Our support team can be reached anytime by email support@soundpaint.com.

If you are new to Soundpaint, you can follow these steps to install Soundpaint, download your instruments, and start painting!

Download and Install the Soundpaint Engine

Links for the current version of Soundpaint (Mac and PC) can always be found on your
account page, in the engine tab. This will install Soundpaint, the Soundpaint
Downloader, and the Soundpaint Editor.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Setting up Soundpaint

Once installation is complete, please open Soundpaint. The Soundpaint Engine will
prompt you for your account email and password

Other Soundpaint Ideas

Check out our easy Video Tutorials and achieve mastery in Soundpaint.
You also invited to our party on Discord. This is where we hang our as a community. Exchange new ideas and turn the best ones into reality!

If you need more help, you can check out our other FAQ articles, find us on live chat on Soundpaint.com, or send us an email at support@soundpaint.com. 

Our installation and setup tutorial can be found HERE:

Soundpaint comes with a large variety of exclusive features and controls, giving you full control over any sound! We are constantly adding to these features and working to improve the options available, and add new ones! This walkthrough video will tackle a general overview of Soundpaint and its features. 

https://youtu.be/KD4CuAw4Qe0

Below are videos showcasing new features we have added, with each update to the engine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYEf-cCedQM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1sD9i04A9k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fCTO9p4i3U

The Editor will automatically be installed alongside the Soundpaint Engine and the Soundpaint Downloader during your initial installation. Links to download and install the engine can be found on your account page under the "Engine" tab.

New Project: Opens a new project within the editor. Make sure to save your current project first as creating a new project will discard any unsaved changes

Open Project: Opens a browser where you can select any already saved projects and open them.

Open Recent: This will allow you to open any recently worked on or saved projects

Save Project: This will allow you to save your project. Note that this does not make your project ready for use in Soundpaint, and only saves progress within the editor

Save Project As: Allow you to resave the current project under a different name

Import Sample Files: Allows you to select multiple audio files and import them into the editor

Generate Part: Exports a finished user-made part which can be loaded into Soundpaint

Audio/Midi Settings: Allows you to view and modify your audio output, sample rate, audio buffer size, and midi devices.

Mapping Window: Opens the Soundpaint Editor Mapping Window where you can import samples and edit file layout.

Tagging Window: Opens the Soundpaint Editor Tagging Window where you can tag your project with various tags including player type, sound type, pitch, instrument type, emotion, genre, sound technique, room type, and microphone position.

Undo: Undo the last change. All operations in the editor can be undone.

Redo: Redo the last undone change

Cut: Removes selected items and copies them

Copy: Copies the selected item

Paste: Pastes

Delete: Deletes selected items.

Select All: Selects all samples in the editor

Deselect All: Deselects all samples in the editor

Auto Fill Gaps: Automatically stretches samples and fills the gaps between all imported samples. (Does not automatically fill the full range of the editor)

Auto Fill Fullrange: Automatically stretches samples and fills the entire range of the editor

The "Save Project" & "Save Project as" options will not export a part. You can use these to save your work in the editor so that you can continue editing the part later. These buttons will create .8proj files, which can be opened in the Editor to pick up where you left off.

To export a part, click "Generate Part" from the file menu. Name the part if you have not already, and then select a directory to save the newly generated part. 

After a part is generated, it should automatically appear in the parts list of the User Library. If your new part is not appearing in Soundpaint, you can click “Manage Library & Part Directories” from the menu in the top left corner, double check that the folder where you saved the part is on the list of directories, and click “Full Rescan.” 

With the release of Soundpaint 3.0 in 2024, the USI Editor now allows you to layer up to 127 samples on each key using velocity layering. Check out our article here on how to set up velocity layers for your own samples. 

The Soundpaint USI Editor does not currently support importing your own Round Robin samples.

More information on the new USI Editor can be found in our 3.0 Walkthrough:

The Tagging Window is where you tag your custom instruments with their various categories before generating the part for Soundpaint.

To open the Tagging Window, click "Tagging Window" from the Window drop-down menu at the top of the Soundpaint Editor

It is especially important to tag the “instrument” category, because that determines where the part is shown in Soundpaint. If no instrument is tagged, the part is going to show up as “unclassified” in Soundpaint.

The Soundpaint Editor currently allows the importing of all common file formats, including wav, mp3, flac, aiff, m4a, and ogg.  

The Soundpaint Editor supports any bit depth (8, 16, 24, and 32) and any sample rate from 44.1kHz to 192kHz

Once you have all your samples loaded into the editor's mapping window, and have them in the desired ranges, then you are ready to export.

First, we recommend opening the Tagging window. This can be done by clicking Window > Tagging Window. From here, make sure to select the appropriate Instrument tag, as any parts that are exported without an instrument tag will load as "unclassified" within Soundpaint. 

Once the desired tags are selected, click File > Generate Part. You will then be prompted to name the part, then select a location to export your part to. We recommend saving it in a customer user parts folder in the same directory you keep the rest of your Soundpaint libraries in.

Once you select the location, the part will automatically be saved there. Soundpaint will then add the location to its directories. We recommend performing a full rescan within Soundpaint once this is done to ensure the part is visible within the Engine.

All files can be loaded in by dragging and dropping them on the editor's grid. You can also use the "Import Sample Files" feature found under the file menu.

Step: This option will let you record your own custom arpeggiated pattern, including the velocity.

Trigger: Once you have your pattern keyed in, you can switch to trigger to play the entire pattern using only one key.

Live: This option allows latch recording, letting you modify your arpeggio in real-time as it is playing.

Play: Selecting play will automatically play the arpeggio for you until a different option is selected. In a DAW, the pattern will only play when the DAW is playing.

In Soundpaint 2.5, we also added the ability to use programs as presets. Just right click on any program and select “Load as Preset (no parts).” This will keep all the parts you have loaded, but load the Racks, Effects, and ARP from the program you selected.

This works with user programs as well. So, if you make an effect chain you really like, you can save it as a custom program, then load it as a preset to instantly load up the whole effect chain.

With the release of Soundpaint 4.2, you can now login to Soundpaint using your account email and password. This means you will no longer get an email with an access key to log in to the engine. For more details on getting started with soundpaint, we recommend reviewing our installation tutorial linked below. 

With the release of Soundpaint 3.0, Soundpaint now allows you to make custom labels for different ranges of the keyboard on both premade and user programs. 

To add a range label, open the keyboard view by clicking the keyboard button in the bottom right of soundpaint.

