Ample China Pipa User Manual

Ample China Pipa User Manual Ample Sound Co.,Ltd @ Beijing 1

Contents 1 INSTALLATION & ACTIVATION... 7 1.1 INSTALLATION ON MAC... 7 1.2 INSTALL SAMPLE LIBRARY ON MAC... 9 1.3 INSTALLATION ON WINDOWS... 11 1.4 INSTALL SAMPLE LIBRARY ON WINDOWS... 14 1.5 ACTIVATION... 18 1.5.1 Activation... 18 1.5.2 Trial - 14 days of full functions... 20 2 SETTINGS PANEL... 23 2.1 OVERVIEW OF SETTINGS PANEL... 23 2.1.1 Instrument Path Setting... 24 2.1.2 Mater Tune... 24 2.1.3 Max Voices... 24 2.1.4 Voices Display... 24 2.1.5 Memory Display... 24 2.1.6 Dialog Always on Top... 24 2.1.7 Bender Range... 25 2

2.1.8 Poly Bender Toggle... 25 2.1.9 Advanced Bend Toggle... 25 2.1.10 Mod Wheel Range... 25 2.1.11 Mod Wheel Rate... 25 2.1.12 Auto Mod Toggle... 25 2.1.13 Hold Pedal Noise Toggle... 25 2.2 MIDI SETTINGS... 26 2.2.1 MIDI Guitar Mode Toggle... 26 2.2.2 MIDI Channels... 27 2.2.3 Invert... 27 2.2.4 Velocity Layer Threshold... 27 2.2.5 Velocity Sensitivity... 27 2.2.6 Auto Off Velocity Toggle... 27 2.2.7 Off Velocity... 27 2.3 SAMPLE SETTINGS... 28 2.3.1 Sample Cycle... 28 2.3.2 Cycle Reset... 29 2.3.3 Cycle X 3... 29 2.3.4 Envelope... 29 2.3.5 Global Sample Start Time... 29 2.5 CUSTOMIZED PARAMETERS CONTROL... 31 2.5.1 MIDI Controller... 31 2.5.2 Fine adjustment & Value reset... 32 3

3 INSTRUMENT PANEL... 33 3.1 OVERVIEW OF INSTRUMENT PANEL... 33 3.2 SAVE/LOAD PRESET... 33 3.3 CAPO LOGIC MODE... 34 3.4 SAMPLE LIBRARY SWITCH... 34 3.5 LANGUAGE... 34 3.6 CAPO FORCE DISPLAY... 34 3.7 STRING FORCE DISPLAY... 34 4 MAIN PANEL... 35 4.1 OVERVIEW OF MAIN PANEL... 35 4.2 ARTICULATIONS... 36 4.2.1 Articulation List... 36 4.2.2 Sustain & Strum... 36 4.2.3 Natural Harmonic... 37 4.2.4 Tremolo... 37 4.2.5 Tremolo Switch... 39 4.2.6 Sustain Switch... 39 4.2.7 Full Bend... 40 4.2.8 Legato Slide/Poly Legato... 40 4.2.9 Hammer-On & Pull-Off... 42 4.2.10 Doubled Keyswitches... 43 4.2.11 Mic Mode... 44 4

4.3 CONTROLLABLE RESONANCE SOUND... 45 4.4 CAPO... 45 4.5 RICH FRET NOISE... 45 4.6 PLAY MODE SWITCH... 46 4.7 OPEN STRING FIRST... 46 4.8 AUTO LEGATO MODE SWITCH... 46 4.9 STROKE NOISE... 46 4.10 MANUAL VIBRATO WHEEL... 47 4.11 STRING FORCE & CAPO FORCE... 47 4.11.1 String Force... 47 4.11.2 Capo Force... 47 4.12 FX SOUND GROUP... 48 4.13 POLY REPEATER... 48 4.14 HOLD PEDAL TOGGLE... 49 5 FX PANEL...50 5.1 OVERVIEW OF FX... 50 5.2 COMPRESSOR... 50 5.3 EQ... 51 5.3.1 Control Tips... 52 5.3.2 Filter Type... 52 5.3.4 Channel EQ... 52 5.4 ECHO... 53 5

