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MusePlayer
Operating Manual
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Muse Research MusePlayer Operating Manual

MusePlayer Manual
Software & Sound License Agreement
Ultimate Sound Bank Software License Agreement
TO PERSONS WHO PURCHASE OR USE THIS PRODUCT: carefully read all the terms and conditions of this software licensing agreement. Using the software or this documentation indicates your acceptance of the terms and conditions of that license agreement.
Reminder of the terms of your license This summary is not your license agreement, the entire agreement is printed in the appendix of this manual. A license agreement is a contract, and removing MuseBox from its packaging and powering it on binds you and USB to all its terms and conditions. In the event anything contained in this summary is incomplete or in conflict with the actual license agreement, the terms of the complete agreement prevail.
YOU MAY: (a) use the installed program only on MuseBox; (b) make copies of the program solely for backup purposes. You must repro­duce and include the copyright notice on a label on any backup copy.
THIS LIMITED WARRANTY AND RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT IS IN LIEU OF, AND YOU HEREBY WAIVE, ANY AND ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, BOTH EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE LIABILITY OF USB PURSUANT TO THIS LIMITED WARRANTY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE REPLACEMENT OF THE DEFECTIVE DISK(S), AND IN NO EVENT SHALL USB OR ITS SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE, OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY THIRD PARTIES EVEN IF USB HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS WHICH MAY VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Copyright Notice
Ultimate Sound Bank Sound License Agreement
DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT. BY USING THIS PRODUCT YOU ACCEPT THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT.
1. License Grant. USB grants to you, subject to the following terms and conditions, a non-exclusive, nontransferable right to use each autho­rized copy of the installed product. The installed product is the pro­perty of USB and is licensed to you only for use in this music instru­ment. This license expressly forbids resale or other distribution of these Sounds or their derivatives, either as they exist installed, or mixed, combined, filtered, resynthesized, extracted or otherwise edi­ted, for use as sounds, samples, multisamples, wavetables, programs or patches in a sampler, microchip or any hardware or software sam­ple playback device. You cannot sell them or give them away for use by others in their sampling or sample playback devices.
2. Protection of Software. You agree to take all reasonable steps to protect this product from unauthorized copying or use. You agree not to modify the installed product to circumvent any method or means adopted or implemented by USB to protect against or discourage the unlicensed use of copying of the installed product.
3. Ownership. As between you and USB, ownership of, and title to, the enclosed digitally recorded sounds (including any copies) will be held by USB. Copies are provided to you only to enable you to exercise your rights under the license. Only this license is purchased by you.
5. Restrictions. Except as expressly authorized in this Agreement, you may not rent, sell, lease, sublicense, distribute, transfer, copy, repro­duce, display, modify or time share the installed product or documen­tation.
Welcome / Table of contents
Thank You!
Congratulations for your purchase of MuseBox™, featuring built-in sounds from Ultimate Sound Bank. We hope your new instrument will become a valuable music-making partner for you and for your musical endeavors.
We are proud to feature MusePlayer in MuseBox. MusePlayer is a software-based virtual instrument that is based on the UVI Engine, and is a high-quality sampling synthesizer that is ver­satile and expandable. MusePlayer features a huge range of sounds, simple access to the presets and great sound shaping tools so you can create your own custom sounds quickly and easily.
Thanks to the dual-layer architecture, you can mix and match all the included sounds to create your own unique sounds. This is the easiest way to create a fat bass sound, a rich pad, etc. Each layer is complete with a great arsenal of synthesis tools: multimode filter, LFOs, envelopes... And a global section with more filters and LFOs.
- MusePlayer is Built-in and preauthorized.
- Two layers delivering amazing sonic capabilities
- Hundreds of high-quality presets
- Nearly 4 GB of sounds on the built-in solid state drive
- Next-Generation UVI-Engine
- Over-driven “analog” filters available on each layer
- Dual effect section with 29 algorithms
- New LFO waveforms
- LFOs & FX all have host tempo sync
- Ability to create and save your own presets
- Expandable with new sample sets on CF cards
1 Quick Start Guide.................................4-5
Powering up your MuseBox Selecting a TAG Selecting a PRESET Creating your own custom Layer Saving your new Sounds
4 Using MusePlayer ................6-7
A - Selecting Sounds B - Dual Layer Architecture C - MusePlayer ’s Parameters D- Optimization E- A few more tips...
6 Interface Overview .............14 - 20
7 MIDI Continuous Controllers Table .. 21
9 General FAQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 - 23
Award winning technology
MusePlayer is powered by the UVI Engine™, a modern tool that runs MusePlayer but is invisible to you. The main asset of the UVI-Engine is the sound quality, thanks to the use of 32-bit floating point proessing throughout its architecture. Lots of virtual instruments say they sound great, but by simply doing some critical listening on your own, you'll find in the case of the UVI Engine, its actually true!
