Use Your Receptor Live!

When Keyboard first reviewed the Muse Research Receptor in the Nov. ’04 issue, we thought it was groundbreaking. Here was a box that let you play almost all the same virtual instruments you’d run on a computer, only in a more stable, sturdy, and streamlined form.

What makes Receptor a powerful live instrument is that you can play all those plug-ins as though they were part of the same performance setup on the hardware keyboard you wish somebody made. The following tips will help you take full advantage of this. If you don’t have a QWERTY keyboard, mouse, and monitor hooked up, use the Receptor Remote Control software available at www.museresearch.com to control the unit from your computer. Once you explore these programming possibilities at home, you can take the Receptor to the gig, hook up your MIDI controller, and just play.

The world’s fastest split. Open two instruments, each in its own Receptor channel. Open the MIDI filter on the first instrument (see Figure 1, below left), and drag the note range sliders so that the blue area covers the range of keys through which you want that instrument to sound. Click Close, then select the other instrument and open its MIDI filter. Here, set “Listen to MIDI Channel” to the same channel as the prior instrument (this should be the channel that your MIDI controller is sending on), then set your desired play range as before. Click Close again, and you’re done!

Create massive instrument layers.

Layers are even easier than splits: Load the instruments you want into Receptor channels, and in the MIDI filter for each, set “Listen to MIDI Channel” to the same channel, and leave note ranges alone. Voilà!
You can then change the relative volume and panning of these instruments in Receptor’s mixer, and save the entire configuration as a Multi patch. Try creating a stereo image by slightly modifying a patch, then panning it and the unmodified version left and right. The result will jump out of the speakers and knock you flat.

Assign controls to bring up different layers.

Need physical control of the mix of your split or layer? Assign a knob or fader on your controller to send MIDI CC7, and do so for each Receptor channel in the layer: To control the level of the instrument on Receptor channel 1, send CC7 on MIDI channel 1. Take the next available knob or fader, and make it send CC7 on MIDI channel 2, and so on. By default, Receptor channelizes controller data but routes notes according to your “Listen to MIDI Channel” settings, so this works even if several instruments are listening to the same MIDI channel.

Use velocity-switching to create diverse, dynamic sounds.

Keyboards use velocity-switching to play back different sample levels in a sound. On the Receptor, you can velocity-switch between entirely different plug-ins. If you have a MIDI controller with a consistent keyboard action, and reasonable velocity control as a player, this lets you create some remarkable sound setups.
Suppose you have a tune where you play piano, except for a middle breakdown where you want to add some sampled congas. You also want the full range of keys to play piano all the time, so a split is out, and you don’t want to change patches during the tune. In the MIDI filter for the piano channel (see Figure 1 at left), assign your piano plug-in to play only up to a velocity of 110, and you’ll be able to play your piano parts as normal as long as you don’t strike the keys too hard. If needed, use the plug-in’s internal velocity curves or scaling options to compensate for your slightly subdued playing.
In the MIDI filter on the conga instrument’s Receptor channel, set it to play only above velocities of 120. You now have piano and congas mapped to the same MIDI notes. The gap between velocities 110 and 120 serves as a buffer so if you lean too hard into the piano, or don’t slap the “congas” hard enough, you’ll get silence instead of a glaringly wrong sound.
A more typical use brings in more instruments as you play harder. You might have a certain synth for a lead sound, mixing in a second synth as you play harder (or softer), or you could complement your electric piano chords with a funky brass stab heard only when you really spank those keys.

Assign Different Program Changes To Different Channels Using Singles.

If your controller supports the ability to send MIDI program change messages on different MIDI channels, you can create instant layers on-the-fly by simply changing the instruments used to create the layer or split. To do this, you need to send a program change to the Receptor channel whose sound you want to change. Furthermore, we want to use Single presets to accomplish this instead of Multis, since Multis change out the entire palette of sounds in Receptor, whereas Singles are constrained to an individual Receptor channel.

Let’s say that we have a string pad Single loaded in Receptor channel 1, and a piano Single on Receptor channel 2. By setting Receptor to target Singles instead of Multis — do this by choosing “Ignore Bank Select and Target Singles” in the MIDI pane of Receptor’s Setup screen, as shown above — we can load whatever Single we might want to layer with the piano by simply sending a program change on channel 1. If we’ve stored a synth pad Single in preset location 12, we can call it up instantly by sending a “program 12” message on channel 1. If we wanted to change the piano out with an organ that was in preset location 15, we can send a “program 15” program change message on MIDI channel 2, and the acoustic piano will be replaced by the organ.

Brute-Force Multitimbral.

