One thing that has kept me so busy for the first few months of the year was implementing MPE support into the Modal Electronics 002, 002R, and 001 synthesisers. This allows MPE-compatible MIDI instruments (e.g. ROLI Seaboard, Roger Linn LinnStrument, KMI K-Board Pro 4) to be used to apply polyphonic control and expression to individual notes, and is a great way to provide greater levels of expression to electronic music production.Â
MPE support was introduced in the recent 002/002R/001 OS update v1.02-00, along with some other great new features such as:
• Class-Compliant USB-MIDI host support: Class-Compliant USB-MIDI devices (such as USB-MIDI keyboards) can now be plugged into the USB-A host port on the back of all 002’s and 002R’s, allowing for computer-free USB-MIDI setups. Both MIDI in and out is supported here.
• Chord Mode: Trigger custom chords with notes.
• Clock Sync Auto Mode: Allows the synth to automatically sync to an external MIDI clock if detected, else sync to the internal clock.
• Digital IO board Legacy Output Mode: Allows the audio outputs of the Digital Input/Output Expansion Board to hard-pan each voice like with the original 002 output board.
• A number of important bugs fixes and stability improvements
If you have a Modal 002/002R/001 synth feel free to update to this version now. Also check out this great MPE demo video from Keith McMillen Instruments using their K-Board Pro 4 with a Modal 002R.
