Worship Keys Rig with Isaac Andrade

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In this episode, we sit down with Isaac Andrade, a worship keys player and musical director based in Orlando, Florida, as he walks through his worship keys rig and the mindset behind building a setup that truly serves the room. Isaac shares how consistency, simplicity, and musical sensitivity shape his sound, from his Nord Stage 3 Compact to the way he layers pianos, pads, and organs. He also breaks down his MainStage workflow, pad design, and practical touring tips to help worship musicians build a reliable, flexible rig without overcomplicating things. If you want to serve well and sound consistent wherever you play, you won’t want to miss this.

Isaac Andrade

Transcript

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Hello guys. My name is Isaac Andrade and I am a keys player, NMD based out of Orlando, Florida. I attend a church in Davenport, Florida called G5 Um, but I've been able to gig all around central Florida as well as outside of the state. So a bunch of different states and um, as well as out of the country. And today I get to walk you guys through my rig, um, and when I travel I'll tell you guys what I take, what I don't take, why I take what I take, and all of that. So let's get into it. Um, so the bed of my rig is this Nord Stage three. Um, I actually bought the compact north stage because it's easier for me to travel with. It's lighter, it's a bit smaller, so I don't get the full 88 keys. I get 76 keys and they are semi weighted, so it might not feel as good as a bigger MODX 8 or a north stage 88. But, um, it's what I like. It's been easy to carry with me wherever it is that I'm called to go. And it's been a blessing. So, one thing you guys should know about me is I am a big Nord fanatic. So whenever I do have the opportunity to play with the Nord, I do tend to always go with the Nord. Mm-hmm. Um, so to start off with, uh, my piano sounds do come from my Nord. So my Nord is a controller. However, I do get my piano sounds strictly from the Nord whenever I can. Um, I stack the white grand on top of a bambino upright. So the white grand has been my favorite for years. I haven't been able to leave it for a long time. Um, I just love how it feels so natural and how it can also pierce through when needed. Um, so my piano sounds are coming from my Nord. However, any pads that I do use do come from my mainstage setup. So my mainstage setup is something that I've built over the span of maybe three years of working with mainstage. mainstage This is a template from Sunday Keys. However, all the pads and bells and organs that I'm gonna walk you through today are stuff that I have built myself, sound design, or gotten from friends that have helped me build this specific patch that I travel with, and it's been able to cover all of my needs. So to start off, this magic pad is actually a pad, um, out of Spitfire. So if you guys have never heard of Spitfire, it's definitely something you guys should check out. Um, something that has been a big blessing to me. And yeah, so Spitfire creates this kind of dark, um, it kind of feels like. Like I'm scoring a movie when I play this pad, and it's a pad that I use a lot in moments of prayer or, you know, underscoring a preacher, um, kind of creates a bed and not really something that's piercing through. Not really something you can feel much. Um, I'm someone who believes that our pads should be more of a glue to what is happening in the room. Um. You know, it can be something that pierces of a song or a moment cause for that. But for the most part, the pads that I use and create are pads that kind of stick together, um, that you don't really hear, but that you can feel. Um, so spitfire is what I use. I do have some effects on it. Um, all of my effects are routed to things here. My main goal is to never have to touch my laptop during a set, so I have everything patched to my Korg nano control two or my MIDI board up here where I can control with my buttons or with my drawbar. Um, I do have the shimmer patched here. So whenever I click this button, you know, everything is mapped respectively. So whenever I click my shimmer button, it turns on or turns off the shimmer on that magic pad. This drawbar controls it and this the volume and this drawbar controls the intensity of that pad. Got out to Tony Fresh at Ford City. Um, he actually taught me about this pad and helped me actually design it in his time there. Um, and it's something I, I've been using ever since. That was a few years back. It's a very, um, shiny pad kind of creates ambient. I do have a bit of movement on it. It's not something that's very still. So I do have to be very careful when using it, especially in moments that aren't as quiet or small. Um, so I can show you guys that now. So it's very deep on this side and gets very light down on this side. So that's something I use a lot in, in kind of heavier moments, moments of probably prayer or slower songs, um, that just require a bit more of umph on the piano side that may not have a lot going on with other instruments. Move on to the next one. My bells. These bells aren't necessarily, you know, traditional bells that you hear, but it is a piano that I have, um, layered on here where I have the frequency all the way up. And basically what it does is that it creates kind of like a piercing sound that I use in bigger moments, um, and moments like where a song may need a specific line that needs to cut through the mix. And that's when I will turn that on. All the buttons are equally mapped and patched to the My cork nano control. The third one is this worship organ. And this is actually something that I've shared with a lot of people because they listen to it and they ask me, how did I get an organ to sound like that? And this is actually a logic organ, so something that