From there, hover your mouse over the key you want to set your label on, and click the "+" icon that appears. This will spawn a range label.

Once this is done, you can change the label name, colour, and range to fit your preference. 

More information can be found in our Soundpaint 3.0 Walkthrough: 

With the release of Soundpaint 3.0, we have added a color mode that allows you to change the tonal color of any sound loaded within soundpaint. This allows you to create more sonic variations in any library or custom-imported sound already available. 

To access color mode, open Soundpaint and click the teardrop icon in the top right of the interface.  

This will replace the master pitch control, with a color control. You can then adjust the color up, or down, to your desired preference. 

Keep in mind, any changes made in color mode will stay active if you de-select the teardrop icon. More information on color mode can be found in our 3.0 walkthrough

Soundpaint now supports keyswitching between different parts allowing you to access multiple parts and articulations from any library within the same instance. 

To set up Keyswitching, first open a blank instance of Soundpaint, and select "Parts" in the top left. 

Once you are in the Parts menu, you can then load the various parts and articulations you want to keyswitch between into any of Soundpaints 8 part Slots. 

When all of your desired parts are loaded, go into either Rack A or Rack B inside of Soundpaint, and select the Keyswitch Rack. 

Once the Keyswitch Rack is Loaded, it will automatically populate with the parts currently present within Soundpaint, and you can modify what keys are used to switch between the articulations using the options on the right side of the rack.

To remove active modulation from a control, right-click the control and select “Remove Active Automations.” You can also edit or remove automation from the Matrix on the right side of the interface.

To add a CC control to a parameter, right-click on the control and select “Add MIDI CC automation.”

This will bring up a menu that allows you to select which CC control, you would like to use, or set the parameter to be controlled by note velocity. You can also customize the range of the automation, and set it to reverse behavior.

You can modify any current automation control under the Soundpaint “Automation Matrix” menu. This can be found under the options menu in the top left, as well as on the right-hand side of the interface.

Once you are in the “Edit Assigned Automations” menu, simply select the automation control you wish to change, and perform any desired changes. Click the green check mark at the bottom right to apply the changes and close the window.

In Soundpaint, you can save your own presets for every effect in the FX rack as well as the ARP. 

Once you have all the settings configured to your liking, just press the save preset button on the far right side of the interface. Type in a name and hit the green checkmark to save the preset.

Now, the preset will appear any time you load up that effect, on any program. Just click the preset name from the list on the right side to instantly load it up.

Editing & Deleting Presets

If you need to make changes to a preset, just re-configure the effect and click the save preset button. Instead of typing in a new name, click on the preset you want to overwrite and click the green checkmark. A confirmation box will appear to make sure you don’t accidentally overwrite a preset when you don’t want to.

You can also completely delete presets. Click the save preset button, then hover over the preset you wish to delete and click the trash can button.

There are 2 distinct sets of programs and parts in Soundpaint with some obvious, but important differences.

Factory Library

Switch to the factory library with the icon in the top left corner (the one that looks like 3 books).

The factory library is pretty simple. It includes all the parts and programs that are included in instruments you download from Soundpaint.com. You can quickly find parts and programs using the search bar and the filters and mark favorites using the heart icon.

If you want to edit a program with additional parts or different effects, you can right click on the program name at the top and save it - this new program will appear in the user library.

User Parts

Switch to the user library with the icon just in-between the factory icon and search bar (the one that looks like a person - that's you!).

When you export a part from the Soundpaint editor, it will appear in the user parts library. You can favorite these parts as well, and combine them in programs with other user and factory parts.

User Programs

Any program you save will show up in your personal user library. You can delete user programs by hovering over the program and clicking on the trash can icon that appears to the right.

You can right-click on a user program and click “Rename Program” to change the name.

If you don’t have a ton of user programs, you might want to try out the “single” list mode. You can toggle between “library” and “single” mode by clicking the button in the bottom left corner. The next button switches the list from alphabetical to reverse alphabetical.

All the same filters and favorites from the factory library work here as well.

Also, note that user programs can include both user and factory parts.

You can save any program to the user library. So, if you spend a lot of time in the user library, you could re-save some of your favorite factory programs as user programs too. Depending on your workflow, this could save you some time.

Don’t forget! If you’re moving to a different computer or just want to back up your programs, just click “Export All User Programs” from the hamburger menu in the top left corner.

For any Effect in the Effects Rack, and for the ARP, you can load and save presets with just a few clicks. 

Once you have all the settings configured to your liking, just press the save preset button on the far right side of the interface. Type in a name and hit the green checkmark to save the preset. 

Now, the preset will appear any time you load up that effect, on any program. Just click the preset name from the list on the right side to instantly load it up.

If you need to make changes to a preset, just re-configure the effect and click the save preset button. Instead of typing in a new name, click on the preset you want to overwrite and click the green checkmark. A confirmation box will appear to make sure you don’t accidentally overwrite a preset when you don’t want to. 

You can also completely delete presets. Click the save preset button, then hover over the preset you wish to delete and click the trash can button.

In Soundpaint 2.5, we also added the ability to use programs as presets. Just right click on any program and select “Load as Preset (no parts).” This will keep all the parts you have loaded, but load the Racks, Effects, and ARP from the program you selected.

This works with user programs as well. So, if you make an effect chain you really like, you can save it as a custom program, then load it as a preset to instantly load up the whole effect chain.

Above the list of Programs and Parts on the left side of Soundpaint, there are filters that can help you navigate your Soundpaint Instruments. 

The Search bar might be the most useful, as it will filter both programs and parts by name, tag, and so on. If you know exactly what you're looking for, just type a keyword into the search bar

Favorites

Use the heart icon to browse programs you have favorited. You can favorite parts and programs by using the heart icons to the left of the program/part name. This is the only filter that appears for parts as well as programs.

Filters work in both the factory and user library, so don’t forget to mark your favorite parts and programs!

Morphs

The morphed arrow icon indicates programs that include morphed parts. These programs also appear in orange text in the programs list. If you enable morph using one of the arrow icons in-between parts 1 & 2 or 3 & 4, you’ll notice that the parts and program names immediately become orange as well.

Hidden Gems

Finally, the Gem icon filters the programs list by hidden gems: programs that use parts from 2 or more instruments.

The filters and search bar work together, so if your program list is smaller than expected, or search isn’t finding the instrument you’re looking for, make sure you don’t have any unintended filters enabled.

The Legato Rack is part of our H.A.L. (Hyper-Acoustic Legato) Engine which was released in 2022. Any library part with legato functionality built in can be controlled and modified using the legato racks various controls.

