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Legacy Model
Downloads and support materials maintained here as a courtesy to owners.

ME-1 OVERVIEW

Brand NEW German 9′ Grand Piano

In the tradition of Kurzweil’s highly popular and successful Micro Piano, comes our newest half rack module, the ME-1 Micro Ensemble. This low cost module features a wide variety of piano, keyboard and synth sounds, along with strings, guitars, basses, voices, and drums – a total of 256 programs in all. The samples and synth programming is taken directly from our PC2 Series instruments, including our newest stereo triple strike acoustic piano sample, and our new multi-strike electric pianos (both Classic EP and Wurlitzer). (It should be noted that the KB3 Organs from the PC2 are not found in the Micro Ensemble, but the regular, sample-based organ programs are included.)

The Micro Ensemble has 32 voice polyphony and is 16 channel multi-timbral. A Global effects processor features the same effects found in our SP Stage Piano Series. You can choose from one of 9 different effects, along with the wet dry settings for reverb and chorus, directly from the front panel, or via MIDI (the effects are applied the same for the programs on all MIDI channels). The Micro Ensemble can also be transposed up or down, up to an octave and tuned +/- 99 cents.

All specifications subject to change without notice.

SPECS

All specifications subject to change without notice.

ME-1 Features
Rack Module: 1U height, half rack width
Display: 5×7 LED dot matrix
Polyphony: 32 Voice Polyphony, dynamically allocated
Multitimbral: 16 parts (one per MIDI channel)
Factory Presets: 256 programs. Includes complete PC2 Base ROM Sound set
Effects: 30 effects combinations, with a choice of reverbs, choruses, delays, and flangers. Each effects has a wet/dry mix, which can be controlled per channel. Change and store effects for each of the 256 presets.
MIDI: In, Thru
Outputs: Two 1/4″ unbalanced TS analog (24-bit DACs)
Headphones: Rear panel 1/4″ headphone output

ME-1 Specifications
Height: (1.57″) (4.00 cm)
Depth: (9.57″) (24.30 cm)
Length: (8.66″) (22.00 cm)
Weight: (3.31 lb.) (1.50 kg)
Power: 9.5VAC / 2.0A external power supply

AUDIO

Base ROM

FAQs

Basic Concepts & User Interface

Question:
What combination of Bank/Pgm Msgs does the KME/ME respond to?

Answer:

  1. by default, the KME/61 and ME-1 use MIDI Bank message cc#32 (Bank LSB**) to send/receive bank info
  2. following the bank message a standard program change needs to be sent (0-127) depending on the patch in that bank you are afterThe KME/ME has 2 Banks (see pg. 11 in the manual):-MIDI Bank 0

    -MIDI Bank 6

    An example:
    You want to call up program 099 “Electric 12” (from bank 6)From your keyboard/DAW, on the desired channel, you send :

    -cc32=6

    -pchg=99

    Repeat for other channels as needed (up to 16).

**If your keyboard/DAW also forces you to send cc#0 (Bank MSB) simply enter value=0 (zero).

MIDI Controllers

Question:
What combination of Bank/Pgm Msgs does the KME/ME respond to?

Answer:

  1. by default, the KME/61 and ME-1 use MIDI Bank message cc#32 (Bank LSB**) to send/receive bank info
  2. following the bank message a standard program change needs to be sent (0-127) depending on the patch in that bank you are afterThe KME/ME has 2 Banks (see pg. 11 in the manual):-MIDI Bank 0

    -MIDI Bank 6

    An example:
    You want to call up program 099 “Electric 12” (from bank 6)From your keyboard/DAW, on the desired channel, you send :

    -cc32=6

    -pchg=99

    Repeat for other channels as needed (up to 16).

**If your keyboard/DAW also forces you to send cc#0 (Bank MSB) simply enter value=0 (zero).

Question:
How can I set the Pitch Bend Range for individual programs via MIDI?

Answer:

Pitch Bend Range can be set by sending MIDI controller messages. Specifically, you do it with Registered Parameters (cc# 100 and 101).

On the MIDI channel in question, you need to send:

MIDI cc101 = 0
MIDI cc100 = 0
MIDI cc6 = value of desired bend range (in semitones)

Example: Lets say you want to set the bend range to 2 semi-tones. First you send cc# 100 with a value of 0; then cc#101 with a value of 0. This turns on reception for setting pitch bend with the Data controller (#6). Then you send cc# 6 with a value of 2 (in semitones; this will give you a whole step up and a whole step down from the center).

Once you have set the bend range the way you want, then you send controller 100 or 101 with a value of 127 so that any further messages of controller 6 (which you might be using for other stuff) won’t change the bend range.

Internal Voices/Program Mode

Question:
How can I set the Pitch Bend Range for individual programs via MIDI?

Answer:

Pitch Bend Range can be set by sending MIDI controller messages. Specifically, you do it with Registered Parameters (cc# 100 and 101).

On the MIDI channel in question, you need to send:

MIDI cc101 = 0
MIDI cc100 = 0
MIDI cc6 = value of desired bend range (in semitones)

Example: Lets say you want to set the bend range to 2 semi-tones. First you send cc# 100 with a value of 0; then cc#101 with a value of 0. This turns on reception for setting pitch bend with the Data controller (#6). Then you send cc# 6 with a value of 2 (in semitones; this will give you a whole step up and a whole step down from the center).

Once you have set the bend range the way you want, then you send controller 100 or 101 with a value of 127 so that any further messages of controller 6 (which you might be using for other stuff) won’t change the bend range.

Troubleshooting

Question:
How can I restore my ME-1 to its factory defaults?

Answer:

There is no hard reset procedure for the ME-1 other than simply powering the unit off then on.

DOWNLOADS

User Manuals

Micro Ensemble User Manual – 1.3 MB
Owner’s Manual
2002-04-26

Micro Ensemble v1.2 Addendum – 288 KB
Supplemental Guide
2003-07-28

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