most people won't know is that I don't have omnisphere, I don't have keyscape Um, almost all the sounds I have and use and that you hear from anything that I may have been on a, a project or a live record or a song or a church service are either built from the Nord, built in Nord sounds or logic. Um, so super accessible, um, super easy to find, super easy to use. Um, so this is a Nord vintage worship organ and. That is there. Um, and I actually got it. I already have it all set up the way I want it to sound, so it's not really something that I'm messing with the drawbar as much. However, those draw bars are mapped to my drawbar here on my nod. So. It almost feels like I'm playing the Nord organ, but with this, the reason I have an organ there, um, my pad's there and I even have backup pianos there in case I can't travel with my Nord, is because there are times where I do have to travel without a piano that I'm familiar with and I want to be able to plug and play so I can plug my laptop in midi to any piano and it'll sound as if my nor was there with me. This is what that would sound like. Um, and my last pad is this worship pad. I don't know if you guys know of the blue carpet on logic, but that pad is a pad that I've been using for about a year now, and I actually got it from my friend. Um, you guys might know him. He's been on this episode a few times. Christian Diaz, super grateful for him. Um, someone who's always willing and ready to share any knowledge that he may have. Um, the blue carpet is a pad that I've been using for about a year. It's a super deep, super dark, um, but just a subtle bed for anything that you may be playing in worship. Um, so that's a pad that I've been using for almost every project that I've been recording the past two, two years. Um, and it's been such a blessing. Um, people love the way it sounds. I love the way it sounds and I'm probably gonna be using it for a lot longer than that. Um, that being said, although I do have everything built into mainstage. Everything that you can find on my mainstage patch, you can find built into my no. So if the day comes that my computer crashes, I'm always sending a left and right out channel to the house directly from my nod. Why if that crashes here, look on my, on my mainstage. Patches are off. So what you're about to hear is strictly Nord sounds. Lemme turn my organ off. This is just my piano. And then let's say I need a pad. Turn my pads on. Right there, that easy. And I have those pads matched with the frequency on this draw bar. So if I want it small, I keep the draw bar small. If I want it, the pad to be a bit bigger for the moment, I just draw it up. And that'll make my pad bigger, more, um, kind of explosive. It'll kind of just draw the people's attention to that pad, um, and the organ. I have an organ that I have preset onto this Nord that all I have to do is turn it on and my draw bars are here. And now I have a built-in organ that I can use whenever I need it. So anything that you can find on my mainstage setup, you can also find on my nod because if there were ever a day where I don't have my nod, my laptop is there, if there were ever a day where I don't have my mainstage setup. My Nord is there, and that's just the way that things have been able to work out for me, whether I'm on the road, whether I'm home, I can always sound consistent. Um, I think it was my, my friend Caleb King, shout out to him out at Encounter in gross Texas. He said, um. Consistency. He, he spoke about just the importance of consistency and having a consistent sound and how that is probably better than having something that you could only use at home but can't use out. And I stand by that, um, because I do believe that. Having a sound that is consistent, no matter where you are, will will lead people to want to work with you more. They know that you're someone who can show up anywhere in the country and you can give them a sound that they want, that they like, that has quality. That sounds full And yeah, so that's why I do that. Um, so what I do is that I send left and right out from my no to this interface. And from the interface I'm sending left and right out to front of house. So front of house will receive my north through the interface, but also through that same left and right is my MIDI cable that I'm sending to the interface. So I'm making that easier for front of house. I'm only sending two channels out wherever I'm at. Sometimes they don't have a four or five, six channels, however, I mean however many I may need. Um, so I make it as easy as possible for them. I just sent two out and from there they get my Nord sounds and anything midi that I may be sending. That being said, whenever I do have the opportunity, I do like to send four channels because I do like to send the two left and right out from my interface, from my MIDI and my nod. But I also like to send two individual channels out left and right just from my nod. So if the day ever came where my laptop were to crash, I could easily just. Smoothly transitioned to my hardware, Nord sounds and people wouldn't even notice a difference because of how, how similar I built my setup in my Nord. It sounds just like my mainstage setup. That being said, um, we can move forward to my MIDI controller, my novation launch Key 61. Um, this is a tool that I've been using for about two years. It's something that I've learned to love. Um. And I've also incorporated it into my mainstage setup for any, you know, the bells and whistles of my setup, arps lead lines, uh, synthesizers, any of that. My drone pads are all patched here. Um, so I've built a tonic drone pad onto my mainstage setup. So let's say we're in the key of a, I could easily just click. A right here that triggers the A pad. It's right here. You can see it. And what that'll do is it's now triggered there. I just have to turn it on. I have the on