Legato Volume: Allows you to change the volume of the legato transition

Legato Speed: Can be used to modify the speed of the legato transition

Legato Time: This function allows you to modify the maximum time after a note has ended to let legato still be triggered

Chord Timer: Similar to Legato Time, this option lets you adjust the maximum time difference between two notes for them to still be recognized as a chord when playing polyphonically. 

Polyphonic/Monophonic switch: This switch lets you change the legato engine between monophonic legato, and polyphonic legato options

Part selector: This section lets you control which part within the engine you are affecting specifically, numbered 1, 2,3, and 4. You can also choose to select to modify all parts simultaneously by clicking the smaller circle to the top right of number 4.

The Octaves option controls how many octaves the arpeggiator will run through. If you are currently using either the “Keys” or “Hold” option, this will play your selected note(s) and then the same note(s) up to 4 octaves higher (including the octaves in-between if set to 3 or 4). If you have a custom arpeggio programmed, the arpeggiator will play through the entire sequence before switching the octave range.

Effects: These racks allow you to load in various effects racks, such as delay, phasers, filters, and reverb.

LFO: These Racks allow you to load and modify the controls for any of Soundpaints 4 LFOs

ADSR: This Rack allows you to control the ADSR of your current program. It also allows for switching and comparing between 4 separate ADSR models which are all fully customizable.

Master: This rack allows you to load and modify Soundpaints Master Controls.

Offset: This rack controls sample offset. 

Time: This rack allows you to modify the length of the samples in each part

Touch: This rack allows you to change the range of pitch bend available through the pitch bend wheel, as well as enable and modify options for note glide.

Voicing: This rack allows you to control the Master Pitch options of Soundpaint, as well as modify the maximum amount of voices allowed. 

The Time rack can be loaded into either Rack A or Rack B, and is used to increase or decrease the speed of the samples being played back within the engine. The controls break down as follows:

The numbers 1-4 in circles at the top of the rack let you switch between each part loaded into Soundpaint. Each part will have its own corresponding time rack which you can access by clicking those numbers. You can also use the bubble in the top right to link all 4 parts together and control them all the same way.

Speed: Can be used to increase or decrease the speed of the sample

Detail: Changes the detail of the speed modification.

Attack: This control is used to add an attack to the speed change. Increasing the attack means that the speed will gradually increase instead of changing instantly. 

Attack Shape: This control lets you change the shape of the attack.

Rack A and B are effectively the same. The second rack simply allows you to add, open, and customize more options if you run out of room in Rack A.

Daw Sync allows you to sync the arpeggiator anddelay feature to your host DAW tempo. If you do not have DAW sync enabled, it will play back at the tempo listed to the right of this option.

Reverse Behaviour is an option in Soundpaint's automation controls that allows you to invert the values of your controller compared to the automated parameter. This means that the higher the controller value, the lower the parameter value.

Along with being able to save your own custom programs, you can also mark any program as a favourite. Simply load the program into Soundpaint, and click the heart icon at the top, next to its name.

Once this is done you can find all of your favourite programs by clicking the heart icon underneath the search bar.

When “Keys” is selected, the arpeggiator will only trigger and play for as long as you press the key. “Hold” will hold any note you play until another one is triggered.

The Interval Option works exactly like the Octave Control, but allows for fine-tuned interval differences instead of changing by octave. If you are currently using either the “Keys” or “Hold” option, this will play your selected notes, and then the same notes transposed up by the value the Interval is set to (in semitones). If you have a custom arpeggio programmed, the arpeggiator will play through the entire sequence before moving it up the selected interval.

The Rack sections allow you to load and access various options of Soundpaint in one place, including Master Controls, LFO options, ADSR, Offset, Voicing, Legato Settings, and more.

The Soundpaint racks are where you can locate all of Soundpaints global controls. These include options such as LFO options, ADSR, Offset, Voicing, Legato Settings, and more. A walkthrough of the racks section can be found here:

The Soundpaint Arpeggiator allows you to apply an ARP effect to any sound within the engine, including those you import yourself. This allows you to create new and unique patterns with only a few button clicks!

A walkthrough of the Arpeggiator and Gate in Soundpaint can be found here:

Soundpaint comes with a wide variety of built-in effects, such as Reverb, Delay, Stereo Imaging, Distortion, Saturation, EQ, Phasers, Gates, and more! This gives you full control over your sound without the need for external effects plugins. 

A walkthrough of the Soundpaint effects section can be found here:

Length controls the sustained value of each note inside the arpeggiator. The lower the length, the shorter each note.

Swing allows for humanization of the sequence, making each note play more naturally by triggering them slightly before or after the fully quantized mark.

This option is only available if you are using the “Keys” or “Hold” option. It determines how many times your played notes repeat, if you are playing more than one note.

Almost everything in Soundpaint can be automated in a variety of ways. Simply right-click on the parameter you want to automate, and you can select to apply a variety of automation options including host controls, CC controls, and custom LFO options.

When you select "Add Host Automation," the parameter will be added to the list of parameters on the instrument track in your DAW. When you select "Add MIDI CC Automation," a window will appear allowing you to select which CC to assign the control to along with some additional options.

When you select "Add LFO Automation," a new window will pop up with a variety of options for the shape, speed, and more. You can use the green check mark to apply your settings, and then

You can also remove any active automation from the control by right-clicking and selecting “Remove Active Automations.” You can also edit or remove any automation from the Matrix on the right side of the interface.

This is set up in the same way as CC controls. Simply right-click the control you wish to automate and select “Add LFO Automation.” This will let you add one of the 4 available LFO options to the control.

You can sync the LFO to your host tempo using the sync option in the bottom left, and change the LFO parameters on the left-hand side of the window. Use the green check mark to apply your settings. You can edit the LFO settings by right-clicking on the control again or find the settings in the Matrix on the right side of the interface.

You can modify any of Soundpaints four LFO’s using a variety of options.

The LFO’s can be loaded into Rack A or B. You can modify each LFO separately there. This is the recommended method for its ease of use and easy access.

If the LFO is mapped to a control, you can right-click that control and select “change active LFO automation.” This will provide you with the same options as the rack section.

The controls can also be accessed in the “Automation Matrix” menu, which is available through the Soundpaint options menu, or through the matrix option on the right side of the interface.

If you have made a custom program inside of Soundpaint, you can save it permanently by clicking “save Program to User Library” from the hamburger menu in the top left. Alternately, you can right-click the program name near the top and click "Save Program to User Library" from there. You can then decide which category you would like it to be saved under.

