Installing and Auditioning Wavetables on MPC

Installing and Auditioning FWG Wavetables on MPC

This is the hardware side of the workflow: copy an FWG MPC package to the drive, load it as a user wavetable, and decide whether it works as an instrument. For the export controls, see MPC Wavetable Mode.

The current project examples target the MPC User Wavetables feature in MPC 3.9 or later. Firmware/interface labels can change, so use the hardware's current wording if it differs from this guide.

Before copying files

⚠️ An FWG MPC wavetable library should contain:

• one or more wavetable .wav files;
• a format.json describing the frame/cycle layout.

Keep FWG reconstruction sidecars outside the MPC wavetable library folder. They are useful on your computer, but the MPC library folder should contain only what the MPC expects.

Drive layout

🔧 Copy the generated library folder into:

<Drive>/
└── Oscillators/
    └── Wavetables/
        └── <LibraryFolder>/
            ├── <wavetable-001>.wav
            ├── <wavetable-002>.wav
            └── format.json

Keep format.json beside the WAV files it describes.

Load a wavetable on MPC

🎹 A typical workflow is:

1. connect or mount the drive;
2. create/select a Drum or Keygroup track;
3. open Track Edit;
4. open Samples/Oscs;
5. set the layer to OSC rather than Sample;
6. open the oscillator source browser;
7. browse User Wavetables → your library folder;
8. select a WAV.

If firmware changes the names or exact path, the important distinction is that you are loading the WAV as a user wavetable oscillator, not as an ordinary sample layer.

First hardware audition

🎹 After loading:

• move Position slowly from one end to the other;
• change XFade/interpolation and listen for how adjacent frames blend;
• play low and high notes across the range you care about;
• check Forward/Reverse files if both were exported;
• listen for dead positions, unexpected jumps, or tonal changes that were not obvious in the browser.

A useful first modulation patch is:

• wavetable on Layer 1;
• moderate XFade;
• an LFO routed to Layer 1 Osc Position.

Then compare slow manual Position movement with automated LFO scanning.

What to verify

🎹 For a candidate you intend to keep, confirm:

• the library appears in the browser;
• the WAV loads as a wavetable;
• Position travels through the intended frame order;
• XFade behaves usefully;
• the table remains useful across the needed pitch range;
• forward/reverse orientation is understood;
• any non-zero FWG Pitch Offset was intentional;
• the sibling computer-side JSON archive does not contaminate the MPC wavetable folder.

The destination hardware is the final acceptance test. A mechanically valid file can still be musically poor, and a table that sounds odd as linear WAV audio can work very well under wavetable Position interpolation.

Phase-Coherent Mode and MPC

🔧 Applying/enabling MPC Wavetable Mode turns Phase-Coherent Mode On for the active FWG workspace. Turning MPC Mode off later does not automatically turn Phase-Coherent Mode off.

This is intended to improve wavetable-frame orientation where FWG can track a stable phase branch. It remains best effort; downstream Morph/modulation/render processing can still change apparent phase.

Example packs in the repository

The project repository includes example MPC wavetable packs created from these FWG search pools:

• Unrestricted;
• Cycle-coherent;
• Classic Waveforms;
• Smooth;
• Edge;
• Glitch & Noise.

Repository directory:

examples/MPC-wavetables/

The example area includes MPC-ready wavetable ZIPs, separate JSON-sidecar archives, and its own notes. Use them to verify installation or to hear how different FWG search biases translate to the MPC oscillator.

The example WAVs/manifests/sidecars are dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0 to the extent possible. The FWG program itself remains GPL-2.0-only. MPC is a trademark of its respective owner; the examples are independent user-created content and are not sponsored or endorsed by Akai Professional or inMusic Brands.

Using the same WAV as an ordinary sample

An MPC wavetable WAV is still ordinary mono audio.

Outside the wavetable oscillator context it can be:

• loaded on a Sample layer;
• chopped;
• reversed;
• looped;
• pitched;
• stretched;
• filtered;
• layered;
• resampled;
• used in a DAW or granular tool.

When used as an ordinary sample, the frame geometry described by format.json is ignored.

If the MPC does not recognise the table

Check first:

1. folder path;
2. format.json location;
3. WAV count/frame geometry;
4. FWG's MPC validation warnings;
5. whether you loaded it as an oscillator rather than a Sample layer.

See MPC Wavetable Mode and Troubleshooting.