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How do I configure MPE on my SKULPT?

  • Updated

This topic covers both Original and SE versions.

With SKULPTsynthesiser firmware v2.0 we introduced MPE support, providing multidimensional control of parameters and more expressive performance opportunities with compatible MPE controllers.

Enabling SKULPTsynthesiser to respond to MPE involves the following steps:

  1. Turn on MPE Mode. This can either be done on the SKULPTsynthesiser device or on MODALapp. To set it on the device: 
    1. With SKULPTsynthesiser powered off, hold the MOD-EG button. 
    2. Power on the device and wait for the power-on animation to finish. 
    3. Press any touch pad in the range of 9-16 to turn on MPE Mode, or press any touch pad in the range of 1-8 to turn off MPE Mode. The touch pad LEDs will show the selected mode. 
    4. Release the MOD-EG button once selected the MPE mode. 
  2. Using MODALapp, set ‘MPE Master Channel’ to match that of your MPE instrument. Your MPE instrument may refer to this as its ‘MPE Zone’ – ‘Lower Zone’ uses channel 1 and ‘Upper Zone’ uses channel 16. Some MPE instruments may not specify a Master Channel / Zone – in this case the most likely value to use here is ‘1’. Please refer to the MPE instruments settings or documentation for more information. 
  3. Using MODALapp, set ‘MPE Number of Channels’ to match that of your MPE instrument. Some MPE instruments may not specify a Number of Channels – in this case the
    most likely value to use here is ‘15’. Please refer to the MPE instruments settings or documentation for more information. 
  4. Using MODALapp, set ‘MPE Pitch Bend Range’ to that of your MPE instrument. Your MPE instrument may refer to this as its ‘Pitch Bend Sensitivity’. Some MPE instruments may not specify, or use, a fixed Pitch Bend Range – in this case use this value to set your preferred semitone range of the MPE X-axis. Please refer to the MPE instruments settings or documentation for more information. 

Each MPE dimension is mapped to the SKULPTsynthesiser sound engine as follows:

  • Left-right / X-axis (sent as MIDI Pitch Bend) – This controls the pitch of the note, with the range set using the ‘MPE Pitch Bend Range’ global setting (see above).

  • Front-back / Y-axis (sent as MIDI CC 74) – This controls the SKULPTsynthesiser Mod Wheel modulation assignments.

  • Pressure / Z-axis (sent as MIDI Channel Aftertouch) – this controls the SKULPTsynthesiser Aftertouch modulation assignments.

A couple of extra things to note regarding MPE on SKULPTsynthesiser:

  • If Y+ or Mod Wheel is assigned to any global sound parameters (LFO1 or Delay parameters) then these parameters will change for all notes / voices and only the latest / newest MPE note will have control of these parameters.

  • MPE is not available in Polychain mode

  • MPE expression data cannot be recorded into the SKULPTsynthesiser sequencer, and any MPE notes recorded into the sequencer are converted in ‘master’ notes.

  • SKULPTsynthesiser doesn’t support MPE ‘MIDI Mode 4’ (‘one channel per string’ voice allocation).
  • If using in conjunction with non-MPE MIDI controllers or software, please set their output MIDI channel to match the SKULPTsynthesiser’s ‘MPE Master Channel’ to ensure correct behaviour. 

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