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u/Common-Owl576

▲ 2 r/worshipleaders+1 crossposts

Drummer (25y) switching to keys for klezmer/jewish worship — sanity check on this rig.

##Hey all — building my first live keys rig and want feedback before I drop money.

Context: Drummer for 25+ years, switching to keys at my Jewish/Messianic church. Worship is klezmer-influenced — accordion, clarinet, sax textures, lots of modal/minor stuff. Already own Mac, Ableton, Logic X, MainStage, NI Komplete. Want ONE UI to manage everything live, samples on external SSD to keep the laptop light.

##Hardware

  • Controller — Studiologic SL73 MK2.
  • Audio interface — Focusrite Scarlett Solo 4th gen. Standard, two ins enough.
  • Expression pedal — Roland EV-5. Critical for SWAM winds (CC11).
  • External SSD — Samsung T7, APFS-formatted. Sample storage.
  • Skipped: Numa X Piano. Felt redundant when Mac is already in the rig.

##Software architecture:

MainStage 3 as the only live host. Logic X / Ableton stay studio-only.

  • Live host — MainStage 3 ($30). Patch-based, foot-switch transitions, single UI.
  • Piano — MainStage stock (Vintage EVP88, Steinway). Pianoteq 9 optional. Stock covers most live needs.
  • Pads / synths / organ — MainStage stock (ES2, Sculpture, Alchemy, Vintage B3). Plenty for worship pads.
  • Winds (clarinet / sax / flute) — SWAM by Audio Modeling. Modeled, expression-pedal driven, klezmer-essential.
  • Accordion — Best Service Accordions 2 OR Sample Modeling The Accordion. Klezmer must-have. Torn between the two.
  • NI Komplete — loaded via Komplete Kontrol inside MainStage. Surgical use only — never raw Kontakt UI live.
  • Free — Spitfire LABS. Pads, textures.

##Things I deliberately decided against:

  • Sunday Keys. $299 + hidden Omnisphere requirement ($499) = $800. Wrong genre target (US evangelical, not klezmer/Messianic). MainStage stock + SWAM + accordion VST seems to cover my actual context better.
  • Going all-in on NI Komplete patches. I think MainStage stock carries ~85% of what I need. NI is for specific timbres I can't get from stock — not a default.
  • Numa X Piano. See above — duplicates the laptop.

##Where I'd love pushback:

  1. SL73 MK2 vs alternatives — anyone gigging this keybed regularly?
  2. MainStage as single host — anyone hit walls with this in a live worship context? Should I be looking at Gig Performer or Camelot Pro instead?
  3. SWAM for winds — actually playable live with just an expression pedal, or do I need a wind controller (EWI/Aerophone) to make it sound human?
  4. Accordion VST — Best Service Accordions 2 vs Sample Modeling The Accordion for klezmer specifically? Anyone A/B'd these?
  5. NI Komplete inside MainStage — am I right that Komplete Kontrol is the sane way to load Kontakt instruments live, or is there a better workflow?
  6. Anything load-bearing I'm missing? Specifically for klezmer/Jewish worship — strings? Brass? A specific organ patch I should know about?

Budget-conscious but not cheap-out — willing to spend on things that matter, want to avoid spending on things that don't. Appreciate any holes you can poke.

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u/Common-Owl576 — 5 days ago