EW Play 6 Software Manual

SOFTWARE MANUAL

EASTWEST SOUNDS

PLAY 6PLAY 6

1.0.3

P L A Y 6 SO FT WARE MANUAL

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not rep-

resent a commitment on the part of East West Sounds, Inc. The software and sounds

described in this document are subject to License Agreements and may not be copied

to other media. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise

transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by East West

Sounds, Inc. All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective

owners.

Solid State Logic (SSL) Channel Strip, Transient Shaper, and Stereo Compressor li-

censed from Solid State Logic. SSL and Solid State Logic are registered trademarks of

Red Lion 49 Ltd.

East West Sounds, Inc.

6000 Sunset Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90028

USA

1-323-957-6969 voice

1-323-957-6966 fax

For questions about licensing of products: [email protected]

For more general information about products: [email protected]

For technical support for products: http://www.soundsonline.com/Support

P L A Y 6 SO FT WARE MANUAL

CREDITS

Project Management

Doug Rogers and Rhys Moody

Software Development

Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, Wolfgang Kundrus, Klaus Lebkücher,

Stefan Holek, Eike Jonas, Helen Evans, Nuno Fonseca, Gerrit Haasler

User Manual

Jason Coffman

In Memoriam

In Loving Memory of Rhys Moody

P L A Y 6 SO FT WARE MANUAL

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Welcome

2 Welcome to Play 6

3 About EastWest

3 About Doug Rogers

4 About Nick Phoenix

4 About EastWest Studios

7 What’s Included

7 System Requirements

8 Sequencer Compatibility

9 Support and Documentation

Chapter 2: Getting Started

11 Creating an EastWest Account

11 How Content Is Delivered

12 How to Install a Play Library

17 Managing Play Library Licenses

18 Initial Setup in Stand-Alone Mode

22 Play Libraries Are Now NKS-Ready

23 How To Optimize Playback and Performance

26 All About MIDI

Chapter 3: Play 6 User Interface

31 Navigating the User Interface

32 Main Controls and Library-Specific Controls

33 The Player View

38 The Browser View

42 Instruments Panel

43 Instruments Selector

44 The Mixer View

64 Multi-channel Audio Output

65 Main Menu

66 Settings Menu

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Chapter 4: Play Libraries Overview

70 Inside the Main Library Folder

70 Instruments

71 Articulations

71 Keyswitches

73 Master and Elements

73 Samples

73 Instrument and Sample Updates

74 Space Requirements for Play Libraries

Chapter 5: Using Play as a Plug-in

78 Opening Play in a Sequencer

78 Using Play in Logic Pro

80 Using Play in Pro Tools

81 Using Play in Cubase

82 Using Play in Ableton Live

82 Using Play in Sonar

83 Using Play in Digital Performer

84 Using Play in Garageband

85 Using Play in Studio One

86 Automation

P L A Y 6 SO FT WARE MANUAL

CONTENTS MASTER NAVIGATION DOCUMENT

Chapter 1: Welcome

2 Welcome to Play 6

3 About EastWest

3 About Doug Rogers

4 About Nick Phoenix

4 About EastWest Studios

7 What’s Included

7 System Requirements

8 Sequencer Compatibility

9 Support and Documentation

P L A Y 6 SO FT WARE MANUAL

Chapter 1: Welcome

CONTENTS

Welcome to Play 6

Play 6 is an advanced sample engine that powers EastWest’s vast virtual instrument col-

lection, called Play Libraries. They are the winner of over 100 industry awards, making

EastWest the industry leader of highly detailed sampled instruments.

Each Play Library has a custom user interface with a set of controls designed to accomo-

date the unique needs of that library. Altogether, they make up an expansive collection

of sampled instruments that range from orchestral to rock to ethnic to electronic and

beyond.

A number of new features, improvements and ﬁxes are included in this latest version,

including the following:

• Instrument Database allows you to search instruments directly with key words, or by

selecting attribute tags to narrow search results across a variety of categories.

• User Inteface (UI) has been redesigned to get around Play 6 easier than ever.

• Instruments Panel allows access to instruments and advanced instrument properties

• NKS-Ready compatibility is now available for Native Instruments’ Komplete Kontrol

and Maschine hardware and software, including parameter mapping, sound pre-

views and library browsing.

• Convolution Engine has been improved for better performance with reverb and amp.

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Chapter 1: Welcome

CONTENTS

About EastWest

EastWest (www.soundsonline.com) has been dedicated to perpetual innovation and un-

compromising quality, setting the industry standard as the most critically acclaimed

producer of Sample CDs and Virtual Instruments software. Founder and producer Doug

Rogers has over 35 years experience in the audio industry. His uncompromising ap-

proach to quality, and innovative ideas have enabled EastWest to lead the sound-ware

business for nearly 30 years.

In 1997, Rogers partnered with composer and producer Nick Phoenix to establish the

Quantum Leap imprint, a subsidiary of EastWest, to produce high-quality, no-compro-

mise virtual instruments. Mostly produced by Nick Phoenix, some of the larger produc-

tions, such as Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Choirs, Pianos, and Hollywood Strings

are co-produced by Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix. For over 20 years, the two have pro-

duced sample libraries that are considered the best available by the industries top talent.

In 2006, EastWest purchased the legendary Cello Studios (formerly United Western Re-

corders) on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, re-naming it EastWest Studios. The 21,000

sq. ft. facility, since remodelled by master designer Philippe Starck, houses ﬁve record-

ing studios and is the world headquarters for EastWest.

About Doug Rogers

With over 35 years experience in the audio industry, founder and producer Doug Rogers

is the recipient of over 100 industry awards, more than any other sound developer. His

uncompromising approach to quality, and innovative ideas have enabled EastWest to

lead the sound-ware business for nearly 30 years. “The

Art of Digital Music” named him one of “56 Visionary

Artists & Insiders” in the book of the same name.

He released the very ﬁrst commercial Drum Samples CD

in 1988, and followed it with the multiple award-winning

“Bob Clearmountain Drums” sample collection which he

co-produced. In the years that followed he practically re-

invented the sound-ware industry. EastWest introduced

loop sample libraries to the market in the early nineties,

followed closely by the ﬁrst midi driven loops collection

(Dance/Industrial). He released the ﬁrst library to include

multiple dynamics, followed by the ﬁrst sample library to stream from hard disk, an in-

novation that led to the detailed collections users expect today.

His recent productions are Symphonic Orchestra (awarded a Keyboard Magazine “Key

Buy Award,” EQ Magazine “Exceptional Quality Award,” Computer Music Magazine “Per-

formance Award,” “Sound On Sound Readers Award” (twice), and G.A.N.G. [Game Audio

Network Guild] “Best Sound Library Award”); and Symphonic Choirs (awarded Electronic

Musician “Editor’s Choice Award,” G.A.N.G. “Best Sound Library Award,” and Keyboard

Magazine “Key Buy Award”). Most recently, his productions include Quantum Leap Pia-

nos, the most detailed virtual piano collection ever produced; Fab Four, inspired by the

sounds of the Beatles; The Dark Side (Fab Four and The Dark Side were both M.I.P.A.

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CONTENTS

Award winners, judged by 100 music magazines); Hollywood Strings, Hollywood Brass,

Hollywood Orchestral Woodwinds, Hollywood Orchestral Percussion; ProDrummer 1, co-

produced with Mark “Spike” Stent; ProDrummer 2, co-produced with Joe Chiccarelli;

and Ghostwriter, co-produced with Steven Wilson.

About Nick Phoenix

Since composer and producer Nick Phoenix began scoring ﬁlm trailers in 1994, and

since founding “Two Steps From Hell” with Thomas Bergersen in 2006, Nick has scored

or licensed music for the ad campaigns of over 1000 major motion pictures.

Some of these works include: “Godzilla”, “Ender’s

Game”, “Skyfall”, “World War Z”, “Rush”, “The Hob-

bit”, “Avengers”, “Star Trek 2”, “Inception”, “Harry Pot-

ter and the Deathly Hallows”, “Tomb Raider 2”, “Termi-

nator 3”, “Lord of the Rings Return of the King”, “Harry

Potter 2”, “Star Wars Episode 2”, “Spiderman 3”, “Pi-

rates of the Caribbean 3”, “Blood Diamond”, “Night at

the Museum”, and “The Da Vinci Code”.

The journey as a composer has inspired Nick to record

and program his own sounds and samples. For over 20

years, a partnership with Doug Rogers and EastWest un-

der the Quantum Leap imprint, has yielded award winning software titles such as the

Hollywood Series, Stormdrum 1, 2 and 3, Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Choirs, Silk,

RA, Voices Of Passion, Ministry Of Rock 2, Gypsy, Pianos, Goliath, and many others.

About EastWest Studios

EastWest Studios (formerly United Western Recorders) is the world’s premiere studio.

The book Temples of Sound Here is quoted from page 33: “United Western Recorders

has been the scene of more hit records—from the 1950’s to right now—than any other

studio. No other studio has won more technical excellence awards, and no other studio

has garnered as many Best Engineered Grammys as this complex of studios on Sunset

Boulevard.” One thing everyone agrees on: The acoustics and the vibe in the recording

rooms of 6000 Sunset Boulevard are unmatched.

EastWest Studios has hosted the who’s who of the music industry for over 45 years. In the

beginning, artists like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Nat King

Cole, Johnny Mercer and Ray Charles were recording the hits of the day. Ray Charles’

classic, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” was recorded here as well as Sinatra’s, “Strangers In

The Night” and “That’s Life,” and the legendary Beach Boys “Pet Sounds” album, which

was the inspiration for The Beatles’ “Sgt. Peppers” album, was recorded here also.

The Mamas and Papas “California Dreamin,” “Monday Monday,” and Scott McKenzie’s

“San Francisco” were recorded here. Elvis Presley recorded his 1968 Christmas special

in Studio 1. Famous themes for ﬁlm and television were recorded here including the

“M*A*S*H” theme,“Mission Impossible” theme, “Hawaii Five-O” theme, “Beverly Hill-

billies” theme, “Godfather” theme, plus much of the “Monkees” and “Partridge Family”

television series.

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It would be impossible to name all the musical royalty who have worked at EastWest

Studios, but here are some of them (in alphabetical order) Christina Aguilera, Herb Al-

bert, America, Paul Anka, Fiona Apple, Audioslave, Franky Avalon, Barenaked Ladies,

Better Than Ezra, Blondie, Buffalo Springﬁeld, Burt Bacharach, Beach Boys, Blink 182,

Glen Campbell, Canned Heat, Vickie Carr, Carpenters, Johnny Cash, David Cassidy, Ray

Charles, Chicago, Petula Clarke, Ry Cooder, Elvis Costello, Count Basie & Orchestra, Eric

Clapton, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Ornette Coleman, Duane Eddy, Jan & Dean, John

Coltrane, Petula Clark, Joe Cocker, Sam Cooke, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis,

Jr., Jackie DeShannon, Duke Ellington, Neil Diamond, Fifth Dimension, Bob Dylan, Ellla

Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman Big Band, Grateful Dead, Grass Roots, Green Day, Guess

Who, Lani Hall, Herbie Hancock, Don Ho, Whitney Houston, Howlin’ Wolf, Janis Ian,

Ike & Tina Turner, Incubus, Isley Brothers, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Stan Keaton,

Carole King, Kris Kristofferson, Franky Laine, K.D. Lang, Avril Laverne, Michel LeGrand,

Peggy Lee, Little Feat, Trini Lopez, Madonna, Mamas & the Papas, Dean Martin, Johnny

Mathis, Meatloaf, Sergio Mendez & Brazil 66, Metallica, Johnny Mercer, Paul McCart-

ney, Barry Manilow, Scott McKenzie, Natalie Merchant, Bette Midler, Monkees, Alanis

Morrissette, Motley Crue, Muse, Rick Nelson, Willie Nelson, Wayne Newton, Harry Nils-

son, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ozzy Osborne, Partridge Family, Paul Revere and the Raiders,

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Pointer Sisters, Iggy Pop, Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie

Presley, Billy Preston, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Kenny Rog-

ers, Rolling Stones, Ronnie & the Ronettes, Bonnie Raitt, Helen Reddy, R.E.M., Nelson

Riddle, Righteous Brothers, Johnny Rivers, Ronnie & the Ronnettes, Dianna Ross, San-

tana, Jimmy Smith, Sonny & Cher, Phil Spector, Tom Scott, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra,

Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Steppenwolf, Rod Stewart, Mathew Sweet, Stone

Temple Pilots, Barbra Streisand, System of a Down, Temptations, The Animals, The

Association, The Four Tops, The GoGos, The Kingston Trio, The O’Jays, The Vines, The

Who, Mel Torme, U2, Richie Valens, Stevie Wonder, Tool, Turtles, Sarah Vaughn, Jimmy

Webb, Weezer, Andy Williams, Nancy Wilson, Young Rascals, Frank Zappa.

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Chapter 1: Welcome

CONTENTS

What’s now called EastWest Studios was founded by Bill Putnam in 1961. Considered

to be the “Father of modern recording,” he is acknowledged to be the ﬁrst person to use

artiﬁcial reverberation for commercial recording. He also developed the ﬁrst multi-band

equalizers and, with his company Universal Audio, was responsible for the develop-

ment of classic equipment like the Urei 1176LN and Urei Time Align Monitors. He was

involved in the early development of stereophonic recording and founded studios in

Chicago, Hollywood, and San Francisco. He was responsible for a number of innovations

including: the ﬁrst use of tape echo and echo chambers, the ﬁrst vocal booth, the ﬁrst

multiple voice recording, the ﬁrst use of 8-track recording, half-speed disc mastering.

In 1957, he started United Recording Corp. in a building at 6050 Sunset and started

new construction on new studios. Stereo was taking off and Putnam was determined

to incorporate as many technological innovations into the new complex as possible. In

1961, Western Recorders (now EastWest Studios) at 6000 Sunset was acquired, re-

modeled, and incorporated into the complex with the facilities being known as United

Western Recorders. After Bill Putnam passed away in 1989, the studio was acquired by

Allen Sides and renamed Oceanway recording. In 1999 Rick Adams acquired the studios

and renamed it Cello, and in January 2006 it was acquired by Doug Rogers of EastWest

Sounds, the #1 sounds producer in the world, with over 50 international awards.

Looking for a designer to take on the task of refurbishing the exterior and non-technical

interior areas, while preserving the historic studios, Rogers contacted renowned designer

Philippe Starck, whose trend-setting work is known the world over for its sheer brilliance

and beauty. Starck jumped at the opportunity and headed to Hollywood. He insisted on

restoring all historic elements inside and out, adding new designs to the interior and cre-

ating a new exterior look that incorporated elements of the current one. Rogers strongly

supported this. Plans are also afoot by Rogers to add historic names and records to the

sidewalk on Sunset Boulevard, giving the illustrious studio its own walk-of-fame. Another

highlight of the restoration has included Rogers’ purchase of other analog studio equip-

ment to be used for recording the classic way and not just digital (including two EMI

mixing boards that the Beatles used to record their hits). His plans for reactivating the

studios are a model for historic and cultural preservation as well as providing EastWest

with the ﬁnest recording environment in the world. In addition to EastWest’s own use of

the facilities, the ﬁve studio complex will be open to a limited number of outside clients

after the Starck restoration.

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What’s Included

The EastWest Play 6 system Includes:

• Play 6 stand-alone application (MacOS and Windows)

• Play 6 plug-in (VST, AU, AAX)

• Play 6 User Manual (PDF)

• The EastWest Installation Center application to install software and documentation

System Requirements

Below are the minimum and recommended hardware speciﬁcations for using Play Librar-

ies on your computer.

Minimum Specification

• Intel dual-core i5 (or equivalent) processor, running at 2.7 GHz (or above)

• 8 GB of RAM or more

• Mac OSX 10.7 (or later); Windows 7 (or later) with ASIO sound drivers

• 7200 RPM or faster (non energy saving) hard drive for sample streaming

Recommended Specification

• Intel Xeon E5 (or equivalent) running at a minimum of 2.7 GHz (or above)

• 16 GB of RAM or more

• Mac OSX 10.7 (or later); Windows 7 (or later) with ASIO sound drivers

• a 64-bit operating system; and a 64-bit host when running Play as a plug-in.

• SSD (Solid State Drive) for sample streaming

32-bit operating systems and DAWs are not supported (no 32-bit

plugin components will be installed).

An iLok account is required for a machine-based (electronic) license

to be placed on your computer. This license can also be activated on

an optional iLok key. This process requires an internet connection to

complete a one-time product activation.

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Sequencer Compatibility

The chart below outlines the MacOS and Windows 64-bit operating systems and sequenc-

ers that are ofﬁcially supported (fully tested) with the latest version of Play 6. Please

contact support for questions related to compatibility with earlier versions of Play, and

please note that while 64-bit sequencers (DAWs) that use VST, VST3, AU and AAX plug-

in formats may work ﬁne, only those listed in the chart below are ofﬁcially supported.

