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Tickle Those Electric Keys!

Heads up! You need an iLok to use this. It's not included.

MOTU extends their virtual instrument expertise to the world of classic keyboards with Electric Keys. Inside Electric Keys you'll find recreations of mythical electric pianos, electric organs, clavinets, Wurlitzers, tape samplers, and other rare and exotic electric keyboard instruments, which are multi-sampled at 24-bit/96kHz. MOTU enlisted fifty well-preserved and maintained classic instruments from the likes of Fender, Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Hammond, Wurlitzer, Hohner, Elka, Farfisa, Mellotron, Moog, RMI, Arp, and others. Electric Keys is like taking a trip through the annals of rock n' roll and R&B.

MOTU Electric Keys at Glance:
    • Sampled classic keyboards
    • Plug-in and stand-alone operation
    • Brain-dead simple interface
    • Separate multi-effects rack

Sampled classic keyboards
Fifty well-preserved and maintained classic instruments were used to make the sounds in Electric Keys, including models from Fender, Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Hammond, Wurlitzer, Hohner, Elka, Farfisa, Mellotron, Moog, RMI, Arp and others.

Most instrument samples are supplied at 24-bit 96 kHz resolution, but they can be played at any standard sample rate via Electric Keys' flexible 32-bit UVI playback engine. Presets consist of carefully crafted multi-samples with multiple velocities, layers and/or release samples, depending on the instrument. Samples are streamed from disk, so even large presets load quickly and conserve computer memory. Sounds are organized in 12 banks, each with its own authentic look ("skin"), allowing users to install on their hard drive only the banks they wish to use. Electric Keys presets can be loaded into MachFive 2 for cutting-edge sound design and layering.

Brain-dead really simple interface
The Electric Keys window offers a few brain-dead simple controls, including volume, pan, tone and tremolo settings, plus two preset slots, which allow users to layer two sounds using the useful multi- column preset browser. When a preset loads, the background displays the "skin" for the corresponding bank, but the controls and their operation remain the same, regardless of the one-of-a-kind look and feel for each bank. Once one or two sounds are loaded, the user can simply play, adjusting parameters as desired, while CPU-efficient 256-note polyphony ensures that notes are never cut off due to voice-stealing.

All parameters can be automated via useful "MIDI learn", where the user can simply right-click any control to assign any MIDI controller. Users can load and save "combis" consisting of a snapshot of the entire plug-in, including effects. Combis can be shared among plug-in formats and the stand-alone version - even across computer platforms. Dozens of factory presets and combis are supplied.

The three-dimensional piano keys across the bottom of the Electric Keys window highlight during playback. Users can click the keys to audition sounds.

Separate multi-effects rack
Users can click the FX button to open the FX-Rack, which is a separate window with eight effects that can be applied individually or in combination as a multi-effect to any preset. Effects include amp simulation, filter, chorus, flanger, phaser, UVinyl (to add "wear and tear"), delay and reverb. Since effects can be loaded, created and saved independently of instrument presets, it is really simple to mix and match effects with presets, allowing users to experiment with practically infinite combinations. All effects parameters can be automated with one-click "MIDI Learn" CC assignments.

Plug-in and stand-alone operation
Electric Keys supports all major plug-in formats on Mac OS X and Windows (XP and Vista), including VST, DXi, MAS, Audio Units and RTAS. It also runs as a stand-alone application, turning any laptop or desktop computer into the ultimate electric keyboard instrument.

MOTU Electric Keys Features:
    • Classic keyboards for all genres and styles
    • Brain-dead really simple user interface
    • 24-bit/96kHz resolution
    • Separate multi-effects rack
    • Plug-in and stand-alone operation
    • Mac or PC
    • VST, DXi, MAS, AU, RTAS

MOTU Electric Keys Specs:
Software Type Keyboard Sample Player
Supported Computer Format Mac, PC
Supported Plug-In Formats Standalone, RTAS, VST, AU
Hardware Requirements - Mac Apple G4 1GHz CPU or faster, 256MB RAM
Hardware Requirements - PC Pentium 4 1GHz or equivalent AMD CPU or faster, 256MB RAM
OS Requirements - Mac Mac OS X 10.4 or later
OS Requirements - PC Windows XP or later

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See Also: Organ Samples , MOTU , MOTU Virtual Instruments: Synths, Keyboards, & Organs

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