![]() ![]() Back in 1999 Dr Lippold Haken created the Continuum, a synthesiser focussed around a highly-sensitive touch fingerboard designed for advanced polyphonic expression. ![]() Just as the underlying tech isn’t entirely new, the concept of expressive controllers isn’t entirely unique to ROLI, either. Effectively, think of it like controlling separate instruments for each note, all from a single controller. MPE devices assign each note its own MIDI channel, with a further channel used for global messages such as program change. Traditionally, these multiple channels have been used for multitimbral control, or to allow musicians to chain multiple instruments from a single MIDI output - you could, for example, sequence a synth on channel 1, then make use of that synth’s MIDI thru port to send MIDI to a second synth assigned to channel 2. The MIDI protocol uses 16 channels, and standard MIDI gear usually requires the use of only one of these. MPE does this by using multiple MIDI channels simultaneously. ![]() With an MPE controller, sliding just a single finger in a chord shape to a new note will alter the pitch of just that note, leaving any other notes in the chord completely unaffected. When playing a chord with a traditional MIDI keyboard, using the pitch wheel will alter the pitch of every note in that chord simultaneously. What sets MPE controllers apart, however, is that they send each of these messages on a per-note basis. While they’re often given new names, the ‘expressions’ used by MPE controllers are based on things MIDI devices have been capable of for years. MPE is an extension to the existing MIDI protocol, meaning the tech it uses has existed since MIDI was first created in the early 1980s. While MPE itself is a relatively recent term, the underlying technology behind it isn’t actually new. An MPE controller will transmit multiple ‘dimensions’ of expression alongside each note’s pitch - in the case of ROLI gear, these are labelled Strike, Glide, Slide, Press and Lift, but the amount and naming can vary depending on what software and controller you use. This is done by sending/receiving additional control messages along with each note. The idea is to allow for more nuanced and acoustic-like control of electronic instruments, replicating the modulation and articulation applied to individual notes by guitarists or sting players. Despite this name change and ‘going official’, the concept behind MPE has remained unchanged. ![]()
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