5.5 IR REVERB... 53 6 SAMPLE EDIT PANEL...55 6

1 Installation & Activation 1.1 Installation on Mac 1. Click Continue to install. 7

2. Read and accept the license agreement. 3. Select plugin formats to install. 8

4. Close to exit. 1.2 Install sample library on Mac 1. Click Continue to install. 9

2. Select the path of sample library, and click on the Install button to install. 3. Close to exit. 10

1.3 Installation on Windows 1. Read and accept the license agreement. 2. Specify location to install standalone. 3. Specify location to install 64bit VST. 11

4. Select plugin formats to install. 5. Choose if to create a Start Menu folder. 12

6. Finish to exit. *If the plugin doesn t run properly, please install Visual C++ 2013 patch from Microsoft, Official Downloading Page from Microsoft 13

*This message is to notify that a later version of the C++ Runtime is already installed, thus there is no need to install again. Please ignore and close the message. 1.4 Install sample library on Windows 1. Read and accept the license agreement. 14

2. Specify location to install sample library. 3 Click Next to continue. 15

4 Click install. 5 Click Next. 16

6 Finish to exit. 17

1.5 Activation 1.5.1 Activation 1. When running the plugin for the first time, this message will pop up. Click Activate to start activation. 2. Input the activation code, then click Next 3.Sign in with the ilok User ID and password 18

4.Choose the location to store the license (ilok or Local Machine) 5.Activating 19

6. Click Continue to finish activation process. 1.5.2 Trial - 14 days of full functions 1. Click Try to start a trial. 2. Sign in with ilok User ID and password 20

3. Choose the location to store the trial license (ilok only) 21

4.Activating 5. Click Continue to finish activating trial license * For more details of using ilok, please go to the official ilok Website https://www.ilok.com/ 22

2 Settings Panel 2.1 Overview of Settings Panel 1. Library Path 2. Master Tune 3. Max Voices 4. Voices Display 5. Memory Display 6. Dialog Always on Top 7. Bender Range 8. Poly Bend Toggl) 9. Advanced Bend Toggle 10. Mod Wheel Range 11. Mod Wheel Rate 12. Auto Mod Toggle 13. Hold Pedal Noise Toggle 23

2.1.1 Instrument Path Setting You can move sample library to anywhere, then set the new location here. 2.1.2 Mater Tune Default tune is in 440Hz, the range is 430-450Hz. 2.1.3 Max Voices Defines the maximum number of voices which can be played simultaneously. Voices will be stopped if the amount goes beyond this value. 2.1.4 Voices Display It shows the current voices in usage. 2.1.5 Memory Display It shows the current memory consumption. 2.1.6 Dialog Always on Top To control if dialog windows always show on top. 24

2.1.7 Bender Range The range is from minor second to an octave. 2.1.8 Poly Bender Toggle Only lower note is bended when playing poly bends without this feature. 2.1.9 Advanced Bend Toggle When toggled on, the tone of the bend notes can be changed by a Physical Modeling system. 2.1.10 Mod Wheel Range The Mod Wheel changes pitch and loudness, and triggers a vibration noise when the value >= 0.75 2.1.11 Mod Wheel Rate The unit is 1/32 note. 2.1.12 Auto Mod Toggle When toggled on, every note will be played with vibrating pitch. 2.1.13 Hold Pedal Noise Toggle The hold pedal triggers a muted noise. If don't need it, please turn it off. 25

2.2 MIDI Settings 1. MIDI Guitar Mode Toggle 2. MIDI Channels 3. Invert 4. Velocity Layer Threshold 5. Velocity Sensitivity 6. Auto Off Velocity Toggle 7. Off Velocity 2.2.1 MIDI Guitar Mode Toggle 1. Supports MIDI guitar hardware, you can assign a MIDI channel for each string individually. 2. Provide one more method to specify fingering positions. 3. Make sure the input channel of midi track is set to any. 26

2.2.2 MIDI Channels 2.2.3 Invert 2.2.4 Velocity Layer Threshold Changes the threshold of each velocity layers, different samples are used for different velocity layers. 2.2.5 Velocity Sensitivity Determines how much loudness is impacted by velocity. If the Velocity Sensitivity = 0, velocity doesn't change loudness. 2.2.6 Auto Off Velocity Toggle This feature is used for MIDI keyboards which don't support Off Velocity, in order to trigger Release and Fret Release sounds. 2.2.7 Off Velocity When Auto Off Velocity is toggled on, this value will be sent as the off velocity. 27

