Engineer Series: The 88E
An Impact Soundworks Instrument for Kontakt 6.6
Created in partnership with Mattias Krantz
INTRODUCTION
Mattias Krantz has done it again: another truly unique piano modification experiment (with over 3 million views
on YouTube and counting) where every key on the piano has been tuned to E. And what better way to play
such a piano than to play every note at once?!
Welcome to The 88E, a free - yet surprisingly inspiring - virtual piano. Mattias has sampled this majestic
instrument with 30 dynamic layers, providing a wide spectrum of tonal fullness. Naturally, the samples are also
re-pitched in our Kontakt UI, allowing you to play whatever pitch you'd like.
To inspire your epic, cinematic, and soundtrack work, we've created several dozen snapshots that morph the
core sound into everything from drippy plucks and resonances to dramatic, cosmic-level soundscapes. Besides
these snapshots, you can adjust the instrument's touch & feel to your personal preference with easy controls
for tone, velocity response, filtering, and more.
What is the Engineer Series?
Mattias Krantz is a guitarist and YouTuber known for his wild, imaginative experiments with pianos and guitars.
We are collaborating with him to bring his unique instruments to composers and musicians around the world.
The 88E is the second instrument in this series.
INSTALLATION
1. Download Native Instruments Kontakt 6 Player, which will also install Native Access.
2. Open Native Access, click “Add a Serial”, and input your 88E serial number.
3. The product will be downloaded and installed through Native Access. You can then load Kontakt Player as
a plugin in your DAW, and load The 88E from the “Libraries” tab.
SNAPSHOTS & SCRIPT TABS
The 88E uses Kontakt’s native “snapshots” feature to handle various types of presets. We’ve extended this
feature allowing you to save and load specific types of snapshots without overwriting your entire patch.
To support this, The 88E uses two separate scripts: one for instrument editing, the other for mixing and effects.
Each of these tabs can save or load its data independently! For example, you can load a mixer setup from
Console without affecting your mapping, or load a specific performance preset without affecting your FX.
At the bottom of each tab’s UI, you’ll see two icons in the lower left and lower right: a Lock, and a Camera.
When the Lock icon is enabled (white), the contents of that tab will not be overwritten when you load a new
Snapshot. When the Camera icon is enabled (white), the contents of that tab will be saved when you save a
snapshot.
You can save your own snapshots using whatever combination of tabs you’d like. Make sure to check your
Lock/Camera settings when saving and loading.
MAIN CONTROLS
IMPORTANT: Virtually every slider and button on the interface can be MIDI learned! Simply right click and then
move the desired MIDI CC (in your DAW, or on a physical MIDI controller) to create a link.
Also, you can hover over any control to see help text at the bottom of the Kontakt UI. Try it!
KEYS Section
Here you can “stack” additional voices to create a wider, richer, and/or more detuned effect. The three knobs
will not do anything unless “Stacking Mode” is set to 2 or 3 voices.
Stacking Mode: Sets the total number of voices played with each key press.
Detune: Increasing this knob will tune the voices further away from each other.
Spread: Sets the panning spread of the voices. At 0, the voices are not panned. At maximum, the voices are
panned as wide as possible.
Volume: Sets the volume of the additional voices.
Playback Tab
Transpose: Transposes incoming MIDI input by semitones.
Bend Range: Sets the maximum pitch bend range when using the pitch bend (wheel) controller.
Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release: Sets the volume (amplitude) envelope of the piano.
Tone: Decreasing this knob applies a gentle filter that reduces the brightness of the piano.
Sample Offset: Adjusts the start point of each sample. At 0, each sample is played from the very beginning.
This results in a noticeable ‘lag’, because the physical piano’s hammers take a little time to strike the strings
after a key is pressed.
Sample Set: Toggles between two sets of samples: a Standard set that stretches the pitch across the
keyboard, or a Shepard set that uses the Shepard tone illusion to seamlessly loop a single octave across the
entire keyboard.