DAWs (64-bit) Operating Systems (64-bit)

Sequecer Software

version

MacOS

(1)

(10.8 - 10.14)

Windows

(2)

(7, 8 and 10)

EW Play 6 Stand-Alone 6.0 +

√ √

Ableton Live 9.0 +

√ √

Apple Logic Pro 9.0 +

√ -

Apple Garageband 3.0 +

√ -

Avid Pro Tools 11.0 +

√

(3)

√

Bitwig Studio 2.5 +

√ √

Cakewalk Sonar 6.2 +

- √

Cockos Reaper 4.0 +

√ √

Image-Line FL Studio 12 +

√ √

Motu Digital Performer 8.0 +

√ √

Steinberg Cubase 7.5 +

√ √

Steinberg Nuendo 6.0 +

√ √

Presonus Studio One 3.0 +

√ √

VSL Vienna Ensemble Pro 5.0 +

√ √

Notation Software

version

Avid Sibelius 7.0 +

√

(4)

√

(4)

MakeMusic Finale 25.0 +

√

(4)

√

(4)

Steinberg Dorico 2.2 +

√

(4)

√

(4)

MacOS 64-bit Operating Systems 10.8 through 10.14 are ofﬁcially supported. Please follow this link for the

latest compatibility information regarding MacOS 10.15 (Catalina).

Windows 7 support is ofﬁcially being ended by Microsoft on January 14th, 2020.

Pro Tools 10 users require Play version 4 (32-bit). Please contact support for details.

Sibelius / Finale / Dorico notation programs work with Play 6, but do not support the full feature set of some

Play Libraries, such as those that use WordBuilder. Please contact support for details.

32-bit Sequencers and Operating Systems are only supported by Play

4, the last version of Play that was released with a 32-bit installer.

Play Libraries released on Play 6 are not compatible with older ver-

sions of Play. Please contact support for more information.

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Support and Documentation

All documentation for Play and individual Play Libraries is provided as a collection of

PDFs. An advantage of reading this PDF on an electronic device is the ability to jump

directly to a referenced page using links. You can ﬁnd these in the contents section, at

the beginning of each chapter, and within to expand on and / or connect topics.

The Bookmarks pane along the left edge of the PDF allows you to jump to a particular

chapter or speciﬁc section by clicking on the links. You can also use Page Thumbnails to

quickly scan the contents of the PDF and jump to the desired page with a click.

User Manuals and Guides

Visit the EastWest Manuals section of the online Support Center to access the latest User

Manuals and Guides for EastWest products.

• Play 6 User Manual describes how to use the Play 6 sample engine, and aspects

that are common to all Play Libraries.

• Play Library User Manuals describe aspects that are specific to each Play Library,

including instruments and unique features of each user interface.

• Spaces II User Manual describes how to use the Space II plugin, and provides a glos-

sary of impulse presets.

• Master Navigation Document (MND) is a one-page PDF that allows easy navigation

between the Play 6 User Manual and the Play Library Manuals using links. Links

to the MND can be found at the bottom of each chapter in both the Play 6 User

Manual and Play Library Manuals.

• Getting Started Guide contains only the most essential information, intended to get

you started quickly.

In addition to online availability, user manuals are installed locally into the main library

folder of each Play Library, as well as the directory below:

• (Mac) Mac HD / Applications / East West / Documentation

• (Win) C:// Program Files / East West / Documentation

EastWest Support Center

Visit the EastWest online Support Center to:

• submit a support ticket

• read FAQs on a variety of commonly asked questions

• view video tutorials, quick start guides, user manuals and more

EastWest Soundsonline Forums

Visit the EastWest Soundsonline Forums to:

• read comments and questions from other users of EastWest products

• ﬁnd helpful information on both technical and musical aspects of the software

• receive support by posting to the Support section of the forum

P L A Y 6 SO FT WARE MANUAL

CONTENTS MASTER NAVIGATION DOCUMENT

Chapter 2: Getting Started

11 Creating an EastWest Account

11 How Content Is Delivered

12 How to Install a Play Library

17 Managing Play Library Licenses

18 Initial Setup in Stand-Alone Mode

22 Play Libraries Are Now NKS-Ready

23 How To Optimize Playback and Performance

26 All About MIDI

P L A Y 6 SO FT WARE MANUAL

Chapter 2: Getting Started

CONTENTS

Creating an EastWest Account

In order to purchase a product through Soundsonline.com, you must create an EastWest

account. In that account, an existing iLok Account must also be entered, or one will be

created for you based on your EastWest Account username.

Once you create an account and

place your order, a conﬁrmation

email with steps to proceed will be

sent, and a license for the product

will be deposited directly into the

iLok account associated with your

EastWest account.

Please note! If the wrong iLok account was entered at the time of purchase, or you al-

ready had an iLok account but we accidently created one for you, please contact licens-

[email protected]. The licensing department does their best to answer every case

within a 24 hour timeframe, except on the weekends.

How Content Is Delivered

Most customers will be able to take care of their entire installation and activation setup

with the Installation Center, but in some cases a Sound Data Hard Drive is neccessary.

Boxed DVD products are also still in circulation at retailors, and require special install

instructions outlined in the following chapter.

The Installation Center makes installation activation and download of Play products

straight forward and fast. A download link to the Installation Center is provided in the

email conﬁrming your purchase, and is also available to those that did not purchase

directly through Soundonline.com at the online Support Center.

The Sound Data HD is available for large Diamond and Platinum edition Play Libraries

that are too large to download. They also help eliminate the frustration of a slow internet

connection, and serve as a backup solution for Play Libraries.

The setup instructions are similar to those outlined in this chapter, except that instead

of downloading Play Libraries from the Installation Center, they are transferred from the

Sound Data Hard Drive to the preferred destination.

Please note! When using the Sound Data HD for sound playback, be aware of the limi-

tations of streaming all Play Libraries from a single, external USB 3.0 drive. For more

information, please see the section related to Hard Drive Speciﬁcations.

Boxed DVD Products may still be available through retailers. you purchased an East-

West product through a retailer, you may have received a Boxed DVD Product. Please

note, several installation procedures have changed since the time these products were

manufactered. Pay close attention to the installation and activation instructions outlined

below.

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CONTENTS

How to Install a Play Library

This walkthrough will show you how to download, install and activate a Play Library.

Step 1: Install the Installation Center

Download the Installation Center package from the

email conﬁrming your purchase, or download it directly

from the Support Center. After opening and installing

the package, you’ll ﬁnd the Installation Center in one of

the following directories:

• (Mac) Mac HD / Applications / East West / EW Installation Center.

• (Win) C: / Program Files / East West / EW Installation Center

Open the Installation Center and sign in with your East-

West account. It may take a moment to load while it

gathers data.

Step 2: Install the latest Play Software

At the top of the Installation Center you will see the latest Play software update availalbe

for download. Press the download button, and once it’s completed the Play software

installer will automatically open. The Play software update is also available to download

at the EastWest Support Center.

Please note! The software components neccessary to run all Play Libraries will be in-

stalled automatically (although you will only have access those you have a license for).

Simply procede through the dialog windows when prompted.

Installing Play 6 (Win)

Make sure all programs are closed before beginning and be aware that ‘Windows User

Access Control’ may ask your permission to launch the installer.

After a welcome window, the License Agreement screen will appear. When asked to agree

to the terms of the EastWest End User License Agreement, select ‘I accept the agree-

ment’ and then click ‘Next’. If you do not agree, then you will not be able to install the

Play software.

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The next dialog will ask you to Select Components. Unless you do not want to install the

AAX plugin, and/or the VST 64-bit plugin, simply proceed to the next dialog by clicking

‘Next’. De-select those options if you do not want to install them.

Please note! The Play software installer will read

the registry to determine the installation path for

the Play VST plugin.

Next, a Ready To Install dialog will display a sum-

mary of installation. Click ‘Next’ to begin the

installation process. Now a window will appear

displaying a progress bar of the installation pro-

cess. When it’s done, another window will ap-

pear allowing you to click ‘Finish’ to complete

the installation.

If the latest Pace iLok drivers have not been installed, you will also be led through a

series of prompts to install it. You will be asked to restart your computer to complete

the installation.

Installing Play 6 (Mac)

Make sure all programs are closed before beginning and be aware MacOS security prefer-

ences may block the installers of unindentiﬁed developers. To disable this, click on the

Apple icon in the top-left corner, and go to ‘System Preferences’. In the lower-left of the

‘Security & Privacy’ window, click the lock and enter the administrator password. Now,

under ‘Allow apps downloaded from...’ header, select ‘Anywhere’. You can change this

back after installing Play.

Click ‘Continue’ in the Introduction dialog to proceed to the License dialog. Click ‘Con-

tinue’, then click ‘Agree’ to accept the terms of the EastWest End User License Agree-

ment. If you do not agree, you will not be able to install the Play software.

The Installation Type dialog will perform a Standard

Installation by default. Click ‘Install’ to perform a

Standard Installation (recommended).If you wish to

modify the Standard Installation, click the ‘Custom-

ize’ button instead. In this dialog window you can

(de)select the various Play plugin types, as well as

the Pace iLok drivers. When ready, click the ‘Install’

button.

MacOS will require the administrators password to proceed with the installation. Please

enter the password and click, ‘Install Software’.

The Installation window will appear displaying a progress bar of the installation process.

When it’s done, the Summary window will report that the installation was successful and

allow you to click ‘Close’ to complete the installation.

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Step 3: Activate the Product License

When you purchase a product through Soundsonline.com, a license for the product you

purchased will be deposited directly into the iLok account associated with your EastWest

account. Use the Installation Center to Activate a product license.

At the top of the Installation Center, click

the “Activate” button to open the Activation

Assistant window, which will lead you

through the activation process.

Click ‘Next’ to proceed past the Introduction

tab, then select the license(s) you want to ac-

tivate in the License tab and click ‘Next’.

If you have an iLok account but you have not

connected it to your Soundsonline account, the Activation Assistant will help you link

the two accounts. This only need to be done one time.

The Location window will give you the option to acti-

vate your license on your computer (a machine-based

license) or to a registered iLok security key. Make sure

your iLok key is plugged in if that’s your preferred option.

How to Activate the Authorization Code for Boxed DVD Products

At the time the Boxed DVD Products were released, they came with an Authorization

Code which was entered into the now defunct Authorization Wizard. That code is still

valid, but now you have to enter into the Installation Center.

To activate a Play product that came

with a legacy Authorization Code, go

to the Main Menu in the top-right cor-

ner of the Installation Center and click on the “Register Au-

thorization Code…” option.

Type in the 20-digit au-

thorization code that came with your product and

click “submit”. A prompt should appear letting you

know the authorization was a success and that the

license is ready to activate.

Click “Refresh Product List” from the Main Menu

(top-right) of the Installation Center to update your account with the new license, and

activate that license by with these instructions: Step 3: Activate the Product License.

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Step 4: Download the Play Library

Before you begin, you may want to review the Hard Drive Speciﬁcations section to deter-

mine the best hard drive conﬁguration to store and stream Play Libraries.

If you’re unsure whether you have enough free disk space check the Space Requirements

for Play Libraries section to view the size of each Play Library in gigabytes (GB).

Play Libraries can also be installed to multiple hard drive locations. You can ﬁnd these

instructions in the EastWest FAQ, found in the Support Center.

Download Play Libraries from the Installation Center

Before you begin downloading, create a new folder at the desired hard drive location and

name it ‘Play Libraries’.

Once created, go to the Installation Center and click the download icon (downward ar-

row) in the product panel of the Play Library you wish to download.

A browser window will

where you can navigate to the ‘Play Libraries’ folder you just

created in the step above. Click ‘Remember’ in the dialog that appears if you wish to

save

this location for future downloads.

The download process will now begin, with a blue bar displaying the download progress. Hit

the small “X” button in the lower-right corner of the product panel to pause the download

process, and click “Resume” to continue the download where you left off. The remaining

time left to complete the download process is found at the very bottom of the Installation

Center window.

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Transferring Play Libraries from a Sound Data Hard Drive

At this point, decide wether you’d like to use the Play Libraries on the supplied hard drive,

or would rather transfer them to another drive.

To transfer the Play Libraries to another drive, simply drag the Play Libraries folder from the

supplied hard drive and drop it into the preferred location on the other hard drive and wait

for the ﬁles to copy over.

Then click on the Main Menu in the Installation Center, and select the ‘Library Directories’

option from the list. In the bottom-left corner of that window, click the ‘Add’ button and

navigate to the ‘Play Libraries’ folder that you just transferred (or the one on the supplied

hard drive). Now click the ‘Play Libraries’ folder to select it, then click the ‘Open’ button to

add it to the Library Directories list.

Closing the Library Directories window should begin the process of adding each Play Library

directory into the Browser view in Play, where all installed Play Libraries appear.You can

also manually initiate the process by selecting ‘Reconnect Libraries’ in the Main Menu after

adding it to the Library Directories list.

Installing a Play Library from a Boxed DVD Products (Windows)

Do not install the Play software from the DVDs (it is outdated). Instead, follow the in-

structions ____. These instructions below only refer to installing the

Play

Library itself.

1. Before inserting the DVD, decide where you would like to install the library content

and create a folder called “Play Libraries” at that location.

2. Now, insert Disc One into your DVD Drive (do not run the installer from the DVD).

3. Locate the library folder (it contains the product’s Instruments and Samples folder).

4. Drag this library folder from the DVD and drop it into the Play Libraries folder you

created in step 1.

5. Once the transfer is complete proceed to Disc Two and repeat the drag and drop pro-

cess with the remaining DVDs, grabbing the library folder and dropping it into the same

location and allowing windows to merge your samples into the library folder.

Installing a Play Library from a Boxed DVD Products (MacOS)

Do not install the

Play

software from the DVDs (they are out-of-date). These instructions

only refer to installing the

Play

Library itself.

1. Before inserting the DVD, decide where you would like to install the library content

and create a folder called Play Libraries at that location.

2. Now insert Disc One into your DVD Drive.

3. Locate the library folder (it contains the product’s Instruments and Samples folder).

Drag this folder from the DVD and into the Play Libraries folder you created in step 1.

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4. Once the transfer is complete, proceed to Disc Two.

5. On Disc Two, open the “_Data” folder, then double-click on library installer. When

presented with the welcome screen, press “continue”.

6. The next prompt will ask you to select a destination. Choose the hard drive where the

product’s library folder is installed to, then click the “choose folder” button.

7. A window will appear. Navigate to the product’s library folder within the Play Libraries

folder and click “choose”. Now, press “continue” to proceed.

8. Next, click “install” to begin. You may need to enter the administrator password.

9. Repeat steps 5 through 8 for each subsequent disc until all library content has been

installed. You’re now ready for the next phase of the installation process.

Step 5: Update the Play Library

When an update becomes available for a Play Library, it will appear in the Installation

Center with the downard arrow icon above the word ‘Update’. Click the ‘Update’ icon to

download the latest Play Library update. The installer will run automatically once the

download is complete. Proceed through the prompts to install the updates to either the

Instruments or Samples folder, or both.

Managing Play Library Licenses

EastWest uses the Pace iLok system for license management. Licenses for EastWest

products can be activated directly on your computer (called a machine-based license),

or activated to an optional iLok key.

The iLok Key is a hardware device made available by Pace Anti-Piracy, Inc., that holds

licenses for a variety of software developers. The advantage of an iLok key is portability.

If you have installed a

Play

Library on two separate computers, you can

move the iLok between those computers at any given time to authorize

them for use.

The iLok system is well integrated into the Installation Center, but in case you need more

options to manage your licenses, download the iLOK License Manager. While a physical

iLok key is optional, an iLok account must be entered into your

EastWest account details. Please see the iLok.com website for

more detailed information on license management.

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Initial Setup in Stand-Alone Mode

These steps cover the basics of how to use Play 6 in stand-alone mode, including how to

load and view instruments, hear audio playback, and add effects.

Step 1: Launch Play 6

Launch Play 6 in stand-alone mode from one of the directories below:

• (Mac) Mac HD / Applications / East West / Play

• (Win) C:// Program Files / East West / Play

When Play 6 is launched, the Player view will show the Play Library that is selected in

the Default Interface menu. To change this se-

lection, go to the Settings Menu, click on the

Other tab, and select the desired Play Library

from the drop-down menu in Misc section, at

the bottom half of the window. Click ‘Apply’,

then quit and re-launch Play 6 to apply the changes.

See The Player View to learn more.

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Step 2: Load an Instrument from the Browser

To load an instrument, click on the Browser button located in the top-left area of the Naviga-

tion Bar that opens to the default Libraries mode.

Select one of the installed Play Libraries that populate the left column, then browse its

contents using the columns on the right to ﬁnd an instrument to load.

Click on an instrument from the column on the right to select it, then click either the Add

or Replace button to load it. Use the Replace button to load a new instrument in place of the

existing one, or use the Add button to load multiple instruments.

When multiple instruments are loaded, pressing the Replace button will bring up the dialog

box pictured above, allowing you to replace the current instrument selection, or Replace All

instruments.

The shortcut to load an instrument is to simply double-click on an instrument ﬁle. Hold the

[shift] key while double-clicking on an instrument to add additional instruments. To replace

an instrument, select it in the Instrument Panel (see the next step on how to do this), then

double-click on a new instrument ﬁle.

See The Browser View to learn more.

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Step 3: Open the Instruments Panel

To view all currently loaded instruments, click on the Instruments button located in the top-

right area of the Navigation Bar.

To select an instrument, click on the gray area where the instrument

name appears. Once an instrument is selected, there are several op-

tions available.

The selected instrument can be replaced with a new one, as ex-

plained in the step above, its instrument set-

tings can be changed in the Advanced Instru-

ment Properties (left) window that appears in

the bottom half of the panel, or the instru-

ment can be removed by clicking the Delete

button.