2.3 Sample Settings 1. Sample Cycle 2. Cycle Reset 3. Cycle X 3 4. Envelope 2.3.1 Sample Cycle There are 3 different Sample Cycle modes: 1. Separate Cycle: Samples cycle independently for each note and each velocity layer, more appropriate for ARP and Strumming. 2. Round Robin: More appropriate for solo melody and bass line. 28

3. Random: Samples cycle randomly. 2.3.2 Cycle Reset Reset cycle index. 2.3.3 Cycle X 3 Cycles are 3 times longer for each note. 2.3.4 Envelope Item Range unit Start 0-50 ms Attack 1-9000 ms Decay 1-9000 ms Sustain 0-99 db Release 1-9000 ms 2.3.5 Global Sample Start Time After stroke string, it takes around 50ms to get the string really vibrating. Ample Sound samples preserve this feature to avoid the samples of picked instruments sounding like piano. 29

30 Ample China Pipa User Manual

Set Start Time to 50ms and Track Delay of DAWs to 0ms as shown in the figure above on the left for real-time playing. Set Start Time to 0ms and Track Delay of DAWs to -50ms as shown in the figure above on the right for playback or export. If your DAW doesn't support Track delay, you will need to drag tracks a few ms (according to start time) forward manually, or use the formula of Time to BPM: Track Delay(beat) = Time(s) * Tempo / 60, e.g. for 50ms, you need to drag tracks 0.1 beat or 48 ticks forward when Tempo = 120. You need to export audio one bar earlier after Track Delay is set as shown in the figure below. 2.5 Customized Parameters Control 2.5.1 MIDI Controller All buttons, knobs and sliders on GUI can be controlled by MIDI Controllers. Alt + click or right-click a control to open the dialog below and assign a controller. 31

1.Left Column: Available controllers. 2.Right Column: Assigned parameters. 3. :Assign the selected controller to the control. 4. +:MIDI Learn. 5. -:Clear the assigned controller of the control. 2.5.2 Fine adjustment & Value reset Press Ctrl + click to reset a control to its default value; Press Shift and drag the mouse to make fine adjustments. 32

3 Instrument Panel 3.1 Overview of Instrument Panel 1. Save/Load Preset 2. Capo Logic Mode 3. Sample Library Switch 4. Language 5. Capo Force Display 6. String Force Display 3.2 Save/Load Preset Used to save or load the global parameters 33

3.3 Capo Logic Mode 2 kind of Capo Logic modes: 1. Melody Mode: the range is 2 octaves, pressing C6 with large velocity to trigger this mode 2. Chord Mode: the range is 5 frets, pressing C6 with small velocity to trigger this mode 3.4 Sample Library Switch There are 2 sample libraries: Expert Master *Sample Library cannot be switched during playing. 3.5 Language Switch Language, will take effect after reopening the window. 3.6 Capo Force Display 3.7 String Force Display 34

4 Main Panel 4.1 Overview of Main Panel 1. Articulations 2. Mic Mode 3. Middle Mic Volume 4. Side Mic Volume 5. Mic Solo Mute & Channel EQ 6. AB Mic Volume 7. Master Volume 8. Pan 9. Tremolo Gain 10. Resonance Gain & Time 11. Capo 12. Release Sound Gain 13. FX Sound Gain 14. Fret Sound(Attack)Gain 35

15. Fret Sound(Release)Gain 16. Playing Mode Switch 17. Open String First 18. Auto Legato Mode Switch 19. Stroke Noise 20. Bender 21. Manual Vibrato Wheel 22. String Force 23. Capo Force 24. Tremolo Switch 25. Sustain Switch 26. FX Sound Group & Hit Group 27. Capo Logic Mode 28. Poly Repeater 29. Auto Legato Mode Switch 30. Open String First Toggle 31. Hold Pedal 4.2 Articulations 4.2.1 Articulation List Abbr. Full Name Keyswitch Range Sus Sustain & Strum C0 A1-D5 NH Natural Harmonic C#0 A2-E5 Tr Tremolo D0 A1-D5 BF2 Full Bend D#0 A#1-C#5 LS Legato Slide E0 A#1-D5 HP Hammer-On & Pull-Off F0 A#1-D5 4.2.2 Sustain & Strum Keyswitch is C0. Notes of velocity less than 127 will be Sustain, notes of velocity 127 will be Strum. 36

