COOL VIBES is a sample of the YAMAHA 3 1/2 octave "GOLD TOUR VIBES" played with soft mallets. It was played with the motor engaged, allowing a true acoustic tremolo and full tube resonance to be recorded.

COOL VIBES uses filter to provide tone control. When the instrument is first loaded, the default controller setting (0) will render maximum filtering. To achieve full instrument tone, the setting must be increased to 127. To change the filtering, use cc#16 (GPC1) to dial in the desired amount of body to the instrument tone. At setting 127 the sample will play back at the original recording levels.

The instrument is sampled at eight velocity levels with the damper pedal up, and eight levels pedal down. To provide for different requirements in realism versus RAM-economy, there are a number of variations of the instrument included. There are 672 stereo samples total, and the smaller instruments are reduced versions of the full instrument. The smallest instrument is the MICRO VIBES, which at only two velocities and 84 stereo samples delivers a credible performance.

Half of the included patch set is designed for use with a keyboard controller. The other half is calibrated and programmed for use with Don Buchla's mallet controller: MARIMBA LUMINA. The Marimba Lumina instruments have "ML" added to their name, and they appear last in the list.

Each instrument has its own bank. Within that bank there are five variations of the instrument. These patches have different positioning in the stereo field. The different variations are:

1. ORIGINAL/WIDE

2. CENTER (the instrument spans over a smaller area centered in the stereo field)

3. RIGHT (the instrument appears to the right on the soundstage)

4. LEFT (the instrument appears to the left on the soundstage)

5. NARROW (the instrument's span has been collapsed towards the center)

INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTIONS

COOL VIBES - Dampened and sustained samples at 8 velocity levels each. 672 stereo samples.

COMPACT VIBES - Dampened and sustained samples at 4 velocity levels (the four extreme loud and soft layers are omitted). 336 stereo samples.

PEDAL VIBES - Sustained samples at 8 velocity levels. 336 stereo samples.

ECONOMY VIBES - Sustained samples at 4 velocity levels. 168 stereo samples.

MICRO VIBES - Sustained samples at 2 velocity levels. 84 stereo samples.

SOFT VIBES - Sustained samples of the 4 softest velocities. Higher output. 168 stereo samples. (Marimba Lumina=336)

SPACE VIBES - Sustained samples of the 2 softest velocities. Higher output. 84 stereo samples. (Marimba Lumina=168)

OCEAN VIBES - Sustained samples of the 2 softest layers with the attack cut out. Higher output. 84 stereo samples. (Marimba Lumina=168)

QUICK REFERENCE CHART

1. COOL VIBES           672 stereo samples

2. COMPACT VIBES    336 stereo samples

3. PEDAL VIBES          336 stereo samples

4. ECONOMY VIBES    168 stereo samples

5. MICRO VIBES            84 stereo samples

6. SOFT VIBES       168 stereo samples (ML=336)

7. SPACE VIBES       84 stereo samples (ML=168)

8. OCEAN VIBES      84 stereo samples (ML=168)

A vibraphone requires a technique different than a piano when using the damper pedal. As the vibraphone is played with mallets, note length is not, like on a piano, controlled by the duration of the time a key is depressed.

To provide a convenient way for keyboard players to achieve a realistic sounding vibraphone performance, the switch between dampened samples and sustained samples is placed on the mod wheel. The keyboard's sustain pedal will provide 'piano sustain' function, when playing the sustained samples. Switch between dampened and sustained samples with the mod wheel (low value=dampened, high value=sustained).

This allows the sustain pedal to be used for controlling which notes are allowed to remain ringing in a sequence of notes, or when changing chords in sustained mode. A real vibraphone player would use techniques of muting individual notes with a hand or a mallet while playing with the damper down.

The dampened samples are of fixed length, and will NOT be affected by sustain pedal.

To provide an alternative to this setup, the CD-ROM includes an articulation file which will place the sustained/dampened switch on the keyboard sustain pedal.

In the keyboard versions, COOL VIBES and COMPACT VIBES include both sustained and dampened samples. The remaining patches uses sustained samples only. These patches will work with sustain pedal in the conventional way.

Of the MARIMBA LUMINA patches, both sustained and dampened samples are included in: COOL VIBES, COMPACT VIBES, SOFT VIBES, SPACE VIBES, and OCEAN VIBES.

To allow the MARIMBA LUMINA to switch between dampened and sustained samples with the damper pedal, it will need to be enabled to send controller 64 messages (sustain pedal). To enable controller 64 messages, do the following MARIMBA LUMINA programming:

Start with the Vibe PROGRAM (set of patches) that you already use. Add this patch:

(any zone)

Stimulus: pedal1 down

Controller: 64

Source: Switch1

Channel: 1

COOL VIBES default tuning is A440. There is also articulation files provided on the CD-ROM for A442 tuning. To simplify the switch back and fourth, if necessary, there is also an articulation file of the original configuration included.

Pitch bend in three semi-tones is programmed for all patches. This range can easily be changed to a higher or lower value in the Instrument Properties dialog in the Editor.

The following articulation files are included on the CD-ROM:

1. Cool Vibes A440.art - Original configuration.

2. Cool Vibes A442.art - A442 tuning.

3. Cool Vibes Pedal Switch.art - Sustained/dampened samples switch by sustain pedal

4. Cool Vibes A442 Pedal Switch - A442 tuning and sustain pedal switch.

SOFT VIBES, SPACE VIBES, and OCEAN VIBES are special effects patches, and have a lower output than the other patches. This is because they are using samples of the lowest velocities only. These patches are already boosted 30-40dB to achieve the current output levels.

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