From here, any custom-made programs can be accessed by clicking the “user library” option in the top left, right next to the search bar. You can then navigate, find, and load all custom saved programs.

The Morph option allows you to modulate and combine the sound of one program using another program. The 2 arrows under the morph section determine which program is being modulated, and the morph slider allows you to control the amount of morphing that is occurring.

It is difficult to describe in words exactly how the sound is affected, so we encourage you to try morphing out for yourself. You might be surprised at the unique sounds you can create through morphing!

Soundpaints master controls can be found in the top right of the interface, and include options such as volume, pan, tone, mpitch, and pitch.

Mpitch controls the fine pitch in cents, while standard pitch controls it in semitones.

The Master controls for Soundpaint can also be found in the Master rack, which can be added into either Rack A or B

Yes, Soundpaint does allow for some interface customization options. These can be found in the options menu in the top left, under “UI preferences”. Options range from changing text size, interface size, and allowing you to change the warning settings.

Soundpaint also has options for Day or Night mode in the bottom right.

Have you got a speedy new SSD, or even a brand new computer? Before you start re-downloading all your instruments, take a quick look at this guide. It’s easy to move instruments in Soundpaint!

Moving Instruments in Soundpaint

STEP 1: Copy your instruments to your desired location on the new drive using Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows).

We recommend making a folder specifically for Soundpaint instruments, as this will ensure no time is wasted when scanning for instruments. If you want to keep it simple, just name the folder “Soundpaint”

STEP 2: Click “Manage library & part directories” from the dropdown menu in the top left corner of Soundpaint.

If you’re on a new computer, you will need to sign in with your Email and Password first.*

STEP 3: Click “Add Directory” and select the folder where you moved your instruments on the new drive.

STEP 4: Click “Full Rescan”

THAT'S IT!

You're up and running with all of your instruments again.

*You can only use Soundpaint on up to 2 computers concurrently. If you did not log out of Soundpaint on an old computer and you can no longer access it, you can click the “End All Sessions” button on the profile tab of your account page.

Using Filters

Whether large or small, sorting through your Soundpaint instrument collection is a breeze! Of course, you can use the search bar to filter the list by instrument name, program name, tag, and so on. For more ways to peruse your instruments, check out the filters at the top of the parts and programs lists.

Favorites

Use the heart icon to browse programs you have favorited. You can favorite parts and programs by using the heart icons to the left of the program/part name. This is the only filter that appears for parts as well as programs.

Filters work in both the factory and user library, so don’t forget to mark your favorite parts and programs!

Morphs

The morphed arrow icon indicates programs that include morphed parts. These programs also appear in orange text in the programs list. If you enable morph using one of the arrow icons in-between parts 1 & 2 or 3 & 4, you’ll notice that the parts and program names immediately become orange as well.

Hidden Gems

Finally, the Gem icon filters the programs list by hidden gems: programs that use parts from 2 or more instruments.

The filters and search bar work together, so if your program list is smaller than expected, or search isn’t finding the instrument you’re looking for, make sure you don’t have any unintended filters enabled.

The Soundpaint Editor

Using your own sounds in Soundpaint is easy! Just gather your desired sound files - any common format, bit depth, and sample rate will work - and open the Soundpaint Editor.

The Soundpaint Editor installs with the main Soundpaint engine, so if you have Soundpaint installed, you already have the Soundpaint Editor. If you don’t have Soundpaint installed, it’s free! Just download it from the engine tab of your account page.

You can launch the editor on its own, or click “User Sample Editor” from the menu in the main Soundpaint app.

Make the Part

Drag and drop your samples onto the keyboard. Move them up and down the range, stretch them across multiple keys, use the autofill functions from the edit menu - putting your sounds where you want them is simple in the Soundpaint Editor. For more details and tips on making instruments, you can check out our video walkthrough:

https://youtu.be/_qBTSKe6EOs

Add Tags

Before you generate the part, you will probably want to add tags. Click “Tagging Window” from the Window menu at the top of the Editor, and select any tags that apply.

The most important category here is “Instruments,” as this will determine where the part appears in Soudpaint. If nothing is selected, the part will appear in the “uncategorized” list of parts. If more than one is selected, it will only appear in the first one selected, although every tag will work if you are using the search bar in Soundpaint. In the example below, this part will appear in the “Drum” list.

Generate the Part

Now, here’s the hard part (don’t worry, it’s only 2 clicks and 2 big decisions).

When you’re ready to export your part into Soundpaint, click “Generate Part” from the file menu. A box will appear asking for a part name (big decision #1) and when you click the green save button, it will ask you to select a location to save the part (big decision #2). If you already named the part under “Part Name” in the top left corner, it will only ask you to select a location.

Note: The Save Project & Save Project as options will not export a part. You can use these to save your work in the editor so that you can continue editing the part later. These buttons will create .8proj files, which can be opened in the Editor to pick up where you left off.

Load the Part in Soundpaint

After your part is generated, you will find it in the parts list in the User directory. Click the User Library icon, then “Parts,” and you will find your sounds under the instrument the part was tagged with. Now you can add effects, more parts from the user or factory library, morphs - whatever you need to craft the perfect sound - and save custom programs!

If your new part is not appearing in Soundpaint, you can click “Manage Library & Part Directories” from the menu in the top left corner, double check that the folder where you saved the part is on the list of directories, and click “Full Rescan.”

We work hard to keep Soundpaint a smooth and easy experience for everyone. But every once in a while, an error may pop up that gets in the way of you and your music. 

Of couse, we are always available to help at support@soundpaint.com, or via live chat on soundpaint.com Tuesday through Saturday. But if you need a quick fix, here are a few things you can try:

Full Rescan

Full Rescan is an important button in Soundpaint. It forces the engine to scan folders and find new or missing instruments, parts, and programs. If you move an instrument after downloading, you will need to use this button, but it can also fix a couple of issues that might come up.

For example, if one of your parts ever shows “MISSING” or you get an error message saying “file can’t be loaded,” the full rescan will usually fix this. First, click “Manage Library and Part Directories” from the menu in the top left.

In the window that appears, check that the list of directories includes all the folders where your Soundpaint instruments are located. If any are missing, use the “add directory” button to add them back to the list. Then, click the “full rescan.” This will almost always restore any Missing parts and fix errors.

Redownload an Instrument

If a full rescan does not resolve the issue, you may need to redownload the library. Since you already have the library downloaded, it may not appear in the Downloader, even if you click “Check Updates & Purchases” from the menu. In this case, you can simply begin the download from the instruments tab of your account page.

