LEARN INSTRUMENT 1
USING APPS
The Artiphon INSTRUMENT 1 works with hundreds of apps and music-making software across iOS devices, Mac, and Windows computers including GarageBand, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, and more. Keep reading for a walkthrough of the Artiphon iOS app and a list some of our favorite third-party programs.
Table of Contents
Artiphon iOS App
Third-Party Apps
ARTIPHON iOS APP
Platform: iOS (iPhone, iPad, and iPod)
Available on the Apple App Store
TECHNIQUES AND SOUNDS
With the INSTRUMENT 1 you can combine sounds, techniques, and tunings to design your own custom instruments. The Artiphon companion app for iOS is the quickest way to adjust settings on existing instrument presets, and to design new ones.
WHAT'S A PRESET?
When using the Artiphon iOS app, a preset is a combination of technique, tuning, and sound. You can change and adjust existing presets or create new ones, and save them in your collections folders within the app.
MAKE A CUSTOM PRESET
You can start out with any of the presets found in the app. There are four main built-in presets (Guitar, Violin, Piano, and Drums) and a selection of custom ones that we designed (and continue to update and add to).
NAMING YOUR PRESET
Pressing the arrow next to the preset name at the top of the screen gives the options to overwrite the current preset, save it as a new preset, or rename the current preset.
CHOOSING YOUR SOUND
In the Artiphon app any sound can be used with any technique. Choose your sound by pressing the arrow next to the sound icon. On the Sounds page you can browse between different instrument sounds that we designed specifically for the INSTRUMENT 1.
CHOOSING YOUR TUNING
Pressing the arrow in the tuning bar at the bottom of the Technique screen opens a list of tunings to choose from. All the tunings you see can also be customized with the tuning editor.
There are many common tunings to select from, including Standard Violin, Open G, Drop D, and more. If you’d like to edit or modify a tuning, select Edit and change the value for each individual string, note, or region.
SELECT YOUR MODE
Enter the Technique Editor by pressing the arrow on the right of the Artiphon app home screen.
Swipe to browse between the four modes: Fretted, Fretless, Grid, and Pad. Each mode will determine how the fingerboard and bridge on your INSTRUMENT 1 respond to your playing.
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Fretted Mode: similar to a guitar, electric bass, ukulele, or other stringed instrument with frets.
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Fretless Mode: similar to a member of the violin family, allowing you to slide continuously between notes, and rock your finger for vibrato.
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Grid Mode: divides the fingerboard into a grid of 72 note locations.
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Pad Mode: divides the fingerboard into 12 pads arranged side-by-side.
CHOOSING YOUR METHOD
Choose from the Method buttons at the bottom of the screen to select your method.
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Strum Method (works with Fretted, Fretless, and Pad modes): lets you strum or pluck the bridge triggers to play the corresponding strings of the fingerboard.
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Bow Method (works with Fretted and Fretless modes): lets you press on the bridge triggers and slide continuously between notes on the fingerboard.
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Slide Method (works with Fretless Mode): lets you press a note on the fingerboard and slide continuously up or down the neck.
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Tap Method (works with Fretted, Grid, and Pad modes): lets you tap or press a location on the fingerboard or bridge to play a sound.
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iBow Method: lets you play notes using your iPhone or iPod as a virtual bow.
SAVING YOUR PRESET
While you can save as many custom presets as you like in the Artiphon iOS app itself, you can also save your presets to the four user preset locations accessible on the face of the INSTRUMENT 1. You can switch between these presets at any time by pressing in the INSTRUMENT 1's volume/preset knob.
A dialog will ask you which of the user preset locations you want save to.
THE MORE MENU
There are a number of additional features in the More menu that you can apply to your presets. The technique settings will apply to specific presets, while the INSTRUMENT 1 settings apply to all the presets.
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Aftertouch Sensitivity controls how hard you press the fingerboard to control polyphonic aftertouch or channel pressure.
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Capo Step Size sets the tuning interval that is changed by the Capo button. Selecting 1 will make the tuning shift up or down one semitone, while selecting 12 will make the tuning shift one octave.
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String Flip Mode sets whether the INSTRUMENT 1 is oriented for a left or right-handed player. Selecting Left or Right will lock it in that orientation. Selecting I1 flip means that the accelerometer inside the INSTRUMENT 1 will sense the orientation and automatically change.
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String Flip Override will force a specific left/right orientation.
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Arpeggiator will cause notes to activate at a set tempo as long as you hold down a key, pad, or string. If multiple notes are played and held, they will play over and over in the order they were activated. The tempo can be adjusted by tapping in the app, or set to a specific BPM. The rate of the notes can also be set to a specific note value.
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Hammer-On Sensitivity sets how hard you have to strike the fingerboard to trigger a hammer-on. This setting only works for Fretted mode. If you are playing the Guitar preset and find that you are unintentionally triggering notes when you press on the fingerboard, the Hammer-On Sensitivity can be decreased or turned off to prevent this. Turning off hammer-ons will also turn off pull-offs.
