PLAY QUICK GUIDE

1 | PLAY IS A SAMPLE PLAYBACK ENGINE

(a) A Sample Engine is a type of Virtual Instrument that plays back samples from a
hard drive by streaming them in real-time.

⁃ This means having a high performing hard drive is essential for getting
the best possible performance (i.e.: the ability to stream lots of highly-
detailed instruments)

⁃ For more information, please see the SYSTEM PERFORMANCE section

of the FAQ.

(b) Play can be used in stand alone mode or as a plug-in inside your favorite DAW.

⁃ There is not a separate plugin for each product. Only Play will show up
in your DAW's plug-in list (supported interfaces: VST, AU, AAX).

⁃ Both 32 and 64 bit plugin versions are available. Please use the version
that your DAW supports.

⁃ Please see the EastWest folder under Applications (Mac) or Program

Files (PC) for the stand alone application.

2 | EACH PLAY LIBRARY HAS A UNIQUE GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE (GUI)

(a) Within a single instance of Play, you can mix and match instruments from
different Play Libraries.

(b) The GUI will change based on the currently selected instrument.
3 | PLAY LOADS SOUNDS FROM A SAMPLE LIBRARY

(a) A Sample Library (or Library) is a collection of samples (sound recordings).

(b) EastWest's Sample Libraries have the following organization: a Play Libraries
folder holds each product's Main Library folder, which in turn holds that
product's Instruments folder and Samples folder (example below).

(c) To load an instrument in Play, first click on the Browser button in the top-left of
the PLAY interface.

(d) Now look in the lower-left corner in the Favorites window, where all installed
products will appear.

(e) Click on a product and navigate through the sub-folders in the columns to the
right until you come to an Instrument file [.ewi]. Highlight that Instrument file
and click the 'Add' button below, or simply double-click.

(f) You can not access the samples directly.

 (g) The instrument file instructs Play which samples to load. Each product within
the Favorites window needs to be set to that product's Instrument folder.
If you don't see your product in the Favorites window, please see:

FAQ 3.1: WHAT IF MY PRODUCT ISN'T LISTED IN PLAY'S FAVORITES WINDOW?

4 | PLAY CAN BE USED AS A MULTI-TIMBRAL INSTRUMENT

(a) Using Play as a multi-timbral instrument means you can load multiple
instruments within a single instance of Play.

(b) Each instrument can be assigned to a separate MIDI channel (with up to 16

MIDI channels per MIDI port), or to receive on all channels (called OMNI).

(c) By default, each new instrument is assigned to OMNI. To change this, go to the
'Settings' menu, then click on the 'Other' tab. Under MIDI channel assignment,
enable the Auto-Increment option. This will assign each new instrument that is
loaded to a successive MIDI channel (1, 2, 3…).

(d) Each DAW handles multi-timbral instruments differently. Please see the
following FAQ for detailed setup instructions for your preferred DAW.

FAQ 3.10: HOW DO I USE PLAY AS A PLUGIN INSIDE MY DAW?

(e) When loading a second instrument you will be prompted to add a new
instrument to the existing one , replace the existing instrument, or cancel.

(f) For each additional instrument you will be prompted to add a new instrument
to the existing ones, replace the currently selected instrument, replace all
instruments, or to cancel.
5 | CURRENTLY LOADED INSTRUMENTS CAN BE VIEWED IN MULTIPLE PLACES

(a) The Instrument List is located in the top-right corner of PLAY

⁃ It allows you to change the currently selected instrument

⁃ It is accessible in all views in PLAY

(b) The Advanced Instrument List is the top-left corner in PLAY's Browser.

⁃ It allows you to assign an instrument's MIDI channel and audio output

and delete a selected instrument.
⁃ It is only accessible in PLAY's Browser section.

(c) Each instrument's channel strip can be found in the Mixer page.
6 | THERE ARE THREE MAIN SECTIONS IN PLAY: PLAYER, BROWSER, AND MIXER

(a) The Player page opens by default and is unique to each library or collection.
You'll find product-specific features like Ghostwriter's EP-1 Delay, or the 25th
Anniversary's Tempo-Sync feature (please see individual product manuals).

(b) The Browser page is where all instruments are loaded and managed. Please
see the topics above for instructions to load and manage instruments.

(c) The Mixer page features a channel strip for each loaded instrument.

⁃ Includes volume, pan, mute, solo and FX

⁃ The FX button enables the SSL / EW - FX GLOBAL SUITE. It's included in

all releases after (and including) SD3, and available for legacy products
as an upgrade. Details here: http://www.soundsonline.com/SSL-EW-FX
[FX button in the MIXER section] [Channel Selector in FX window]
7 | OTHER USEFUL TIPS

(a) MIDI CC's (continuos controllers) are used for real-time control. CC messages
can be sent from a MIDI controller or from a DAW. Each library or instrument is
programmed to respond to CC messages differently, so please see the
individual product manuals for an in-depth look. Here are the essentials:

⁃ CC1 [mod-wheel] is used in different ways depending on the instrument.

For example, sometimes it's programmed to cross-fade between
dynamics layers, while other times it's used to switch between
articulations (ex: staccato to marcato).

⁃ CC7 [volume] is used to balance main instrument levels.

⁃ CC11 [expression] is used for changing dynamics within instruments

(like crescendos or decrescendos).

(b) Some instruments are programmed with key-switches. These instruments will
load multiple articulations which can be switched between in real time by
pressing a key on your keyboard.

(c) The virtual keyboard in Play is color coded.

⁃ White keys show the range of the currently selected instrument.

⁃ Yellow keys are null (no samples mapped to that range).
⁃ Blue keys indicate key-switches are present.
⁃ A highlight will appear on a key that is currently being played.