When you click “download” on one of your instruments, the Soundpaint Downloader will open automatically along with a Finder/File Explorer window to allow you to select a download location. If it seems like this window is not appearing, you might need to minimize or move other windows; depending on your setup and if you are switching or clicking in your web browser, the downloader windows may be behind another app, or on a different monitor.

In Soundpaint 2.5, we introduced a new generation of keyswitches. You can switch between articulations, entire instruments or ensembles, combine microphones to mix on the fly, and so much more.

When you load up the Keyswitch rack module, the default keys are C1 to G1, but they do not need to live there. Some people prefer keyswitches at the top of the keyboard, some people prefer them out of the playable range entirely, and some just want to make sure they are available on their MIDI keyboard without using octave shift buttons.

You can move every keyswitch individually, but it is much faster to move them all at once. All you need to do is right click on any part name or key in the Keyswitch Module and then click “Move all Keyswitches”

This will bring up a box labeled “Move All Keyswitches Up or Down.” Change the number in this box by clicking and dragging, or typing a number. To move the keys down, use “-” (dash/minus).

To move keyswitches up, you can use “+,” but it is not required (if - or + is not specified, the keys will move up). When you have the number you want, press enter/return to move the keyswitches.

For example, if you want to move the keyswitches to the very bottom of the keyboard, you can enter “-24.” When you hit enter, the blue keyswitches will move from C1 to C-1. Or, if you want your keyswitches to start on C6, enter “60” in the box.

If you decide you do not like the new location of the keyswitches, you can set them back to the default location (starting on C1) with the “Reset” button in the top right corner of the Keyswitch module.

PART MORPHING

The Morph option allows you to modulate and combine the sound of one part using another part. Use one of the 2 arrows in-between the parts to turn on morph, and use the slider to control how much the parts are being morphed.

Effectively, the arrow on the left (pointing right) indicates that you will get more of the attack of the part on the left, and more of the sustain of the part on the right. And the opposite goes for the arrow on the left. So, in the example below, we get a sound with a piano attack that morphs into a sustaining saw.

That isn’t a 100%-accurate description of everything that morphing entails, but it is difficult to describe in words exactly how the sound is affected. Really, the best way is to try morphing out for yourself.

In this example, it’s a bit harder to tell where the sound of the Modular Percussion ends and the Braahm begins… It’s an all-new sound

MULTI MORPHING

In a single program, you can have up 4 sets of morphing parts. It’s an endless expedition of sound and creativity!

Don’t forget - You can morph your own imported parts as well! Use the Soundpaint Editor to import your own sounds, instruments, or even entire songs and morph them together into mighty musical mayhem.

There are 2 distinct sets of programs and parts in Soundpaint with some obvious, but important differences. Let’s take a look at them and show a few tips along the way.

FACTORY LIBRARY

Switch to the factory library with the icon in the top left corner (the one that looks like 3 books).

The factory library is pretty simple. It includes all the parts and programs that are included in instruments you download from Soundpaint.com. You can quickly find parts and programs using the search bar and the filters and mark favorites using the heart icon.

If you want to edit a program with additional parts or different effects, you can right click on the program name at the top and save it - this new program will appear in the user library.

USER PARTS

Switch to the user library with the icon just in-between the factory icon and search bar (the one that looks like a person - that's you!).

When you export a part from the Soundpaint editor, it will appear in the user parts library. You can favorite these parts as well, and combine them in programs with other user and factory parts.

USER PROGRAMS

Any program you save will show up in your personal user library. You can delete user programs by hovering over the program and clicking on the trash can icon that appears to the right.

You can right-click on a user program and click “Rename Program” to change the name.

If you don’t have a ton of user programs, you might want to try out the “single” list mode. You can toggle between “library” and “single” mode by clicking the button in the bottom left corner. The next button switches the list from alphabetical to reverse alphabetical.

All the same filters and favorites from the factory library work here as well.

Also, note that user programs can include both user and factory parts.

You can save any program to the user library. So, if you spend a lot of time in the user library, you could re-save some of your favorite factory programs as user programs too. Depending on your workflow, this could save you some time.

Don’t forget! If you’re moving to a different computer or just want to back up your programs, just click “Export All User Programs” from the hamburger menu in the top left corner.

THE TIPS RACK MODULE

We recently introduced the TIPS module - a way to add some written information and pictures to programs.

Some of the programs in the factory library will include tips in newer instruments. These might be information about the instrument, notable features of the program, or what some controls in the program do.

WRITING YOUR OWN TIPS

You can add tips to your own program, or add them to factory programs and save them to your user library.

You might want to remind yourself the purpose of the program (maybe a character, genre, or setting), an interesting discovery you made in the FX (maybe a new FX preset born from the program), or an unorthodox way you found to use the program.

Or, if you tried something that didn’t work, you can write that too so you know not to waste time trying it again later.

ADDING PICTURES

To add a new image to the TIPS module, just drag and drop one in! Both PNGs and JPGs are supported, and while the recommended resolution is 428x228 (or 856x446 for a sharper image), you can use images of different sizes or aspect ratios if you have one ready to go!

WATCH TROELS TAKE A TOUR OF TIPS

SOUND MODE

At the bottom left corner of every part box, there is an icon that will open up the Sound Mode Menu, giving you access to important controls for control and creative use of the sound!

Clicking this icon will open the drop down menu, revealing these controls…

Default: All the sounds in the part are mapped across the keyboard in their regular position. Simple, right?

One Note Stretch: This maps a single note/key across the entire keyboard range, altering the pitch and length of the sound based on how high or low you play. When you click this, a key selector box will appear to the right, allowing you to type a key or press a key on your MIDI keyboard to select which note is being stretched (note: if pressing a key is not changing the note, click the small keyboard icon and make sure it is highlighted orange).

One Note Same: This maps a single note/key across the entire keyboard range, without altering the pitch or length. Controls for selecting the note are the same for one note stretch and same.

Reverse: This will reverse all notes in the part, and set the offset to the end of the sample. This will change the corresponding controls in the Offset Rack Module; you can move the offset control more to the left to have the sound reverse from a different point in the sample (for instance, if the sound has a long tail that you would like to truncate).

Note: Selecting any of these first 4 options will change the sound mode menu icon to match the control. This can help you identify which parts are affected at a glance.