Onstage, you may want to control the Receptor solely from your MIDI keyboard, and not set up a mouse and monitor, or a laptop with the Remote Control software. A lot of budget keyboard controllers make you press a couple of buttons, then enter a number (perhaps using the keys themselves) to send a program change — not the quickest way to change sounds when the drummer is counting off the next tune.
One way to get around this is to load in the plug-ins you want into a large Multi, then simply change MIDI channels on your controller. Since Receptor defaults to playing whichever of its own channels has the same number as the incoming MIDI channel, you’ll hear the plug-in on Receptor channel 1 when you send MIDI channel 1, on Receptor channel 2 when you send MIDI channel 2, and so on. This really doesn’t require any programming to speak of. You simply load whatever plug-in you want in whichever Receptor channel you want, and when you send notes down the like-numbered MIDI channel, you get sound out of that plug-in.
When you create a Multi that uses a lot of instruments, your chosen plug-ins are always running, regardless of whether or not they’re making sound at a given time. As a result, you may find that after loading five or more instruments, you’ve used up about half of the available CPU power. Even if you’re using more, just try playing your parts. The Receptor runs efficiently enough that you’ll likely have no problems with this “high-idle” processor usage. If you are audibly hitting the CPU wall, though, consider using the Snapshot approach described at right.

Extend Your Palette With Third-Party Effects

Anyone at one point in his or her musical life has used an effects box. Maybe it’s just a reverb, or maybe some EQ. Many synthesizers have built-in effects, too. Receptor’s unique architecture lets you take effects to an entirely new level, taking the output of a virtual instrument, and completely changing the nature of its sound by routing it through the same third-party, dedicated plug-ins you’d use in a DAW like Logic or Pro Tools.

What is interesting about this is that when you think about it, basic modular synthesis is simply taking a sound source, performing some filtering, then perhaps sending it through a modulator. With Receptor, we can take the output of a virtual instrument, and route it through modulators, filters, and vast combinations of effects, either in series or in parallel, letting you essentially treat the effects plug-ins on Receptor’s hard drive as synth modules.
For example, BIAS FX Machine Pro or Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2 (shown) offer a huge range of effects that can completely change the nature of the sound. And if the three insert effects on each Receptor instrument channel aren’t enough, you can use the send busses to get six more effects (three per send), then slap up to three more on the main output channel. Receptor’s preset architecture lets you selectively and instantly bypass any of the effects.

A Standing Reception

As terribly convenient as a Receptor is, it’s even better when it’s at the right height and angle for your live performance situation. I personally have had great success using a rolling autolocator/mixer stand such as the On-Stage MIX-400 ($225, shown at right) or QuikLok QL-400 ($139.95). These can hold either a barenaked Receptor or one mounted in a gig bag, and the idea is to use the stand “backwards” — hold the Receptor with the control panel facing away from you, and mount it on the stand with the top surface up. The adjustable tier bars that normally support the front edge of your autolocator or mixer will support the Receptor’s rear panel. Now, spin the stand around so that the high side of the Receptor faces you, adjust the angle to your liking, and all the controls will be right at your fingertips.

One Bag To Rule Them All

If the Receptor is your entire source of sound, a rack bag can make gigging pleasant. Imagine walking from your car to the show with a rack bag over one shoulder, a lightweight controller in one hand, and a keyboard stand in the other.
Several bags made by Gator have a 2-space rack plus an area for a laptop. For our situation, we already have the computer inside the Receptor — which makes that space available for a 15" flat panel display. The cases are designed so that you can keep all the wiring hooked up. Set it down, open the flap for your monitor, pull out the mouse, and you’re ready to be a programming or performing monster on a moment’s notice. Higher-end models such as the SKB Studio Flyer ($299.95, shown at the right housing audio interfaces and a laptop) are rigid, and have “airport roller” wheels and a handle.

Hunt for sounds with your controller’s increment/decrement buttons.

In the Receptor, if you’re on program 128 of a given bank and you go up a program, you get program 001 of the next bank; if you go down from 001, you “fall” to program 128 of the previous bank. This means you can use the increment and decrement buttons (or data dial) on your controller to navigate through all the presets in the Receptor. Since incrementing up and down doesn’t send any absolute patch information, you can start by loading any preset from any Source, Single, or Multi bank, then immediately explore the surrounding neighborhood. You can also do this with a QWERTY keyboard and monitor attached, by opening up any bank list and using the up and down arrow keys.

Mix sounds between the Receptor’s virtual instruments and a hardware keyboard.

Connect the line outputs of your keyboard to the Receptor’s line inputs. Select an empty Receptor channel, and choose “Line Input” as its source (see Figure 2 at right). Now, the audio you hear on that channel is the output of that keyboard.
If you want, you can control the mix level between your virtual instruments and your external hardware using CC7 volume messages, as explained on page 42. Running audio through Receptor also lets you add effect plug-ins to that signal. Finally, you can create Multi or Snapshot patches that mute or unmute the inputs, allowing you to hear just the Receptor, just your connected hardware, or both.
Receptor also has a stereo S/PDIF input, and you can bring signals from it and the analog line ins to different channels, with different effects, at the same time. Just make sure to set the Sample Clock Source (on the Setup page) to “S/PDIF Sync Enabled.”

Use Snapshots to conserve CPU power and reduce load times.