Perform Tab
VEL > VOL: Controls how much MIDI velocity affects volume. The higher this knob value, the greater the
correlation between velocity and volume.
Dynamic Filtering: Controls the amount of extra filtering applied depending on MIDI velocity. At max values,
low velocity notes will be more filtered (less bright).
Vel Curve / Table Editor: Changes incoming MIDI velocities to make the instrument more or less sensitive
overall.
Microtuning: Microtuning allows fine tuning of individual notes to approximate historical or non-western tuning
systems. You can toggle Microtuning on/off and save/load presets from the menu button.
● Microtuning Key: Sets the root (aka tonic) note the microtuning indices start from.
● Microtuning Table: Allows manual adjustment of pitches in the scale.
CONSOLE TAB
The second tab at the bottom of the GUI is where you can find Console, our extensive mixer and effects rack.
Since this is deep in scope and features we’ve created a separate manual for it.
Console Manual
CREDITS
Lead Producer: Andrew Aversa
Recording & Performance: Mattias Krantz
Programming: Mario Kruselj, Theodore Chatzilamprou, Sarah Mancuso
Editing: Kent Kercher
UI Design: Paulo Nunes
TROUBLESHOOTING
Having trouble with The 88E? Use it in a project you want to tell us about? Drop us a line via our Contact
page (but be sure to read the FAQ first!)
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE AGREEMENT
The following license is granted non-exclusively to all purchasers of our products. This version
(updated December 4, 2017) supersedes any prior printed or digital versions of our license.
Overview
All sound recordings, performances, scripting and/or code contained in this product is the intellectual property
of Impact Soundworks unless otherwise noted, and remain the property of Impact Soundworks after the
product is purchased. When purchasing an Impact Soundworks product, you are purchasing a non-exclusive
license to use, edit, perform, or otherwise utilize these recordings, performances, scripting and/or code for
commercial and non-commercial purposes as defined below.
Authorized Users
Depending on the type of customer and usage scenario, authorized users of this license will vary. ALL
purchases fall into category A or B.
A. Individual Purchase
This license is extended to customers who are purchasing as the primary user of the product, OR are
purchasing on the behalf of another primary user (i.e. as a gift).
The licensee (primary user) MAY install the product on as many computer systems as he or she has
access to. However, ONLY the licensee may use the product. No other users are authorized.
B. Corporate, Academic, Institutional Purchase
This license is extended to customers who are purchasing for a multi-user setting, such as a shared studio,
networked workstation, computer lab, etc. In this case, the licensee is the institution and not any one user.
In contrast with individual purchases, an institutional license applies to ONE computer / workstation. All
users of that workstation who belong to the purchasing institution (licensee) shall be considered
authorized users.
However, at no point may multiple authorized users access one license simultaneously. Multiple licenses
must be purchased if the product is to be used by multiple users simultaneously.
Scope of License
The licensee is entitled to the use and unlimited editing of the product within the scope of music production,
performance, recording, and composition. This includes both non-commercial and commercial usage of all
types, including, but not limited to, film scores, television scores, music libraries, video game soundtracks,
digital and physical music releases, albums, compilations, etc. Exceptions to this scope are listed below.
The licensee MAY NOT use the product in the production of any other sample library or virtual instrument
products.
The licensee MAY NOT sell individual sounds from a product in any context.
For clarity: The licensee MAY use sounds from the product to create individual sound effects (SFX) for use in
film, TV, advertising, and video games. However, the licensee cannot sell these sounds individually via
marketplace, stock music/stock audio site, etc.
Ownership, Resale, and Transfer
Redistributing, reselling, electronically transmitting, uploading, sharing, or renting the product in any way,
shape, or form is prohibited by law. The licensee may create a physical backup copy of any digitally purchased
and downloaded product. This backup copy is subject to the same limitations as the original copy of the
product, and may not be transferred to any other individual for any reason.
Copyright © 2022 Impact Soundworks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Loading...