PRO𝑋

Description

PROX PIANO ENGINE

Noire is a very special piano. In our opinion, it manages to cover the full emotional range offered by all of the other NI pianos (Giant, Alicias, Grandeur, and Maverick) and still somehow offer something more (this is a great overview of all NI Pianos). In PROX, we have tried very hard to take Noire and make the best of its functionality usable in a live setting. Using Noire in the studio is straight forward, particularly when you have time to move through tabs and click check boxes. But our goal was to take the best capabilities from Noire and allow you to both access that in a live setting via the MainStage GUI and your keyboard controller.

This product is currently our most premier product. It rivals PRO, and is indeed based on PRO, but represents more than a year of iteration to create a truly playable product that takes advantage of inner workings of Noire. Most significantly, the knob above each of the three buttons controls the amount of the buttons selected underneath. For example, the ability to “tune” how much Grand EQ is being employed represents an improvement in the utility of the Grand EQ button that was unanticipated, but is actually an extension of the way we implemented the Noire functionality. For example, the Bite EQ or Transient functionality in the top row of buttons are features in Noire that greatly benefited from being able to tune the amount of each applied to the piano sounds.

Six different versions of Noire are available at the touch of a button: Pop, Score, Pure, Emotional, Rich Felt, and Felt. The Mod-wheel is mapped to the most usable range of piano color in each, but we go far beyond that. The following functionality also directly from Noire can be activated from the top row of buttons and tuned with the associated knob:Parallel Compression, Transient – Sustain, Bite, Music Hall, Tape Delay, Particles, and Rain. The top-left button on Pro X retains the patented “8va+Shimmer” button, as well as a thorough revision of the functionality from PRO:
       ★ Two reverbs with up to 100% feedback (controlled by mod-wheel): Infinite Hold, Infinity Verb, modulated by the knob above them
       ★ Two compressors: Pop and EDM, with amounts modulated by the knob above them
       ★ Four EQ Curves: Full Body, Grand, Vintage->Lo-Fi, Warm EQ, modulated by the knob above them
       ★ Four new Modern reverbs: Nice Hall, Blue Sky, Nice Space, Shimmer, modulated by the knob above them
       ★ Four Delays: eight, dotted eight, Lo-Fi delay, Guitar Delay, modulated by the knob above them
       ★ Particles: Rate subtly controlled by the mod-wheel; amount modulated by the knob above
       ★ Rain: amount modulated by the knob above

The button activates each of these effects, but the knob above each column activates how much of each of these effects is applied.  Together they provides an unprecedented level of control over your sound while playing live. I’m completely addicted to tuning a subtle amount of tape delay in with the mix – this is not something you get exactly right at home. Tuning the exact amount of EQ so your piano speaks in this mix in this room has also been a game changer.

PROX SYNTH ENGINE

The Synth Engine is designed to provide the absolute best-sounding sounds from stock MainStage. Consisting of 102 individual instrument sounds or “patches”, each and every patch has carefully curated parameters custom designed to respond in two dimensions to the mod-wheel and (more subtly) aftertouch. Note, this is the identical synth engine found in LEGACY and PRO.

  ★ Keyboards (Rhodes, EPs, Organs) [14 patches]
  ★ Analog Pads (Warm, Bright) [17 patches]
  ★ Digital Pads (Bright, Chaotic, Evolving)) [10 patches]
  ★ Synths (Poly, Mono) [16 patches]
  ★ Orchestral (plucks, strings) [12 patches]
  ★ Movement (arps, pulses, animations) [33 patches]

The Synth Engine also features four specially purposed sets consisting of 97 combinations, efficiently built around aliased layers of the 102 patches. Each combination responds to the mod-wheel and aftertouch with significantly more dimensionality than individual patches do alone. You will hear sounds moving from the background to the foreground based on the position of the mod wheel, the aftertouch, as well as how hard you strike the keys.

  ★ Transients / Tones / Layers: 13 combinations of patches geared toward the “first keys” player intended to simply and beautiful layer with the piano engine.
  ★ Pads / Strings: 36 combinations of warm & analog, to bright & digital, and including classical flavors such as strings, choirs and organs; this premium collection of pads is focused on giving the dedicated “second keys” player everything they need to serve the song in a big way.
  ★ Movement Combinations: 22 combinations sometimes layered with pads, and including a non-animated versions for builds. This set of patches can add animation to nearly any genre of music.
  ★ EDM Combos: 26 combinations focused on performing modern Electronic Dance Music sounds, live. This set thinks the way EDM music is produced, by adding or subtracting one or two elements at a time, as well as creating “builds” and “breaks”.

The “secret sauce” of the Synth Engine is the X-Y pad which displays current mod-wheel and aftertouch values. This visual feedback helps you understand how your hardware responds and gives you insight into the synth parameters mapped. Before long you will find this real-time control becoming second-nature to you. You will  intuitively respond to what is happening in the moment, without having to think about which knob to grab or specifically how to modulate your sound. This design keeps you in the moment!

Piano x Synths = Intuitive Keys

A major distinguishing characteristic of all our templates, is the multiplicative utility that emerges. For example the progression of synth patches that we might typically step through in a song or set, plays independent of the piano configuration. This architecture provides a continuity of piano sounds across a range of synth sounds, and allows us to audition and employ different pianos with a simple button push, without having to specifically create new layered combinations. This means for instance, that if you’re covering 2nd Keys, and the piano player is not available, it takes you just a moment to layer a piano with your arrangement of patches to cover the whole set (this actually happened to me!). This gives us unprecedented power in a live setting to act as arranger and producer. Bringing a piano in or out is always just a simple button click away and keeps things sounding fresh.