Surge XT MPE sound design tutorials

[Roger_Linn]

Thanks, Max. This is very helpful for people to know how you create the wavetables that are behind the great Y-axis timbral variation in your sounds for the LinnStrument MPE library in Surge XT.

[shutterdownmax]

Thanks Roger. I just wish I'd gotten to this one sooner (but I couldn't do it before I found Vital)

[__phi__]

I have only watched the first video so far and I can say it's been really helpful for me. I don't have any problems with its length.

[shutterdownmax]

[Phil_B]

Ah, sorry, I don't know anything about that. I'm sure they've probably got a sampler in there somewhere, but I'm not going to be able to help.

Hi Max,
by searching on the web I've found a good sampler player which run on Linux, Windows & macOS : Decent Sampler.

Furthermore, this free software has some MPE support : https://www.decentsamples.com/2025/02/1 ... ntsampler/.

Any good advice for the right way to use DecentSampler with Linnstrument ?

[shutterdownmax]

Not focused on MPE in this one, though there is a little at the end.

[shutterdownmax]

by searching on the web I've found a good sampler player which run on Linux, Windows & macOS : Decent Sampler.

Furthermore, this free software has some MPE support : https://www.decentsamples.com/2025/02/1 ... ntsampler/.

Any good advice for the right way to use DecentSampler with Linnstrument ?

Sorry I'm so late replying, haven't been checking in here.
I usually prefer not to use MPE with samplers. The pitch bends can be weird, because you're bending the sample rate as well as any noise embedded in the sample. Also, samples tend to have vibrato and other dynamics "baked in" which I'll be fighting with if I try to add those things with my play.
That said, I've had a good amount of fun playing with the Kontakt "Irish Harp" and with some original mellotron samples I downloaded (as a result of this conversation, if memory serves). Here are a few tips:
• Keep pitch bends small, wild slides are going to sound weird.
• If it's a plucky sound (like that harp) i will often add a synthesizer to another track, so I can get the sampled pluck but the sustain will be MPE that I can fully control. It's a good combo.
• For sustained sounds, there's no problem with pressure controlling volume
• If you can mix between samples (say, a choir and a string) that's a good use of Y-Axis
• I'm not sure about this one, but a lot of samplers place a filter after the sample. Filter's usually a good thing to control with pressure, or sometimes Y.

Using the mellotron, I pretty much use the samples as they are, with small pitch bends (mostly just vibrato) and mild pressure-to-volume, and they sound lovely.

[Roger_Linn]

Great video, Max. I love how using filtered noise to excite a resonant comb filter creates a surprisingly convincing acoustic piano sound. Your explanation is excellent and very helpful.

[MilesParker]

Incidentally, has anyone else experienced issues with sound drop-outs/glitches on XT? This is especially apparent when doing rapid timbre changes on wavetable based patches, like some of the wind instruments in the MPE category, along with my own. I really like the deep sound design, but for me, even on M3 64GB MB Pro, I hear enough stutters and such that I've really moved away from it.

(Running 1.3.4, which I think is the latest production release, from back mid last year.)

[shutterdownmax]

I may have heard a glitch here or there, but nothing like what you're describing. What's your audio buffer size?

[shutterdownmax]

No MPE in this one. I might be running out of MPE things to say about Surge :/ However I am also doing MPE things in my new Pigments series.

[shutterdownmax]

[shutterdownmax]

Maybe I should start a new thread for the non-Surge stuff? I think this one's really good, Serum works great for this.

[shutterdownmax]

[shutterdownmax]