Key Range: Any notes outside this range will not play. For example, if the range is set from C4 to G9, playing any notes below middle C will not trigger any sound from this part. Each part has a discrete key range, so you can use this to create programs with different kinds of sounds that play on different key ranges. You can change the range by typing notes, or by clicking the keyboard icon on the right and then playing 2 notes on your MIDI keyboard. Clicking the small x on the right will reset the range to the full keyboard. 

Velo Zoom: This newer feature will zoom in and expand a dynamic range. For example, if you set the range from 1 to 10, the very softest dynamics will be expanded to a full 127 velocities: playing at velocity 127 will have the same dynamic as 10 does by default, and the other 125 velocities move fluidly in that range. This can be great for adding finesse to soft or loud instruments! You can type velocities, or use the keyboard icon to play them in.

Pan: This controls the stereo left/right balance for the individual part. You can control the pan for the whole program from the controls in the top right corner or the Master Rack Module. 

Note: Some music software will number notes differently. The 127 MIDI notes are the same, but some start at C-1 (with C4 being middle C) and some start at C-2 (with C3 as middle C). Soundpaint starts at C-1, and you can see the octave numbers on the on-screen keyboard.

Attack, Release, Foot Pedal, Sustain, & Legato: These switches enable or disable different components of the sound. If a switch is greyed out, the part does not contain that component. Some parts will only have one of these (parts from the attack and release lists typically only have attack and release, respectively), while some will have multiple (many sustain parts include sustain and release). 

Legato parts often include sustain and legato - where legato is the transition between notes and sustain is the note itself. In this case, turning legato off will essentially make the part a regular sustain part.

Also, the foot pedal switch does not control whether the sustain pedal is enabled for the part. Rather, it is used in parts that contain pedal noise.

Dynamic Sustain: This switch allows you to control dynamics with a MIDI CC rather than velocity. It is on by default for most legatos, but you can turn it on for anything that has a sustaining sound (if you disable the sustain switch above, this switch will also be greyed out). By default, dynamic sustains maps to CC1 (modwheel), but you can change this with the pencil icon on the right, or from the Matrix.

UI CUSTOMIZATION

There are many ways to alter the look of Soundpaint. Let’s explore how to change the colors, font size, and more.

DAY MODE

You can switch from night to day mode, swapping the dark background and light text for a light background and dark text, with the switch in the bottom right corner

UI PREFERENCES

For other UI Customization, we’ll use the options under “UI Preferences” from the hamburger menu in the top left corner. For now, we’ll just focus on the options that alter the look of Soundpaint, but some of these will also alter its behavior as well.

FONT SIZE

Want to see more Programs and parts in the list, see full names of long programs, or make part names easier to read? Just click “Change Font Size…” from the menu

Browser Item Font changes the size of part and program names in the list on the left side. If they are too small to read comfortably, you can increase the size. Or, if you want to access more parts or programs without scrolling, you can decrease the size.

Program Name Font changes the size of the program name at the very top of Soundpaint. The default option is somewhat large to make it clear, but if you want to see the full names of programs, you can decrease the size

Part Name Font changes the size of part names in the 4 (1-4, 5-8) part boxes above the Rack and Effects.

Fonts update in real time, so you can see what everything will look like before clicking the green checkmarks.

WINDOW SIZE

Want Soundpaint to take up more or less of your screen? Just click “Change Window Size…” from the menu

Use the options here to change the size of the full interface.

If you accidentally make the window too large for your display, you can click and drag the window size window and click “previous configuration” to reset. If you want Soundpaint to always use a different size, just click “set current configuration as default” and then the green checkmark.

Text scales with window size as well, so if you want to have more information on screen, but need the text to be larger, you can increase the window size and then decrease the text sizes.

Of course, you can also scale the size of the window by dragging the bottom-right corner. When you hover your mouse over the corner, a triangle will appear showing you where you click and drag.

Last week, we looked at customizing the look and feel of the Soundpaint interface. This week, we’ll take a look at some changes you can make to the behavior of Soundpaint to customize your interactions with the interface. 

The settings in this article can be found under "UI Preferences" in the Hamberger menu in the top left corner. 

SHOW THIS AGAIN

You know how you can check “Don’t Show this Again” on some of the pop up windows? Well, if you’d like to reverse that decision, you can just check the corresponding option here.

For example, after you do a full rescan for the first time, Soundpaint will ask if you would like to download any instruments you own but do not have downloaded. You might want the full rescan option to skip this step so that the full rescan doesn’t do any extra steps, so you can click “don’t show this again” before closing the box. To change it back, just click “Check Purchases After Rescan” in the Show This Again window.

BROWSER SETTINGS

By default, Soundpaint will be set to the Static Browser. The Adaptive Browser, which you can activate in this window, automatically switches to the Parts list when you click on one of the part boxes. This can save you a few clicks if you’re building a lot of programs and switching between lists pretty often - but if you aren’t expecting it, it might be a little confusing. In the Static Browser, the lists will only change if you click on a different list directly. 

You can also enable “name optimization” in this window, which will shorten part and program names to exclude the instrument and category name, which can make it easier to see the full names without anything being cut off.

AUTOMATION SETTINGS

Here, you can switch from the default “Full Range” to “Adaptive Range,” which will limit automation values to the current value of the control. For example, if you have the morph amount set to 50%, when you right click and select “Add MIDI CC Automation,” the control will be limited to 0-50 rather than the default 0-100. Of course, you can still drag the range manually or click “reset” to set the range back to full.

ADSR is an absolute essential. It allows you to change the shape of a sound, effectively changing how the sound develops. If you don’t know what ADSR stands for, don't worry! The Soundpaint Part ADSR Rack can help you out:

ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) affects the envelope of a sound. With the exception of Sustain, these controls all control the time it takes for the sound to do something.

Attack is the time it takes for a sound to reach its maximum level after being triggered. A higher attack time will make the sound fade in slower. A higher attack can be great for slower pads, and a low attack can make synth stabs and staccatos really precise and sharp. An attack of 0 can sound a bit unnatural or abrasive at times, so low values that aren’t quite 0 might be more effective, depending on the instrument.

Decay is the time it takes for the sound to decrease from its maximum level to the sustain level. This can be a bit confusing without explaining what Sustain does, so…

Sustain is the level at which the sound holds after decaying. A value of 1 (the maximum) means that the sound will sustain at its full volume until the key is released; this also means that the decay time effectively does nothing (if a sound is decaying from 100% to 100%, the time it takes to do so is meaningless). This can still be a bit confusing, so we’ll take a closer look after we explain…

Release is the time it takes for the sound to fade out to zero after the keys have been released - essentially the opposite of attack. A high release time will sound like a long fade out, which again could be useful for pads. Also like attack, a release of 0 will sound sharp, but also pretty unnatural (especially if there is no reverb anywhere). An immediate-release sound can still be useful, but at least a short release may sound more natural in general. 

