Contents. Articulations 10 Sustain Samples 11 Effects 12 Previews 15

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Contents. Articulations 10 Sustain Samples 11 Effects 12 Previews 15"

Bartholomew Todd
5 years ago
Views:

2 Contents MPC Orchestral Pro Edition: Introduction 3 Install: MPC Software Expansion Browser 4 Install: MPC Live & MPC X 4 MPC Expansion: What s Inside? 9 Articulations 10 Sustain Samples 11 Effects 12 Previews 15 Playing the Instruments with MPC Pads 17 Playing the Instruments with a MIDI Keyboard 19 Adding Vibrato 19 Instrument Specifications 20 Further Resources 25 2

3 MPC Orchestral Pro Edition: Introduction MPC Orchestral Professional Edition is a complete multisampled chamber orchestra in MPC Expansion format which can be used to create realistic sounding orchestral parts and performances in your MPC. All MPC instrument programs have been painstakingly built from the groundup to incorporate features such as dynamic layers, round robins, velocity sensitive filtering and mod wheel controlled vibrato. We ve carefully optimised all programs to reduce the memory footprint for standalone MPC use, ensuring that multiple programs can be loaded simultaneously into your projects. Additionally, all content is fully tagged for the expansion & media browsers and program previews provided for all instruments. 3

Install: MPC Live & MPC X Enter the MPC X-MPC Live-Standalone Edition folder and inside you ll see a sub folder MPC Orchestral Pro Edition this is the folder we re going to transfer to your MPC X/MPC

4 Install: MPC Live & MPC X Enter the MPC X-MPC Live-Standalone Edition folder and inside you ll see a sub folder MPC Orchestral Pro Edition this is the folder we re going to transfer to your MPC X/MPC Live. The 16GB internal drive on your MPC is not externally accessible, so let s assume you have a USB drive called MPC DATA connected to the USB port on your MPC Live/X (you can also transfer to an SD card or internal SATA drive). Connect your MPC X/MPC Live via USB to your computer and in your MPC go to MENU and hit the MPC chip icon at the top of the screen; select CONTROLLER 4

5 MODE. At this point, your USB disk will appear as a removable drive in your computer. If it doesn t already exist, create a folder called Expansions in the root of your MPC disk - now copy the MPC Orchestral Pro Edition folder inside this Expansions folder. You can now eject the disk from your computer and in your MPC Live/X return to Standalone mode. Your expansion will be accessible from BROWSER > Expansions. 5

6 Install: MPC Software Expansion Browser Locate the MPC Orchestral Pro Expansion Installer.XPN file and drag & drop it directly into the MPC Software UI from your computer s File Explorer/Finder: 6

7 Please note that an XPN file cannot be installed from the MPC Browser, nor can it be installed by double clicking. After dragging the XPN into the software UI you should see the following: Select Import and once installed, open the Expansion Browser ( X on your keyboard for MPC Software 2.x, shift & E for MPC Software 1.9), and click on the MPC Orchestral thumbnail to view: 7

8 8

9 MPC Expansion: What s Inside? In the hardware UI, select the PROGRAM filter to view all available instruments: In the MPC Software Expansion browser you can find all instruments within the Programs group. Each instrument type is give its own sub-category, and if there are multiple articulations, these are organised into further sub-categories. 9

10 Single tap/click the program to hear a preview (requires AUDITION >AUTO ). All melodic instruments are built using KEYGROUP programs which you must assign to a KEYGROUP type track, while the Orchestral Drum Kit must be assigned to a DRUM track. Articulations Most instruments are provided with multiple articulations that cover a number of playing styles. By combining these articulations over multiple sequencer tracks it is possible to create incredibly realistic orchestral performances. The following types of articulations are available for various instruments: 10