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Method Sensitivity sets the velocity output across all methods. The maximum is 123 and the minimum increases with method sensitivity. If you set this to very high, you can play lightly and still have loud notes. If you set this to low, you can play hard and have a wide dynamic range.
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String Bending allows you to press into the fingerboard to bend a string up by two semi-tones.
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INSTRUMENT 1 Tilt tracks the angle of the INSTRUMENT 1 to the ground and controls mod wheel accordingly. The Tilt Range for this feature can also be adjusted.
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MIDI Program Changes will send a program change message when you press the preset selector knob. The MIDI messages 0 - 7 can be sent in your software of choice.
THE SETTINGS MENU
Press the Artiphon logo in the upper right to open the settings menu.
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Learn More Online will bring you to this page.
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Launch Firmware Updater is where you can update or restore your INSTRUMENT 1 firmware.
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Export app presets allows you to share presets via email. Press here to open the "Share Presets" dialog. Select the desired presets and press "Share" in the right upper corner. In the Sharing dialog select the email icon and the presets will be sent via email to share presets with someone or to create a backup for yourself. To import the presets onto another iOS device just press on the preset bundle file icon and select "Copy to Artiphon". Your presets will then be available on this iOS device.
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Master Volume adjusts the overall volume of the sounds in the Artiphon app.
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App Runs in Background when switched on, allows background audio when using the Artiphon app alongside other audio apps like GarageBand.
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MIDI Mode: select Multi Channel for most applications. Some apps do not work with the Multi-Channel mode for pitch bend so that sliding in fretless modes does not work. In these cases please use Single- Channel midi mode. In Single- Channel midi mode fretless techniques become monophonic as a workaround for the restrictions of these apps.
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Pitch Bend Range will change the pitch bend output of the INSTRUMENT 1 when using fretless modes or string bending. The Artiphon App's sound will update automatically, but third party virtual instruments will need to match this value to perform correctly.
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Connect to MIDI Network: If you have set up a midi network with an Apple Mac computer press here to connect.
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All Notes Off sends an "All Notes Off" midi command to stop stuck notes that can potentially occur in some sound generators when too much midi data is coming in.
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Version Info shows the app and firmware version, as well as your INSTRUMENT 1 model and serial numbers.
THIRD-PARTY APPS
The INSTRUMENT 1 is a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) controller, meaning it can work with almost any sound generator or music-making apps/software such as GarageBand, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, and many others. This allows you to change your sound at any time or to record MIDI data into the digital audio workstation or music-making program of your choice. Below you'll find a few of our favorites and setup tips for best results with the INSTRUMENT 1.
iOS
MAC
PC
CONFIGURATION
To change your playing techniques while using sounds from a third-party sound generator, use the the Artiphon iOS app or the Artiphon INSTRUMENT 1 Editor for Mac and Windows. They enable preset creation and customization while using sounds from a third-party app.
We've made it easy to disable the app's built-in sounds while playing other sound generators. Simply select "No Sound" in the Artiphon iOS app to allow sounds from your third-party app to pass through the Artiphon app.
MIDI CHANNEL MODE AND RANGE
The INSTRUMENT 1 can be played expressively by using the fingerboard and bridge in different ways. In order to allow these techniques to work with third-party sound generators, the INSTRUMENT 1 sends polyphonic expression data on multiple MIDI channels. You can adjust the settings in your software depending on how you want MIDI data to be received.
Setting your software to receive six channels should ensure that strum and bow modes work properly. When the INSTRUMENT 1 is set to Multi-Channel MIDI mode, the channels 2-7 are used for the played notes while channel one is reserved as MIDI base channel.
The Mac, PC, iOS apps allow to set the INSTRUMENT 1 to multi-channel MIDI mode.
When the third-party sound generator is set to a multi-channel MIDI mode, ensure that MIDI channels 2-7 are set. This setting might be labeled multi-channel, MIDI-mono mode, MPE, or similar.
Note that some sound generators do not support a multi-channel MIDI mode. In this case, the INSTRUMENT 1 can be switched to Single Channel MIDI mode so that expressive data (such as pitch bend when sliding) is still used only for the last note that was played. In single channel MIDI mode, the INSTRUMENT 1 sends MIDI on channel 1.
If fretless modes and pressure are not used, third-party generator can be set to omni, where all MIDI channels are received. In this case, using pitch bend and expression for more than one note at a time can cause problems.
GETTING FRETLESS MODE TO WORK PROPERLY (SETTING THE PITCH BEND RANGE)
In order to have fretless mode work properly, the third-party sound generator's pitch bend range should be set to 48 in order to give you one chromatic half-step per fret marker. Of course, feel free to adjust the pitch bend range to achieve whatever result you desire.
Using the INSTRUMENT 1 Editor or Artiphon app, you can change the INSTRUMENT 1’s pitch bend range to 12, 24, or 48.
Here are some examples of third-party sound generator settings:
Moog Model 15
MIDI channel: MPE
Pitch bend range: 48
Apple Alchemy (and other Logic or MainStage plug-ins)
MIDI Mono Mode: On (with base channel 1)
Mono Mode Pitch Range: 48