Wow you have figured out that MPE has limitations, in particular how in MPE Channel 1 is reserved for global parameters: parameters that will affect all notes. This leaves 15 channels available. That means that you could play 15 notes at once, all with their own string of data.Poly-AT messages are different to the MIDI CCs used by MPE: each one is associated with a MIDI key number and has the same format as a MIDI key-on message, just a different status byte. Poly-AT just happens to achieve the same end as an MPE Z signal, but that uses regular channel-aftertouch messages which are not linked to keys, just the channel associated with a particular MIDI key-on event....
The reality is that the moment a piece of hardware generates any data of any kind, data that is MPE based per note data, it's a MPE enabled device
But again prove me wrong
In principle, you can mash your arms on a keyboard and get individual aftertouch messages for each note whereas MPE will top out at 15 because it runs out of channels.
So if you have a keyboard controller that has PolyAT you can decide how you want to use that data in your MIDI stream. Either approach is after all just standard MIDI data and CCs.
You will notice I have repeatedly talked about using a DAW in my case Cubase Pro 14, along with a MPE capable plugin in this case since we are talking about using MPE with the DX7 sound engine I referred to HALion7 which in FM Zone can apply any MPE data you want to modulate the DX7 engine
So I can play using Poly AT and then send MPE data to the plugin using Cubase.
I don't need to use ANY keyboard in reality to use MPE, I can just draw it in with a mouse it I want to
The main issue here is far to many people become MPE zealots and want to define what MPE is and does based on what they want to do
The reality is that MPE is just MIDI 1.0 and all it's doing is assigning CC values to note on messages. Each bite is using a different MIDI channel. To use the actual MPE specification no controller is needed, you can use any sequencer to do MPE that supports it
I use MIDI polyphonic expressions a lot in my FM sound design. If I want to I can use MPE with the exact engine and sound if the original DX7 using Plogue Ops7 which is usually on sale for Black Friday
However if you are going to actually use MPE to modulate various FM synth properties FM-X inside of HALion7 is a far better choice as you have FAR more options to modulate as you play it sequence with FM-X over the 40+ year old DX7 engine
But obviously it's not about using MPE with Synthesizers in hardware or software to generate sounds, for the zealots it comes down to controllers, you have to have a controller and play live, God forbid you use a sequencer or a DAW to generate and use CC data on a per note basis using MPE. If you do that you are a heretic who should be burned at the stake or something.
Fortunately MIDI 2.0 eliminates the need for any of this
Statistics: Posted by IvyBirds — Thu Nov 14, 2024 6:37 pm