The 2018 Mac mini as part of a Broadway music designer’s setup

Brian Li:

Prior to moving to Tokyo, I worked as an electronic music designer in New York and Las Vegas, where my job involved building keyboard racks and designing sounds for keyboard players on Broadway shows. More often than not, the racks I built were powered by Mac minis running MainStage

And:

Despite all the razzle-dazzle you see onstage, Broadway shows actually have very tight budgets, especially when it comes to keyboard racks for the electronic music designer. Unfortunately, professional music equipment is really expensive, so this reality often presented a “trilemma” between low price, high reliability, and high flexibility.

What follows is a budget breakdown, leaving about “$3,350 for two computers, making a mid to high-end Mac mini the only viable option.”

A fascinating peek into a Broadway tech setup, and a real world use case for the new Mac mini.