11 Sustain ( Sus ) this is the default articulation for all instruments and consists of a note played consistently for several seconds. Pads are set to note on so you control the length. Staccato ( Stac ) this is when a note is played in a short but sharp manner. These notes are only brief but provide a unique timbre compared to simply playing a short sustain articulation. Used with woodwinds and brass. Spiccato ( Spic ) this is similar to staccato but is used with string instruments and involves a short bouncing attack of the bow on the strings. Pizzicato ( Pizz ) this is when a string instrument is plucked with the fingers, rather than bowed. Tremolo ( Trem ) this is a succession of rapid alternating bow movements on a stringed instrument. If no articulation is listed then that instrument is only available with standard sustain notes. Sustain Samples All sustain programs feature samples each recorded for several seconds, which for brass and wind instruments represents the natural note length achievable in a single breath. 11

12 For stringed instruments, a single bowed note would only last the time it takes to move the bow across the string, approximately 1-2 seconds, so to provide longer sustain samples for the strings, the violinist/cellist performs a natural string sustain where the bow direction is quickly changed every second or so. While the change of bow direction is audible, this reflects the method the musician would use while playing a sustained note in an actual musical performance. For melodic percussion (e.g. Xylophone), the notes are configured in a one-shot manner and hence play for the entirety of their natural decay. Effects We ve inserted a Large Room reverb across all programs which can easily be disabled or changed using the Program Channel Strip. In the touchscreen UI, go to MAIN and tap the eyeball icon to reveal the channel strip: 12

13 Here you can add additional effects, edit the existing settings or disable effects altogether. In the MPC Software, you can perform the same actions from the Inspector (press I on your keyboard to reveal it). 13

Remember that you can also add effects such as reverbs and delays via Return/Send system please refer to the official MPC User Manual for more details on this (in the MPC Software, go

14 Remember that you can also add effects such as reverbs and delays via Return/Send system please refer to the official MPC User Manual for more details on this (in the MPC Software, go to Help > MPC Help to open the manual for your specific MPC). The MPC Bible also contains tutorials covering effects. 14

15 Previews All instruments in our expansions will play a program preview when you click/tap on them in the Expansion browser. Some customers have told us that they like to use these preview files as loops and riffs in their beats so we ve also included higher quality WAV versions of these preview files in a separate Previews group within the Samples category of the expansion browser: 15

16 To locate and load these samples in standalone expansion browser, select the SAMPLES filter and search for the term preview. 16

17 Playing the Instruments with MPC Pads We ve mapped all keygroup programs to match the natural pitch range of each individual instrument, and as such the available note ranges will vary depending on the type of instrument selected. The MPC pads in a standard keygroup program are hard coded to their MIDI note pitches with the note ranges of acoustic instruments typically starting in bank B or C. To quickly identify active pads, we ve set those pads to be lit, with wind instruments in green, brass in yellow, percussion in purple, strings in blue and keys in light blue. The Orchestral Drum Kit is a DRUM program so is set up differently, with sounds covering pad banks A and B, with kicks in red, snares in blue, cymbals in yellow and percussion in purple. We have incorporated a number of velocity sensitive features in the programs, with velocity sensitive filter and attack, and many instruments feature round robins and multiple dynamic levels to take full advantage of these features, we recommend that FULL LEVEL is set to off. 17

Additionally, all patches are fully compatible with Pad Perform Mode which can configure your pads to only playback notes from specified scales, or can be used to trigger entire chords from each

18 Additionally, all patches are fully compatible with Pad Perform Mode which can configure your pads to only playback notes from specified scales, or can be used to trigger entire chords from each pad. With your instrument loaded, go to Pad Perform Mode : MPC Live/X/Touch: MODE > PAD PERFORM, MPC Ren/Studio: PAD ASSIGN Select BANK A, NOTES & under SCALE & OCTAVE select your preferred scale & 18

19 musical key. The 16 pads will now only play back the notes in this specific scale. Red pads indicate the root note in the scale. Playing the Instruments with a MIDI Keyboard Instruments can be played using an attached MIDI keyboard. For the MPC X/Live you can connect a USB keyboard via your MPC s USB port, a Bluetooth keyboard via Preferences > Bluetooth, or connect a keyboard via the 5 pin MIDI ports. For MPC Renaissance/Studio/Touch you can connect the keyboard via a physical MIDI cable to the MPC MIDI in port (a minijack-to-5 pin adapter is required for the Touch/Studio). Alternatively you can connect a USB MIDI keyboard to your computer and configure it as the active MIDI input via Preferences > MIDI. Adding Vibrato If your keyboard has a modulation wheel ( Mod Wheel ) you can use this to add subtle vibrato to any of the sustained articulations for string, brass or wind instruments (this is simply an LFO pitch modulation). 19

