Do you own an MPE-compatible controller? If so, you’ll be happy to know that Expressive E (the team behind the brilliant Touché controller) has released The Expressive E MPE Collection – 240 sounds designed for the interactive potential of MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) controllers.
The MPE Collection and its three component expansions—Helium, Mercury and Patchwork MPE—are out now on Expressive E’s website.
A recent addition to the MIDI spec, MPE was intended to extend the expressive possibilities of traditional MIDI controllers by providing per-note control over musical traits such as continuous loudness, vibrato, pitch bends, timbral variations, and many others factors.
Designed for more intuitive music-making, MPE controllers sense continuous finger movements in three dimensions, as well as velocity. The versatile sounds of the MPE Collection respond to the players’ slightest gestures, helping to enable genuine interaction with MPE controllers such as the Roli Seaboard and Blocks, KMI K-Board Pro 4, Roger Linn Design Linnstrument, Haken Audio Continuum, and others.
Each soundpack in the MPE Collection contains 80 presets crafted with the powerful UVI Falcon multi-synthesis engine. No additional software is needed to play the sounds. Users can load these presets into the free UVI Workstation that’s included with the products or into UVI Falcon (sold separately).
Mercury
Focusing on energetic and dynamic electronic sounds that can radically morph at the touch of your hands, the Mercury collection includes a diverse array of basses, leads, plucks, stabs and rhythmic arpeggios. With one simple movement on an MPE controller, these sounds may move from soft to aggressive, from single notes to chords, or from heavy bass to an electro taser lead.
Helium
As its name suggests, the Helium pack sounds light and airy, with a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds, well-suited to downtempo and ambient music. This combination of dreamy synths and smooth, organic textures again focuses on sounds that will transform at the player’s whim. With the move of a finger, a mallet sound may change to an ethereal pad, or a delicate pluck into a mellow lead. Helium and Mercury also come with a second version of the presets dedicated to the Expressive E Touché and Touché SE controllers.
Patchwork
For Patchwork MPE, Expressive E has curated a flexible selection of some of its most popular factory sounds, formerly available only for Touché owners. The company’s designers have now reworked these sounds to add even more expressive potential as presets for MPE controllers. As a bonus for MPE users, Patchwork MPE includes some newly-released avant-garde sounds. Listen to examples on SoundCloud.
Price and Availability
The Expressive E MPE Collection is available now at the introductory price of 99€/$ or any individual bank for 39€/$ each. Introductory pricing applies until November 22, after which the MPE Collection returns to its regular price of 119€/$ or 49€/$ for each bank. Purchase and download at www.expressivee.com/mpe-collection.