4.2.3 Natural Harmonic Keyswitch is C#0. 4.2.4 Tremolo 4.2.4.1 Keyswitch is D0. This articulation includes 3 types of playing: tremolo, rolling tremolo, and shaking tremolo. Here they are all considered as articulation tremolo. 1. Tremolo is on 1 st & 4 th strings. It is fast tremolo using all five fingers, which is the most common type of Pipa playing. 2. Rolling tremolo is triggered by high velocity layer on 2rd & 3nd strings. This tremolo uses thumb and index fingers, sounds like picking. 3. Shaking tremolo is triggered by low velocity layer on 2rd & 3nd strings. This tremolo uses index finger, sounds mellow. 4.2.4.2 When playing tremolo, the start time needs to be adjusted according to the music. The recorded samples of tremolo use a long fade-in time. The start time can be adjusted with velocity from below 30, to above 120. Larger velocity will cause shorter fade in time. 37

4.2.4.3 Tremolo Legato Tremolo note can only be played one at a time. When more than one Tremolo notes are played, it goes into legato automatically. The volume of the second note is controlled by the velocity of the first note, the velocity of the second note controls the start time of itself. When playing Tremolo Legato, the note on the same string is played if it is in the note range. 4.2.4.4 Slide Tremolo Tremolo slide will trigger the notes in between. The same rule applies as slide in Sustain notes, in order to play Tremolo Slide: * The two notes must overlap in time. * E0 must be ahead of the start note. * The two notes must be on the same string. * The velocity of the note slid to controls the speed of the sliding. Higher the velocity, faster the 38

speed. 4.2.4.5 Tremolo note will loop itself automatically. 4.2.5 Tremolo Switch 1. When current articulation is standard articulation, keyswitch D1 will trigger the same note with articulation Tremolo. The length and volume of the Tremolo note is controlled by the previous note. The start time of the Tremolo note is controlled by its velocity. Articulation will also be switched to Tremolo. 2. When current articulation is Tremolo, keyswtich D1 plays the same note with a fading Tremolo release, whose volume and length is controlled by the previous note. 4.2.6 Sustain Switch Keyswitch E1 changes the articulation from Tremolo to Sustain, and triggers a Sustain note, whose length and volume is controlled by the velocity of previous note. 39

4.2.7 Full Bend Keyswitch is D#0, high velocity notes (Vel = 127-64) are fast, low velocity notes (Vel = 63-1) are slow. The articulation remains in Full Bend. 4.2.8 Legato Slide/Poly Legato Keyswitch is E0. You can do any speed and pitch slides, the articulation will revert to previous one when destination note ends. Slide triggered by E0 of high velocity will change fret position. Low velocity will not. * he two notes must overlap in time. * E0 must be ahead of the start note. * The two notes must be on the same string. 40

Poly Slides: Press the highest note of destination to slide upwards; Press the lowest note of destination to slide downwards. Slide Smoother: The speed of long legato slide (slide more than 2 frets) is determined by the velocity of destination note. Higher the velocity, faster the speed. 41

Auto Slide requires: 1. Auto legato mode is Auto Legato Slide. 2. The two notes must overlap in time. 3. The two notes must be on the same string. 4. Instrument Mode. 4.2.9 Hammer-On & Pull-Off Keyswitch is F0. Articulation will return to previous one when destination note ends. HP triggered by F0 of high velocity will change fret position if it goes beyond current position. Low velocity will not. * The two notes must overlap in time. * F0 must be ahead of the start note. 42

* The two notes must be on the same string. Poly HP: Press the highest note of destination to Hammer On; Press the lowest note of destination to Pull Off. Auto HP requires: 1. Auto legato mode is Auto Legato HP. 2. The two notes must overlap in time. 3. The two notes must be on the same string. 4. Instrument Mode 4.2.10 Doubled Keyswitches Press C0 and D0 at the same time to use a special articulation, where Sustain is triggered with velocity 64-127, and Tremolo is triggered with velocity layer 1-63 43

4.2.11 Mic Mode Ample China Pipa is recorded in by 2 kind of modes: MS and AB, with four microphones. You can adjust the volume of different microphones to get more sound. 1. All of Mics 2. MS Mode 3. AB Mode 4. Mono 44