Alternatively, the Instrument Selector is a quick way to change the selected instrument with-

out having to open the Instruments Panel, freeing up screen space.

Click in the ﬁeld where the currently selected instrument appears to reveal a drop-down

menu showing all loaded instruments and their respective MIDI channel assignments in

parenthesis.

A check-mark indicates the current instrument selection, and clicking on another in-

strument will make it the current selection. The Player view will change, reﬂecting the

custom user interface associated with the selected instrument.

Step 4: Play a Note to Hear Audio Playback

To hear a sound, select an instrument, then click inside the highlighted range of notes that

appears on the Virtual Keyboard. If you don’t hear a sound, click on the Settings button in

the left corner of the Navigation Bar to access the Settings Menu.

See Instruments Panel to learn more.

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In the Audio Settings tab, ensure the desired audio device has been selected in the Device

Type and Output Device drop down menus.

In the MIDI Settings tab, ensure the preferred controller has a check-mark next to it, indicat-

ing it is enabled for use.

In the Other Settings tab, 2 MIDI Channel

Assignment modes are available. ‘Auto-In-

crement’ will assign each new instrument to

the subsequent MIDI channel (1, 2, 3, etc),

and ‘OMNI’ will set instruments to receive

MIDI on all channels (1-16).

Some other options in the Main Menu and Settings Menu include Sample Purge, and as-

signing Round Robin Reset controllers.

Step 5: Add Effects in the Mixer

Click the Mixer button in the top-left area of the Navigation Bar to access the Mixer.

A channel strip for each loaded instrument will appear, with basic controls like volume, pan,

mute, solo, and output.

If an instrument has multiple microphone positions, a

yellow Sub-Mixer button will appear. Click the button to

access each microphone sub-channel that makes up the

main instrument channel.

To enter the FX Rack and use a suite of effects to process

an instrument, click the light blue FX button. Effects in-

clude EastWest’s Amp Simulator,

Convolution Reverb, EP-1 Delay,

and ADT, as well as a suite of SSL

audio processing tools that includes

an EQ, Compressor, Gate/Expander,

Transient Shaper and Stereo Bus

Compressor.

See The Mixer View to learn more.

See Main Menu and Settings Menu to learn more.

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Play Libraries Are Now NKS-Ready

EastWest’s award-winning collection of virtual instruments are now fully compatible with

NKS, including the ability to browse instruments, preview sounds, and immediately ac-

cess pre-mapped instrument parameters all within Native Instruments’ Komplete Kon-

trol and Maschine hardware and software. Follow the steps below to make all installed

Play Libraries NKS-ready.

Step 1: Download the NKS Support Installer

To visit the Software & Product Updates page of the EastWest Support Center, please

click the following link: http://www.soundsonline.com/Support

Scroll down to ﬁnd the ‘NKS Support Installer’ section, then

click on either the Mac or Windows icons to download the in-

staller per your operating system. The download size is approxi-

mately 790 mb.

Step 2: Run the NKS Support Installer

Once the NKS Support installer has downloaded, close all programs, then double-click

on the installer to launch it and proceed through

the prompts to complete the installation.

Please note! The NKS Support Installer can be run

anytime after installing additional EastWest Play

Libraries to make them NKS-Ready.

Step 3: Launch Native Instruments Software to Update Libraries

Now launch either the Komplete Kontrol or Maschine software to begin the ‘Updating

Library’ scan of all installed Play Libraries, making them NKS-ready for use with Native

Instruments Komplete Kontrol and Maschine software and hardware.

See Native Instruments - This is NKS to learn more.

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How To Optimize Playback and Performance

The Sample Cache settings optimize the streaming settings based on your computer

speciﬁcations. The right settings can improve the streaming performance of Play 6.

Adjusting the Streaming Cache

To access the Streaming Cache, click on the Settings Menu button (the gear icon located

in the top-left corner) in the Navigation Bar, then click the Streaming tab.

Please note! As a general rule, ﬁnd the lowest setting that also results in smooth play-

back. If dropped voices or CPU spikes occur, simply raise the ‘Cache Level’.

The lowest recommended ‘Cache Level’ setting depends on:

• the speed of the computer’s processor (CPU)

• the amount of installed memory (RAM)

• the drive type and connection

• the demands of a project

Adjusting the ‘Cache Level’ affects the following:

• the loading time of your project

• the amount of memory usage

• the playback performance

Outlined below are recommended ‘Cache Level’ settings based on your computer speci-

ﬁcations, but please be aware that the demands of a given project are also a factor in

determining the best ‘Cache Level’ setting. For example, with the same computer speci-

ﬁcations, a large Hollywood Orchestra template will require a higher setting than a proj-

ect with a few small instruments from Fab Four. That’s because raising the ‘Cache Level’

results in more of each sample being loaded into memory (RAM), reducing the reliance

on disk streaming, which allows larger and/or more instruments to playback smoothly at

a given time.

In the ‘Settings’ menu under the ‘Streaming’ tab is a list of available drives that appear

under ‘Disk Volume’ with their respective ‘Cache Level’ settings to the right. Use the up

and down arrows to adjust this level for each drive.

• A ‘Cache Level’ between 0 - 1: results in the fastest load times and smallest memory

(RAM) usage, but requires a fast, multi-core processor (CPU) and Solid State Drives

(SSD) with a fast connection type to achieve smooth playback

• A ‘Cache Level’ between 2 - 3: results in less demands on the processor (CPU) but re-

quires more memory (RAM) usage. These settings are best for a computer with an

average CPU, but still plenty of RAM and SSDs with a fast connection type

• A ‘Cache Level’ between 4 - 5: results in the most memory (RAM) usage, but makes less

demands on the processor (CPU) and hard drive. These settings are recommended

for computers with an aging CPU and/or traditional 3.5” HDD

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Hard Drive Specifications

There are several factors that determine what kind of performance you can expect when

streaming large sample libraries from a hard drive. Those outlined below include details

on the speed of the drive itself, the speed of the connection type, and other options for

increasing data transfer speed.

• Solid State Drive (SSD) is the best drive option, giving you seek and retrieval times that

are nearly instantaneous, allowing for smooth performance at low latencies even

when working with larger projects. To take full advantage of the speed offered by

SSDs, they must be installed internally to a SATA III connection, or externally via a

USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt port. Connection types like SATA II, USB 2.0 and Firewire

400 / 800 do not offer speeds that take full advantage of SSDs.

• Hard Disk Drive (HDD) running at 7200 rpm (non-energy saving) is the minimum hard

drive speciﬁcation that will achieve adequate performance. It’s best to install this

internally to either a SATA II or SATA III connection, or externally via eSATA or USB

3.0. Slower connection types like USB 2.0 or Firewire 400 / 800 will offer less per-

formance, and may not be fast enough for instruments with heavy sample loads that

playback many simultaneous voices.

• Raid 0 Conﬁguration is an option for professional users to achieve high performance

when using streaming drives. There are many resources available online that provide

instructions, or you can consult a computer specialist.

• Mac Pro Retroﬁt is a way to optimize older Mac Pro towers that have previous generation

ports like USB 2.0, and the internal hard drive bays use SATA II connections. Neither

take full advantage of the speed offered by SSDs. A way around this is to install an

expansion card into a PCI-e slot (x2 or larger). The biggest boost in performance is

provided by SATA III interface cards that connects up to two 2.5” SSDs. When used

in a RAID 0 setup, speeds of up to 800 mb/s can be achieved. This is much greater

than the 300 mb/s offered by SATA 2 interface.

Hard Drive Considerations

Some less obvious considerations include only ﬁlling your drive up to 70% capacity,

spreading libraries across multiple drives, and dedicating drives only to stream libraries.

• Dedicated Streaming Drives can achieve better performance because they are dedicated

to streaming and do not share the connection’s throughput with other tasks like run-

ning an operating system or loading projects ﬁles.

• Managing Drive Space (HDD only) is important to maintain the speed at which data can be

read from a drive. Try to keep around 30% of each streaming drive empty to avoid

reduced performance, which can drop by half when the drive is up to or greater than

90% ﬁlled.

• Using Multiple Streaming Drives is recommended when using large sample libraries like the

Diamond edition of Hollywood Orchestra. For instance, because Hollywood Strings

and Hollywood Brass are both large libraries, putting them on separate drives will

help avoid performance issues when playing back large projects that have high voice

counts.

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Library Considerations

Another way to improve performance when streaming large libraries is to use libraries

that have smaller CPU footprint, like the Gold edition libraries that use 16-bit samples

as opposed to 24-bit samples, or ‘Lite’ instrument versions designed with fewer samples.

• ‘Lite’ Instrument (LT) are available for many Play Libraries that are programmed with few

samples, lowering voice counts. This can help relieve computer resources that are

being taxed as the instrument count rises.

• Using Smaller Library Editions require less computer resources by using a lower bit depth

(16-bit versus the standard 24-bit) and fewer microphone positions. This enables

those with less capable systems access to the same basic soundset. Below is a table

showing the differences between the different editions.

COMPARISON OF EDITIONS

Silver

Gold Gold X Platinum Diamond

Instruments Selection All All All All

Bit Depth 16-bit 16-bit 16-bit 24-bit 24-bit

Mic Positions 1 1 2 3 5

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All About MIDI

MIDI is a digital data speciﬁcation by which one musical device can communicate with

another to describe a musical performance. A “musical device” can be an electronic

instrument as well as a computer running MIDI-aware programs. (The term MIDI is an

acronym for the name, “Musical Instrument Digital Interface.” The speciﬁcation is main-

tained and published by the MIDI Manufacturers Association.)

MIDI data describes much more than what notes are to be played and when. It includes

information describing dynamics, tempo, expression, and much more. (See the table

below.) One thing that MIDI cannot specify, though, is the sound of each note. The exact

same MIDI data can be sent to sound generators that imitate a ﬂute and a ukulele, with

very different results. While this independence of MIDI data from the audio can some-

times cause problems, it can be used to great advantage with sound libraries like those

from EastWest.

This spec has become the standard means for conveying musical data in several very

different types of environments:

• MIDI can be used in real time. A musician plays a keyboard—or other instrument that

can generate MIDI—and the data is sent via a cable to a sound generator that under-

stands the codes. The keyboard makes no musical sound itself, relying on the device

at the other end of the MIDI cable to do so.

• MIDI can be stored in a program for later playback. Such a program is called a se-

quencer. A musical piece stored in a sequencer can consist of any number of concur-

rent musical lines, from one to an entire orchestra—and more.

• MIDI can be used to share musical data between computer programs. A typical use

of this capability is the export of data from a sequencer (good at creating audio ﬁles)

and its import into a notation program (good at creating printed scores). Or vice versa.

• A ﬁle containing MIDI data can be sent from one computer to another as a way of

sharing a musical piece. Because there is no audio data in the ﬁle, a “MIDI song”

is typically much smaller than even a compressed audio ﬁle, such as an MP3. The

downside is that the instrumentation and sound of the ﬁle on the receiver’s computer

are entirely dependent on the local setup, especially the sound card (if the piece can

be played at all). While the notes and rhythm will be preserved, there’s no guarantee

the sounds of the instruments will be the same. Ways around this problem are out of

scope in this manual.

Play, like many other MIDI-based programs, calls the 16 MIDI channels 1 to 16. Some

other software, including some host programs, may number the MIDI channels 0 to 15

(which is still 16 separate numbers). If you set matching values in Play and the host

sequencer, but the expected instrument does not sound, try adding one to the channel

number in Play or subtracting one in the sequencer (but not both). If the instrument now

sounds correctly, you have found such a mismatch.

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Using MIDI to Shape a Performance

The sound of a performance by a live musician differs from that of a cheap music box in

all the ways that the musician interprets the music: through tempo adjustments, expres-

sive dynamics, accents, timbre changes, decisions about which articulation to use for

each note, and so on.

But a MIDI stream is only digital data; it’s the job of the musician—whether playing in

real time or adding data to a sequencer project—to use MIDI to convey his or her musical

intentions. The MIDI standard was designed to convey all these interpretive elements.

And the Play Libraries were designed to respond appropriately to expressive cues.

Please note! Initialize the Mod Wheel (CC1) and Expression (CC11) values after loading

an instrument to ensure they sound as intended. The easiest way to do this is to assign

the MIDI Continuous Controllers (CCs) to the assignable knobs or sliders of your MIDI

controller, then jog them after loading an instrument. You can also input a starting value

into the MIDI Continuous Controller (CC) lanes inside your preferred DAW.

• MIDI CC 1 (Mod Wheel): Mod Wheel data is added to the MIDI stream each time

the position of the wheel changes. There are 128 positions from Off (value = 0)

to Full (value = 127). How the sound generator responds to Mod Wheel values is

implementation-speciﬁc. It might adjust the distortion on an electric guitar, affect

the loudness in a Dynamic Cross-Fade patch (DXF), or change the amount of an LFO

ﬁlter on the patch. Really, almost anything is possible.

Some of the Play Libraries include articulation ﬁles called Dynamic Cross Fades, also

called “DXF ﬁles.” As the name indicates, the Mod Wheel is used to fade between

two or more sets of samples that differ in loudness—and usually, therefore, timbre as

well. A typical articulation ﬁle contains several layers of samples, each layer recorded

with the instrument being played at a speciﬁc loudness: such as pp, mp, mf, or ff.

And typically, it is the Velocity parameter of the note that determines which layer is

played back. In a DXF ﬁle, it is the position of the Mod Wheel that determines the

layer. That difference means that which sample is played can be modiﬁed mid-note,

instead of having to wait for the next Note-On event.

• MIDI CC 7 (Volume): Both CC7 and CC11 affect dynamics. In Play Libraries, Vol-

ume data is designed to be relatively static, perhaps even to be set once near the

beginning and left unchanged thereafter. The recommendation is to use Volume to

adjust the relative loudness of each track; if it’s discovered during a ﬁnal mix session

that the lead guitar needs to be boosted throughout the piece—or in certain large

sections —adjust the Volume where appropriate. Expression is designed more for

continuous dynamics; see below.

• MIDI CC 10 (Panning): Sound generators, including Play Libraries, respond to Pan-

ning codes by adjusting the relative loudness of the sound in the two stereo chan-

nels, giving the listener an impression of the instrument being left or right of the

center line, and by how much, if any. Some libraries may have the instrument already

positioned correctly in the sound space, such as instruments in a symphony orches-

tra being recorded where they normally sit in a concert hall. Listen to the sounds in

your speciﬁc library to see whether that’s the case.

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• MIDI CC 11 (Expression): As mentioned above, Expression and Volume are two

different codes associated with dynamics. CC11 is intended to be used to add the

moment-by-moment dynamics that mimic the way live musicians are constantly ad-

justing the force of the breath or the pre sure of the bow on the strings to achieve

musicality. These changes produce the dynamic arc of a melody or even swells in

individual notes.

• Other Common MIDI CCs: In addition to data about notes, tempo, meter, the pub-

lished spec for MIDI deﬁnes continuous controllers so that various aspects of a

performance can be conveyed along with the basic note data. There are potentially

up to 128 possible continuous controllers, but not all numbers from 0 to 127 are

neccessarily deﬁned. Below are some of the most commonly used MIDI continuous

controllers (CCs).

MOST COMMON MIDI CONTINUOUS CONTROLLERS (CC)

0 Bank Select 64 Hold Pedal (on/off)

1 Modulation Wheel * 65 Portamento (on/off)

2 Breath Controller 66 Sustenuto Pedal (on/off)

4 Foot Pedal 67 Soft Pedal (on/off)

5 Portamento Time 68 Legato Pedal (on/off)

6 Data Entry 69 Hold 2 Pedal (on/off)

7 Volume * 120 All Sound Off

8 Balance 121 All Controllers Off

10 Pan Position * 123 All Notes Off

11 Expression * 124 Omni Mode Off

12 Effect Control 1 125 Omni Mode On

13 Effect Control 2 126 Mono Operation

127 Poly Operation

This information is included here for the beneﬁt of those users who might choose to use

these MIDI continuous controllers (CCs) to control a performance in ways beyond the

scope of this manual. Here, we will discuss only four of the CCs: 1, 7, 10, and 11, as

indicated by the asterisks in the table.

Using the Round Robin Reset

This control is found in the ‘Other’ tab of the Settings menu. It allows you to specify

either a MIDI note or MIDI continuous controller (CC) to reset the round-robin cycle. The

numeric value in the spin box speciﬁes which note number (middle C = 60) or which

continuous controller (CC) will be interpreted as a reset. Once set, all the round robin in-

struments in any given MIDI channel will be reset when that note or CC value is received.

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MIDI Learn Functionality

Many controls in Play can be connected to MIDI Continuous Controllers (CCs) using the

MIDI Learn feature. To engage this feature, right-click on a control in the Play interface

and click on “Midi Learn…”. Then move a knob or slider (CCs) on an attached MIDI

controller. The control in the Play interface on which you right-clicked will receive the in-

coming MIDI continuous controller (CC) data, and assign that CC number to the control.

To disconnect a control from the learned CC, right-click and select “Detach From Midi”.

In this way you can adjust instrument parameters in real time. It can be done either from

a MIDI keyboard or other control surface during a live performance, or by capturing the

MIDI continuous controller (CC) data in a sequence and playing it back every time the

sequence is run.

