Did you know that MainStage comes with a bunch of additional hidden plugins?

It's true. I didn't know about them for the longest time. I'm glad I found them because a few of them sound really great and they're all super CPU friendly. There's actually 10 additional instrument plugins that I've found.

Here's the deal: MainStage is made by Apple, the same folks that make Logic and Garageband. Logic and MainStage share the same plugins, but they're also all semi-compatible with Garageband. The sounds in Garageband just give you less control over them.

But, as it turns out that there are also some synth plugins Apple designed that are unique to Garageband.

Good news! All of those plugins are accessible within MainStage! But they're not available from the default instrument plugin selection dialogue. They're hidden in the channel strip library.

As you can see from the picture above, there's a whole section of channel strip presets under the "Legacy" folder of MainStage. (if you're missing this section, make sure you have downloaded all the additional MainStage content and that you haven't deleted Garageband off your Mac). Most of the synth presets use those hidden synth plugins that MainStage doesn't show you by default. They have names like "AnMorph", "Hybrid Morph", "Hybrid Basic", and "DgStepr" to name a few. Their visual interface is basic and utilitarian and they were obviously each designed to deliver a specific type of sound.

Sometimes, their simplicity is just what you need. My favorite two from this list of hidden plugins are definitely the "Hybrid Basic" and "Hybrid Morph" plugins. They offer different wave shapes you can select between using the drop down menu and you can even map filter cutoff to the mod wheel. Sometimes it's a super easy way to dial up a quick lead or pad sound.

I hope these plugins are fun for you to play around with! Feel free to share what you come up with!

TAGS:

hidden plugins, mainstage plugin, mainstage synth, logic plugins, worship patches, mainstage secret plugin, garage band synth, Learning MainStage, MainStage Tutorial, Garageband patch, Garageband worship, MainStage Sound Library, MainStage Additional Content, MainStage Factory Preset, Free MainStage patches, MainStage patch, MainStage 3, MainStage 3 patches, worship patches, MainStage tutorials, worship sounds, Sunday Keys MainStage template, Sunday Sounds, MainStage template, worship template, hillsong patch, hillsong patches, young and free patch, young and free patches, united patch, united patches, elevation worship patch, elevation worship, worship piano, worship pads, worship keys,