive] would be faster. Assumedly the CPU in a MBP is up to the task [at least an i5 or i7, or an M1]. As to session/concert size, I would think there'd be a way to save a session/concert without copying all the used library/sample data into the concert itself -- however I'd have to open up MainStage to check on that, and I'm not at my own Mac right now [they don't have MainStage on this machine].. UPDATE: I see when you save a session/concert there are checkboxes to copy sample data [EXS, SD, etc] into the concert; when I enabled some of these I got bigger concert files. So I'd assume that you must have accidentally had one or more of those boxes checked when you saved the 6BG concert in question, and MS copied a big bunch of sample data into it [I think if you check the Apple Sound Library Content box it might copy the entire sample library into the concert..?!?!?] When I tried a Save As, it wouldn't let me re-save the concert without that data, so I'm guessing you might have to re-create that concert to be able to save it as a smaller file..?

Hi Joe, Thank you so much for this. I did a bit of digging and you're absolutely right - it's saving the concert file with all the sounds and instruments. Hence the 6GB. I can't uncheck the boxes though. When I try and Save As it won't let me uncheck to Save EXS, etc. box. I'm going to try and create a whole new concert now and build it from nothing to see if that fixes it but you're absolutely right - that's where the problem is. Regarding RAM - I have a 2016, 2.9GHz Core i7 MBP with 16GB of RAM. Do you happen to know if I can swap those 2 x 8GB RAM for 2 x 16GB? Thank you for your help, David

Hi David - According to Apple's specs [and the EveryMac.com website, which compiles specs for all Macs] the RAM on that model seems to be onboard [attached directly to the motherboard] and not upgradable by the user. [Officially that model's specs list 16 GB RAM as the maximum supported, anyway]..

Finding the best audio interface for MainStage can be challenging. There are dozens of companies and hundreds of models to choose from. Through my work on Broadway and beyond, I've had the opportunity to test out many different audio interfaces for live performances in mainstage.

Hi Joe, Thank you for your reply back in May. My MBP actually died and I had to treat myself to a new one. It has 64gb of RAM and the latest IOS - the glitching, etc. has gone. This one weird problem remains though - I can make up a Mainstage Concert and it might be 100mb on the drive. All the songs in that concert are stored separately in a folder along with all their instrument data (that folder is very big). After a short time, and I can't work out what triggers it, when I save the Concert it goes from being just 100mb of just concert parameters to 4-6GB as it's saved all the song instrument info. When I created the Concert I unchecked the Save Instrument Info box but when I go into the Save As box now they're checked and grey-out so I can't affect them. It's infuriating!!! I guess it doesn't really matter now that I've got this new MBP with a huge hard-drive but it's pointless and annoying!

Hi Student499391, Thanks for your reply. What would you choose if you were going to pick just one? I've tried various Motus and Focusrites on my travels and they all work but they can be a little temperamental when you just need it to connect first time in a hurry. David

Hi David - It sounds like the same thing that happened earlier -- the checkbox to copy all the sample data into the Concert must have gotten checked. Or maybe when you replaced the MBP and reinstalled things a default Preference went back into effect..? According to my older post, once the data gets saved into a Concert there seems to be no way re-Save the Concert without it, without maybe starting from scratch with a new Concert..? Hopefully if you make sure to turn that option off for a new Concert it won't reproduce that behavior..