So that’s the basics of the sound envelope. Remember, the Rack module can change ADSR for each part individually, or you can link them all together. 

Before we finish today's ADSR discussion, let’s try to visualize the envelope

This chart shows an envelope where the Sustain is set to about 0.5, with a moderately long attack, decay, and release. 

First, the sound attacks to the peak, then decays to the sustain level. It holds at this level until the keys are released, and then fades back to 0 with a moderately long release.

By contrast, the following chart shows an envelope where the Sustain is set to 1, so there is no change between the initial attack and the sustain level

This represents a more “default” kind of sound. If you wanted a similar effect where the initial attack is a little louder, you could control the levels manually with dynamic sustains, too. If you wanted to create a kind of marcato sound, you could set the attack and decay to be pretty short, with the sustain a bit lower. 

Of course, there’s only so much explaining it will do. If you’ve never experimented with ADSR, give it a shot yourself and see what kinds of sounds you can make!

This was a lot of information, but our ADSR discussion isn’t completely over…

But we’ll save that for next time.

Last week, we took a detailed look at the ADSR Rack module. If you’re unfamiliar with ADSR, be sure to check it out!

This time, we’ll go over how the ADSR works in the Filter FX.

In all 3 Filters, there is an ADSR section in the middle. If you play around with these controls, you might not hear any difference in the sound. This is because you also have to select what the ADSR is actually going to affect. 

On the left side, you’ll see these buttons, allowing you to enable the ADSR in a couple of different ways.

The on/off switch actually affects the entire FX module, not just the ADSR. So you’ll probably want to leave this on. 

Cutoff applies the ADSR envelope to the cutoff frequency, from the bottom up. So, if you have a low pass filter with a cutoff of 500Hz and the Attack set to 1 second, you’ll basically hear a filter sweep from 0 to 500Hz over 1 second when you hit a key. 

Invert will reverse this behavior, so the cutoff will apply from the top (20 kHz) down. 

AMP will apply the ADSR to the amplifier - which basically affects the sound in the same way as the Rack ADSR module. Since a filter can change the sound drastically, it can be handy to experiment with the amplifier envelope here as well. Unlike the rack module, this cannot affect the sound of individual parts, however. 

You can enable and disable these buttons individually, so you can apply the ADSR here to both the cutoff and amplifier. 

Changing the ADSR of the cutoff can yield some pretty cool results! For example, if you set decay, sustain, & release to 0 with a low pass filter, the sweeping sound with an immediate cutoff sounds like a more controlled reverse effect. 

To get a really good idea of what these controls sound like, it can be good to use a simple synth sound (like a basic sine wave) so you don’t have to deal with more complicated harmonics. The part Synth Guitar Pluck from Free Angels is a good, free candidate for auditioning filter effects as well.

The Automation Matrix

The Matrix can be somewhat… intimidating. If you load up a program with a ton of LFO automation and controls mapped every which way, you may be tempted to close the Matrix and never return. But, there are a few simple and important things you can do with the Matrix to instantly personalize your Soundpaint Experience.

Enter the Matrix…

...and you will find a list of every assigned automation control in the program. This is the Matrix from one of the legato programs in ADASTRA Ensemble Strings. 

On the Left Side is a list of the controls and which CC or LFO is controlling them. Dynamic Sustains will always appear at the top of this list, even if the program isn’t currently using Dynamic Sustains (so you can still change the settings - for example, you might change this to CC2 if you are using a breath controller or EWI). 

This list is pretty long, so you’ll notice the scroll bar as well. You can also change the sorting of this list by clicking “Affected” and “Source” at the top. This will toggle the list alphabetically or reverse-alphabetically for each column. 

If you want to completely remove a control, hover over it and you will see a trash can icon appear on the left side. 

This can be really useful if you find a program you like, but want it to be a bit less busy. Maybe you don’t want the LFO moving, or you prefer to keep the EQ consistent when you move the modwheel. Just click the trash can and it’s gone! 

Note that the control will stay wherever it was when you deleted it from the matrix. So, if you were deleting an EQ control, you might want to move the modwheel to where you like the EQ before you delete it. Otherwise, you might need to adjust it. 

On the right side of the matrix, you will find the parameters for the control: CC number or velocity and the range. You will recognize this box if you’ve ever right clicked a control to “Add MIDI CC Automation” - the controls are the very same. And just like the Add Automation box, you can move a slider/fader/knob/pot on your physical MIDI controller to assign the control in the Matrix.

You might want to edit the range of certain controls. In this example, the Volume of Part 4 is lower than the others by default, but you might want to bring it up a bit more. You can use the orange bars on either side to adjust the high and low boundaries, or use the orange arrow in the middle to move the entire range. 

The solid white bar is 0 dB, 50%, or whatever the default for that specific control is. The dashed white bar represents where the control was last set (in this case, when you clicked on the Matrix button). 

There are plenty of other things you can do with the Matrix, but in most cases, removing and making simple alterations to the controls will get you where you need to be without hunting for the control in the Racks and Effects.

RACKS

The Rack modules in Soundpaint are key to controlling and customizing your instruments. The Rack modules can be loaded in either Rack A or Rack B. There is not a difference between the 2 other than the name, so you can start using Rack B if Rack A is full. Let’s take a look at some of the essential modules and common controls in the Rack Modules

We’ve already taken a look at the ADSR module, but at the top of this module, we do find the ever-important Part Link control.

Click on the number that corresponds to the part you want to control, or click on the icon in the top right corner to link all parts together and control them all at once. When this is enabled, the icon changes from a circle to chain link (shown on the right picture above)

KEYSWITCH

Any parts you load in the program will automatically appear here. The keyswitches will automatically start at C1, but you can use the arrows or click, hold, and drag to change the individual keyswitches. You can also right click and select “move all keyswitches” to move them all at once.

LEGATO

This module includes another important control shared on many rack modules: The on/off switch.
When the switch is on the left and white, the entire module is off. When it’s on the right and highlighted orange, the module is enabled.

In this case, when the module is off, legato is disabled and the part will function more like a sustain part, where notes will continue to play when a new note is played. We’ll go over H.A.L. and the other controls here in more detail in another article, but you can also watch the video guide here.