10 Troubleshooting & Support .....24 - 25
11 Credits & Thanks ....................26
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Quickstart Guide
MusePlayer is a virtual instrument powered by the UVI engine that is built-in and pre-authorized on your MuseBox, ready to make music immediately. MusePlayer features a comprehen­sive set of preset sounds that cover nearly any musical situa­tion. By exploring some of the programming capabilities of this powerful piece of software, you can take these preset sounds and customize them further to your liking, or come up with completely new sounds of your own.
The MusePlayer automatically loads when you power on your MuseBox. The sounds appear as PRESETS organized under different TAGs, which are definable categories that let you organize your sounds and presets however you wish.
The Factory Presets can easily be navigated by pressing the PLAY button on the front panel, and then selecting a TAG of interest using the top knob, and then selecting the PRESET of interest by turning the bottom knob. Presets load when selec­ted by pressing the buttom knob to load.
Factory Presets are permanently stored in your MuseBox, but each preset can be individually edited and stored as USER presets using the EDIT functions on your MuseBox. The EDIT functions make the eight most common parameters in MusePlayer available for adjustment from the front panel, such as Envelope Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release, or chan­ging the Filter characteristics. This gives you basic control over the sounds without requiring you to view the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of MusePlayer.
However, by connecting a computer monitor or networking your MuseBox to a computer and running the MuseTools software to view the GUI remotely, you have COMPLETE access to the extensive editing capabilities within the MusePlayer instrument.
Once you've edited or created a new sound inside MusePlayer, you can store the sound by Saving it in MusePlayer, then "tag­ging" it so it can be viewed for instant selection in the PLAY mode of MuseBox.
MusePlayer features a diverse set of presets that are ready to conquer any musical challenge you face. Pianos, guitars,
drums, synths, pads, strings.... they're all here, categorized in a
straight-forward manner that will make it easy to find the sound that is just right for your musical needs. This manual tells you about the MusePlayer functionality and how to pro­gram the sounds you have pre-installed on your MuseBox. .
For more information about using MuseBox, consult the MuseBox manual. The remainder of this document focusses on using the MusePlayer GUI and the functionality of this powerful virtual instrument.
Getting Started with MusePlayer
MusePlayer is remarkably easy to use. Built on the UVI sample synthesis engine that is used in virtual instruments like MOTU Mach V, Spectasonics Atmosphere and Trilogy, and more, the MusePlayer virtual instrument sounds great and is very effi­cient. Once you are familiar with the basic layout of the ins­trument, you'll be able to modify and make your own sounds to your heart's content. Here's how to achieve immediate gratification with your MuseBox using MusePlayer:
1. Connect your MIDI controller
Connect your controller to the MIDI input or to a USB input on the back of your MuseBox.
2. Turn on your MuseBox
Turning on the power is done by pressing the button in the top-right hand corner once. The unit will power on and load the patch that was saved the last time it was shut down.
3. Press the PLAY button to enter PLAY mode.
Play mode gets MuseBox ready to play preests instantly. MuseBox powers up into PLAY mode, but if you are using any of the other functions, press the PLAY button to enter the PLAY mode.
4. Select a TAG of interest
There are a large number of TAGS pre-defined in your MuseBox. To browse through the TAGs, simply turn the bot­tom knob until you see a category of interest.
5. Select a Preset from the TAG
Once you've selected a TAG of interest, then turn the top knob to select a preset in that particular TAG. Press the bottom knob to load the sound and enjoy!
6. Start Playing
You will now hear the preset you have selected if you have attached a MIDI or USB keyboard to your MuseBox!
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Quickstart Guide
If you don't hear any sound, check the following:
 •VerifyyouhaveconnectedyourMIDIkeyboardtotheMIDI
input on the back of your Musebox, or into a USB port on the back of your Musebox you are using a USB keyboard with your MuseBox. Note that MuseBox will ONLY work with device­compliant USB MIDI devices; not all USB MIDI devices are device-compliant, so you might need to connect using a stan­dard 5-Pin DIN MIDI cable with some equipment.
•Makesureyourkeyboardorcontrollerispoweredup.
 •VerifythatMuseBoxisreceivingMIDIfromyourkeyboard.
This is easily done by looking for the "eighth note" on the front panel LCD next to the Left and Right level meters. If you see the note appear, but still don't hear a sound, you can verify what channel the keyboard is sending on by pressing the SETUP button. This will display the MIDI Monitor, and you will see the message "Listening..." until a MIDI message is received. Once a MIDI message is received, it will display the channel, the note number, and the velocity value. MuseBox is setup to receive MIDI in OMNI mode which means it listens on all channels, but you can over-ride this setting and make it listen only to one channel. If you have changed the factory settings for MIDI reception, then make sure you are sending MIDI on the channel that MuseBox is expecting to receive.
 •Verifythatthereisaudioactivitybyviewingthefrontpanel
VU meters on your MuseBox LCD. If you don't see any meter action, then it is possible that the individual channel volume is turned down inside your MuseBox.
 •CheckthatthemastervolumecontrolonMuseBoxistur­ned all the way up, and you have either a pair of headphones connected to the front panel, or a mixer or a pair of amplified speakers are connected to the LINE OUTPUTS of the MuseBox.
 •Verifythattheampormixeristurnedonandconfiguredto
receive audio, and the input level is set to a nominal listening level.
Important Information About Presets.
When you turn on your MuseBox and press the PLAY button, you are accessing the PLAY level presets. Those presets include all of the sounds available in the MusePlayer virtual instrument, AS WELL AS ALL THE OTHER VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS IN YOUR MUSEBOX. In some cases, a PLAY level preset might consist of MusePlayer only. Sometimes it has both MusePlayer and a separate effect loaded for an enhan­ced sound. Sometimes a PLAY preset might have MuseBox running in parallel with aneffect processing an audio input so that you can sing and play keyboards at the same time.
This manual covers only the editing and creation of MusePlayer presets, and PLAY level presets. Please keep in mind that there are several different virtual instruments inside your MuseBox, and you might have to open up the GUI of a different virtual instrument to create or modify some PLAY level presets. For more information on creating and editing PLAY level presets,
please see your MuseBox Owners Manual.
Presets and TAGS in MusePlayer
Another important thing to understand is that MusePlayer Factory Presets can are organized in two ways: in Factory BANK preset mode, and in TAG preset mode. The Factory BANK of presets are available when you open up the Graphical User Interface of MusePlayer and select presets with your Mouse. You can also select presets with MusePlayer loaded on one of the two synth channels, and then use your mouse to select presets using the drop-down preset selector and the BANK button selected. And finally, you can access the Factory BANK presets from the front panel of your MuseBox when you have MusePlayer loaded on one of the synth channels and the EDIT mode is selected.
The Factory Presets are also TAGGED in MuseBox, so you can use your mouse to select presets using the drop-down preset selector and the TAG button selected when MusePlayer loa­ded on one of the two synth channels.
Although this sounds complicated, it isn't: This function sim­ply allows you to select presets alphabetically (using BANK mode) or by sound category (using TAG mode).
It is important to relalize that MuseBox has two different "levels" of presets, and two different "types" of presets.
English 5
Using MusePlayer
tisampled preset, you have access to two “layers” that you can control either individually or grouped. We’ve called the layers “programs” because in each layer you may load what sounds like a full-featured instrument. The large A and B buttons switch the interface panel to control each program (layer) independently. For each program you may set the filters, modulations and other parameters independently. You can also use the “link” switch to allow editing of two programs at once, which saves time when editing layered sounds.
C - MusePlayer: Parameters
Some Parameters are independent in each layer, while some other are common to both. To simplify things the background shade of gray is slightly different for the common parame­ters. This will be visible on your computer screen.
A - Selecting Sounds
Selecting sounds is very easy : click on the Preset name dis­play and a pop-up directory will appear with the full listing of MusePlayer ’s sounds organized by category and sub cate­gory. Click on the preset name to load the sound.
You can also use the left and right arrow buttons to select sounds incrementally, moving up and down in the directory list. This is useful when you are already in the desired sub­directory and want to listen to the next available preset.
The two smaller displays to the right of the preset name dis­play are the Program (or layer) displays. Clicking these dis­plays opens the same directory as the presets, but also shows the individual layer names that make up each preset, allowing you to quickly select and build your own presets.
You’ll also find left and right arrows buttons there to select programs incrementally.
Please take a look at the Sounds listing for an in-depth look at the presets.
B - Dual Layer Architecture
One of the major features of MusePlayer is the dual layer architecture. Instead of playing and controlling only one mul-
A- Parameters that can be independent in each layer:
 • Eachlayer hasitsownLevel,Pan, PitchcoarseandPitch
Fine knob. This allows you to re-balance the sound, try varia­tions in the mix and the sound.
 • Filters:youcanapply onefilterto eachlayerselecting it
from three LPF (Low pass Filter) and one HPF (High Pass Filter)
 • LFO:fourLFOs(LowFrequencyOscillators)canbeusedas
modulation sources for four destinations : Pitch, Filter, Amplifier, Drive and Pan. Two are specific to each layer and two are common, although the settings can be different.
