Multi-point Controller (MPC) - volume, pitch bend, sweep

Volume
An example may provide the best explanation. The file mpcex.nwc (1K) includes a .nwc file with multi-point controllers for volume. When you play back the song, you can hear the volume fade in one area due to a multi-point controller and change instantaneously in another. Select the {mpc} symbol in the .nwc file and press Alt+Enter to see how the multi-point controller was set.

Pitch Bend
Detune.nwc (1K) is a sample of a pitch bend that detunes over the span of two measures, then is restored to normal tuning. Try it out, then select the MPC instructions in the second staff to see how it was done.

Linear Sweep
The Linear Sweep Contour defines how large a change to the controller value will be considered significant. In the case of pitch bend, where the value can be swept over thousands of values, each and every change of only 3 or 4 is not very important. In this case, you might use a value of 100, or even more, depending on how smooth you wish the pitch bend to be. This allows NWC to lean out the number of control changes sent to the MIDI device, which can significantly improve performance.

Think of it like this. If you started at 0 and wanted to count out loud to 10000 in 2 minutes, then:

• Using a contour setting of 1, you would count like this: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9..." all the way to 10000, and you would have to speak very fast to finish in 2 minutes.

• Using a contour setting of 100, you would count: "100, 200, 300, 400, 500..." all the way to 10000, and you would probably have no trouble finishing in 2 minutes.

The same is true in an MPC. A higher contour value makes it easier for NWC to change the value from the value of 1 up to the value of 10000.