MASTER

As the name suggests, the Master rack controls sound for the entire program rather than specific parts. The volume, stereo pan, tone, and pitch controls also appear in the top right corner of Soundpaint.

OFFSET

This allows you to start a sound somewhere other than the beginning. The offset and detail controls both do the same thing: shift the start further into the sound. The difference is simply that the detail control allows for much finer control, maxing out at 0.25 seconds (the main offset control will max out at different times depending on the part).

Last time, we took a look at the first few Rack modules. Let’s continue the discussion and look at the rest! 

TIME

The Time module allows you to speed up or slow down any or all parts. Use the switch at the top to turn the module on, or the time won’t change no matter how much you move the controls! You can also use the reset button in the top right corner to revert everything back to 0.

Speed and Detail both control the speed of the sound: detail simply zooms in and allows you to make finer adjustments. Similar to ADSR, the Attack control changes the time it takes for the sound to reach that speed. So, if Attack is set to 4 seconds, the sound will start at its normal speed and slow down or speed up to your settings over 4 seconds. You can further customize this by adjusting the attack shape. 

TIPS

We’ve taken a closer look at TIPS before. But in brief, TIPS allows us to add pictures and notes to programs. This could be tips from us to you about how to utilize the program, tips from you to yourself about why you created the program, and just about anything else. 

TOUCH

This module hosts a few important controls. First, the Pitchbend Controls (PB Down and PB Up) allow you to change how far the pitch bend wheel on your keyboard will change the pitch. By default, it’s set to +/-2 (2 semitones). If you wanted the wheel to control up to an octave up and down, you could change it to +/-12 instead. You can use the arrows or simply type numbers in these boxes.

Pitchbend can sound really cool on things like synths and guitars, and really odd on things like trumpets and flutes. Not bad per se, but more unnatural, so be mindful what instruments you use pitchbend on. 

Next, we have the Monoglide controls. Turning Monoglide on will limit you to one note at a time; when you play another note, the sound will bend up or down to that note. One way to think of this is like legato for synths: it adds “transitions” between notes, and you can control how slow or fast these transitions are with the Glide Time control. At 0 seconds, the next note will simply replace the previous note; at 1 second, the note will slowly bend over the course of a full second.

NOTE: If there are any legato parts loaded in the current program, the mono glide controls will be disabled. Since mono glide is sort of a synthetic version of legato, they can’t coexist in the same program. 

Finally, we have the Velocity Type control. In other apps, similar controls might be named “Velocity Curve” or “Key Sensitivity.” In essence, this allows you to adjust the velocity response of the program. At default, the linear option (a straight diagonal line) is evenly spread across the 127 velocities. 

Here, we can see some other options. The curves on the top will make it easier to play higher velocities, and the curves on the bottom will make it easier to play softer velocities. Depending on your physical keyboard controller or playing style, you might want to play with these to see what feels best for you. 

We also have a flat velocity option. This allows you to select a single velocity that will always trigger. In this example, with the velocity locked at 127, the loudest dynamic will always play. This can be a good effect, but keep in mind that you will lose the character and human variation of having many dynamics.

VOICING

This final module includes pitch and micropitch controls. Like the MASTER module, these controls are also reflected in the controls at the top right corner. 

Voicing also includes the voice limit: the total number of voices that will be played before Soundpaint starts to purge older voices. What is a voice? Well, it’s basically a single note from a single part. So, if you have a program with 8 parts loaded up and play 2 notes, you will have 16 voices. If you’re holding the sustain pedal and you play another 5 notes, now you have a total of 56 voices. If your maximum voices was set to 50 (for some reason), Soundpaint would cut off the 6 oldest voices. 

Some parts also will play more than one voice per note. For example, if a piano sound also includes a release sample, you might see the voice count go up when you release the key as well.

NOTE: For those of us who have used older sample engines, we might instinctively set this number to a power of 2 (64, 128, 256, etc.). This isn’t really necessary, though. If you want to just set the max voices to 99 and forget about it, feel free!

H.A.L.

Hyper Acoustic Legato (H.A.L.) gives you the freedom to play legato instruments your way! Single notes and chords, fast and slow, overlapping or separated - it’s all up to you.

Let’s start with the basics: what is legato? In sampled and software instruments, legato is essentially the transition between two notes. So, when recording a legato for a flute, we record the player slurring from every note to every other note. When you play this legato technique, you get these transitions, greatly increasing the realism. For comparison, try playing a solo line using a sustain part (which lacks these transitions), and then switch to the legato part.

In Soundpaint, you can control how these parts work with the Legato rack module. Below the on/off switch and the part selector/link, the first option you can select is polyphonic vs monophonic. Basically, monophonic means one note, and polyphonic means multiple notes. The rack module defaults to polyphonic, since you can also play just one note at a time with this option, but monophonic can be preferable in some situations. For example, if you’re playing some very fast notes and want to avoid accidentally playing chords, monophonic mode will take care of it.

CHORD TIMER

Next, we have the chord timer, which controls how long you have to play multiple notes before Soundpaint will instead play a transition. So, if you set this to the maximum of 2000 ms, you will have 2 full seconds to add notes after you play the first note; after 2 seconds, you will trigger a transition to the new note(s) instead of adding the note to the chord. The minimum here is 40ms, but you might need a bit longer if you’re playing complicated chords or, like many of us, aren’t virtuoso keyboard players.

MONO THRESHOLD

In monophonic mode, this control becomes mono threshold, allowing you to adjust the sensitivity of what is and is not a single note transition. For instance, if this is set to 250 ms, if you accidentally hit more than one note in that time, only the last note will play. So, if you’re playing fast passages, you should leave this at a low value; if you tend to accidentally play some extra notes, a higher value might be better.

LEGATO TIME

The Legato Time control gives you time between notes to trigger transitions. For older legato styles, we always had to play overlapping notes, but H.A.L gives us more control! Increasing this value will give you time between notes to play, while still triggering the legato transitions. This means that, at a value of 1000ms, you can lift your finger off a key and play a note a full second later, and still get the legato transition. Higher time values here can be especially useful in polyphonic mode, where you might not have enough fingers to actually overlap all the notes!

LEGATO SPEED & VOLUME

Legato Speed and Legato Volume are more self-explanatory. They control the speed and volume of the legato transitions between notes specifically. So, if you need the notes to play faster, increase the speed! If you want to bring out the transition without turning up the volume for the whole part, just turn up the legato volume. For instance, you might really like the sound of a sliding portamento, so you could emphasize that aspect of the sound individually.