 • TwoADSRenvelopes:
1. Amplifier Envelope: Controls the nature of the volume of the sound (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release).
2. Filter Envelope: Controls the nature of the tone of the sound by changing how the filter acts on the sound through time. .
Both envelopes feature a "V-time" knob (applicable to Attack or Decay) and a "SENS" knob, the Amplifier envelope adds "START" time knob that changes when the sound starts playing in the sample itself.
 • Pitchenvelopewithtwoparameters:DEPTHandTIME.
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B- Common parameters to both layers :
 •Velocitycurve, POLY(phony) setting, OCT(ave), BEND & 32
-bit mode.
 • The Master Filter and its resonance slider are common to both layers.
Using MusePlayer
3. Enable 32-bit mode
This feature allows you to save about 15% of CPU power by using more RAM. Depending on how many sounds you have loaded up in your MuseBox, this can provide the benefit of better sound with less CPU usage.
 • The effects settings (FX1 and FX2) are also common to both layers.
 • Eachlayerhas aMUTE button, that mutes the correspon­ding layer and "solos" other one. When mute is selected, the LINK function is disabled and the position of the switch beside it is set on the other layer.
 • Twoscreensarededicatedtodisplayingvalues:
EDIT: shows the value of the editing currently applied to a parameter or if no editing has been done it shows the mode MusePlayer is in : Dual (two layers) or Single (one layer)
MEM: shows the amount of RAM memory used by the preset.
 • MIDI indicator: the round logo gets animated whenever the plug-in receives MIDI.
D - Optimization
Using these tips can cut in two the CPU load of your plugin!
1. Disable the effects
Like all good sounding software effects, ours make the CPU work harder. If you don’t need them on the preset you’ve loa­ded, turn it off. To do this, turn the ON/OFF knob next to the FX Sync switch to 0FF .
2 Reduce the polyphony Unused voices do use a little CPU, especially at higher set­tings. A manual setting of 40 voices for a part that really uses 16 voices wastes a lot of CPU. Evaluate how many voices your MIDI part uses, and set the polyphony settings accordingly. Another great way of setting it is to lower the setting and lis­ten to missing notes: when you hear some, go back up a bit and you’re set!
4. Disable the unused filters Disable the multimode filter when not in use. Do this by clic­king on “off” in the filter section of each layer. Do the same with the Master Filter by placing the cutoff at its center detent position. (Command-click or control-click on Mac, alt click on PC)
5. Lower the release time of the amplitude Envelope
Make sure that notes don’t continue playing because of a long release time. This is especially effective for parts played with sustain pedal, as it may be that many notes continue playing almost inaudibly, if you’ve changed the ADSR shape.
E - A few more tips...
1. Link
Use the link function to quickly adjust the overall attack and release : turn the link on and change the Amp envelope attack and release parameters.
2. Modwheel Morphing & Layering
Feel free to experiment with modulation to create “crossfade morph” between two layers using mod wheel or other contro­lers assigned to full amp modulation ( just set one layer mod positive and the other layer mod negative)
Try using the mod wheel to add a second layer to a sound by assigning it to positive amp mod; this is very useful to add bass range, filter, ... sound to a preset or to add warmth at your convenience.
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Interface Overview
General controls A1. Preset selection arrows A2. Preset selection Menu A3. Program selection Arrows/Menus A4. Link & layer display switches A5. The edit display A6. Memory use display A7. Save Switch Effects
B1.Modulation
- Pitch modulation
- Filter modulation
- Drive modulation
- Amp. modulation
- Pan modulation
B2. Pitch Envelope
- Pitch Env. Depth
- Pitch Env. Time
B3. LFOs section
- LFO selection switch
- Sync Switch
- LFO Waveform Display /Selection Menu
- LFO Depth/Rate Knobs
F1. FX#1 ON/OFF and Sync switches F2. FX#1 Parameter knobs +Parameter names
A2
A1
B1
F1
B3
B2
C1
C2
C3
G1. - Glide Slider/Solo Switch/Velocity Curves G2. - Polyphony Setting / Octave Transposition / Pitch Bend Range / CC# / 32-Bit switch
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
F2
G1
G2
Filters C1. Multimode filter C2. Timbre modulation C3. Master filter
D1- Filter Envelope.
- Filter envelope (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)
- Velocity time knob & A/D switch
- Velocity Sensitivity D2- Amplitude Envelope.
- Amp envelope (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)
- Velocity time knob & A/D switch
- Velocity Sensitivity
D3. Sample Start
-Adjusts the start point of a sample
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D1
H1. Mixer (Level/Pan/Mute)
H2. Coarse and Fine Pitch Knobs
I1. UVI Engine Logo
D2
D3
H1
H2
I1
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