4.3 Controllable Resonance Sound Ample China Pipa User Manual Resonance Time Resonance Volume Resonance is an indispensable part of the expressiveness and realism of an acoustic instrument. Ample Sound Sample Engine can control the Resonance Time and Resonance Volume. 4.4 Capo It simulates the real guitar capo. It can transpose the pitch without changing the fingering. 4.5 Rich Fret Noise In real performance, a lot of playing noises are generated. Virtual instrument would sound unnatural without those noises. Ample Sound Engine can generate rich Fret Noise automatically. FA:Nail Sound Gain 45

FR:Fret Release Sound Gain 4.6 Play Mode Switch Instrument Mode: It is limited by the real playing rules of the instrument, such as two notes on the same string cannot ring simultaneously. Keyboard Mode: When Keyboard Mode is on, multiple notes can be played on same string simultaneously. Solo Mode : Only a single note can be played simultaneously. * Both Keyboard Mode and Solo Mode will disable Automatic Legato. 4.7 Open String First When toggled on, all the notes of A1 D2 E2 and A2 will be played on open strings. It is controlled by note G#6, High velocity toggles on, Low velocity toggles off. 4.8 Auto Legato Mode Switch There are 3 modes: Automatic Slide; Automatic Hammer On and Pull Off; Off. Note D#6 with high velocity sets the mode to Automatic Slide, and low velocity sets the mode to Off. 4.9 Stroke Noise A strummed noise will be generated automatically for polyphonic notes. 46

4.10 Manual Vibrato Wheel Play the mod wheel back and forth to manually control vibrato. It triggers a vibrato noise when the value >= 0.75. To vibrate automatically, open Settings Panel and toggle on Auto Mod. 4.11 String Force & Capo Force 4.11.1 String Force Specify a string to be played. A0-C1 correspond to 4th string-1st string. High velocity String Force will affect fret position,while low velocity will not. 4.11.2 Capo Force Switch to a fret position manually. A yellow line will be displayed after pressing C#1, Press A1-D3 to switch to position 0-17 respectively. 47

4.12 FX Sound Group Note Name F5 Scratch Noise F#5 Twisted Sting Noise G5 Muting Noise G#5 Wind A5 Downstroke Noise A#5 Upstroke Noise F6 Slap on the left side of instrument F#6 Slap on the right side of instrument G6 Flick 4.13 Poly Repeater Press D6 and E6 to repeat notes being played. Polyphonic notes are supported. 48

4.14 Hold Pedal Toggle 49

5 FX Panel 5.1 Overview of FX 1. Compressor 2. 8-Band-EQ 3. Echo 4. IR Reverb 5. Bypass All FXs 6. On/Off 7. Save/Load Preset 5.2 Compressor 1. Soft/Hard Knee 50

2. Threshold 3. Ratio 4. Attac) 5. Release 6. Detect Mode 7. Auto Release 8. Auto Gain 9. Makeup 10. Input Level 11. GR Level 12. Output Level 13. Red Wave - GR 14. Light Grey Wave - Output 15. Dark Grey - Input 5.3 EQ 1. Enable/Disable 2. Solo 3. Filter Type 4. Filter Frequency 5. Filter Gain 6. Filter Q Value 7. Remove 8. Gain Makeup 51

5.3.1 Control Tips *Double Click to insert a filter. *Hold Ctrl and drag to change Q only. *Hold Shift and drag to change Gain only. 5.3.2 Filter Type 1. Low Cut Filter 2. Low Shelf Filter 3. Band\Peak Filter 4. High Shelf Filter 5. High Cut Filter 5.3.4 Channel EQ 52

5.4 Echo 1. Echo Enable/Disable 2. Echo Time 3. Gain 4. Pan 5. Feedback 6. Low Cut & Freq 7. High Cut & Freq 8. Remove this point 9. Grid 10. Send Level 11. Reverb Send Level 12. Send Lock 5.5 IR Reverb 1. Room 2. Small Hall 53

3. Hall 4. Large Hall 5. Send Lock 6. Volume Gain 7. Predelay Time 8. Bass Gain Switch 9. Bass Gain 10. Treble Gain Switch 11. Treble Gain 12. Send Lock 13. Send Level 14. Input Meter 15. Output Meter 54

6 Sample Edit Panel Used to adjust pitch and gain of samples. 1. Select All and Deselect 2. Save/Load Preset 3. Search by string 4. Search by articulation 5. Search by pitch 6. Tune 7. Gain 55

Website: https://www.amplesound.net Online Service: http://www.facebook.com/amplesoundtech Tech-Born Music Copyright owned by Beijing Ample Sound Technology Co. Ltd 56