How to Build a Worship Keyboard Rig in 2019 

Check out peter James main stage setup. It’s amazing.

@@douglasyoung3654 Will definitely look that up. An awesome community we have here. Thanks, Douglas!

Thanks Doug!

Do you have to buy mainstage to be able to use Sunday keys?

Could you use logic?

jml79 I use a similar set up for what I do. Check out midiflow and Audiobus if you ever really want to get fancy

Austin White - I agree my brother! In total, I have 5 keyboards. The Nord Stage 3, Montage 8, Korg Kronos 2, Nord Electro 6 and the Viscount Legend. However, I’m really not an organist, and so I will be selling my Viscount Legend and patiently wait for the Nord Grand to drop in Spring. But you’re right! I’m all set! Especially, I can still integrate midi/usb as well. What setup do u have?

I would recommend having a hardware based keyboard as the controller, so it is easy enough to get that into the mix. I always layer a hardware synth/keyboard with a software-based one for this exact reason. I've never had to deal with a crash, but I know it will happen some day.

I have a 15” 2016 MacBook Pro with only 4 USB-C/Thunderbolt ports that I use for my own production and also for worship at our church, for everything from bass and guitar to click, pads, tracks, and keys. I got an Anker 7-port powered hub from Amazon that works great for me. On Sunday I’m running my audio interface, Push 2, Novation Launchkey 61, and external drive all at the same time from just my rig. No issues with power or latency. You will likely need a couple USB-C to USB adapters though.

Personally, I would recommend always having something with its own sound. My personal go to rig, when I need more than just a piano, is a Yamaha P115, with an M-Audio Keystation 88 on top. The Keystation runs all my Mainstage sounds, exclusively. It doesn’t have anything built in because it is just a controller. The Yamaha I run directly into my mixer, and it handles all the piano work. If my laptop fails, I get dead notes or glitches, or my controller fails on me, I can kill the volume and switch over to the piano. It won’t be the sounds, and I could always run a USB from the piano to the laptop, but I’d rather have it be independent. This way it’s a failsafe, and I can always play. Even if it limits me to piano, a string patch, e piano, and a couple organs. I don’t think I’d ever do a show without that p115.

Which Mac laptop do you recommend?

Yes you still need a DI Box :)

Question: from your computer to the Focursrite, are you using a USB input to USB output cable? Or USB from your computer to 3 pin xlr on the Focursrite

@@reneportal542 I'm using a USB cable (USB A to USB B that came with the Focusrite 6i6 2nd Gen). While you technically Could use a USB DAC to XLR device of some sort to send audio to the Focusrite, you would be using up one or two XLR inputs and converting the audio three times (see below) for no real reason, not to mention the cost of the USB DAC. (The Focusrite does need a driver - it gets installed with the Focusrite Control software. You'll have issues if you don't install it.) The DAC (digital to audio converter) in the Focusrite is pretty good, maxing out at 24-bit, 192 KHz. Since the USB cable is essentially lossless for audio, it should be the best choice, unless you have an odd setup that requires the USB DAC. (Powered USB Extension cables do exist, and I use one on stage now with no problems!) If you need the USB DAC, I'd try just using the Focusrite for only for Input, and use the USB DAC for your Main output. Using a USB to audio device converts your computer's digital audio to analog, then the Focusrite converts it back to digital for mixing, then into audio again for the outputs. The number of conversions plus possible conversion timing problems will introduce more noise - the only question is how much and whether it is objectionable. If you're using Windows and ASIO4ALL, you should install the Focusrite ASIO driver and choose it under ASIO4ALL, not the Focusrite audio ports directly. (ASIO4ALL isn't needed unless you have another ASIO device you want to use at the same time, like the USB DAC.) If you try to use the Focusrite audio ports directly with ASIO4ALL (it does see them without the driver), you'll have level control issues. You may have to restart your DAW the first time after choosing the Focusrite ASIO device in the ASIO4ALL settings. Ableton Live errored out when I did that, but restarting fixed it, and it didn't happen again. Ableton is very sensitive to Audio device changes in Windows, and apparently ASIO4ALL resets the audio device the first time you choose a new interface. Sorry if this is info you already knew - just trying to cover all the bases. Hope you get it all working the way you want.

there have been times where ableton crashed on me. its scary cuz you start panicking and it takes a while to load. be sure to have a failsafe for these kinds of situations