Different MIDI Modes

Two additional MIDI Modes, Multi and MPE, have been added to the MIDI channel

dropdown menu in Play. These two new modes are in addition to the option of assigning

each instrument to its own MIDI channel (1-16), or assigning an instrument to receive

MIDI on all channels (OMNI). Like OMNI mode, these new modes receive MIDI on all

channels, but differ in the way they handle Mod Wheel (CC1), Expression (CC11) and

Pitch Bend messages, which in most cases can be applied on a per-note basis. Global

MIDI messages, like Sustain Pedal (CC64), are still treated globally and will affect all

notes, regardless of channel.

• OMNI Mode will set an instrument to receive MIDI on all channels (1-16), with Mod

Wheel (CC1), Expression (CC11) and Pitch Bend modulation applied to notes on all

MIDI channels. This is useful when layering sounds intended to be played together,

like when stacking separate string sections together to create a full string patch.

• MULTI Mode is useful to MIDI guitar controllers by allowing per-note control of Mod

Wheel (CC1), Expression (CC11) and Pitch Bend by sending those MIDI messages

only to the voices on the same MIDI channel as the controller event.

• MPE Mode stands for “Multi-Dimensional Polyphonic Expression” and is a MIDI

standard developed by the MIDI Manufacturer Association to accommodate a new

class of MIDI controllers like the Roli Keyboard, the Linnstrument, and the Eigen-

Harp. In this mode, each note is sent to its own MIDI channel, cycling through an

allocated block of channels that enables MIDI messages (restricted to Note On, Note

Off, Channel Pressure, Pitch Bend and CC74) to be sent per-note, while global MIDI

messages like CC7 (Volume) and CC64 (Sustain) are applied to all voices, regardless

of the MIDI channel they were sent over.

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Chapter 3: Play 6 User Interface

31 Navigating the User Interface

32 Main Controls and Library-Specific Controls

33 The Player View

38 The Browser View

42 Instruments Panel

43 Instruments Selector

44 The Mixer View

64 Multi-channel Audio Output

65 Main Menu

66 Settings Menu

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Navigating the User Interface

Play 6 is the latest version of EastWest’s software that powers all EastWest’s Virtual

Instruments collections, called Play Libraries. The Play software is designed around 3

main areas; the Player, Browser and Mixer views.

Use the buttons in the Navigation Bar located at the top of the user interface to access

all main areas, described brieﬂy below as they appear from left to right.

• Main Menu open and save instruments, access sample purge, and more.

• Settings Menu access audio/midi setup, streaming settings, and more.

• Browser ﬁnd instruments in Database mode, or browse for them in Libraries mode

• Mixer features channel strips, sub-mixes, and FX for loaded instruments.

• Player displays custom controls and a unique user interface for each Play Library.

• Instrument Selector use the drop down menu to select between loaded instruments.

• Instruments Panel access instruments and their Advanced Instrument Properties.

In PLAYER view, the main window displays the custom user interface for Hollywood Pop Brass.

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Main Controls and Library-Specific Controls

While they may vary in appearance, basic controls like envelopes, effects, MIDI param-

eters, and status indicators have the same function in all Play Libraries.

Information about controls that only appear in certain Play Libraries (like performance

scripts, microphone positions, or the articulation pane) can be found in the individual

Play Library User Manuals.

There are ﬁve distinct types of controls in the Player view. Some controls can accept data

from both the keyboard and the mouse; others can have their values changed with the

mouse only. The exact appearance of control may vary from one Play Library to the next,

but they behave the same.

• On/Off Buttons have two states: On and Off. The On position is indicated when its

light is illuminated. The only way to toggle a button between its On and Off states is

by clicking the button with the mouse cursor. Some

knobs and other controls are inactive unless their

button is turned on.

• Action Buttons performs an action when clicked with

the mouse. Examples include: opening an instru-

ment, moving between the Player and Browser views,

and adding a new folder to your list of favorites.

• Knobs are used to modify a numeric value over a deﬁnite range. Rotate the knob

until the desired value appears in text adjacent to the knob. Most knobs will jump

to speciﬁc, preset values in the permissible range, so it may not be possible to set

the value to a speciﬁc arbitrary number. Select the number that most closely ap-

proximates the effect you want to achieve.

To modify a knob’s value, always start by clicking on the knob with the mouse

cursor. To increase the value, drag the mouse cursor upward with the mouse’s left

button held down. To decrease the value, drag the mouse cursor downward with the

same button held down. To set the knob to the center, “12 o’clock” position, dou-

ble-click on it. Holding down control-command while

dragging with the mouse allows for ﬁner adjustment.

• Drop-Down Lists can select from a selection of text

strings. Click on the control to display the list of op-

tions, and with the mouse, scroll through the list (if

necessary) and then click on the choice.

• Spinners allow the user to change a value incrementally by clicking on the little

arrows, or by clicking on the number itself to highlight it, then typing a new value.

See Support and Documentation to learn more.

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Envelope contains control knobs

for a 5-stage envelope: Attack,

Hold, Decay, Sustain, and Re-

lease (AHDSR).

Performance contains scripts

that change sample playback

behavior of instruments.

System & Sensitivity change

instrument settings like Tempo

Sync and Scaling options.

The Virtual Keyboard is color coded: White keys represent the instrument range, Tan keys indicate no samples are

loaded, and Blue keys are “keyswitches” that switch between multiple articulations within a single instrument.

System Usage (from left to right) tracks CPU, Disk, Voices and RAM usage.

Reverb features

convolution reverb,

and a large selec-

tion of impulses.

Stereo Double con-

trols the width of

stereo spread (‘ste-

reo’ must be selected

as channel source).

Master Instrument Channel ( right) con-

trols source, tune, pan, volume and solo /

mute for the selected instrument.

Mixes (left)

controls the

microphone po-

sition volume,

pan, mute / solo

and load state.

Hollywood Pop Brass

features 10 main areas brieﬂy

outlined here.

Articulation Pane displays an

instrument’s articulation set.

Each articulation corresponds

to a Blue “keyswitch” that

can be used to switch between

them in real-time.

The Player View

Below is an example of the Player view of the Hollywood Pop Brass user interface, which

features 10 main areas. The areas that share common elements with all Play Libraries

(like Master Instrument Channel and Envelope) are covered in the following pages, while

others can be found in the individual Play Library user manuals.

See Support and Documentation to learn more.

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The Master Instrument Channel

Along the right side of the Hollywood Pop Brass user interface is the Master Instrument

Channel of the selected instrument.

Click in the Channel Source ﬁeld to reveal a drop-down list with

options to conﬁgure the output.

• Stereo outputs the original stereo channels as they were

recorded.

• Mono sums the left and right channels into a dual mono

channel.

• Mono From Left outputs the left channel to a dual mono

output, discarding the right channel.

• Mono From Right outputs the right channel to a dual mono

output, discarding the left channel.

• Swap Left and Right outputs a reverse stereo image of the

original audio (swapping the left and right channels).

The Tune knob includes coarse and ﬁne tuning modes. Coarse

tuning adjusts the pitch up or down in semitone increments,

while ﬁne tuning moves the pitch up or down in increments

of 1/100

of a semitone (called “cents”). Change the tuning

value by clicking on the arrows inside the spinboxes above the

coarse and ﬁne tuning buttons, or use the Tune knob with a

selected tuning mode. The spinboxes display the tuning values

for both the coarse and ﬁne tuning modes.

The Pan knob adjusts the volume of the left and right audio sig-

nal to change the perceived position of the sound source, while

preserving the relative panning of the individual microphones

in each of the 3 Microphone Mixes. Use the Pan knob to deﬁne

the position in the stereo image, or for special effect.

The Master Fader adjusts the volume of the instrument’s mas-

ter output, without affecting the relative mix of the microphone

sub-mixer channels. Two audio meters display the signal of the

stereo output in real-time.

The Stereo Outputs default to ‘Main L/R’ in the Output Channel

ﬁeld. To assign an instrument to a stereo output other than the

default, click in the ﬁeld and select 1 of 9 stereo outputs. This

option allows you to send the stereo outputs of each loaded in-

strument to separate audio tracks in your system’s sound card

(in stand alone mode) or in your host sequencer (as a plug-in).

When enabled, the Mute (M) button silences the audio output

for the selected instrument. When enabled, the Solo (S) button silences the audio outputs

for all instruments that are not currently soloed.

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Envelope

The Envelope controls the volume of a sound over time across 5 stages. Each knob con-

trols the length or loudness of one or more stages of the envelope. All Play Library instru-

ments are programmed with default Envelope values to achieve a natural sound. Please

be aware that changing these default settings may result in less than natural results.

The Attack, Hold, and Decay stages of the envelope determine how long it takes for the

sound to go from the initial attack to the beginning of the sustain stage. Typically, a

sound begins to drop in volume immediately after reaching its loudest point, but using

the Hold value maintains the volume at its loudest point until reaching the decay stage.

• Attack is measured in milliseconds (ms), this stage starts at the beginning of the note

until it reaches its highest volume.

• Hold is the stage that maintains the loudest volume of the attack for the number of

milliseconds (ms) speciﬁed.

• Decay is the time in milliseconds (ms) it

takes to drop from the highest point of the

attack or hold stage, to the sustain stage

that follows.

• Sustain speciﬁes the loudness of the sound

in decibels (db) after the initial attack, and

until the note is released.

• Release determines how long the sound re-

mains audible, in milliseconds (ms) after a

note is released

Reverb

Play uses a special type of reverb called Convolution that uses short impulses to excite a

space, like a studio or cathedral, and capture the resulting “impulse response” (IR). That

IR contains the characteristics of that space, which can then be applied, or convolved,

with the input signal to simulate that sound playing in that given space.

Please note! A default reverb setting is applied to all instruments, but can be modiﬁed,

changed, or disabled for a more dry sound.

• On Button: Click the ‘On’ button to toggle

the on/off state of the Reverb. When en-

abled, the Reverb ‘On’ button becomes

illuminated.

• Preset List: Click in the ﬁeld containing

the name of the currently selected IR to

reveal a drop-down list of all available

IRs, with a check-mark indicating the

current selection. Click on the desired IR to select it.

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• Pre-Delay: Adjust this value to change the onset time (in milliseconds) of the con-

volved audio output.

• Volume Knob: Adjust this value to specify the amount of reverb to apply to the signal.

• Master Button: Click on this button to toggle the on/off state of the Master Reverb

control. When enabled the Reverb ‘On’ button becomes illuminated and reverb is

applied to all instruments within a given instance of Play. The Master Reverb control

saves CPU resources by applying the selected IR to all loaded instruments within a

single instance of Play, including Play Libraries that do not include a Master Reverb

button themselves.

Stereo Double

The Stereo Double controls allow you to set the width of the stereo spread. This only

works when ‘Stereo’ is selected in the Channel Source of the Master Channel (which is

the default setting).

Select between the Left (L) and Right (R) signal with the buttons on either side of the

On button, then use the ‘Amount’ knob to

dial in the desired depth.

Turning the ‘Amount’ knob all the way to

the left results in no effect, the equivalent

of disabling the effect entirely. Turning the

‘Amount’ knob all the way to the right re-

sults in the maximum stereo spread.

System and Sensitivity

This area contains several settings, some of which can also be found in the Instruments

Panel under Advanced Instrument Properties

• MIDI Port deﬁnes which available MIDI devices are enabled (stand-alone only).

• Channel allows you to assign an instrument to receive MIDI in a variety of different

ways. A speciﬁc MIDI channel can be selected so that an instrument receives MIDI

information only on the speciﬁed channel (from 1 to 16), or the MIDI channel can

be assigned to OMNI, which allows the instrument to receive MIDI on all channels

(1 through 16). Two additional MIDI modes are are also available for special appli-

cations: Multi mode and MPE mode.

• Transpose raises or lowers the incoming MIDI note by increments of +/- 1 semitone.

See Different MIDI Modes to learn more.

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• Velocity Min and Max specify the minumum velocity and maximum velocity range

for a given instrument. Values below the minimum or above the maximum velocity

are respectively remapped to the lowest and highest values.

• Voice Limit speciﬁes the maximum number of voices that an instrument can play-

back. If an instrument receives more voices than the voice limit value, it will cut

off voices that began playing ﬁrst. Keep in

mind that there are instruments that play

more than one sample when sounding a

note (such as instruments that use cross-

fading, have release trails and/or multiple

microphone positions).

• Sensitivity determines what part of the

dynamic range the instrument is most

sensitive to, ranging in values between

-100 and +100.

Status Indicators

The Status Bar tracks system usage for CPU, Disk, Voices, and RAM usage. Monitor the

usage and if neccessary adjust the ‘Sample Cache’ settings located in the Settings Menu

under Streaming tab to improve performance.

• CPU the percentage of the total processor capacity Play is consuming.

• Disk the number of megabytes per second (MB/s) data is being streamed from disk

• Memory the number of megabytes (MB) of RAM being used by loaded samples.

• Voices the number of samples, not just notes, currently being played.

See How To Optimize Playback and Performance to learn more.

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The Browser View

Search for instruments by selecting between 1 of 2 modes: Libraries mode displays all

installed Play Libraries, allowing you to browse for Instruments by title, and Database

mode can search for instruments by entering key words into a search bar, or by selecting

attribute tags across a range of categories to narrow down results.

Libraries Mode

Select an installed Play Library from the list that populates in the left column to view the

contents of its Instruments folder. Columns to the right display the sub folders within,

eventually leading to the instruments themselves (see red text below).

The Instrument Panel highlighted above contains information related to the selected in-

strument. On the left half of the panel the Instrument name is displayed, along with the

Play Library it originates from, and a description of that library. On the right half of the

panel, abbreviations used in instruments are decoded in the Description ﬁeld, and users

can type notes into the Comments ﬁeld.

Tag an instrument as a Favorite by clicking the star icon in the center of the panel. It is

highlighted in blue above, meaning the instrument is already tagged.

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In case a Play Library does not appear in the Browser view where all Play Libraries popu-

late, right-click in an empty space in the left column of the Libraries browser and choose

‘Add Another Product Library’ from the pop-up window. Selecting a Play Library from the

menu will bring up a search window. Locate the Instruments folder for that Play Library,

then highlight it and click ‘okay’ to set the library path.

If a Play Library has been moved from it’s a original location, it will appear grayed out

in the Libraries browser. Click on the library name in the left column and use the search

window to ﬁnd the Instruments folder of that Play Library. Highlight it and click ‘okay’

to set the library path.

The MIDI Channel Assignment section can be found in the Settings Menu under the Other

tab. Here you can choose the way in which MIDI channels are assigned to instruments.

• OMNI mode assigns an instrument

to MIDI Channel 0, which means it

will receive MIDI on all channels.

• Automatic Increment assigns each new instrument to the subsequent MIDI channel,

starting on 1, 2, 3, etc.

To create a User Favorites Folder in a new location to store all your favorite instruments,

right-click in the left column of the Libraries browser and select ‘Add New Favorites

Folder’ from the menu.

Enter a name for the folder (in this example, “User Favorites”)

and click ‘okay’ to create it.

To add an instrument to this location, right-click on an in-

strument name in the right column and choose the option

‘Add to [folder name]’.

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Database Mode

Instruments can be found by either entering key words into the Search Field located near

the top-right corner, or by narrowing down the instrument selection by choosing between

desired attributes in several categories.

Those categories, from left to right, default to: Category, Type, Style and Timbre. The

Results List displays the number of instruments that match the selected criteria at the

top, and populates those instruments in a list below.

Additional Attribute Categories are available, including Articulation, Library and Size, To

access them, click on any category name to reveal a drop-down menu, then click on the

desired category to place a check-mark indicating its the current

selection.

At the bottom of the Results List column are a set of Filters that

allow you to further narrow the results to only show those tagged

as a Favorite, or only

those Installed and/or

Licensed (available) on the computer.

To tag an instrument as a Favorite, click on the star icon to the right of the Instrument

name in the Results List. The star icon

will light up to indicate it has been tagged.

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The highest level in the Database Hierarchy is simply called Category. It contains broad

attribute tags such as instrument groups like ‘Ethnic Strings’ and special categories like

‘Loops & Kits’. Selecting a tag in this column will affect all other columns, narrowing

down the visible results in each.

The Type column has the second highest level of hierarchy in the database. It contains at-

tribute tags that are a subset of Category, including instrument types like ‘Dulcimer’ and

special category types like ‘Drum Loops’. Selecting a tag in this column will affect all

other columns (except Category) by graying out the visible results in each. This behavior

allows you to always see the narrowed results in all other columns based on the main

Category selection, even as you further deﬁne the search in the Type category.

The remaining categories represent the third tier of hierarchy in the database. Style tags

pertain to musical style (genre) and production style (w/FX), Timbre tags describe the

quality or tone of a sound, Articulation tags deﬁne the performance technique(s) used,

and Size tags are related to the loading size of an instrument: small, medium, large and

x-large. Libraries tags can be used in conjunction with other search categories to ﬁnd

“all the guitars in Fab Four”, for example. This differs from the search function in the

Libraries area, where instruments are located by browsing the Instruments folder of a

given Play Library.

To Reset Tag Selections, click the ‘Any’ tag at the top of the Category column will reset

existing tag selections across all categories. Clicking the ‘Any’ tag at the top of every

other category will reset everything but the Category column.

There are a few Tag Selection Rules to keep in mind as you select attributes. The Category

and Type categories allow one tag to be selected at a given time, while all other catego-

ries allow multiple tag selections by holding down ‘command’ (macOS) or ‘alt’ (Win) keys

while adding tags.

