When it comes to MPE and complex sounds, in general, not in the Hydrasynth, my experience differs completely. There are many complex MPE patches that are expressive and satisfying to play. I've been designing expressive sounds on a professional level since 2012, starting with the Seaboard GRAND and its '3D' sounds, then moving on to 5D sounds on the Seaboard Rise. Also creating 5D drum kits and groove kits along the way ( do people actual realise there are 5D/MPE drum kits?). I'm writing this only to outline where I'm coming from.deastman wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:52 pm From playing the Continuum and other MPE instruments, I’ve found that patches designed for those types of controllers really do need to be kind of basic and boring. So much of the expression comes from modulating parameters with your fingers, and so the basic sound without expression needs to be much simpler than you typical find on a sophisticated synth. I don’t have a Hydrasynth (yet) but I’m guessing that might be why a lot of the patches sound kind of bland.
What I agree with in your statement is that, yes, there is something about the simpler sounds that lends itself to MPE. A sound like a woodwind is supremely satisfying to play as an MPE sound. Same with brass, bowed strings, synth leads, etc. 'Simple' (they are really not) sounds that really work great as MPE sounds. Are they boring? I guess this is in the 'ear of the MPE-holder'. But, whether one finds them interesting or not, their expressive nature remains, as you say.
Now, when it comes to complex sounds, I've experienced many that are very expressive. I guess it would be best to show this with some audio demos, but I don't want to add to much OT to this post/thread. However, there may be a few points that could prevent users from successfully using complex MPE sounds:
1. When making a sound yourself, it's all about your skills. Are people skilled enough to make complex, and very expressive sounds? I've seen a demo of a fantastic sample library that was promoted as MPE-compatible, and in the video the sound that was demonstrated was indeed absolutely beautiful. People were saying, wow, this is amazing and so expressive. But! I saw what was happening. The sound itself was so complex without any MPE that all the sliding and pressing had an effect of an expressive sound, but in fact it wasn't. There was almost nothing assigned to pressure and CC74. The 'MPE-expression' of the demonstrated sound was almost negligible. It was so minimal as to be insignificant. Still, since the sound was very complex, multi-layered, and so, so beautiful, it had this psychological effect on the people who saw it being played on an MPE controller and automatically they assumed that it is a supreme example of MPE expression. Nothing was further from the truth. So...the sound designers didn't do a good job as far as I could see and hear. And if pro sound designers aren't able to coax better expression from their multi-sampled patches then what about the amateur user who has limited time to explore the intricacies of MPE sound creation? That's one problem.
2. When using factory presets, it also takes skill to actually get the best out of a preset. I've seen so many video reviews and demos of MPE synths and sounds where people weren't skilled enough to use them properly. It could be down to a simple fact that they are not bothered to dive in and explore the sound, impatient even, or that they do not understand MPE at all and they simply slide, glide randomly expecting some MPE fireworks....whatever it is, I have seen time and time again like complex but beautiful patches are completely misunderstood by users who didn't spend enough time understanding the preset, feeling it, trying to feel the sound and go with it, rather than, for example, hammering a soft pad which needs a very soft touch....
I always think of this example: if I were to put on the Scottish bagpipes for the first time and start playing, I would most likely not make a single squeak, or I'd make a complete awful racket. And this is in fact what happened once, when I did try the Scottish bagpipes. With my total lack of understanding and skill, it sounded dreadful. But the skilled player makes it sound beautiful of course (ok ok, cue people hating the Scottish bagpipes..).
3. There is also the question of the actual MPE comptroller and the MPE sounds designed for it.
As an example, if the MPE controller has a very limited travel along the X-axis (CC74) then it won't like the type of MPE-sounds as designed for an MPE controller with longer X-axis travel. A mismatch in sounds will not create a pleasant and joyful playing experience.
One type of patch that is complex but which is not suited to MPE expression, is one which uses a complex chain of ambient effects. A chain of delays, reverbs, chorus, more reverb....a chain that creates some deep washes and textures, tends to mask the MPE modulations (what is assigned to CC74, pressure, LIFT, etc). I've made many of such deep, ambient washes, and hearing expressive modulations here is not easy. So this is definitely an example where a complex patch may not be as effective as an MPE sound as we would like.
So, other than that, an MPE patch can be complex and very expressive. I have no doubt about it. I play such sounds everyday.
(sorry for a long post)
(altough I have to wait 2 more months till mine arrives 
)
