Modal Electronics Skulpt Update Adds MPE Support & More

Modal Electronics has released v2.0 of the firmware for its Skulpt synthesizer.

The free update introduces MPE support, new arpeggiator options, new tuning features and more.

Here’s what’s new in Skulpt firmware 2.0:

Features:

  • MPE support – Skulpt now supports MPE-compatible MIDI controllers, allowing you to apply polyphonic control and expression to individual notes
  • Sustain / Arp Latch Mode – Press and release a note / chord to sustain it, press a new note / chord to overwrite the existing one. This functions as a classic arp hold that can also be used when the arp is off. Hold the ‘Sustain’ button for one second when turning on sustain to enable Sustain Latch Mode, turning off sustain will clear the latch mode.
  • MIDI-in Octave global setting – a new setting for allowing the keyboard octave parameter to also affect MIDI-in notes

The update also includes other improvements and bug fixes.

See the Modal site for details.

17 thoughts on “Modal Electronics Skulpt Update Adds MPE Support & More

    1. Everyone’s different obvi, but I find the layout fine. Like anything, it becomes familiar after a little bit of use. Mine had custom colours on the knobs from the previous owner which helps.
      I don’t think it’s hard to read a label at a 45 degree angle. There’s a lot of shift functions which can be a bit bothersome but that’s part of the compromise that keeps it small portable and cheap.
      Thank you for your time.

    2. Agreed on the layout. If you put it away for a bit and come back to it, you can forget. The editor is pretty damn marvelous, though, but it hurts its portability. The sleeper of this line is Craft 2.0–not only is the layout better, but it’s an incredible bargain.

  1. It will be interesting to see if Modal does indeed survive, considering the messy divorce with Paula Maddox (formerly Paul Maddox). She has been polite about the whole affair but it was anything but. They were bleeding money and the entire Legend series was meant to infuse capital into the company.

    1. Paula left Modal over three years ago.

      I’m pretty sure that the Craft (2.0, at least) and Skulpt had little or no influence from her at all. Modal’s existence may currently hinge on the success of these two products, but not on Paula’s presence.

      1. You clearly misunderstood what I said! I never said Paula had anything to do with the “Legend” series, rather her departure and their subsequent financial troubles to which I was privy to spawned these products to generate much needed revenue.

      2. Nowhere in my post did I say or imply that Paula was involved in the development of the “Creator Series”! In fact she was not. I did however clearly state that the entire series, including what they now call the “Legend” series were an attempt to raise and generate revenue as they were struggling mightily to stay afloat.

        1. Nevertheless, it’s been three+ years since Paula left, and Modal is still designing, producing, and marketing new (and evidently decent) products. If Modal somehow doesn’t survive, it seems to me that Paula’s exit would no longer have played a significant part in such a failure.

          Modal has continued to use Kickstarter capital to launch these newer products, although they claim that this is so that investors can have more say in product design. But the good news is that the Skulpt and CraftSynth 2.0 are now in mainstream distribution and evidently popular and innovative at their price points.

          I don’t see Modal as a large company (yet), so capital concerns during a growth phase are real. But, being small, three years is an eternity when considering past financial problems. Whether current management can keep the product pipeline fresh and popular while managing the financial end of things is always the million-dollar question, but looking in from the outside I would say they are probably on the right track.

          1. Again, I never insinuated that Paula’s exit has played a role in their success or possible demise. They were experiencing financial hardship during Paula’s tenure and matters only became more difficult in the ensuing years. Their use of crowdfunding was precisely designed to offset production costs and gauge public interest, however this was more in response to their financial circumstance rather than simply effectively using a medium to bring a product to market.

            Regardless, I wish them well.

  2. Just an excellent synth for the price. The editor really brings it all together. Glad they have offered an update, though i dont use mpe.

Leave a Reply to Modern3 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *