Melodic Percussion is our latest acoustic instrument expansion featuring an inspiring collection of mutisampled pitched percussion instruments, melodic MIDI patterns and custom MIDI chord progressions created for all modern MPCs and the Akai Force!
Inside there’s 72 multisampled acoustic percussion instruments including vibraphones, celestas, harps, xylophones, marimbas, bells, chimes, steel drums and kalimbas, built from over 3200 multisamples, fully configured as keygroup programs and ready-to-play with the pads or via an attached keyboard.
These instruments are all matched with 72 melodic MIDI patterns each containing royalty-free melodic leads, riffs or chord patterns which can be loaded into any project and matched with any of the instruments to provide instant inspiration for your next beat. Melodic percussion is perfect for creating haunting leads and mellow chord sequences - check out the demos below which were made using the included patterns and instruments:
All the provided MIDI patterns are also fully compatible with any type of MPC instrument such as Akai’s synth plugins, any existing keygroup instrument from your library and any attached MIDI synth. Just load a MIDI pattern to a sequencer track and match it with whichever instrument you wish. Once loaded you can easily adjust its tempo, transpose pitch and manipulate the MIDI events just like you would with any other MPC track (via MAIN, GRID EDIT and LIST EDIT and so on).
We’ve also created 10 custom MIDI progressions for using in Pad Perform (Notes’ mode in the Force). These each contain 8 matched chords inspired by the instruments and patterns in this expansion.
All instruments are fully tweaked for you with many featuring three-layer velocity switching, pre-configured FX, filters, envelopes and mod-wheel adjustable tremolo for that classic vibraphone sound.
We’ve also ensured that everything is highly optimised for low CPU and memory usage so you’ll have no problem loading multiple instruments into any project. We’ve also added browser previews and keyword tagging to all patterns and instruments so it’s quick and easy to find the sounds and patterns you need entirely from within the expansion browser.
Requirements:
Melodic Percussion is compatible with any modern MPC running MPC 2.10 (or greater) - this means it is 100% compatible with any of the following:
- MPC X, MPC Live (I & II), MPC One, MPC Key 61
- Akai Force (firmware 3.1 or greater)
- MPC Software
- MPC Beats App
- MPC Renaissance/MPC Studio/MPC Touch
- The MPC Studio ‘Mk 2’ controller (the touchstrip can be used for tremolo control)
- Any non-MPC controller mapped to MPC Beats or the MPC Software
The download contains a dedicated installer for standalone MPCs & the Force, plus a separate ‘drag and drop’ XPN installer for the MPC Software and MPC Beats. Full step-by-step installation instructions are provided in the included User Guide .
Total disk space required for installation is 1.6 GB.
Built For Modern MPCs & Force
Melodic Percussion is compatible with all modern standalone MPCs running MPC2 & MPC3, the MPC Software, MPC Beats and the Akai Force.
FAQs
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What are pitched percussion instruments?
Pitched percussion is any type of percussion instrument that produces pitched sounds when hit (as opposed to standard percussion such as snares, kicks, shakers which typically have no obvious musical pitch). This type of percussion is used more like a standard melodic instrument and can be used for creating melodic leads, riffs and chords. Instruments such as vibraphones, xylophones and glockenspiels feature wooden or metal bars of varying size which are hit with mallets or hammers to generate their pitched sounds, other pitched percussion can be plucked, such as harps (using strings) and kalimbas (which use metal 'tines'). Bells generate different pitches based non the size of the metal bell.
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Is this easy to install in standalone MPCs and the Force?
Yes, we provide two separate installers, one for 'standalone' use and one for installation directly into the MPC Software/MPC Beats. The standalone version is simply copied directly to the 'Expansions' folder on your MPC/Force disk, the MPC Software XPN file is just dragged directly into the software. Full instructions for both standalone and MPC Software installation are provided in the included User Guide.
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Can I play these instruments with a MIDI control keyboard?
Yes, just hook up your keyboard to your MPC (via USB, MIDI cable etc) and you can immediately play the instruments with the keyboard. Set up instructions are provided in the User Guide.
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I can’t play keyboard, can I still use these instruments?
Yes! You can play the instruments directly with your pads and they also fully support PAD PERFORM mode which maps pre-built chords and scales across your pads.
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What are melodic MIDI patterns?
A melodic MIDI pattern is a short MIDI 'clip' which can be loaded directly to any sequencer track and used to play a melodic lead or riff from any MPC instrument such as a keygroup program, plugin patch or connected MIDI synth. MIDI patterns contain standard MIDI data and once imported can be edited just like any other MIDI data via grid edit, list edit, main etc, making them much more flexible compared to audio loops. MIDI patterns are compatible with all modern MPCs, MPC Software/MPC Beats and the Akai Force.
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What is a MIDI progression?
MIDI progressions are used in the 'PROGRESSIONS' section of 'pad perform' and map a series of harmonised chords to your pads. Simply set the preferred musical key and start firing off different pads to build a custom chord progression. This expansion features custom MIDI progressions which can be easily installed inside your MPC for use with any keygroup, plugin or MIDI instrument (full installation instructions are included in the User guide).
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How many instruments can I load into my project?
Unlike plugin instruments there is no limit on the number of keygroup instruments you can load into a project (memory allowing). We've optimised the memory usage to ensure each instrument uses the minimum RAM possible - you'll find full details of the files size of each instrument included in the User Guide.
Technical Specs
| Contents: | 3250 samples, 72 instruments, 72 MIDI patterns, 10 MIDI progressions |
| Format: | 24 Bit WAV, XPM, MIDI pattern, MIDI progression |
| Compatibility: | Modern MPCs running MPC2 or MPC3 in standalone or controller mode. Also suitable for the Akai Force, MPC Software & MPC Beats |
| Supported Hardware: | MPC XL, MPC Live (1, 2 & 3) , MPC One / G2 / One+, MPC Key 37 / G2, MPC X / SE, MPC Key 61, Force. |
| Minimum Software/Firmware: | MPC 2.15, MPC 3.6, Force 3.3 |
| Disk Space Required For Installation: | 1.6GB |
| Developer: | Pad Pimps |
| Delivery: | Download instantly after purchase |
| More Info: | Melodic Percussion User Guide |