Freezing or crashing should be pretty rare no matter what computer you use, as long as you Do Not Use the computer for Anything Else. I'm not being too strict here. Sure, web browsing is fine, as long as you don't have the browser open during a performance. Don't install anything on it you don't need, and maybe even un-install software that came with the computer - certainly everything you don't use. If there's a lot of, well, crap on the system, consider an OS reinstall (total wipe and reinstall if it's Windows). It's not for the faint of heart, but it could save you a figurative coronary later. If you have the money, a backup computer can save your performance. iConnectivity has a new audio interface, the PlayAudio 12, that has automatic fail over - your main computer dies, it changes instantly to the backup computer audio. Ableton Live is designed to sync in this way - once you have the setup running, the main computer can freeze mid performance and you'll be (un)lucky to even hear a glitch.

you are right. not required unless you are recreating a song. but if you want high end sound and your church cant afford to buy these kinds of keybord then this is the best solution as it is cheap. the other point is portability. when i play for other people i bring my midi keyboad and pc because i dont want to start familiarizing myself with another keyboard (even though most keyboards are similar) imho knowing your setup well provides a great advantage as you stated but for cheap high end sounds this is the best option

Ppss. Can you put together a video on the ultimate guitar rig rundown using MainStage and midi pedals?

He got it from artofhomage.com

Our Krome at church has a USB port on it, so just connect directly to the Mac. I have an MAudio interface to get the sound out of my PC, and the USB hub on the interface to get the multiple controllers into the PC.

use DI box

Yes...U can make set lists, use multiple keyboards, and run them from Mainstage. For my purposes, I have 8 of my favorite sounds on one patch and turn on or off sounds as needed.

mtbrogue88 You will need a powered USB hub or non powered USB hub to expand your USB ports.

I have a great computer, but am one not to put 100% confidence in man-made devices.

Yes, Sunday Keys is set up so you can use buttons on the NK2 to move between patches :) I have a 13" personally, the UI is so well laid out, not sure you need any more!

artofhomage.com

no it cant. Look into using ableton with vsts and instrument groups/layers for a similar effect

Yes, NI stuff is great. It comes with some Komplete sounds, so if you've already got Ableton Live, getting the S88 would be a good idea.

Nick Elle thank you! I like the latest Novation MKIII but it’s not available in a 88-key version.

I love that keyboard, as well! It's super powerful, and with 32 channels of MIDI and CV, it could control a good sized synth studio! It may be a bit over kill for church though. Unless the keyboardist was the only band member (seriously, that keyboard can be used as a one-man-band), it's not really the best option for church.@@christiancanalita6487

@@nickelle3268I do need a keyboard for my studio and I can only afford 1. But after reading the posts below regarding hardware vs software, I'm not sure anymore.

No he referred to the software and nano board as approx cost of $100.

Yeah that's the problem is having a Mac is the expensive part, I'm a Windows person and I just got a laptop recently which is very powerful for a very good price. Don't let the idea of being cool is having a Mac become obsessive. If you know anything about computers or someone who does, maybe see if you can upgrade to an SSD which is fairly cheap if you don't have one already!

Actually I recently did and boy is it fast now like fast⏩🚀. I get you though but I feel like maybe me or maybe it's true that everybody I find on RU-vid - that teach about these tech worship recording stuff- talk about a Mac and use Mac only software or just forget about Us. I recently a week ago bought a lenovo thinkpad too and performance is really good so I don't see why buy a computer a bunch of people on internet complain about and a price of money I've never had. (1000 or over. ) and no I don't need a MacBook air my friend has that. God bless you all let us not forget the real reason we sing and play.

@@truthgrace5464 wow, that really summed it up! God is most important and the tools you use are your choice. Personally windows is better for me, others choose Mac, but overall we need to do what is best for the budget and for being able to communicate God to others!

Yep we do every week now. Both send audio out over Dante.

We run an 8-core MacBook Pro with 16gb ram

@@Churchfront Awesome thanks man! Keep doing what you're doing.

@@Churchfront what type this 8-core?

For this setup, yes. Use Ableton Live if you use a PC

There are SO many keyboards that can do all of this! And, some don't even require the budget that the Montage/MoDX requires. Granted, if you have the budget this is worth a good look. But if you don't, check out used gear from any of these manufacturers: Roland, Yamaha, and Korg. Most of these have some pretty solid keyboards that will go a long way in a worship set. Of course, the challenge is finding a good piano sound, which only gets more challenging the older the instrument is.

Osvaldo Luna no , what’s great about it is that main stage comes with a lot of the Logic Pro sounds

Dacrouse I use main stage and I am still learning. How do I layer sounds to get close to what I am hearing on the cd. Please help. Thank you