When selecting multiple tags in the Style, Timbre, Articulation, Library and Size catego-

ries, please note that only instruments containing all selected attributes will appear in

the results list, not just one or the other. This allows you to ﬁnd, for example, drums that

are both fat and punchy.

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Instruments Panel

Click the Instruments button on the right side of the Navigation Bar to open the panel

that displays all loaded instruments along with their MIDI channel, audio output and

volume controls that populate from the top down.

The Advanced Instrument Properties of the selected instrument ap-

pear at the bottom of the Instruments panel. Options include:

• Transpose raises or lowers the incoming MIDI note by incre-

ments of +/- 1 semitone.

• Tune changes the pitch of the audio signal during playback.

Note that sound quality decreases as the tuning interval grows

larger.

• Micro Tuning is available for select Play Libraries only. By de-

fault, the 12 notes within an octave are tuned to the tradi-

tional Western scale. The other micro tuning scales adjust the

tuning of the 11 non-root notes to produce the characteristic

sound of the given scale.

• Root allows the selection of the lowest note in the scale, or the

“root note”. The intervals of all other notes in a given scale are

relative to the root.

• Key Range speciﬁes the range of notes to which the instru-

ment will respond, effectively muting notes you don’t want to

hear, or giving you the ability to split the keyboard between

multiple instruments on a single MIDI channel.

• Velocity Range speciﬁes the minimum velocity and maxi-

mum velocity range for a given instrument. Values below the

minimum or above the maximum velocity are respectively re-

mapped to the lowest and highest values.

• Sensitivity determines what part of the dynamic range the instrument is most sensi-

tive to, ranging in values between -100 (left) and +100 (right). The Sensitivity Curve

Graph included in the Player view of some Play Libraries will reﬂect changes made

here.

• Keyswitch sets the selected instrument’s default keyswitch note, which speciﬁes the

articulation in the keyswitch ﬁle that plays when no keyswitch note has been played

in its MIDI channel in the current session. Please note, the instrument must be

saved to the ﬁle system with an [.ewi] extension and reopened from that [.ewi] ﬁle

for the new default value to take effect.

• PItch Bend speciﬁes the range of the Pitch Bend Wheel in semitones. The value can

be set between -12 semitones and +12 semitones. Negative values reverse the direc-

tion of the Pitch Bend Wheel, so pushing it up lowers the pitch.

• Voice Limit speciﬁes the maximum number of voices that an instrument can play-

back, up to a limit of 999. If an instrument receives more voices than the voice limit

value, it will cut off voices that began playing ﬁrst.

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Instruments Selector

All instruments currently loaded in an instance of Play are listed in the Instrument Selec-

tor, with a check-mark denoting the currently selected instrument, with its MIDI channel

assignment in parenthesis.

Click on the drop-down menu to open the list and click on an instrument to select it.

Selecting an instrument means:

• The controls in the Player view now display the values for that instrument.

• The graphics in the Player views is dictated by this current instrument.

• The virtual keyboard plays notes from this instrument.

• Any actions that apply to the current instrument, such as Remove Instrument, affect

the one you select from this menu.

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The Mixer View

The Mixer view displays a channel strip for each loaded instrument with controls for vol-

ume, panning, mute, solo, on/off load state, output channel, as well as the FX button and

Sub-Mixer button explained below.

Sub-Mixer Channels

The Sub-Mixer button will appear when Instruments that contain multiple microphone

mixes are loaded. Click on the Sub-Mixer button to reveal a

channel strip for each available microphone position.

Please note! Instruments that do not contain multiple micro-

phone mixes will not display this button.

Click on the buttons containing the microphone names to load and unload them, which

will illuminate or become grayed out respectively.

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The FX Rack

The FX Rack contains the EastWest Amp Simulator, EP-1 Delay, ADT (Automatic Double

Tracking) Effect and Convolution Reverb, as well as the Ohm Force Ohmicide distortion

plugin, and an suite of SSL audio processing tools that includes a Filter, EQ, Compressor,

Gate/Expander, Transient Shaper and Stereo Buss Compressor.

To save an FX Rack Preset for later recall, click inside the ‘Preset’ ﬁeld then click ‘Save

Preset’ from the drop-down menu to bring up a dialog box where you can ‘Enter New

Preset Name’.

Once saved, presets can be loaded from the ‘User-Deﬁned Presets’ location, which popu-

lates just above the ‘Save Preset’ option in the drop-down menu of the ‘Preset’ ﬁeld.

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SSL Channel Strip

This plug-in can be used on both the Instrument (Main) and Microphone (Sub) channel

strips. The signal is passed through 5 separate sections, as described below.

Input Section and Output Section

Turn the Gain knob in the Input Section to control the level of the incoming audio signal.

The post-gain signal level is shown in lights to its left. As a rough guide, the ‘-6’ yellow

indicator should occasionally comes on but the red ‘0’ indicator should remain off.

Press the Ø button to invert the phase of the input signal.

The Output Section is the last step in the processing. The Gain knob controls the audio

level of the output signal. Adjust this level last to achieve the loudness of the signal that

you want. The same rules for the yellow and red indicator lights apply here as in the

Input Section.

The S/C Listen button directs the Dynamics Side Chain to the channel output.

Filter Section

The Filter controls provide access to two separate kinds of ﬁlters. The black knob controls

an 18dB/Octave high-pass ﬁlter (20Hz to 500Hz). Use it to remove lower frequencies

from the audio. The purple knob controls a 12dB/Octave low-pass

ﬁlter (3kHz to 22kHz). Use it to remove higher frequencies.

Turn either knob fully left (marked OUT) to turn that ﬁlter off. Turn

either one (or both) clockwise to move the ﬁlter frequency in from

its extremity.

You have a choice where to insert the Filters in the audio stream. To place the Filters im-

mediately following the Input control, press the Input button. To switch the Filters into

the Dynamics Side Chain, press the Dyn SC button. Note that when the Syn SC button

is engaged the Input button has no effect.

Equalizer Section

To use the EQ, switch it into circuit by pressing the EQ In button, which is near the top

in the center of the interface for this section.

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The EQ section has four bands, each with its own knob color. All bands have gain and

frequency control. The low (LF) and high (HF) bands are shelved by default but can be

switched to a bell shape (parametric) by pressing the Bell button; the Bell option gives

you more control over the exact shape of the EQ curve. The low-mid (LMF) and high-mid

(HMF) bands have Q controls (to adjust the sharpness of the modiﬁed curve) in addition

to what the others have.

Listed in the table below are the ranges for the knobs in each section.

Band LF LMF HMF HF

Frequency range

40Hz – 600Hz 200Hz – 2kHz 600Hz – 7kHz 1.5kHz – 22kHz

Gain range

±16.5dB ±20dB ±20dB ±20dB

Q range

— 0.5 – 2.5 0.5 – 2.5 —

The E button in the center toggles the EQ emulation between the G Series and E Series

consoles. The difference between them is described in the following table.

G Series

E Series

The bell curve has a more rounded shape at low

gains, and the shelf curve overshoots zero slightly

at the base of the curve.

The bell curve is slightly more pointed, and there is

no overshoot on the shelf curve.

G Series EQ is more subtle and is generally more

suited to instruments and vocals.

E Series EQ is more aggressive and is therefore bet-

ter for removing problem frequencies. It is generally

more suited to drums.

Note: At full boost or full cut, the E and G Series curves are identical.

To switch the EQ into the Dynamics Side Chain, press Dyn SC.

Dynamics Section

This section consists of both Compressor controls and Noise Gate/Expander controls.

Both sections work independently but can be operational at the same time, providing

sophisticated control of signal levels. The example image of the interface is shown below,

after the description of the Compressor.

There are two buttons at the top. The Dyn In button turns on the whole section. The Pre

EQ button moves this section before the Equalizer; otherwise, this processing is per-

formed after the Equalizer.

The Compressor is controlled by 3 blue knobs: Threshold, Release, and Ratio. To activate

the Compressor/Limiter, turn the Ratio knob so that its ratio is no longer set at 1:1.

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To turn the compressor into a ∞:1 limiter, turn the knob fully to the right.

There is no gain makeup control because the T/HOLD (threshold) knob controls both

the level at which gain reduction is introduced and the gain make-up, thus keeping the

output level steady regardless of the compression.

The Release knob controls how quickly the level returns to normal after the input level

has dropped below the threshold (measured in seconds). The attack time is adjusted

automatically to match the audio. To choose a consistently fast attack time, press the

Fast Att button.

Turn on the PK button to switch from RMS to Peak signal detection. In normal RMS

mode, the compressor reacts to the average signal level and has a soft knee characteris-

tic. When switched to Peak mode, it responds to peak signal level and introduces a hard

knee characteristic, resulting in more dramatic compression.

The level of compression being introduced is shown in the left-hand of the two meters in

the centre of the Dynamics section.

To activate the Noise Gate/Expander, turn the Range knob so that its range is no longer

zero. The green indicators in the right-hand of the two meters in the centre of the Dynam-

ics section show the amount of gain reduction being introduced.

By default, the Noise Gate/Expander section functions as a Gate. To switch to the Ex-

pander, press the Exp switch.

The Threshold function uses different levels to open the gate to audio and to close it

again: the level at which the expander opens is higher than the level at which it closes

again. In other words, when the expander is opened, it stays open until the signal level

crosses the quieter Close threshold. This is known as hysteresis and is very useful as it

allows instruments to decay more naturally. The word “Threshold” normally refers to the

Open threshold.

The Hold knob controls the delay before the signal level starts reducing again. The

Release knob controls how quickly the level then reduces. Note that the Release knob

interacts with the Range knob, which determines the depth of gain reduction.

The Attack Time (the time taken for the Expander/Gate to ‘recover’ once the signal level

is above the ‘deactivate’ threshold) is normally set to 1.5ms per 40dB. Press the Fast Att

button to introduce a faster attack time of 100μs per 40dB. This is useful when gating

signals with a steep rising edge, such as drums.

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Processing Order

The graphic at the right shows the 8 possible orderings for the 3 processing stages, with

and without a Side Chain. The original audio signal starts at the left and the processed

signal exits at the right of each diagram. The lower (straight) line is the standard audio

path. When the EQ and/or Filter is in the upper path, then that component is in the Side

Chain (as described below). The one of these 8 diagrams

currently in effect appears in the upper-right corner of the

drawer.

The default order is Filter >> EQ >> Dynamics, with nothing

in the Side Chain, as shown in the 5th diagram in the image.

To place the Filter section after the EQ section, deactivate

the Input button in the Filter section so that its light is off.

To place the Dynamics before the EQ, press the Pre EQ but-

ton in the Dynamics section, so that its light is on.

When the Input and Pre EQ switch are active simultaneously, the processing order be-

comes Filter >> Dynamics >> EQ.

The Side Chain

The Side Chain is a path for the audio signal that is used to control the Dynamics section

when it acts on the main audio signal. The Side Chain is not normally audible, but can

highlight aspects of the audible signal that need processing.

The EQ and Filter sections can be assigned to the Dynamics Side Chain, allowing for

advanced processes like de-essing, as described below. This is done using the Dyn S/C

switches in the respective sections.

Both EQ and Filter sections can be assigned to the Side Chain together, in which case

the EQ precedes the Filter.

Here’s an example of using the Side Chain to remove the hissing sound of the letter S

when it’s too prominent. First, the audio is split into 2 signals. EQ is applied to the signal

in the Side Chain to make the hisses louder, so that the compressor can use the louder

S sounds as a clue that the main signal needs to be compressed (made softer) at those

moments more than at other moments. In the main signal, the S sounds are made softer.

To listen to the signal feeding the Side Chain, press the S/C Listen button in the Output

section to route the Side Chain signal to the channel output. It is important to remem-

ber to cancel the S/C Listen button once you have ﬁnished auditioning the Side Chain!

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SSL Transient Shaper

The Transient Shaper plug-in can be used on both the Instrument (Main) and Micro-

phone (Sub) channel strips. It allows you to augment the attack at the start of a drum hit

(or any note) by increasing the amplitude of the attack portion of the signal while leaving

the decay and held note unchanged. In the image at the right, the right hand waveform

is a processed version of the one on the left. It has been passed through the Transient

Shaper where the amplitude of the attack portion has been increased.

Switch the Shaper on by clicking on the Power button in its top left-hand corner. The

lights at the right give visual feedback on how much attack is being added using the Gain

and Amount controls. If the top red light illuminates, reduce the effect.

• Gain knob controls the detection level of the controller signal, and should be set so

that only the transients you want to shape are detected. If this is set too low then

the Shaper will do nothing; if it is set too high then the Shaper will detect too many

transients, resulting in an exaggerated process, and the attack appearing too long.

The default setting of 0dB should be a good starting point. Note that the Gain setting

here does not directly affect the output signal’s gain.

• Amount controls the amount of the processed signal added to the unprocessed signal.

This process can increase the peak level of a signal signiﬁcantly, so watch the output

meter carefully.

• Speed controls the length of time the added attack takes to fall back down to the

normal signal level once it has reached the top of the attack phase. Turn the knob

clockwise for a slower speed, and longer transients.

• Inv button inverts the processed signal so that it is subtracted from the unprocessed

signal. This has the effect of softening the attack, resulting in more body in the drum

sound.

• Audition button to listen to the processed signal to assist in the setup process. Note

that when the Inv and Audition buttons are both pressed, the signal is not inverted.

SSL Stereo Bus Compressor

This plug-in can only be used on the Instrument (Main) channel strips. This SSL com-

pressor has become legendary in the music industry for its unique sound, so you may

want to see how it can improve the sound of your mix.

This is a stereo version of the cen-

ter section stereo bus compressor

found on the XL 9000 K Series

console. It provides high quality

stereo compression, giving you

critical control over the dynamic

range of audio signals.

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The compressor UI consists of 1 meter, 5 knobs, and 1

button, as in the image above.

• Compression meter shows the real-time gain reduc-

tion in decibels (dB).

• Threshold knob controls the level at which gain re-

duction is introduced. The value is continuously

variable: –20 dB to +20 dB.

• Attack knob controls response time when the Threshold is crossed. Choose among

the following times: 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 10 and 30 ms.

• Make-Up knob selects the level of compensation to offset the compressor’s action. It

is continuously variable over the range: –5 dB to +15 dB.

• Release control sets how quickly the level returns to normal. Choose between 0.1,

0.3, 0.6, or 1.2 seconds, or you can select Auto. In the case of Auto, the release time

is dependent upon the duration of the signal peak.

• Ratio knob controls the degree of compression. Choose among the ratios of: 2:1, 4:1,

and 20:1.

• Comp In button switches the compressor in and out of the signal path. Use this but-

ton to do a quick comparison between the compressed and uncompressed signal to

judge the effect of the current settings.

EastWest Convolution Reverb

This Convolution Reverb is an extension of the one in the Player view. It adds some fea-

tures that are not part of the Player view Reverb, including the ability to load true stereo

reverbs, high-pass and low-pass ﬁlters, mono functionality, and new reverb presets.

To include a reverb effect on an instrument, turn

it on by clicking on the button in the upper left

corner. Or you can also turn it on from the Re-

verb controls on the Player view. When the but-

ton is illuminated, the plug-in is turned on.

This plug-in can be used on the Instrument

(Main) channel strips. To add reverb on a speciﬁc mic channel, turn up the Reverb Send

at the top of that mic’s channel strip. That mic’s signal is then directed into the reverb

in the instrument channel.

• Filter controls the frequencies affected by the ﬁlter. Use the two circular handles on

the graph to drag the handles to adjust the setting.

• Pre-Delay controls the amount of time (if any) that the Reverb effect is delayed after

the attack of each note. Postponing the start of the effect allows the attack to sound

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without processing and to have the reverb affect only the sound of the note as it is

held and/or decays. Use your ear to determine how long of a pre-delay works for each

instrument. The Pre-Delay can be changed with the knob on the Player view.

• Reverb preset list displays all available reverb presets.

• Mono button collapses the separate left and right channels of the IR

• Amount knob controls how much of the effect to include in the output. Drag down-

ward with the mouse to create a more subtle reverb, or drag up to increase the effect.

The Amount can be changed with the knob on the Player view.

EastWest Amp Simulator

This effects processor provides distortion and re-amping characteristics. There are

about eighty options in the Preset drop-down list included with these libraries. Each

of these options can be tweaked and manipulated using the Amp Simulator’s param-

eters as described below.

This effects processor is turned on or off by clicking in the button in the upper-left

corner. In the image it’s illuminated yellow, meaning that it’s turned on.

Clicking on the Preset Menu control at the left displays a drop-down menu display-

ing the Amp Simulator’s presets, which you can then customize to fit your needs. A

check-mark in the list indicates which item is the current selection.

To select an item, click on its name. Each name in the list is the name of an amp

followed by the name of a mic it’s paired with. For example, selecting “Marshall EV

RE-20” gives you a simulation of an Electrovoice RE20 microphone run through a

Marshall amp.

Once you’ve selected an amp and mic combination, you can use the other controls here

to customize the audio output. They’re described below.

• Drive knob controls how much signal is sent into the Amp Simulator’s virtual

circuit. Turning the Drive knob increases or decreases the amount of distortion

and saturation to create either a more or a less intense effect.

Please note! Overdriving the Amp Simulator can result in reduced dynamic range and

reduced punch of the drum’s sound. Use the SSL Channel Strip’s Transient Shaper

to compensate for this side effect, if necessary.