One of the most unique and powerful Receptor features is the ability to preload a bunch of plug-ins (up to the full 16), then choose from “Snapshots” of how they’re set up. The advantage is that switching between these is instant, so you can keep all the plug-ins for the whole night loaded up and right in front of you; when you need to, just switch between Snapshots to activate what you need.
If you use soft samplers, switching Snapshots won’t make you wait for them to reload all their samples, which is what would happen otherwise. The catch is that individual plug-ins, once loaded, can’t receive internal program changes (though the Receptor still responds to them at the mixer level), so your palette is limited to the plug-ins’ presets that were active when you created each Snapshot. Of course, you call up Snapshots with MIDI program changes.
To save a Snapshot, click the Save/File button in the Multi area, select the Patch tab in the pop-up window, and make sure the right side of the New button — where it says “snap shot” — is lit. (see Figure 3 on page 43) Type in a name and click Close. Start by creating one with all your plug-ins turned on, then save song-specific versions with the channels you don’t need bypassed. The Bypass button for a channel is the “X’ed-out” icon at the very bottom. When it’s active (yellow), the source and effect plug-ins on that channel will let go of the CPU. Save all your Snapshots for a particular gig or band in the same bank. When browsing sounds onscreen, you can always tell a Snapshot or Snapshot bank from anything else by the brown text.
Since Snapshots load everything into RAM, you need to be judicious in how you program your banks, especially with samplers. It’s much better, for example, to load multiple instruments into one instance of a sampler such as Kontakt, than it is to load multiple samplers with one sound each into several Receptor channels.

Get zero-latency plug-in switching with Z-load.

Z-load is a proprietary Receptor caching technology. The system “learns” the plug-ins that you like, so once you load a plug-in, it’s always available for instant recall. This feature is best for players who want to load only one plug-in at a time. Why do this when you could have a nice big Multi or Snapshot instead? Because if you only need one sound at a time, and prefer not to take a display screen and mouse to the gig, you can scroll through plug-ins from the Receptor’s front panel with zero waiting. Z-load works better with DSP-based (i.e. modeling) soft synths than with sample-based ones, because unlike with Snapshots, samples themselves are not cached and therefore still take time to load.
When “Enable Z-load” is checked in the Info pane of the Setup screen (see Figure 4 at left), Receptor will keep all plug-ins you load afterwards (whether that’s by loading a Source right into a channel, or by calling up a Single or Multi) alive in RAM, even if you later “unload” them in terms of what you can see onscreen.
Strategically, here’s the best way to proceed: Without Z-load enabled, create and save a Multi containing every plug-in you might want to use at the gig. Think of this as your “pre-show load” patch. At the gig, you can perform the next steps from the Receptor’s front panel (we don’t have room for a full tutorial here, but you’ll find a video showing exactly what knobs to tweak at www.keyboardmag.tv): Enable Z-load, load the Multi, then unload it by doing a “Load Blank Patch.” Now, press the Source button on the front panel, and dial your first instrument into Receptor channel 1 using the knob marked “push to apply.” You’ll find it takes no time to load. Scroll to any other plug-in, press the knob to confirm, and as long as that plug-in was part of your “pre-show” Multi, the sound will change instantly. It’s really something to see a soft synth as complex and memory-intensive as Native Instruments Reaktor come up as quickly as if it were a General MIDI sound on a hardware ROMpler!
A final word of caution: Since Z-load keeps everything you do in RAM, you don’t want it on for general use — even just browsing sounds will fill up your RAM fairly quickly, and you’ll have to disable Z-load or reboot Receptor.

LATE-BREAKING NEWS ABOUT Z-LOAD

In the print version of this story, the final tip (also shown above) was about how to use the Receptor’s “Z-load” plug-in caching technology so that once you’ve loaded a plug-in the first time, the system remembers it, and whenever you switch to that plug-in thereafter, the switch will happen with no delay.
Muse Research has just informed us that as of Receptor operating system version 1.6, there’s a new feature that essentially combines the best of two worlds: Z-load and Snapshots. Here’s what Muse’s Bryan Lanser had to say:
“Z-load is valuable because it caches a plug-in in RAM so that it can be recalled at a later date, and the fact that it is an active plug-in means that you can change patches within that plug-in using a simple program change command over MIDI. The downside is that Z-load does nothing to help you with samplers, since the samples used by your soft sampler plug-in still have to load.
“Snapshots are valuable because they let you cache all the plug-ins, including samplers and their samples, and keep them available for instant access. Here, the downside is that you can’t change the programs of those plug-ins that you might want to — say, on a virtual analog synth or an organ like Native Instruments B4. Even Kontakt has a special bank mode that lets you quickly switch from one sampled instrument to another. However, snapshots intercept program changes and essentially ‘freeze’ their settings — arrgh! What you really want is the best of both worlds.
“Enter Receptor OS version 1.6. This improves Snapshots by letting you designate one MIDI channel for the actual snapshot program changes, and then route other MIDI channels’ program change information directly to the plug-in. This clever bit of code lets your ‘major changes’ occur on one channel, i.e. selecting any of your Snapshots as well as all of the things that go along with those, like MIDI filter and mixer settings. Then, all of the other channels can send their patch changes directly to the plugin that is set to listen to ALL channels. The result is that Snapshot changes occur on one MIDI channel, individual program changes occur on any of the other MIDI channels, thereby giving you the editability of Z-load and the instant load times of Snapshots.”