MainStage 3 Free: What's New and Improved?

Mixer or plug-in controls mapped to the same Workspace object in MainStage 3 free now maintain their relative positions when controlled from the object, making it easier to navigate your workspace. This change ensures that you can quickly find and adjust the controls you need without any disruptions.

Another significant improvement is the way external Instrument channels send Bank select messages. Now, they correctly sequence MSB (most significant byte) and then LSB (least significant byte) messages, ensuring a seamless performance experience.

The Channel Strip: Show Original/Show Next Alias key command now selects the channel strip as expected, providing you with better control over your tracks. Additionally, the Expression knob on the Mixer now reliably shows Expression value mappings saved at the Concert level, giving you greater flexibility in your performances.

MainStage 3 free has also addressed an issue where clicking the channel mode button from mono to stereo on Output 2 would unexpectedly set the level of the resulting Output 1-2 channel strip to its minimum value. This is no longer a concern, as the software now handles this transition smoothly.

The Instrument Channel Strip Inspector's MIDI Input Tab now contains a section at the top of the Input Controller menu for recently assigned controllers, making it easier to manage your inputs and outputs.

Output 1-2 and Master channel strips are no longer prone to disappearing when loading patches that attempt to route to mono outputs. This change ensures that you can continue working without any interruptions.

VoiceOver has been improved to announce latency values correctly on channel strips, providing a more accessible experience for users with visual impairments. You can now also use VoiceOver to delete channel strips and select them easily.

When loading concerts with instances of Sampler that have been dragged and dropped from other concerts or from the Finder, MainStage 3 free no longer sometimes opens with the wrong samples loaded. This change ensures a more reliable performance experience.

The Select All command in Layout mode is now safe to use without causing MainStage to quit. Additionally, pressing Command-Equals sign (=) will no longer cause the software to exit.

MainStage 3 free has also addressed an issue where it would hang when closing the '8 Drum Pads' concert using Logic Remote. This change ensures a smoother experience when working with external controllers.

Finally, you can now use the Reset Window Configuration command from the Windows menu to restore the default window configuration for all open windows. This change provides more flexibility and control over your workspace layout.

As an added bonus, MainStage 3 free now includes Sample Alchemy and Beat Breaker as plug-ins, expanding your creative possibilities and providing a wider range of effects and processing options.