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• Bass, Middle and Treble knobs boosts or cuts the range of frequencies named in

the button’s title, and always after the distortion is applied. Together they act as

a rough equalizer of the distortion output.

• Pre/Post switch effects where the Amp Simulator sits in the chain of effects.

When Pre is selected, then it is the first effect in the chain. When Post is se-

lected, it comes after the SSL Channel Strip.

• Dry/Wet knob adjusts how much of dry incoming signal is mixed back into the

output from this effects processor. When this knob is set to 100% Wet, only

the processed signal is heard. When set to 0%, none of the Amp Simulator’s

processing is heard.

• Master knob controls the volume of the signal coming out of the Amp Simulator.

This differs from the Drive knob in that the Master knob controls the volume

post-processing, while the Drive knob controls the loudness of the signal coming

into the effect. On all these knobs, hover over the knob with the mouse to see the

current numerical value in a small tool tip window, as shown at the left.

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EP-1 Delay

This effect models the Echoplex Delay designed in 1959, which uses magnetic tape to

create it’s highly prized vacuum tube delay sound.

• Echo controls the amount of the time between echoes. The time values span be-

tween 20 m/s (milliseconds) and 2.0 seconds when the Sync button is disabled.

When the Sync button is enabled (lit up blue) the Play plug-in will sync to the DAW’s

host tempo, and use time (note) values spanning between a 1/32nd note and 2 bars.

Triplet and Dotted note values are abbreviated ‘T’ and ‘D’. See table below.

Echo Sub-Divisions

1/32 1/8 D

1/16 T 1/4

1/32 D 1/2 T

1/16 1/4 D

1/8 T 1/2

1/16 D 1/2 D

1/8 1 bar

1/4 T 2 bars

• Drive controls the intensity of harmonic distortion added to the delay line, with a

range of values between 0 (none) and 10 (maximum).

• Flutter emulates the pitch wobble created by variations in tape speed in the original

Echoplex Delay. The knob controls the intensity of ﬂutter, which with a range of

values between 0 (none) and 10 (maximum).

• Repeats controls the decay time of the delay line between a range of 0% and 100%.

The lower the percentage, the more quickly the repeats decay.

• Level controls the overall loudness of the repeats (between -60 db and +6 db) rela-

tive to loudness of the original signal. A value of 0 db means the audio signals are

of equal loudness levels.

• On will glow blue when enabled, and becomes grayed out when disabled. Click the

button to enable and disable the EP-1 Delay effect.

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ADT Effect

This effect emulates the technique made famous by the Beatles when recording at Abbey

Road Studios, which was achieved by combining an audio signal on one tape machine,

with an identical, delayed copy of that same audio signal on another tape machine.

• On will glow yellow/orange when enabled, and becomes grayed out when disabled.

Click the button to enable and disable the ADT effect.

• Delay controls the delay time between the original audio signal and the secondary

audio signal between a range of 0.1 milliseconds and 50 milliseconds. A delay time

of 40 ms is a good place to start.

• Depth controls the amount of modulation affecting the delay time.

• Speed controls the rate at which the modulation affects the delay time between a

range of 0 and 1 hertz.

• Level controls the loudness of the secondary audio signal (between -60 db and +6

db) relative to the original audio signal. At a setting of 0 db the effect is most promi-

nant, while higher and lower decibel values favor one signal over the other.

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Ohm Force Ohmicide

Ohmicide is an advanced multiband dynamics and distortion effects processor. Each

of the four bands has an array of distortion, saturation, width, gate, and feedback

controls. There are also over eighty different types of distortions. Ohmicide can

produce a wide variety of different distortion effects from slight tape saturation, to

ruckus overdrive. Its creator, Ohmforce, calls it an “audio-mangling tool.”

When the EastWest FX drawer is ﬁrst opened, the Ohmicide window is closed. It appears

as a narrow strip across the drawer, as seen in the image below.

Click on the Edit button to open the full window. Note that any parameters you’ve set

in the window are still in effect when the window is closed. Once opened, this effects

processor appears as in the image below.

Please note! If you click the Edit button to open the Ohmicide interface, you’re turning

it on. But when you close the interface it stays on even when the it is hidden. If you want

to turn off the Ohmicide processing, you need to use the power button that can be seen

to the left of the Ohmicide logo.

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First of all, for users familiar with the Ohmicide plug-in in other contexts, please note

that preset morphing using the Melohman feature is not available in this version. This

difference also affects some of the items in the Setup menu, namely Load, Save + Au-

toload settings, all MIDI settings, Program Change Assignation, and Melohman Settings.

Setting up Oversampling

One Setup feature that you might ﬁnd most useful is Oversampling, found in the Setup

menu, which you can open by clicking on the wrench symbol in the upper-left corner

of the interface. It is an optional Ohmicide feature that reduces unwanted aliasing

artifacts produced by the distortion process. Turn on Oversampling by selecting the

High Quality mode near the bottom of the Setup menu. Be aware that turning on

this feature asks your computer to do extra processing and, therefore, might cause

problems with other software running on a less capable computer.

Setting Up Input Signal Trim

Ohmicide’s developers introduced input signal trimming to attenuate the incoming sig-

nal before it gets to the main stages of Ohmicide in order to tame its wild nature. You

need to ensure that the trimming of the input signal is calibrated correctly for the song

you’re working on. Once you accomplish that, you’re able to adjust the distortion without

having to make drastic changes to the band gains, thus allowing you to shape your sound

faster and in a more intuitive way.

This means that the overall perceived volume, when changing parameters, ends up closer

to the level of the input signal (unless you change the main output gain). That way,

presets sound more like their designers’ original intentions, with morphing that is more

consistent in their overall loudness.

Immediately above the Trim knob is a red indicator that shows 3 small red lights

inside. To calibrate any given input, adjust the Trim knob so that the left light is

on constantly in response to the incoming sounds, the center light flickers, and the

right-most light does not flicker at all. The image at the left shows the Trim knob

(near the left edge) set to a value of -15.9 dB, as shown in the value at the top

of the large red readout (far to the right

and above the graph). If you look closely in

the image, you can see that the left of the

three lights directly above the Trim knob is

lit (is a brighter red).

If the lights behave as described above, the signal is roughly calibrated, and that may be

all you need to do. However, you might want to run a simple test to see whether you need

to ﬁne-tune the Trim. To do this, while still playing the audio, right click on a Distortion

Gain knob, and raise it to the 3 o’clock position. If the overall volume remains constant

as the gain increases, you’re set to go! If the overall volume rises, then increase the Trim,

and conversely, if the overall volume lessens, then decrease the Trim. That’s it! You’re

now in the optimal operation range for Ohmicide.

Double-click on the Trim knob to set it back to 0.0 dB.

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Setting Up the Output Stage

As a result of the calibration process above, the input and output signals are now

matched in volume. You might need to change the main output to suit your needs.

The Output knob is at the right edge of the interface. In the image at the right, you

can see that the output has been raised

by 5.9 dB, as shown at the top of the red

screen.

Below the Out knob is the smaller Mix

knob, which allows you to adjust the wet/

dry mix of the output signal.

Double-clicking the Out knob resets it to 0.0 dB. And double-clicking the Mix knob

resets it to 100% wet.

The Ohmicide Controls

The image at the right shows 2 controls to the left of the central display in Ohmicide:

the Pre-distortion knob and the Stereo Link button. As with all knobs in this plug-in, the

current value as you turn a knob is shown at the top of the large red display in the center.

Also, as you turn a knob, a ring appears around it showing the values at the left, center,

and right of the knob’s range.

• Pre-distortion knob (abbreviated “Pre disto” in the interface) allows you to add

some color and distortion to the audio signal without affect-

ing its original dynamic quality and prior to the signal reach-

ing the main effect stages.

• Stereo Link button affects the way the signal levels are detect-

ed to help control aspects of Ohmicide that are respond to

signal level. When this button is active, the two stereo signals are merged prior

to level detection, so that both channels behave the same dynamically. When

inactive, the level detection is done separately on each channel. In both cases,

the signal processing remains in stereo. The Stereo Link creates a more faithful

stereo image in the Dynamics section, the left and right channels are synchronized

in the Gate section, and the feedback both channels behave the same.

Per-Band Processing

One of the main features of Ohmicide is that you can split your audio into frequency

bands and apply the main effects sections to each band separately. For example,

assume you have a drum loop playing and you want to apply distortion to everything

except the kick drum. By setting up two bands, you can get a drum loop that sounds

as though it’s just gone through an overdriven blender in the higher frequencies and

yet still retain a clean and powerful kick. Each band also has dynamic and feedback

sections, which means that the possibilities are endless. If you want to set a param-

eter on the four bands at once, right-click on the controls instead of left-clicking.

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Setting the Frequency Range of Each Band

You can have up to four active bands, which are stacked on top of each other in such

a way that the ceiling cutoff frequency of one band acts as the floor cutoff frequency

of the next band (hence the need for only three frequency cutoff knobs).

The floor of Band One is fixed at 20hz, and the ceiling of Band Four at 20khz. The

three frequencies that divide the bands are set with the three shown knobs in the

image above. As you turn the knobs, the exact setting is shown at the top of the red

display, as is always the case with knobs.

Note that if your sample rate is less than 42106 Hz then your range is smaller than

20 Hz to 20 kHz. The maximum range is, in any case, 0.475 times the sample fre-

quency.

Also, any band that has its floor set to any value between 20000 and 20480 Hz

(the upper limit of the operating range) is effectively disabled, which means that if

all knobs are set to 20khz (far right), then only Band One is active and processing

audio.

Finally, to maintain the frequency band design of Ohmicide, the frequency knobs

may move automatically in order to insure that the value in every knob is less than

or equal to the value in all knobs to the right of it.

The ﬁlters that do the dividing into band, as with any ﬁlters, may introduce frequency-

dependent phase shifts. These shifts are cancelled out by the reconstructing ﬁlters post-

band.

The per-band processing are the same for each of Ohmicide’s 4 bands and are divided

into six parts: Mid/Side, Gate, Dynamics, Distortion, Gain and Stereo Field and Feed-

back.These controls

Mid/Side Button

One exciting feature of Ohmicide is its ability to process a band in Mid/Side mode, which

you activate by clicking the Side button in the band’s Stereo Control section. The image

at the left shows this button in the context of other controls

near the bottom of the plug-in.

This feature works as follows: Instead of processing nor-

mal stereo left/right channels, the stereo image is split up

into middle and side channels, with the mid signal sent to

the left channel for processing and the side signals sent to the right channel.

Switching to and from Mid/Side mode produces an audible click in the audio. You

should take caution when changing this parameter.

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Gate Controls

Traditionally, Noise Gates are used to remove unwanted sound in an audio track.

They work by allowing audio to pass through only when it exceeds a user-defined

decibel threshold. A gate can also be used creatively, such as when a guitarist uses

a gate before a distortion pedal to get sharp and well defined chords.

More advanced gates, such as what are in Ohmicide, have two inputs, one to pro-

cess the audio, and one, known as a side-chain, to trigger the gate by comparing its

signal to the threshold. Generally, the audio to be processed is also the side-chain,

but you can come up with useful results that use a different audio signal to trigger

the gate, such as a kick drum on a bass guitar track to tighten up both instruments.

In Ohmicide the side chain is the main, pre-split signal. Which means that each

band’s gate threshold comparison is made using the same signal, and if they have

the same threshold value, then they’ll open and close at the same time. But control-

ling the parameters of the side chain independently, as described below, gives more

creative results.

Before describing the Gate controls, here’s an image that shows the controls for

Bands 1 and 2. For Band 1, the names of the four small knobs on the far left are

spelled out. For the other three bands, the

names are abbreviated: T A R A. In the im-

age, in Band 2, you see the typical green

value bubbles that appear whenever you’re

setting a knob with the mouse.

The gate can add snap to a sound, such

as making shorter drum hits. Or by invert-

ing the gate on a band you can have one

band’s gate open while the other’s closes.The gate works best with sounds having a

lot of dynamic movement. A pad won’t gate so well because it has very slow Attack

and Decay envelopes. You control the gate by using the following knobs:

• Threshold knob defines the decibel level needed to open the gate. There’s a fixed

hysteresis on the gate, which means that the close-gate threshold is lower than

the gate-open threshold; that way, the gate does not chatter while the signal

level is near the threshold setting.

• Attack and Release Time knobs control how fast the gate opens and closes.

• Amount knob sets how much the gate closes. It closes all the way when set to

100%, and barely closes when set to 0%. With a negative setting, the gate shape

is inverted, which means it opens below the threshold, and closes above it.

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Dynamics: Shape and Body Knobs

The Shape parameter determines how the audio dynamics are changed. In the neutral

position (center), the audio is unmodiﬁed. In the Phat zone, the audio is compressed, that

is, dynamics are reduced, but the overall sound is perceived to be louder and sustained

longer. This is not a compressor in the traditional sense, as it usually just increases low

volume levels, leaving higher levels untouched. In the Sharp zone (right), the audio is ex-

panded, that is, dynamics are increased and attacks emphasized, producing percussive

and generally faster-decaying sounds.

Use the Body parameter to adjust the amount that the Shape

parameter affects the audio. In addition, Body also progres-

sively adds a limiter to the end of the band processing, so

that even if Shape is set to the central, neutral position, Body

may have an affect on the audio.The red VU-meter to the right

uses its white line to give you visual feedback on how much

the section affects the audio gain. It also lights up in red

when the limiter kicks in.

Distortion Controls

After the Dynamics stage, described above, the band signal can be optionally distorted

by adjusting the Type, Gain, Bias and Mode parameters.

Ohmicide provides 28 distortion algo-

rithms with three variants (Standard, Xxx,

and Odd) for a total of 84 distortion types.

To select a distortion algorithm click on the

lighter red up and down arrows at the right side of the small red display labeled Type to

cycle through the patch names, with each name abbreviated at the bottom of the small

red display and also in full at the top of the large red display near the top of the win-

dow. Or click on the center of the small red display and move your mouse up or down

(just as you would do on a knob) to change the distortion without repeated clicking. In

the image above, the names inside the red display are Crest, Vacuum, and Porridge.

At the top of those small red displays are icons for the three variants, from left to right:

a circle for Standard, an X for Xxx, and a star for Odd. Click one to select it.

Alternatively, click in the small red Type display and choose a type from a pop-up menu,

as shown partially in the following image. Select the variant ﬁrst, which opens a menu of

all 28 distortion algorithms for that variant. In the image, the XXX variant menu is open,

as indicated by the blue highlight.

The Gain knob (above the small red display) is adjustable in a range from −20 dB to

+60 dB. The higher the gain, the more distortion is applied to the sound. However,

the overall perceived volume should not deviate by too much (though this is some-

what dependent on the level you’re listening at), and provided the Trim has been

correctly set.

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Refer to the Setting Up Input Signal Trim section for more information on balancing

the input level.

The two controls Bias and Alteration can be used to further color the chosen distor-

tion type, though bear in mind that for some algorithms the controls are irrelevant

and are grayed out.

The horizontal Bias slider (below the small red display) emulates malfunctioning

hardware circuitry and adds a DC offset before the distortion is applied. The control

is very sensitive, so even very small changes can make dramatic changes to the

sound. To break up the sound completely, move the slider all the way to the right.

The Alteration knob further changes the color of the distortion. This change depends

greatly on the Distortion type, so you should audition various levels to see whether

any setting works in your song.

Gain and Stereo Controls

The output volume of each band can be set by moving its fader near the bottom of

the band controls. It has a range of −∞ dB to +20 dB.

The Gain stage is before the limiter and you can see on the band’s dynamic VU meter

that increasing the band’s Volume fader (as seen in the image at the right) activates

the limiter. Directly above the Volume fader is the Pan control, which can be used

in conjunction with the other bands’ pans to create wider

sounds. In the image, the green value markers indicate the

3 values of Left, Center, and Right because the knob has

just been turned with the mouse.

When the Mid/Side mode is active, the Pan control behaves

differently: turning the Pan knob to the left attenuates the

side channel, and turning it to the right attenuates the mid

channel.

The remaining controls in this section are the Wet/Dry knob (labeled Mix in the in-

terface) and the Mute and Solo buttons. The Solo button takes precedence over the

Mute control, which means that a soloed band is heard regardless of its mute state.

The Solo state is ignored if the band is turned off using the Band Split knobs.

Feedback Controls

The Feedback section simulates a microphone recording the signal coming out of

loudspeakers and then amplified back into the signal chain. For Ohmicide, turning

on feedback takes the wet signal, after the signal reconstruction, and loops it back,

with a slight delay, into the signal path before the Gate section.

The Feedback behavior works on each band independently, so that you can use a

different configuration of the parameters on each band. Note, however, that the

feedback frequency content can exceed the boundaries of the current band and,

therefore, can leak into the other bands!

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• Amount knob (the control at the top of the section) determines the simulated

microphone sensitivity. To turn off all feedback on this band, turn this knob all

the way to zero.

• Frequency sets the Feedback frequency, in a range from 16 Hz to 1024 Hz, and

simulates the distance separating the microphone from the loudspeaker. The

further away the microphone, the lower is the resulting pitch. The fact that you

can set this parameter per band goes beyond reality, and does not reflect a real

world phenomenon. It is, however, sonically interesting and that’s what matters!

• Spread control changes the stereo field of the feedback. At mid position, the

feedback is mono, while on the right, the feedback is stereo. When turned left

of center, the feedback crosses channels (left channel feeds the right channel

and vice versa).

