For mac I find sysex librarian a good solution. Can’t remember what is needed for windows. If you happen to have Elektron’s C6 already installed that will do the job, but I think they’ve withdrawn support for that, so I wouldn’t bother to go looking for a download if you don’t already have it.
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MM2 lets one dump a range of presets to a SysEx file, or load a SysEx file into preset memory starting at a particular point. For anything more fine-grained than that, one would have to decipher the SysEx format. I took notes on the presets on paper and then spent an hour or so moving things around. It was primitive but anything else would have taken me more time and effort.
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Today’s discovery is that this already is well-implemented. Not sure what I was doing wrong before. Another example of great synth design by @elektrosamplist
I’m now working on a fake Rhodes patch with MPE pitch bend powers. #40 in the factory presets is the closest but I’m digging into wavetables. If anyone else has had success with something like this, I’d love to hear about it.
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If you want to hear and try a few different examples of MPE Rhodes/Wurli check out the ROLI Noise iOS app, in the Session Keys soundpack. It seems like for most of those patches sliding up the y-axis (CC74) speeds up the vibrato and maybe reveals another layer (a higher pitched whistling sound is introduced).
I’ve tried a lot of different Rhodes patch recipes and so far my favorite one is by funnzie on Youtube:
The Gaia’s three “synths” matches up pretty well to the MM2’s three oscillators and most of the other settings too. I’m new to sound design, so I’ve found the whole series to be very helpful. My favorite part of his patch is how he creates the Rhodes bark by using velocity to modulate the cutoff and the third envelope to modulate the third oscillator (a saw wave pitched down an octave or two).
Another one of my favorite, pluckier atmospheric, EP patches is the Lush Vangelis Keys patch recipe from Attack Magazine, but I spiced it up using the faux shimmer reverb layer technique I shared earlier. Here’s an sample of me playing chords using the MM2: Lush Vangelis Keys sample
By having a dry layer and wet effects layer there are plenty of things to modulate on the MM2 to get MPE expressivity.
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I am trying to have it be just Linnstrument and MM2 (this may not be possible but that’s the goal). I have good Rhodes emulations on my iPad and laptop.
So I’m less interested in perfect emulation than a functional equivalence. It’s in a rock band context. I will definitely try this out. I’ve been messing with the triangle FM, and velocity to cutoff and getting somewhere. The reverb helps too, of course.
Does the MM2 suffer at all from USB ground loop noise? Has that been an issue for anyone?
I’m trying to figure out if I’m better off powering it and my Linnstrument from a hub/host (the Retrokits RK006) or if I should power them separately and then connect them with a MIDI cable. This is for a band practice space (and maybe, one day, gigs again) so let’s assume a crappy electrical setup.
At home, both it and my Linnstrument are plugged into a MIDI host/USB hub and I have no problems, but that’s at home…
When at my desk, I power it from a USB hub. So I use an isolator (this one from hifime).
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Those $10 ground loop isolators on Amazon will remedy this.
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The cheap audio ground loop isolators just destroy the sound, I’ve tested a few and it’s a disaster: volume loss, high frequencies attenuation and heavy bass distortion. The good ones cost at least >100$ from what I’ve seen.
I bought a few USB isolators from hifime and no audio quality issues anymore, that’s the best compromise.
I measured a few ones with an audio analyser:
Volume loss, not so much, hi Freq attenuation, not really, heavy bass distortion oh yes, that’s the main drawback.
Best cheap one is behringer hum destroyer if that’s its name, it has a slight volume loss, the other specs are good vs its price.
Usb isolators are best audio-wise, but they have drawbacks too (low current output being the main one, price another one, but there are good cheap ones)
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Thanks to @Benanas excellent guide, I’ve been playing around with fmSi and shp1 to get a Rhodes sound. Increasing the shape amount kind of works like cutoff in reverse, changing the texture of the timbre. Using envelopes on shp1 can add some dynamics to the patch. So far I’ve had good results using env3*vel to modulate shp1. Adding drive also gives the sound more of an edge, making it more suitable for rock and funk…to add even more bite to the sound I’ve tried adding a saw or thin pulse wave with osc2 and using the same env3*vel modulating a little mix2.
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Hi All,
An update from me and more questions. I’ve programmed in all my bread and butter sounds (including a fake Rhodes sound now!) for my band and am ready to take it to practice tomorrow night. Very excited at the prospect of just having this and my Linnstrument rather than a Rube Goldberg machine involving an iPad, interface, controller, or a Typhon and an iPad and an interface.
After another week of messing with it, I’ve got more questions.
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Is there an easy way to copy a “combi” preset from one slot to another, or a “save as” function? I don’t see anything like that in the manual.
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Some presets I want only one sound, and others I want a keyboard split with two sounds. As far as I can tell, the way to achieve this will in combi with keyboard splits is to leave it on combi mode but just build the sound I want into Slot A and then nothing into Slot B. Am I right that you can’t select different combi modes per combi preset? Or can you?
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Sometimes when I am editing one preset, it saves as another preset. I have no idea why this is. Any guesses?
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In one combi, I have the lower split playing a unison bass sound and the upper split playing a tinkly Rhodes thing. If I hit them both at once, I get distortion. Should I be dropping levels, drive, or is that just a glitch?
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Last but not least, I’m still figuring out which filter models I like for which use.
Also poking around in the settings, I love that there’s an option for free running oscillators vs reset-per-note. I feel like @elektrosamplist thought of almost everything (except for some weirdo things I want to do with effects, which, granted, he should be expected to have thought of!).
TIA, and thanks to @Wellsty and @Benanas for the Rhodes tips. I’ve got a dozen variations and feel like I know what does what now.
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1- just save it to another combi slot (yes, it’s in the manual 
)
2- use combi mode “only A” (manual page 9), and yes you need to use a combi for that, or switch from combi to monotimbral mode, but it’s not convenient when playing live I must admit
3- user error?
4- it is output softclipping - drop level to lower it
5- definitely not in the manual, but use your ears
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Thanks. So just to be clear, you can use different combi modes per preset? EG, C01 is splitAB and C02 is only A.
Oh definitely. But I just did it again this morning. I think the issue has something to do with clicking off the home screen for the patch.
Yes, those settings are per combi preset
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Hi can someone help me choose the right thing to buy please?
Setup is DT, MM2 (just arrived today, nearly missed an appointment by playing one chord over and over and over sequenced from DT while fiddling).
I want a small keyboard to play the MM2 while sync’d to my DT. Both sequencing MM2 from DT, and DT for eg drums and free playing the MM2.
What keyboard (Keystep 37?) and what is the chain/MIDI direction?
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I use the regular keystep for this sometimes. Works like charm.
Midi either DT->Keystep->MM2 with keystep passing through all the midi from DT to MM2, or you can Keystep->DT->MM2 then set keystep to DT autochannel midi channel but then you have to select the midi track on the DT with the MM2 channel you want to play.
You can probably also have midi track pass through, but not tried that
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Thats brilliant thanks @DavidL. I hadn’t thought of the Keystep in the ‘middle’ of the DT and MM2. Great.
Do you by any chance power this from a usb brick? I can power MM2 and DT from my brick. Will the keystep get power from either of those or will it need its own supply?
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Putting it in the middle has the drawback that you can’t record notes with it in DT midi track, but apart from that it’s great!
You can power it from a brick, no idea if your brick can power all three, but i power keystep and mm2 from the same brick no problem
Thats great, thank you
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