and off button, um, triggered right here. It's patched. Everything's patched. Um, like I said, my main goal is, you know. Everything's easy to find. I never have to reach and try to fiddle with my buttons. In the middle of a worship set, everything is in front of me. I can keep my eyes on the worship leader, I can keep my eyes on the rest of the band, be aware of the room, and never really have to look sideways and look at my laptop or try to figure something out. Um, so when the key of a, it's already triggered, I can just turn it on. And now my pad is on. So let's say I'm playing. Um, I don't have any other pads on through midi, but we're in the key of a now I can just start. Cool. So I can just turn it off right here, or if I ever want to switch keys, let's say. Okay. The next song is in, I don't know, uh, we're an A in E, so I can just click e. And the pad will seamlessly transition from A to the key of E and now. Cool. So something super easy, super convenient, um, and just something that has been super beneficial to me, especially when it comes to worship. That being said, uh, we can move forward. My synthesizers, bells and whistles, I have all of that patched and built in here. This is something extra. I mostly use this tool when I'm at home in Florida or somewhere I can drive. It's not often that you can fly somewhere with two pianos, but whenever I can, I have the blessing of being able to bring this, um, I plug it in, it's midi to here. All the sounds are from mainstage from logic stuff that I've built and designed over the years as well. So one of my favorite sounds right now that I've been using a lot on records and um, lead lines is this lead synthesizer that I built. It's actually a saw pad with some horns. So let's say we're doing the song, let's see, glorious day. It has a very prominent, famous lead line, the All Nations version. Um, I can just fire it up here. I cue it, make sure I'm on that synthesizer and in the key of D. So. That's something I've been using a lot for songs with big intros or songs that have specific lines. I can be down here playing the chords and, you know, playing any lead lines, any accents. I, I can also map bells. I have arps that are mapped to this as well. Um, but just like I said, anything that I have coming out of mainstage, I've also somehow someway incorporated it into my Nord. So if the day came that I'm playing ox and there's another main keys player. I don't have my mainstage or my laptop crashes. I have that same exact, or not same exact, but something pretty similar here built into my Nord patch that I can just, you know, it's more of a rude base. Uh, just something I can play Lee lines with. So there's something, there's a substitute for every single thing on my mainstage built into my Nord. Um, now one more thing that I like talking about that people have asked me about, um, and that I stand by. It is this EVO 8 Interface. This EVO 8 has been one of the, one of the biggest tools in my arsenal. Something that I rarely, rarely travel or play without. And I'm gonna tell you why. So the back of this EVO 8 has four inputs as well as four out. So I can send a bunch of outs. Um, so the four inputs, two of them, these two are minor that are, that I'm sending in, and these two are my outs that I'm sending to record this video. That being said, this EVO um, interface has smart gain. So something that a lot of people don't know is that there are now interfaces that will gain your things for you. So when I'm sending things to front of house. Um, this interface will have already gained it before front of house ever receives it. That being said, there are times where I'm quickly switching between patches or I'm playing a lead line with a synthesizer that might come in a bit hot. This interface, I set the levels beforehand on a mixer that I have on my laptop, and it will automatically gain every channel that I'm sending. So that nothing is ever peaking or red or too hot for front of house in or in a live setting where, you know, it might, it might cause some distortion or some feedback, it'll automatically fade it down to where it's all coming out at a uniform level. Sounds solid, and nothing is, nothing is too piercing. Um, and it's something that I've learned to love, um, and something that I highly, highly recommend for key players that are traveling or playing live in different settings. The last thing that I want to talk about and that is actually something that I als, um, got from a friend, um, Christian Diaz, by with Chris. Another thing as well as that Pat, is the using of a big sky for my patch. This big sky has been a big blessing. And it's something I really do use at home. Something I use a lot for, you know, moments of super worshipful moments. Moments where the worship leader may be ministering and it's just keys in the singer. I go ahead and kick it on. Um, the shimmer patch of that big sky. I send my piano through it and the big sky with my pads. I have it down here 'cause I could easily just, you know, on it's off there. I turn it on. Um, let's, I have presets built in so I can just. And my preset will be on right there, the preset that I have, sending my piano left and right into it. And then that is sent into my interface, which is then sent to the house. So it's definitely something I enjoy and I know that worship leaders that I've played with have also enjoyed. The last thing that I'm gonna talk about that is essential to my setup is my in ears. I actually bought these recently. Um, I've been using a lot of juicy ears lately. They're out of California. I just moved into getting modes, and of course, I'm from Orlando, so I had to go with our hometown N Ears, JH Audio. Um, these are three or four drivers on each side, if I'm not mistaken. And these have been a game changer with the protection of my ear, the way I've been able to hear things, the quality,