Overall Tone Setting

After the per-band processing, the signals are mixed together and a low pass ﬁlter can

optionally be applied to attenuate any hyper-bright frequencies. The two controls are

located to the right of the large red display.

• PP Shape knob determines the color of the filter. Turned to the far left, the filter

is disabled. Raising it to the mid position increases the slope, effectively mak-

ing it a 48 dB/octave low pass filter. Turning further right adds some resonance.

• PP Frequency knob has a range from 2 KHz to 8 KHz and it determines the cutoff

frequency of the filter.

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Multi-channel Audio Output

It is often the case that a composer wants different parts of the audio

output to go to different channels so that mixing can be done either in

the host or in an external mixing board in the studio. In many Play librar-

ies, that selection of output channels can be performed in the Player

view.

In the Mixer View

Along the bottom of the Mixer view, just below the buttons that turn on or

off an instrument or a mic, is a row of Output controls. At the far left of

the image at the left is the strip for the instrument. Note that when the

instrument was assigned to output channels 5 and 6 in the Browser view,

that same selection appeared here, as well. The other three strips in the

image are individual mic positions. When a value of Default is selected,

then Play uses the output assigned to the whole instrument, in this case

channels 5 and 6.

If a different output pair is selected, such as the 3 and 4 being selected

for the Snare Top mic in the image, then that selection overrides the

selection for the whole instrument. In this example, the Kick Drum mic

will be output on channels 5 and 6 (because Default is selected) and the

Snare Top mic will be output on channels 3 and 4.

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Main Menu

The Main Menu appears as three horizontal bars located in the top-left corner of the Play

interface. Click on it for quick access to the options detailed below.

• About Play: Displays pertinent information about the product, including version num-

ber, copyright, and information about the Play Library the currently selected instru-

ment comes from.

• Check for Updates: Use an internet connection to check for

a new version of the Play software (if available).

• Open: Load an instrument ﬁle with the extension [.ewi] from

its current location.

• Open Recent: The last 9 previously opened instruments ap-

pear in this list. Click on an instrument’s ﬁle name to re-

open it.

• Save: Any changes you made with controls in the Player

view can be saved to an existing instrument [.ewi] and re-

opened.

• Save As: Performs the same operation as the Save option

(above), except that the instrument name and save location

can be changed, without overwriting the original instrument

[.ewi]

• Remove Instrument: Removes the currently selected instrument from this instance

of Play.

• Show Player, Browser, Mixer: Use these shortcuts as an alternative to switching be-

tween the 3 main views in the Navigation Bar at the top of the Play user interface.

• Refresh Browser: Use this option if changes to Play Libraries ﬁle system were made

while Play is open. This option will force Play to rescan and update the ﬁle directory.

• Stream From Disk: This option is enabled by default upon loading an instrument. It

loads the beginning portion of each sample into RAM and streams the rest from the

hard drive.When the item is not checked, the entire instrument is loaded into RAM.

This setting only applies to the currently selected instrument.

• Sample Purge: contains a set of options that allow you to free up system resources in

large projects by removing unused samples from memory. This can be done across all

instruments, or on a per-instrument basis.

To begin, click the ‘Reset’ button to clear the

memory of previous playback information. Next,

playback the sequence in your DAW. Any notes

not played since the last reset will be removed by

clicking the ‘Purge’ button. To bring back purged

samples, click the ‘Reload’ button.

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Settings Menu

The Settings Menu appears as a gear icon located in the top-left corner of the Play inter-

face, to the right of the Main Menu. Click on it

for quick access to the 5 categories of options

detailed below.

Audio Settings

These options enable you to conﬁgure audio

connections when running Play in stand-

alone. When running as a plug-in, the DAW

will handle the audio connections and Play’s

Audio Settings tab will be disabled.

• Device Type: Select an audio driver from

the drop-down menu to handle the audio

input and output.

• Output Device: Select an audio interface

from the drop-down menu, or choose

built-in audio if you do not have an audio

interface

• Sample Rate: Select a sample rate from

the drop-down menu. The options that

appear here will depend on the supported

sample rates of your audio interface

• Buffer Size: Select from a range of buffer

sizes available from your audio interface.

Lower buffer settings result in less latency

(delay), but require more computer resources.

• Input / Output Channels: These readouts gives the number of audio channel inputs and

outputs available on your audio interface.

• ASIO Settings: A shortcut is available to Windows users that allows you to open the

ASIO audio driver to set Sample Rate and Audio Buffer Size.

• Test Tone: Use these controls to verify that audio being generated by Play is correctly

routed to your speakers, headphones, or any other destination. Use the two sliders

to set the frequency and volume, then click on the button to start or stop the tone.

MIDI Settings

These settings allow you to specify which MIDI devices can send MIDI data to Play. The

types of devices that will be listed here include MIDI keyboards, control surfaces, and

the MIDI I/O from an audio interface. Click to leave a check-mark next to the MIDI device

to enable it, and click again to remove the check-mark and disable it.

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Streaming Settings

features streaming technology that stores a small portion of the beginning of each sam-

ple into RAM (called “pre-buffer”) and streaming the rest from a drive in real-time. This

combination allows for immediate playback without using vast amounts of RAM.

• Free System Memory: reports the amount of memory (RAM) the computer has avail-

able after the operating system and programs have taken their cut.

• Engine Memory: reports the amount of memory (RAM) being used by Play to pre-

buffer samples. This value is affected by the Maximum Voices selection.

• Maximum Voices: the number of maximum voices that can be played back simultane-

ously within a project (all Play instances).

• Reset Engine: can be used to kill all notes being played and to return the audio engine

to its initial state. Use this button when experiencing a so-called “stuck note”, which

is a note that continues to play beyond its indicated length.

• Samples Loaded: reports the number of samples currently pre-buffered in memory

(RAM). Use this value to determine whether enough RAM is allocated for playback. If

this number is too large, use the Purge feature described in the Main Menu section.

• Active Streaming Voices: reports the total number of voices being played back in all

instances of Play. This is different than the Voices value reported in the Player view,

which only applies to that particular instance of Play.

• Sample Cache is the most important feature in this menu. As a general rule, ﬁnd the

lowest setting that also results in smooth playback. If dropped voices or CPU spikes

occur, simply raise the ‘Cache Level’.

Processing Settings

These options allow you to specify how much of your computer’s processing power is

available to Play. Check the ‘Enabled’ box to turn Overload Protection on and use the

spin control to specify the percentage of the computer’s processor that the Play 6 soft-

ware will use.

Other Settings

These options contain a variety of useful options and settings for Play.

• Round Robin Reset is a technique that cycles through two or more samples of the

same note, each with inherent variation, providing a realistic performance of note

repetitions and avoiding the so-called “machine gun effect”.

To ensure this cycle repeats in the same order each time, use a Round Robin Reset

to reset the cycle back to the beginning, allowing for consistent playback each time

Select either a MIDI note or a MIDI Continuous Controller (CC) as the source, then

specify which MIDI note (Middle C=Note 60) or MIDI CC will trigger the reset by

inputting a numeric value in the spin box.

See How To Optimize Playback and Performance to learn more.

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• MIDI Channel Assignment consists of two modes that determine how MIDI channels

are assigned to an instrument when it’s loaded.

Automatic Increment assigns each new instrument to the next available MIDI chan-

nel (1, 2, 3, etc) in the order they are loaded.

Omni assigns each new instrument to MIDI channel 0, which receives MIDI on all

channels (1–16).

• Controls allows you modify how controls behave.

Accelerating Spin Boxes allows you to change values faster the longer you hold down

the mouse on an up or down arrow.

Enable Mouse Wheel enables you to change the value in Spin Boxes with the scroll

wheel of your mouse.

• Miscellaneous contains a variety of options.

Use XML File Format enables you to work with projects using older versions of Play.

Use program changes for key-switching enables Play to accept MIDI Program Change

messages to change keyswitches. Program 0 is the ﬁrst keyswitch, Program 1 is

the second keyswitch, etc.

Write log ﬁle for technical support will create a log ﬁle to help technical support ad-

dress technical issues. The log ﬁle is written to the following locations:

(Mac) Mac HD / Library / Application Support / East West / Log

(Win) C:// Program Data / East West / Log

Show global progress bar during session load allows you to enable or disable the global

progress bar that appears when loading a project. This allows users to work on

other tasks while projects are loading, without the progress bar in the foreground.

Show product interface after loading a patch will change the Play interface based on

the instrument you just loaded. If left unchecked, Play will continue to use the

existing interface until a new instrument is explicitly selected.

Default Interface displays a list of all the currently installed Play Libraries. Select

the Play Library whose custom interface you want to display when opening Play.

Once you open any speciﬁc instrument, the custom interface will appear regard-

less of the default interface.

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CONTENTS MASTER NAVIGATION DOCUMENT

Chapter 4: Play Libraries Overview

70 Inside the Main Library Folder

70 Instruments

71 Articulations

71 Keyswitches

73 Master and Elements

73 Samples

73 Instrument and Sample Updates

74 Space Requirements for Play Libraries

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Inside the Main Library Folder

Inside the Main Play Library folder for each product (EW Hollywood Pop Brass in the ex-

ample below) is an Instrument folder, a Samples folder, Documentation, and [.ewui] and

[.ewus] ﬁles that allow the EW Installation Center to track the version of the Play Library

contents and notify you if updates are available.

Within the Instruments folder are sub-folders of categories that eventually lead to Instru-

ments with the extension [.ewi]. Likewise, within the Samples folder are sub-folders of

categories that eventually lead to Samples with the extension [.ews].

This library folder is linked to the Libraries Mode in

Play’s Browser view, where Instruments can be viewed

and loaded from their original ﬁle heirarchy.

When loading an instrument, Play will load the associ-

ated samples, which contains encrypted content that

is only accessible in Play with the respective product

license and activation. Samples cannot be loaded or

accessed directly.

Instruments

Instruments are what users will interact with the most inside of Play. They instruct Play

what samples to load, what effects are enabled by default, and contain parameter set-

tings that shape the sound.

There are various types of instruments throughout Play Libraries, including Master and

Elements instruments, Keyswitch instruments, and Single-Articulation instruments.

Most articulations are programmed into more than one instrument type to meet the vari-

ous needs of a composer. In Hollywood Solo Violin, for instance, the Spiccato RRx4

articulation is available as both a Single-Articulation instrument and within a keyswitch

instrument of short articulations.

All MIDI channel assignments are made at the instrument level. With this approach, using

a keyswitch instrument is ideal for a phrase that needs multiple articulations within a

single MIDI channel. If instead you need to layer the Staccato articulations of each string

section on separate MIDI channels, the Single-Articulation instruments are ideal.

This ﬂexibility enables a composer to build an instrument template in their host se-

quencer in an intuitive way that best suits the needs of a project.

See Instrument and Sample Updates to learn more.

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In order to save changes made to an instrument, you can:

• Click on the Main Menu and choose Save. This saves all the open instruments into

a single [.ewi] ﬁle, along with any parameter settings. You can save it anywhere you

like, but be careful not to overwrite the original instrument ﬁle in case you need to

start with the default values at a later time.

• To save a single instrument, modify and save it when only one instrument is open.

• If you’re running Play as a plug-in to a host, save the host project to the hard drive.

All supported plug-in parameters are saved with the project ﬁle. Please note, this

option does not allow you to load the modiﬁed instrument into another project.

Articulations

Most instruments can be played in a variety of different ways. The resulting sound of an

instrument based on the performance technique employed is called an articulation.

Play Libraries handle articulations in a few different ways. Sometimes instruments con-

tain only a single articulation, usually speciﬁed in the instrument name. Other times

instruments are programmed with keyswitches, enabling the user to switch between ar-

ticulations within a single line of music. A keyswitch instructs Play to use the speciﬁed

articulation until a new keyswitch note changes it.

Each articulation is made up of its own set of samples, and each note of an articulation

is sampled within the range of that instrument, usually at several dynamic levels (pp,

mp, mf, or ff).

The Articulations Pane appears in the Player view and contains all articulations within

an instrument. The location of the Articulation Pane is different depending on the Play

Library, so please refer to the library-speciﬁc manual if you have trouble locating it. Use

the scroll bar if there are too many articulations to view at once.

Each row in the list displays the articulation name, the note number of the keyswitch that

selects the use of that articulation, an active and loaded checkbox, and a volume control.

The checkbox labeled “active” allows the user to turn on and off the playback of a given

articulation. It’s like a Mute button, but at the level of an individual articulation.

The checkbox labeled “loaded” allows the user to load or unload the samples of that

articulation from the computer’s memory (RAM). This is helpful to free up resources.

The volume control allows you to adjust the loudness of any speciﬁc articulation relative

to others in the same instrument.

Keyswitches

A keyswitch instrument allows you to switch between articulations on the ﬂy using MIDI

notes. Each articulation is assigned to a particular MIDI note number, and playing that

note will switch to that articulation.

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MIDI notes that are keyswitches appear on Play’s virtual keyboard as blue keys. When a

keyswitch is selected, the key changes to a darker shade of blue.

MIDI notes used as keyswitches are always outside the playable range of the instrument

(white keys). Most are between MIDI notes C0 and C1, but there are a small number of

instruments with very low ranges that require their keyswitches to be above their playable

range of notes. Please see library-speciﬁc manuals for details.

A MIDI note-on message for the keyswitch that is assigned to a given articulation must

be received by Play before that articulation is active (playable). In other words, you must

ﬁrst trigger the keyswitch, allowing Play to switch articulations, before it’s playable.

Troubleshooting: Once a keyswitch note is sent to Play, its articulation remains in effect

until another keyswitch note is sent. This behavior can have unwanted side effects when

moving back to an earlier position in the piece to replay it. As an example, suppose you

place four keyswitch notes in a track at the given measures:

• D# measure 5

• E measure 12

• F# measure 17

• E measure 23

Problem 1: You play the piece through to the end. You then play it over again.The ﬁrst

time you play it, the beginning is played with the default articulation (keyswitch note

C). The second time you play it, the beginning is played with the articulation controlled

by note E. That’s the state the instrument was left in at the end of the piece and there’s

nothing to reset it. Solution 1: Put an explicit keyswitch before the ﬁrst audible note in

the track. Do not rely on the default unless there will be no keyswitches in the entire

track.

Problem 2: You stop at measure 19, move back to measure 14, and start playback from

there. The ﬁrst time, measures 14, 15, and 16 play the articulation on note E. The sec-

ond time, those measure use the articulation on note F#. That’s the state the instrument

was left in when the piece was stopped. Solution 2: Have predetermined places to restart

and position keyswitches at each one. Any solution here would require more keyswitch

notes and would be more intrusive. It’s nice to have the freedom to stop and start a piece

at any point. At least be aware of this problem and decide whether to live with it or take

steps to avoid it.

Special Cases: Occasionally an instrument will contain an articulation that plays regard-

less of the currently selected keyswitch. These articulations will show up in the Articu-

lation list with checkboxes for active and loaded states, as well as volume controls. A

prime candidate for this type of programming is the key-clicks of a woodwind instrument,

which are considered optional.

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Master and Elements

Some Play Libraries contain Element and Master instruments. They appear with similar

instrument names in the Browser view except that one has “Master” and the other has

“Elements” at the end of their names. The two instruments are similar except that only

the Master patch uses a keyswitch to select among the included articulations.

Master Instruments have all articulations active when ﬁrst opened and use a keyswitch

to select articulations. Unload any articulations you don’t need to remove their samples

from memory.

Elements instruments open with only the default articulation active. All others articula-

tions are inactive and not loaded into memory (RAM). Use the Active and Loaded check-

boxes to setup different conﬁgurations, including a single articulation, or the layering

of two or more articulations together. You can also load the same Elements instrument

multiple times and set each one to a unique articulation and MIDI channel. This is a nice

alternative to a keyswitch instrument, as each articulation is given its own MIDI channel.

Samples

Samples are the individual recordings of each articulation, note, and dynamic level pos-

sible by a given instrument. Samples are not directly accessible in Play, but are instead

loaded into Play when an Instrument ﬁle is opened.

Play knows which samples to playback based on MIDI data, including the selected key-

switch articulation, the MIDI velocity of the incoming note, and in some cases, whether

to use a legato sample in the case where the end of a MIDI note is close enough to note

ahead of it.

Samples are what make up the bulk of what gets written to the hard drive during the

download and installation process.

Instrument and Sample Updates

To ensure Instruments and Samples are updated with the latest ﬁxes, launch the Installa-

tion Center and scroll through the product panels until you locate the ‘Updates’ section.

Any Play Libraries that have updates available will appear here. Click the ‘Update’ button

to download and install that product’s Instrument and/or Sample updates.

In addition to being able to update products when they appear in the ‘Updates’ product

category, the option to ‘Update Instruments’ is also available in the Tool Menu. Hover the

mouse pointer inside a product panel to reveal the gear icon (shown below), then click

on the gear icon to display the Tool Menu options

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Space Requirements for Play Libraries

This section covers the amount of disk space required for each PLAY Library, rounded

to the nearest gigabytes (GB). The numbers here represent an approximation. File size

values vary depending on the operating system and/or hard drive format. Also, we recom-

mend the standard practice of leaving a certain percentage of disk space free (covered

above).

Multi-Edition Play Libraries

These PLAY Libraries are the largest in EastWest’s catalog. They are deeply sampled,

feature multiple microphone positions, and contain a wide range of instruments and

articulations. Please see above for details regarding the differences between editions.

