Using Session Ukulele

To change melody articulations, use the keyswitches from C1 to D#1 to switch between open, muted, flageolet, and tremolo styles.

The Open articulation is the most commonly used articulation: plucking individual strings with the fingers. To trigger hammer-ons and pull-offs, play overlapping notes from which the subsequent note is played with softer velocity than the initial note.

The Muted articulation is created by resting the palm of the plucking hand on the strings, close to the bridge of the guitar while plucking the strings. Muted hammer-ons and pull-offs can be triggered in the same manner as open hammer-ons and pull-offs.

The Flageolet articulation is also called harmonics. It is created by dividing the string into sections of equal length by lightly touching the string either exactly in the middle or at one third, fourth, fifth etc. of the string's length while plucking it at the same time. As a result, higher overtones are played instead of the original note.

The Tremolo articulation is created by repeatedly plucking the strings. When playing overlapping notes, the instrument will create a continuous volume modulation. When playing notes without overlap, the tremolo samples are velocity-sensitive.

To change the fret position value of the selected melody articulation, adjust its Fret Pos value. Choose higher values to have the instrument perform notes in higher fret positions on lower strings, resulting in a more mellow tone. You can control the fret position in real-time for all melody articulations combined with the MIDI CC#114.

Poly / Mono switch: The monophonic mode creates smooth transitions between notes, which helps to create realistic sounding solo lines and riffs. The polyphonic mode enables you to play multiple notes at the same time. Use this mode only if you intend to play multiple notes at the same time. In both modes, you can use the sustain pedal just like on a piano.

To apply vibrato or pitch bend, use the pitch and modulation wheels of your keyboard.

To switch from melody to pattern, hold down one of the pattern keyswitches from E1 to G1 with your left hand, while playing notes with your right hand. The instrument will temporarily perform those notes as a pattern. If a pattern is in Voicing mode, triggering its keyswitch will cause the pattern to be played back using the notes contained in the voicing, transposed to the key of the note you play on the keyboard, and inverted to match the typical playing range of the respective instrument.

To switch back to melody, release the pattern keyswitch with your left hand. If you still hold notes in your right hand at that moment, the instrument tries to sequence one more note that would have followed had you continued with the pattern playback. For example, if you release the pattern keyswitch shortly before the next downbeat while still holding notes with your right hand, the instrument will switch back to melody mode with one last note onto that downbeat.

To play patterns instead of melodies by default: If you are mainly intending to use the melody instrument to play patterns, you can change the default mode from Melody to Pattern on the Playback page (refer to The Playback Page). When Pattern is selected as the default mode, holding down one of the Melody keyswitches (C1 to D#1) will engage the melody mode temporarily.

To select a pattern, press the corresponding keyswitch MIDI note or click on the pattern you wish to play.

To play a pattern, play notes on your MIDI keyboard. After releasing the keys, playback will be stopped within a specified note duration (refer to Latch Mode in The Playback Page).

To end the playback at a precise point in time, it is recommended to use the Bb1 keyswitch or one of the other ending keyswitches (refer to Playing Dead Notes, Endings and Slides).

To load a different pattern into a slot, click on the magnifier icon in the current slot. This will open the Pattern Browser (refer to The Pattern Browser).

To load the next or previous pattern of the pattern library, click on the little left or right arrow buttons in the current slot.

To remove a pattern (clear the slot), [Alt] + click on a slot.

Strumming Patterns: Recorded loops based on a strumming performance are indicated by small up and down arrows next to their name. If you play more than one note, additional notes will be added on top of the originally recorded loop, which allows you to create voicings with up to six notes sounding at a time.

Arpeggio Patterns: Arpeggio patterns based on single notes are indicated by a small staircase icon next to their name in the Pattern Browser. When playing arpeggio patterns, the playback engine analyzes the incoming chord and allocates the individual notes to different strings of the guitar. The more notes you press on the keyboard, the more sophisticated the resulting arpeggio pattern will sound. Therefore, playing up to six notes at a time can lead to interesting variations. Depending on the selected pattern, several notes of a voicing will be performed as hammer-ons and pull-offs.

To activate the voicing generator, select a pattern and choose the desired voicing 1–5 from the voicing drop-down menu, which is available for strummed and arpeggiated patterns.

Press one single key to hear the unaltered voicing.

Play chords or intervals to adapt the selected voicing to incoming notes. For example, if a voicing contains a minor third, pressing a C major chord on the keyboard will turn all minor thirds into major thirds. You can adjust sevenths and other options in the same way.

To add additional notes to a voicing, simply play them on the keyboard.

To deactivate preset voicings, select As played in the voicing menu. This lets you play a virtually endless number of different voicings, chords, inversions, suspensions, top lines, bass lines etc. over the entire pitch range.

To permanently deactivate preset voicings for all patterns and songs, select OFF from the voicing menu.

To play back the included chord progression of a pattern, select the pattern and press the Progression Playback button.

To export the included chord progression into your DAW, drag and drop the arrow icon next to the Progression button into your DAW.

To export the voicing of a selected pattern into your DAW, drag and drop the arrow icon next to the Voicing menu into your DAW. If no voicing is selected, MIDI drag will be deactivated.

You can set the key of voicings and chord progressions using the prelisten key field before dragging them.

To load a factory or user sound preset, either select a preset from the drop-down menu, or cycle through all presets by clicking the little left and right arrow buttons.

To save a new user sound preset, enter a preset name into the text field and click on the floppy disk icon. This will store the current sound settings into a new user preset.

To overwrite a user sound preset, first load it and then make changes on the Settings or Effects page. Then click the floppy disk icon without changing the preset name. If you change the preset name before saving a preset, a new sound preset will be created instead of overwriting the existing one.

To delete a user sound preset, select it from the drop-down menu, then click the circular Delete button.

Linking sound presets to Song presets: If the Link to Song switch is activated, selecting a song preset (refer to The Song Browser) will also load its corresponding sound preset. Deselect it to change songs without altering your ukulele and effects settings.