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Using MuLab

MuLab is a lightweight, crossplatform, modular music production environment. It offers a free version with some limitations.

It features a powerful Multisampler environment and lots of useful effects out of the box. The interface has its own logic (but that is the case for almost all music production software..) but once the principles are clear it offers an efficient workflow and is easy to use.

Also, MuLab does not require an installation and can be run from a USB stick which makes deployment easy.

Another advantage is that MuLab is quite agnostic to midi control numbers, which makes it very flexible for mapping. (Other DAWs have several pre-assigned controllers (e.g. to control the volume on the mixer or playback) which in our case would be confusing)

(see also MuLab Online Help and the MuLab Forum at KVR)

Note: If on OSX the MuLab window is dragged too high up, the window handler will disappear behind the OSX menu. In this case, You can right-click the window border and choose Move To Top-Left. Or alt-click-drag the window border to move the window. (Cfr http://www.mutools.com/info/docs/common/gui-info.html)

MuLab Setup

• Make sure midi interface is activated (in menu “edit” -> midi setup) and running (check using midi monitor in menu MuLab > Help)
• Make sure the Midi Keyboard is set to the LOWEST OCTAVE. This makes sure that your Note-Trigger events start with the lowest MIDI Number (= 0). Usually, the Note “0” corresponds to the Note “C-2” (sometimes “C-1”).
• In case your midi keyboard offers “presets”, make sure you NEVER change the keyboard preset, once selected, as this may change the controller assignements!
• Note, if you need to use output & input simultaneously, or if you want to use Bluetoot audio devices: On some versions of OSX you may have to create an “aggregate device” combining Input / Output (builtin) or to enable the use of Bluetooth Audio devices (which show up as two separate devices in the Audio-midi Setup).

Create Multisample

• Load MultiSampla by clicking on an empty slot in the rack
  • NOTE: the racks get MIDI data from top, and then this is transferred into audio by the multisampler)
  • Deleting instances in Rack -> Right-click on instance, DON’t use delete / backspace directly on the rack (deletes whole rack!)
• Create Sample Zone by drag& drop a soundfile (wav / aiff) or by doubleclicking the area under the keyboard and dragging the mouse
  -> If a sample can’t be loaded, change format to aiff / wav and samplerate / bitrate to project rate
• Start mapping your sounds starting with the lowest midi note value: C-2, / decimal value “0”. This makes it easier to build a functional prototype.
  • When you use a synth it may be necessary to transpose the synth so that sounds are audible. Transposition is achieved with XPOS
• Make sure the velocity sensitivity is set to zero (VS knob in multisampler AMP section) -> ensures that the sound is played at equal volume no matter how strong you press the key (simulates a simple trigger)
• Save Multisampla presets (save AS, navigate to desired location). Rename multisample  -> IMPORTANT FOR IDENTIFICATION.  Also, existing stored Multisampla presets and multisamples can be reused)
• Configure Loop (Loopmodes): Start of playback, start of loop and end of loop. Usually “alternating” is the best mode
  • Add Loop point for three-step loops. (Start / loop start-point / loop end-point) by double-clicking the timeline.

• Create a Midi Mapped Controller (e.g. transpose -> XPOS): Right-click on interface (knob, slider) and select “map controller“, then move the desired control (know, slider) on the Keyboard
• there are also LFO and envelope generators in MultiSampla, e.g. for ADSR curves for the amp (e.g. to create a smooth fadeout at the end of a loop)
• Plug effects directly into the Multisampla instance. There are four slots available. Map controllers again with right-click on the control interface
  • You can also plug effects in the rack, after sound generators, and map controllers in the same fashion as for multisampla
• Use mapping overview for each rack (right click on rack -> edit MIDI controller map) for overview
• Again: We need to using several racks to enable independent controls / different version of same sample, etc. For this purpose:
  • -> insert “send” to the next rack BEFORE sound generating instance in rack (this sends MIDI events, otherwise it would send audio)
  • -> edit focus midi map to force rack 1 (in menu “Project”)

Hints:

• Add your working folder to the favorites: In a save / folder browsing dialog, click on the smiley-folder and choose “add as favorite folder”
• Be careful: the undo function is not always available! Save often.
• if using the filter in the Multisampla, make sure “key tracking” (knob “KT”) is set to zero in the submenu of the filter (otherwise, the filter cutoff changes based on the note pressed)
• You can limit parameter ranges for midi mapped controllers in the “Map controller” dialog (right-click on the desired parameter controller)!
• Keep a list of your trigger and control change mappings! You can open an inventory of the mappings in MuLab by right-clicking a rack and chosing “Edit Midi Controller Map“

Project Finalisation and Deployment

• Make the project self-contained: Menu “Project” -> “Manage Audio/Sample Files” -> at “Sample Files” via Dropdown: “Embed Into Project”. Then SAVE! the whole project.
• Now, MuLab and your project can be run from a USB stick on any computer (with the same OS)!

Working with Effects

MuLab offers a huge range of effects, and a modular structure for creating own effects.

To load an effect, click an empty slot in a rack (AFTER a sound generator), or an Effect slot in the MultiSampla Front panel.

Then go to > MuTools > Devices > Effects

Generic effects are: MuVerb (Reverb) and MuEcho (Echo-like Delay)

For more preconfigured effects go to > MuTools > Factory Presets > Effects

Here you can find effects such as:

• Chorus: Fattens a sound by layering
• Flanger: similar as chorus, but with a distinct frequency shifting effect. Very spacy.
• Filters: here you can find filters with two or more bands. This is already available through the MultiSampla Filter section. But you may try “Wah wah” as special effect…
• Distortion: Here you can find amp-like distortions as well as “bit crushing” effects (makes a sound “digital sounding”
• Pitch Shifter: Two-Channel Pitch Shifter (without affecting duration of sample)
• There are some interesting “experimental effects”, such as the audio freezer

Rendering A Sound Idea in MuLab

Normally, we would use Reaper for “static” sound design.But you might find a great effect and modulation with mulab effects that you would like to “freeze” into a new sound file that you then use in the multisamper.

You can do this by:

1. recording the performance: click the round “record” button in the transport area on top, perform the sound with the keyboard and make the modulations in realtime. This generates a sequence with the midi notes, and separate “control change” tracks.
2. then render the sound by selecting: Menu “Project > Export tracks as audio files.
   1. Select an appropriate storage location. The filename is generated automatically based on the name of the track. You can rename it later.
3. After recording, you can discard the recorded seqences again.

Advanced Stuff

Mulab is modular. So you can build almost everything.

Example: Building an Audio based Trigger for a Multisampler event, keeping the original audio signal audible.

You can create an audio trigger that triggers a note in the multisampler and at the same time transforms the origninal sound input. You can do this like this:

1. In a new rack, load the “Audio Envelope Follower” (under “Modules” > “Event Generators”
2. in the Audio Envelope Follwer, select the desired midi note to trigger
3. Insert a multisampler below (or use your existing multisampler)
4. Insert a sample at the desired Note
5. Now go to “Modular” View in the main window
6. Double click the module “Audio File” and route its output (“output to”) to send its signal to the rack which contains the envelope follower.
7. Now you get a signal into the envelope follower. Set the values in the envelope follower to achieve the desired behaviour (loudness triggers event).
8. You can also use bandpass filters to “look” for specific frequencies to trigger the follower! Eg to create a “singing interface” which triggers if a specific pitch is sung.
9. Now you can insert a send on top of the rack, and send the audio signal to a second rack. Like this you can make the original signal audible together with the triggered sample, if desired. You can of course then apply processing to the sent signal as well.