DISK SPACE REQUIREMENTS

SILVER (GB)

GOLD (GB) DIAMOND / PLATINUM (GB)

HOLLYWOOD ORCHESTRA SERIES 39 95 709

Hollywood Strings 12 47 336

Hollywood Brass 10 20 159

Hollywood Orchestra Woodwinds 12 18 144

Hollywood Orchestra Percussion 5 10 70

HOLLYWOOD SOLO INSTRUMENTS - 18 91

Hollywood Harp - 2 15

Hollywood Solo Cello - 8 38

Hollywood Solo Violin - 8 38

PIANOS 26 50 282

Bechstein 6 12 73

Bosendorfer 8 18 87

Steinway 7 11 58

Yamaha 5 10 46

SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA 11 33 124 PlatinumPlus (194)

Strings 4 14 51 (85)

Brass 3 11 37 (62)

Woodwinds 3 7 25 (42)

Percussion 3 5 12 (21)

CHOIRS - 9 41

Hollywood Choirs - 8 59

Symphonic Choirs - 9 39

Symphonic Choirs Expansion - - 2

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Single-Edition Play Libraries

These Play Libraries were released as single editions. They come standard with 24-bit

samples, and encompass a large amount of instruments and articulations. While most of

these Play Libraries do not come with multiple microphone positions, the ProDrummer

Series is an exception.

DISK SPACE REQUIREMENTS (GB)

Hollywood Backup Singers 9

Hollywood Pop Brass 23

Stormdrum 2 14

Stormdrum 2 Pro Expansion 4

Stormdrum 3 84

Silk 25

Ra 14

Gypsy 12

Voices of Passion 8

Voices of the Empire 14

Solo Violin 5

Ghostwriter 56

Goliath 41

Ministry of Rock 1 20

Ministry of Rock 2 58

The Dark Side 38

Fab Four 13

ProDrummer Vol.1 Spike Stent 55

ProDrummer Vol.2 Joe Chiccarelli 33

25th Anniversary Collection

This collection of re-issued titles include many award winning sample libraries that have

withstood the test of time. They are available for individual purchase and many are in-

cluded in ComposerCloud.

DISK SPACE REQUIREMENTS (GB)

25 ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION 36

‘56 Strat 2.2

Adrenaline 1.4

BT Breakz 0.7

BT Twisted Textures 1.3

Bob Clearmountain Drums 1 0.6

continued

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Bob Clearmountain Drums 2 0.4

Bob Clearmountain Perc and Bass 0.4

Bosendorfer 290 3.2

Brass 1.8

Dance Industrial 1 0.3

Dance Industrial 2 0.8

Drum n Bass 0.8

Electronica 0.5

Funky Ass Loops 0.5

Guitar and Bass 0.5

Hypnotica 0.6

Ill Jointz 1.0

Joey Kramer Drums 2.9

Percussive Adventures 1 1.4

Percussive Adventures 2 3.0

Phat n Phunky 0.8

Public Enemy 1.1

Scoring Tools 0.4

Smoov Grooves 0.7

Steinway B 1.6

Steve Stevens Guitar 0.5

Stormdrum 1 Loops 3.5

Stormdrum 1 MultiSamples 2.6

Symphonic Adventures 0.6

Ultimate Strings 0.5

The MIDI Guitar Instruments Series

A wide ranging collection of instruments optimized for guitar players by the EastWest

production team, working closely with Fishman’s software developers for their TriplePlay

MIDI guitar controller.

DISK SPACE REQUIREMENTS (GB)

MIDI Guitar Series Vol 1: Orchestra 18

MIDI Guitar Series Vol 2: Ethnic & Voices 17

MIDI Guitar Series Vol 3: Soundscapes 11

MIDI Guitar Series Vol 4: Guitar & Bass 38

MIDI Guitar Series Vol 5: Keys & Percussion 23

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CONTENTS MASTER NAVIGATION DOCUMENT

Chapter 5: Using Play as a Plug-in

78 Opening Play in a Sequencer

78 Using Play in Logic Pro

80 Using Play in Pro Tools

81 Using Play in Cubase

82 Using Play in Ableton Live

82 Using Play in Sonar

83 Using Play in Digital Performer

84 Using Play in Garageband

85 Using Play in Studio One

86 Automation

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Opening Play in a Sequencer

Most software sequencers permit software written by other companies to run within the

sequencer. All the plug-in’s input and output (I/O) is managed by the sequencer host.

And several plug-ins—from the same or different manufacturers—can run concurrently,

each contributing its part to the audio output. Some virtual instrument plug-ins, such

as Play, are sound generators that respond to MIDI data. Other plug-ins might provide

effects, such as signal compression, EQ ﬁltering, or echo simulation.

The details of how to open Play in several popular sequencers are covered in the follow-

ing sections. In each case, you need to ﬁrst open the sequencer host. Then follow the

directions below. If you are familiar with inserting other sample players and synthesizer

plug-ins, the procedure for Play will be the same.

The sequencer hosts mentioned here are the most commonly used with plug-ins like

Play; many others can also be used and the instructions for how to open the plug-in will

likely be similar. Also, because information can change on short notice, it’s best to check

the online Support Center at Soundsonline.com to read the most recent information.

Using Play in Logic Pro

1. Once Logic Pro has opened, a window will appear asking you to create a track of your

choosing. Click on ‘Software Instrument’ in the top-left, then select Play in the ‘Instru-

ment’ drop-down menu, then click ‘Create’.

2. If instead you chose ‘Empty Channel Strip’

(the default) in the ‘Instrument’ drop-down menu,

you can manually add Play to a channel strip by

clicking in the ‘Instrument’ menu and navigating

to the Play plugin. Once loaded, it will appear

in the channel strip. Click on the Play plug-in to

show / hide the Play interface.

You’re now ready to load your ﬁrst instrument and begin composing!

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Multi-Timbral Setup in Logic Pro

1. Once Logic Pro has opened, a window will appear

asking you to create a track of your choosing. Click

on ‘Software Instrument’ in the top-left, select Play

from the ‘Instrument’ drop-down menu, then click the

‘Multi-Timbral’ check-mark box and deﬁne the number

of parts (up to 16 midi channels are available per midi

port). Next, make sure that ‘Open Library’ is not se-

lected, then click ‘Create’.

2. You will now see (x) number of instrument tracks appear,

where x equals the number of parts you chose to create. Each

instrument track is assigned to its own MIDI channel (1, 2, 3,

etc). These will correspond to the MIDI channels assigned to

instruments loaded in Play.

3. If instead you chose ‘Empty Channel Strip’ (the default) in the ‘Instrument’ drop-

down menu, you can manually add Play to a channel strip by clicking in the ‘Instrument’

menu and navigating to the Play plugin (see screen shots in Step 2 of Using Play as a

plug-in with Logic Pro, above). Once loaded, it will appear in the channel strip as Play.

Click on this button to show / hide the Play interface.

4. Click on the Settings menu near the top of the Play

interface and then navigate to the Other tab. Here, under

MIDI Channel Assignment, select Auto Increment. This

will assign each new instrument loaded in Play to the next

MIDI channel (1, 2, 3, etc), corresponding to the assign-

ments in Logic Pro X’s multi-timbral instrument setup.

5. Now begin loading instruments into Play. Selecting ‘Add’ will load multiple instru-

ments into Play.

6. You can see what you currently have loaded by looking in Play’s Instrument Selector.

The MIDI channel assignment is in parenthesis next to the instrument name.

7. Now, each instrument you have loaded into Play will correspond with the midi chan-

nels in Logic Pro. You can now record enable the speciﬁed track in Logic Pro and and

play the corresponding instrument loaded into Play.

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Using Play in Pro Tools

1. Once Pro Tools is open, navigate to Track in

the top menu bar, then down to New Track.

2. Create a new stereo instrument track.

3. Now click inside the Inserts bar of the instrument

track, go to multi-channel plug-in, then ﬁnd Play

AAX (stereo) from the list in the Instrument category.

You’re now ready to load your ﬁrst instrument and

begin composing!

Multi-Timbral Setup in Pro Tools

1. Go to Play’s Settings menu (top-left corner in Play), then click on the Other tab and

choose Auto-Increment from the menu options. This

will assign each new instrument you load into Play to

the next MIDI channel assignment (1, 2, 3 , etc).

2. In Pro Tools, go to the Track menu and down to New

Track. This time, create (x) number of MIDI tracks,

where x equals the number of instruments you want to load into Play. The MIDI Standard

allows up to 16 MIDI Channels per MIDI Port.

3. On the MIDI track, click inside the MIDI output and choose Play 1, then the channel

assignment. Do this for each MIDI track you created

until everything is assigned to its own MIDI channel

(channel-1, channel-2, and so on).

4. Now begin loading instruments into Play,

click ‘Add’ each time your prompted. If you

set the Auto-Increment in Step 5 (above),

each Instrument will be assigned to its own

MIDI channel and will correspond to the

MIDI channel assignments in Pro Tools. In

Play, the MIDI channel assignment is in pa-

renthesis next to the Instrument name as

seen below.

Record enable the MIDI track in Pro Tools to

begin composing!

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Using Play in Cubase

1. Open Cubase and go to Project > Add Track > Instrument.

2. An ‘Add Instrument

Track’ window will appear.

Click in the drop down

menu and select Play from

the plugin list.

3. Click ‘Add Track’ to create the Play

plugin track.

You’re now ready to load your ﬁrst instru-

ment and begin composing!

Multi-Timbral Setup in Cubase

1. Open Cubase and go to Devices > VST Instruments.

2. In the VST Instrument window, click in

the Rack Instrument menu and select Play.

You should see a Rack Instrument created

inside the VST Instruments window.

3. When asked to create a MIDI

track assigned to the Play plugin choose ‘Create’.

4. Cubase will create a Rack

Instrument and associated MIDI track assigned to Play.

5. Create up to 16 individual MIDI tracks by right-clicking

in the empty track space and choosing to ‘Add MIDI Track’.

In Cubase’s Inspector window, you can check the MIDI Channel as-

signments of each MIDI track highlighted below.

6. In Play, go to the Settings menu, and click on the Other tab. Under

MIDI channel assignment, select Auto-Increment. This will ensure

every instrument you load into Play will

advance to the next MIDI channel as-

signment (1, 2, 3, etc) and correspond to the MIDI channel

assignments in Cubase. You can begin loading instruments

in Play now.

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Using Play in Ableton Live

1. Open Live, go to the Browser window and click on ‘Plug-ins’

in the left column under the ‘Categories’ heading to ﬁnd the East

West Folder.

2. Double-click on the Play plug-in to load it

into an Instrument track. To show and hide the

Play interface, click on the Gear icon (Ableton’s

plug-in edit button).

You’re now ready to load your ﬁrst instrument and begin composing!

Multi-Timbral Setup in Ableton Live

1. After loading Play as a plugin (see above), open the

Play interface and click on the Settings menu (top-left

corner in Play), then click on the Other tab and check-

mark the box next to Auto-Increment under the MIDI

Channel Assignment heading. Click ‘Apply’ then close.

2. Begin loading instruments. Each new instrument you load

into Play is assigned to the next MIDI channel (1, 2, 3... ), up

to 16 MIDI Channels per MIDI Port. You can see your currently

loaded instruments and their MIDI Channel assignments in the

Instrument List.

3. In Live, create the same number of MIDI tracks as there are instruments loaded into

Play. Now, click in the ﬁrst ﬁeld under Live’s “MIDI To” menu and assign it to Play. In the

second ﬁeld below that, assign the speciﬁc MIDI channel.

Each MIDI track will correspond to an Instrument in Play

on that same MIDI channel.

Using Play in Sonar

In Cakewalk’s Sonar, you can load Play from either the Insert

menu or the Synth Rack. Whether loaded from the one or the

other, every instance running in Sonar appears in the Synth Rack.

The picture on the next page shows the Synth Rack with two in-

stances of Play running concurrently.

If the Synth Rack is not visible, you can open it from the View

Menu, as shown at the right, or by clicking on the button with the

same small icon in the toolbar.

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Chapter 5: Using Play as a Plug-in

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From the Insert Menu

Open this menu to reveal an option labeled “Soft Synths.” Moving the mouse over that

item opens a cascading menu that lists all the installed plug-ins that Sonar has learned

about on this computer.

Note that some of the plug-ins, including Play, may be grouped in submenus; for ex-

ample, all the VST plug-ins are likely to be found by opening the “vstplugins” submenu.

Click on the Play VST to insert it.

From the Synth Rack

Click on the “Add” button (in the upper-left corner, outlined in yellow in the picture be-

low) to open the same menu described in the two paragraphs immediately above.

Please Note! Sonar calls all these plug-ins “Soft Synths,” short for “software synthesiz-

ers,” even though Play is not literally a synthesizer. The term “synth” is often used infor-

mally to indicate any electronic sound generator, including a sample player such as PLAY.

In a not-yet-used MIDI track in Sonar’s Track View

window, assign Play as the track’s plug-in, as shown

in the image at the right. Create up to 16 tracks per

instance of the Play plug-in. The MIDI channel se-

lected in the “CH” drop-down, also shown in this

same image determines which instrument in Play

will respond to MIDI notes in the track. Assign the

corresponding MIDI channel in PLAY.

Using Play in Digital Performer

1. Go to Project > Add Track > Instrument Track > East West >

Play [stereo]. This will load a new instance of Play.

2. Now create a MIDI track by going to Project > Add Track >

MIDI Track

3. On this new MIDI track...

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Chapter 5: Using Play as a Plug-in

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... set the output to Play 1-1

4. Now, record-enable the Play track

5. Click on Play’s Browser button.

In the Favorites window (lower-left)

select the desired library from the

list, then navigate to the instrument

you wish to load.

6. Double-click on the instrument

ﬁle (.ewi) to load it. Now, highlight

the corresponding PLAY 1-1 track

in Digital Performer 9 and you’re

ready to start composing!

Using Play in Garageband

1. Once Garageband has opened, click on the

Smart Tools icon in the top-left.

2. In the window that appears, click on the “i” Info Icon in

the top-left corner to reveal the plugins button.

3. Click in the Instrument menu and navigate to Play Stereo

by going through the following sub-menus: AU Instruments /

East West / Play

You’re now ready to load an instrument and begin composing!

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Using Play in Studio One

1. Open Studio One and drag Play from the Instruments

list and drop it onto the timeline, or on the panel on the

left-hand side of the project window.

2. Assign the instrument track

to Play, on a speciﬁed MIDI

channel.

3. Open Play, load an instru-

ment and specify the MIDI

channel assignment to cor-

respond to the one created in

Studio One.

4. For each instrument you

load into Play, create another Instrument track in Studio One,

assign it to Play and specify the MIDI channel assignment.

Multi-Timbral Setup with Studio One

1. To add multiple tracks at once using Studio One, right-

click (or control-click) in the panel on the left-hand side

of the project window and choose ‘Add Tracks’.

2. In the ‘Add Tracks’ window enter a name, select In-

strument under ‘Type’, choose the number of tracks (up

to 16) under ‘Count’, and check the ‘Pack Folder’ box.

3. Under ‘Output’, click ‘New Instrument’, select Play

from the drop-down list, and click ‘Ok’.

An instance of Play will

open with the number of

tracks speciﬁed in the

‘Count’ ﬁeld, all collected into one folder.

4. Open Play and click on the Settings menu (top-left

corner), then click on the Other tab and check-mark the

box next to Auto-Increment under the MIDI Channel As-

signment heading. Click ‘Apply’ then close.

Each new instrument you load into Play will now be as-

signed to the next MIDI channel (1, 2, 3... ), up to 16

MIDI Channels per MIDI Port. You can see your currently

loaded instruments and their MIDI Channel assignments

in the Instrument List.

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Automation

The term “Automation” refers to a facility for manipulating knobs, sliders, and other con-

trols with an external process and being able to repeat the same movements automati-

cally on subsequent playback. This feature is available in many modern sequencers. The

details of the implementation vary from one software product to the next, but the goals

are similar. Read the sequencer’s documentation to ﬁnd out how to set up automation

that can affect the controls in the Player view within Play.

For example, suppose you want to have an instrument jump back and forth between the

left and right speakers and then seem to move slowly from right to left across the “sound

stage” of the resulting audio track. It’s possible to manipulate Play’s Pan control to ac-

complish this effect, and to automatically do it the same way each time the sequencer’s

project is played back.

The two most common ways to achieve such an effect are as follows:

• Record the movements of a physical knob—or slider—on MIDI hardware known as a

control surface. To do this, map a speciﬁc hardware control to Play’s Pan knob and

then turn on automation recording for that mapping. While the project is playing in

the sequencer, move the hardware control as needed. At the end turn off automation

recording. The next time you play back the project, the Pan knob will move the same

way without having to move it yourself.

• Draw the automation in what’s called an “envelope.” To do this, set up a mapping so

that the sequencer knows which of Play’s controls to manipulate. Then create an en-

velope for that control in the appropriate track of the sequencer. Then use the tools

provided to draw in the movement of the knob. The following image shows such an

envelope for the panning example described above.

Speciﬁc details on how to do both of these tasks with your sequencer can be found in

its documentation.

In this image, the short, horizontal blue segments are MIDI notes played on a guitar. The

continuous green line indicates graphically the position of the Pan knob: 90% left, 90%

right, left, right, and then moving slowly to the left.