MPE How to set it up.

What is MPE?

The Basic Features of MPE

(Reprinted from the MIDI Manufacturers Association MPE Specification document’s Background Section)
(Note: not all devices may support all features)

The MPE specification aims to provide an agreed method for hardware and software manufacturers to communicate multidimensional control data between MIDI controllers, synthesizers, digital audio workstations, and other products, using the existing framework of MIDI 1.0.

These proposed conventions define a way of distributing polyphonic music over a group of MIDI Channels, making multiple parameters of different notes separately controllable. This will enable richer communication between increasingly expressive MIDI hardware and software.

Briefly, what is defined is as follows:

  Wherever possible, every sounding note is temporarily assigned its own MIDI Channel between its Note On and Note Off. This allows Control Change and Pitch Bend messages to be addressed to that particular note.

  A Registered Parameter Number is used to establish the range of Channels used for sending or receiving notes. Two messages control the division of MIDI Channel space into sub-spaces called Zones, so that multi-timbral playing is still possible using only one physical MIDI interface.

  When there are more active notes in a Zone than available Channels, two or more notes will have to share the same Channel. Under such circumstances, all notes will continue to sound, but will no longer be uniquely controllable.

  Each Zone has a dedicated extra Channel, called the Master Channel, which conveys common information including Program Change messages, pedal data, and overall Pitch Bend. These messages apply across the entire Zone.

(The MPE specification also defines how to handle Pitch Bend, Aftertouch and CC messages to provide maximum interoperability.)

Using MPE

Bitwig

Note expression works for VST3 plugins. Set up the controller as a “Seaboard RISE” and set the bend range to 48.

Cubase

Add an Instrument Track containing your VST3 plugin.
In the Inspector change the track MIDI input from “All MIDI Inputs” to your MPE controller. e.g. “Seaboard block”
In the Inspector open the “Note Expression” section. tick “MIDI as Note Expression”
Select “Tuning”, in the box below and assign it to “Horizontal/X”
Select “Brightness”, and assign it to “Vertical/Y”
Assign “Poly Pressure” to “Pressure(P)”

Ableton Live

Ableton Live (macOS) supports MPE for Audio Unit plugins on macOS.
Ableton Live (Windows) does not currently support VST3 Note Expression, but you can get MPE to work.
Firstly you need an MPE Control module to force the plugin into MPE Mode.

In Ableton insert your VST3 plugin, and ensure that the plugin’s MPE Mode is set to “On”. Open Ableton’s settings and ensure that Ableton’s MIDI controllers MPE tickbox is Off.  Yes Off.

You then need to set up 16 MIDI tracks in Ableton to route all the channels to the VST3 plugin (otherwise Ableton will merge all channels into one).

The page in the link below explains how to set up several tracks to handle all the MIDI channels of MPE in Ableton. Note that the automatic MPE support in Ableton 11 does not work with VST3 plugins yet.

Reaper

With Reaper, MPE with Audio Unit plugins works provided the instrument has an ‘MPE Control’ module, and the user switches it to ‘MPE On’.
For VST3 plugins you needed to use the same export setting as for Ableton Live (‘MPE Emu’, and enable MPE from the MPE Control module). But it works right away on a single-instrument track.