Using the Omni TR with Mainstage in a Live Setting

When you’re changing sounds between songs in a live setting, things can get tricky. The Omni TR app makes things easier if you know how to use it.

In this video, piano instructor Ryan King shows us how to use the Omni TR app for iPad, created by Spectrasonics. 

Ryan will demonstrate how he sets up and uses the app in a live situation. He’ll also give some tips and tricks for how to best use the Omni TR app alongside Omnisphere and Mainstage. 

Watch as Ryan shows us his setup and goes through three songs with the Omni TR, showcasing his use of the app when playing live. The three songs used as a sample in this tutorial are Glorious DayGrace to Grace, and What a Beautiful Name.

Ryan’s setup for using Omni TR live:

Keyboard: Rolland RD 700SX 

Laptop: Running Main Stage 

iPad: Running Omni TR

Songs:

Glorious Day

Grace to Grace

What a Beautiful Name

We’ve got more tips and tutorials on keyboard programs, live play setup, and Omnisphere patches. Even more great content, including full song tutorials, is available to members only

Ryan is currently the Worship Director at The Church at Wills Creek in North Alabama. He has been the keyboardist for many Christian artists and has served with several churches including Christ Fellowship and Church of the Highlands. Ryan is the keyboard instructor for WorshipArtistry.com and also works as a producer, music educator, and studio musician. Ryan has two children, Josiah and Vivy, and they love spending time on their 100 acre farm.

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Tr Omni

you were saying u load one instance per patch in mainstage of Omnisphere, is it not the same loading time
for changing a ms patch instance of Omni as changing multis w/o mainstage , say standalone?
If not would it not be cpu heavy ?

Perhaps gig performer and mainstage have the ability to switch instantly between multis, which would be faster than unloading / loading multis in Omnisphere standalone

Omni TR

That's correct. I load one instance per mainstage patch. Mainstage then loads all of the omnisphere instances into RAM although all are not active at the same time. Only the instance for the specific mainstage patch that you have selected is active. When you change to the next mainstage patch, those sounds have already been loaded and are now active while the prior patch is deactivated. It can be CPU heavy at times depending on how many sounds you are using at once.

Up to this point, this has been the only way of seamlessly transitioning from song to song, while maintaining patch holdover and eliminating load times. If you find a better way, I'm all ears.

Thanks for reaching out.

Multi Browsing

It isn't necessary to close and re-open Omni TR for each song. If you pre-load the Multis in the Omnisphere browser, the TR app is able to browse the top 75. Switch the song in MainStage then simply browse for the correct Multi in TR and you're good to go.

Multi Browsing

So I tried what you recommended, and unfortunately I was unable to get it to work. Even tho the Multis can be 'pre-loaded' in the Multi browser, the patches themselves are not pre-loaded. When you click on another multi, it cuts off the sound of the prior multi and begins to load the one you have selected.

If you have, for example, 2 Mainstage patches loaded, and you change from patch 1 to patch 2, you still need to close the app and select the second omnisphere instance. Changing the multi itself will only change the sounds for patch 1 because that is the instance that it is still currently tied to.

If you find a better, please let me know.

Thanks

Ryan

Tr not ideal for live

Bottom line is spectrasonics tr needs the ability to connect with how many omnisphere instances are used , right now it’s optimized for standalone , maybe one day,

Response !, yay!

I thought I was alone in this, ...,after rewatching your video Ryan, I gather even Gigperformer has the same methodology as mainstage , and doesn’t reset tr Omni per patch automatically , ppl are stuck in this , also have you tried lemur to operate Omnisphere within ms?

It’s really too bad Omni tr is so outdated, to sync it up to reflect a chosen mult in Ms ( or Gp ), would be an advance.

Referenced Omnisphere sounds

Hey Ryan,

This post doesn't necessarily apply to the video above; however, I have watched several of your "walk through" videos for songs and many times can't locate the particular voices you reference in them. Are most of your voices ones that you have created and sell?
Loop Community is fantastic but honestly their sorting system for sounds is horrible.

Thanks for your time and help.

Chris

Ryan’s omniessentials volumes

Chris , I can’t answer for Ryan, but at loopcommunity I bought Ryan’s omniesstial bundles, as they’re programmed well and he uses many in his lessons, your right , u have to press info on the patches and track down the bundles yourself and he sells the the omnisphere ones sometimes per song at worshipinstitute

Boy is this different

I don't use a PC or an IPad.instead I'm using an Android tablet to display,manage,and edit my sheet music using MobileSheets, then using AirPed's Ped hardware via Bluetooth to turn pages. My keyboard is a Yamaha PSR S770 which allows me to handle just about any type of music or sound compilation.

What you are doing is different, but not so different than what I do with sound and style management, requiring a bit of preparation and a lot of choices to get exactly the sound and feel you want in your music.

I've never used Omnisphere or Mainstage before and found this demo that you've done to be quite interesting. If I find myself working with a keyboardist who uses these things I'll know how to with cooperatively with him or her.

I'd like to give you a couple of hints regarding your recording if you don't mind. First, get someone else to manage your camera. For almost the whole time you were recording we had a good view of your T-shirt, but not of your face. Also, you need to have better lighting for your face. It's almost totally hidden in shadow.

What stand are you using for the iPad?

Hey, Ryan,

How are you fixing your iPad to your board. It appears to be floating, but would love you thoughts on how to best mount it.

Thanks,
Tony