20 Instrument Specifications The following table shows a summary of all the programs in the expansion, including the total file size of each program and its samples. Program Family Articulation Size French Horn -Stac Brass Staccato 3.7 MB French Horn -Sus Brass Sustain 12.2 MB Tenor Trombone Brass Sustain 29.4 MB Trumpet-Stac Brass Staccato 4.6 MB Trumpet-Sus Brass Sustain 19.8 MB Tuba-Stac Brass Staccato 2.9 MB Tuba-Sus Brass Sustain 13.7 MB 20

21 Harpsicord Keys Sustain 19.1 MB Orchestral Grand Keys Sustain 56.9 MB Brass Bells Percussion One Shot 28.4 MB Celesta Percussion One Shot 8.9 MB Glockenspiel Percussion One Shot 5.7MB Marimba Percussion One Shot 10.8 MB Orchestral Kit Percussion One Shot 31 MB Vibraphone Percussion One Shot 18.1 MB Xylophone-Rswd Percussion One Shot 2.9 MB Xylophone-Rubber Percussion One Shot 3.3 MB Cello Section-Pizz String Pizzicato 10.8 MB Cello Section-Spic String Spiccato 9.2 MB 21

22 Cello Section-Sus String Sustain 47.7 MB Cello Section-Trem String Tremolo 34.8 MB Contrabass-Pizz String Pizzicato 6 MB Contrabass-Spic String Spiccato 5.1 MB Contrabass-Sus String Sustain 14.7 MB Contrabass-Trem String Tremolo 6.3 MB Harp String One Shot 17.9 MB Viola Section-Pizz String Pizzicato 7.2 MB Viola Section-Spic String Spiccato 3.5MB Viola Section-Sus String Sustain 48.7 MB Viola Section-Trem String Tremolo 11 MB Violin Section-Pizz String Pizzicato 5.1 MB 22

23 Violin Section-Spic String Spiccato 4.7 MB Violin Section-Sus String Sustain 46.9 MB Violin Section-Trem String Tremolo 34.5 MB Violin-Pizz String Pizzicato 4.1 MB Violin-Spic String Spiccato 4.1 MB Violin-Sus String Sustain 35.8 MB Violin-Trem String Tremolo 15.6 MB Alto Flute Wind Sustain 10.3 MB Bass Clarinet Wind Sustain 3.7 MB Bass Flute Wind Sustain 8.8 MB Bassoon-Stac Wind Staccato 3.8 MB Bassoon-Sus Wind Sustain 17 MB 23

24 Clarinet-Stac Wind Staccato 3.7 MB Clarinet-Sus Wind Sustain 28.7 MB Flute-Stac Wind Staccato 3.9 MB Flute-Sus Wind Sustain 17.3 MB Oboe-Stac Wind Staccato 18.4 MB Oboe-Sus Wind Sustain 4.3 MB Ocarina-Stac Wind Staccato 1.3 MB Ocarina-Sus Wind Sustain 16.5 MB Piccolo Wind Sustain 4.9MB Recorder-Stac Wind Staccato 1.6 MB Recorder-Sus Wind Sustain 10.5 MB 24

25 Further Resources To learn more about creating your own MPC programs, sequences, sounds and expansions, please refer to MPC-Tutor s range of MPC tutorial books at: MPC Orchestral is part of our growing range of virtual MPC instruments check out our entire range here, with loads of acoustic keys, pianos, drum kits, bass, synths & much, much more: 25

INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA

https://www.sfponline.org/uploads/271/instruments%20of%20the%20orchestra.pdf INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA String Family Violin The violin is the smallest of the string family. It has 4 strings and is played