Multi-dimensional polyphonic expression, connecting gestures underneath your fingers, finally makes the full range of sound synthesis something you can feel. You might even want to practice, like when you first discovered instruments. Let’s take a quick break and look at some examples featuring AAS’ Multiphonics CV-3 and Osmose, for MPE plus modular, then a bonus round with Osmose and Soliste, for string lovers.
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately really practicing on the Osmose. It’s more than just finding a mapping, the way you might with a conventional controller: to really get your hands round the range of expression, you’re developing a new technique. It’s familiar to anyone who’s built up strength to play grand piano repertoire, but it also — joyously — is a new technique.
Now, I wrote about how easy it is to work with MPE in AAS Multiphonics CV-3, Applied Acoustics’ underrated modular environment, earlier this year:
Around the same time, I did a short round-up of some guide demystifying how MPE works, if you need a brush-up on the concept. (I talk about VCV Rack in that story, too, and you know me well enough to know I believe the more modulars, the better.)
The key is all in MIDI settings. What I love about AAS’ implementation here is, all you have to do is select MPE as the input mode for the patch, and you instantly can set up MPE dimensions as modulation sources. It takes care of the rest. It’s really a bit like having a modular keyboard surface where you just patch out an axis and don’t have to do a lot of futzing beyond that.
Since I wrote that article, there are now some great sound demos, so let me let them do the rest of the talking here.
Ilio has this beautiful video that shows why this is cool. Yes, sure, you could use a pedal or something, but you wouldn’t be able to add articulation to individual notes, and you wouldn’t have the same physicality of sound as a result:
AAS has a bunch of examples of their own. These aren’t just random folks playing; they’re from AAS’ core sound design group. Let me pick some favorites. It’s really about your taste in music.
I actually love that this is not really a duduk; you have the ability to invent so many hybrid interfaces:
Like I said, scoring. That’s why he looks so relaxed in that image. That’s the chill of someone getting through a sound design/scoring gig quickly because you just play the thing live and get it done in a couple of takes. (Either that or it’s the shoes.)
And this is just a terrific patch — without being all that complicated, either. I do love that AAS modeled sound (both in Multiphonics and Chromaphone):
I don’t want to short-shrift LinnStrument, either; that grid layout is really appealing to people coming from a background with anything fretted (or basically anything that isn’t a keyboard/piano manual), and Roger put a lot of thought into the spacing and tuning:
AAS’ own sound libraries are appealing, especially when you’re on deadline. But it’s just as easy to wire up something yourself. Why I love MPE so much — back to the deadline thing — is that for scoring, the ability to just make a gesture live while watching the image is often so much quicker than trying to draw it in.
Simon Inwards walks you through making a patch with this setup:
By the way, another fun trick is to use AAS’ waveshapers with MPE as a source. I should do a video on just that, but by way of review, here’s a tutorial on Wavefolder and Wavewrapper:
Multiphonics is good for more experimental strings and cinematic sounds. For realistic string parts in a hurry, I’ve been playing lately with Expressive E’s own Soliste, and it’s just unreal. It feels less like other sampled and physical libraries and more like being granted psychic powers. Gestures just intuitively start to sound like the string bits you want, and I’ve often struggled with this (especially as I’m not a string player). Some of the presets here get a little cheesy, but if you just want to layer a relatively simple but deeply expressive realistic string part, those are all ready to go (violin, viola, cello, D.B.):
Here’s a deeper look at how it all works, just posted last week:
Soliste and Multiphonics alone will have you hanging around film parties looking for more stuff to score.
I’m curious what else you’re using or interested to learn about, so let me know.
Oh and for more of a deep dive into CV-3, I completely missed that Benn Jordan did a stream while patching. There are some beautiful ideas in there, and it’s great to see Benn’s alterego just nerding out in a relaxed way: