Spitfire Mercury Experiment Sounds User Manual

Spitfire Mercury Experiment Sounds

Specifications

• Mac System Requirements:
  • Mac OS X 10.15 to OS 13
  • Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM
  • Recommended: 2.8GHz i7 (six-core), 16GB RAM
  • M1 Apple computers are supported and 64-bit DAW required
  • (32-bit DAWs not supported)
• PC System Requirements:
  • Windows 10 and Windows 11. (latest Service Pack, 64-bit)
  • Minimum: Intel Core 2.8GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM
  • Recommended: Intel 2.8GHz i7 (six-core)
  • (32 bit DAWs not supported)

Product Information

Introduction:

Unearthly Sounds from Hollywood’s desired instrument maker. Mercury brings the incomparable sound of Chas Smith’s creations to your studio, with a collection of 600+ textures, tones, and pads.

Welcome:

Cosmic textures, tones, and soundscapes. Mercury offers a bespoke collection of exceptional acoustic sculptures by Chas Smith, allowing you to experiment and create unique musical textures and tones.

Product Usage Instructions

Downloading & Installing

To download and install Mercury, follow these steps:

1. Visit the official website and locate the Mercury product.
2. Choose the appropriate version for your operating system (Mac or PC).
3. Click on the download button and follow the on-screen instructions to install the software.

The Spitfire App Preferences

Adjust the Spitfire App preferences according to your needs:

• Open the Spitfire App on your computer.
• Navigate to the Preferences section.
• Customize settings such as audio output, MIDI control, and interface appearance.

The Dedicated Plugin

To access Mercury as a plugin in your DAW:

• Open your preferred digital audio workstation (DAW).
• Load Mercury as a plugin in an instrument track.
• Explore the various controls and presets available within the plugin interface.

FAQ

Appendix A — FAQs and Troubleshooting

For frequently asked questions and troubleshooting tips, refer to Appendix A in the user manual (page 28).

Appendix B — Default CC Mappings

For default CC mappings information, refer to Appendix B in the user manual

INTRODUCTION

QUICK SPECS

Unearthly Sounds from Hollywood’s Desired Instrument Maker When blockbuster film composers need to score the awe-inspiring, the mystical, the mechanical, and the alien, they turn to Chas Smith. His creations painted the unearthly soundscapes of Dune and Interstellar, sang heroic anthems for Man of Steel and The Hunger Games, and textured terrors throughout the Saw film franchise. In Mercury, we’re bringing his incomparable, one-of-a-kind sound to your studio. We sampled 14 of Chas’s most celebrated acoustic instruments, then fused, warped, and reinvented them in Solar, our new eDNA-powered synthesiser. All told, this collection delivers 600+ textures, tones, and pads—organic and synthesised. Unshackle the industrial, and unveil the impossible worlds orbiting just beyond our reach.

MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Mac OS X 10.15 to OS 13 Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM. Recommended: 2.8GHz i7 (six-core), 16GB RAM. M1 Apple computers are supported and 64 bit DAW required. (32 bit DAWs not supported) PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Windows 10 and Windows 11. (latest Service Pack, 64-bit) Minimum: Intel Core 2.8GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM Recommended: Intel 2.8GHz i7 (six-core) or (32 bit DAWs not supported)

• Download Size 8.2 GB
• Dedicated plugin (AU, VST2, VST3, AAX)

WELCOME

Cosmic textures, tones, and soundscapes

In order to build your own sonic world, and to score the awe-inspiring, you need to discover sounds and instruments that aren’t easily replicated. Mercury takes the exceptional acoustic sculptures hand-crafted by Hollywood’s premier instrument designer Chas Smith, and allows you to experiment and go beyond the usual and familiar. Mercury was built with the idea that truly unique instruments should sound organic, not artificial. A bespoke collection of the most amazing, transcendent, and haunting musical textures and tones that you will ever find. Chas Smith has managed to create artistic evocative metallic sculptures that also happen to be the secret ingredient in the iconic scores of Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar, Dune and Dunkirk, and in Charlie Clouser’s Saw.

Mercury’s Solar Orbit

This library combines two dynamic forces: Mercury and Solar. One, a collection of pure, organic sounds; the other, a tool for reinventing them. The most up- to-date iteration of our eDNA technology, Solar is the host to Mercury’s organic ethereal samples and the eDNAs extensive warp and preset library. Within Solar, you will find the expansive soundscape Mercury, a world built around 14 unique handmade instruments like no other. The Bertoia, Sceptre, Pez Eater, and Que Lastas (just to name a few) have had lasting impressions on some of Hollywood’s leading luminaries. The Que Lastas in particular has an entertaining story. Charlie Clouser upon hearing it for the first time was moved to tears. Therein lies the magic behind these instruments — their roars and whispers evoke the strongest emotions amongst the greatest composers. The hand-crafted souls of these structures are irreplaceable, only Chas Smith holds the key to the cosmic sounds of cinematic metal. Accompanying this is our eDNA, with a library of 300 presets, and the ability to create and save your own warped and wonderful sounds, the only limitation is your imagination. “Chas’ instruments have been a crucial part of the sonic landscape of all of my film scores, and although I’m a little sad that I will no longer have him all to myself, I am thrilled that he has finally succumbed to years of urging on my part and has at long last collaborated with Spitfire Audio” Charlie Clouser

From  The King of Experimental Instruments

Chas Smith is the KING of real-world acoustic sonic experimentation. He does things the hard way, and the results speak for themselves. His experience is unmatched, his imagination is boundless, and the combination of his diverse talents is superhuman. Due to his position in the timeline of history, it would simply not be possible for any living human to duplicate his journey or his results. Chas wasn’t always a hotshot Hollywood musician. He started out as a union welder and fabricator, metalworking for the film industry, and received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for the structural engineering of the Bulldog Motion Control Camera Crane. From Cal Arts to Image G, from Subotnick to Budd, from pedal steel to welding steel, his talents, influences, and abilities are truly one-of-a-kind.

DOWNLOADING & INSTALLING

Thank you for buying Mercury. If you are new to Spitfire Audio you can get up to speed here:

• https://www.spitfireaudio.com/about

First though, grab the ‘Spitfire Audio App’ from this link, this app will enable you to download the library:

• http://www.spitfireaudio.com/info/library-manager

THE SPITFIRE AUDIO APP

When you launch the app you will be prompted to login using the same details you use at our site. Then you’ll see the page pictured below:

1. TABS the default tab is My Products, which shows all of the libraries on your Spitfire Account. Downloads will show currently downloading products.
2. FILTERS Clicking these filters will quickly display products you’ve yet to install, those already installed, and any available updates. Clicking again will remove the filter.
3. LIBRARY All libraries and plugins in your collection will appear with their artwork on the My Products tab. Clicking this artwork will open the product page. This is a great place to find information such as system requirements and instructions as well as Reset and Repair options.
4. INSTALL/UPDATE buttons allow you to quickly start a download directly from the My Products tab, instead of clicking through to the Library. Next to the button the size of the download is shown.

THE SPITFIRE APP PREFERENCES

• If this is your first time using the Spitfire Audio App for a download you may wish to first navigate to the Settings tab. Here you can set the Default Content location for where you wish to download your libraries. You can also you can set the default VST2 install location to the folder where your DAW expects to find VST files. Here you can also enable Auto Login to save time in future.
• Once you are happy with your preferences, click the Install button for the library. This is either directly on My Products tab under the library artwork, or it can be found by clicking on the library image and clicking the install button on the page that appears. Clicking either of these will prompt you for a location, the default content location in your preferences will be suggested but you can select any suitable location. If installing from a hard drive, ensure that you choose the drive as the location. Once you are happy with the location click Download.
• After clicking install you will be directed to the Downloads tab where you can watch the progress if you like. You can of course leave the Downloads tab and start other downloads but at this point you should leave the Spitfire App open until the download completes.

THE DEDICATED PLUGIN

Solar is its own, self-contained plugin built for VST, AU and AAX, so once you’ve downloaded and installed you’re ready to go.

LOGIC PRO X

• On a fresh project, a track dialogue box will automatically pop up
• Choose ‘Software Instrument’, and then look beneath the ‘Instrument’ dropdown
• Select AU Instruments > Spitfire Audio > Solar

CUBASE

• Right-click the track window and choose ‘Add Instrument Track’
• Underneath the ‘Instrument’ dropdown, choose Solar
• Select ‘Add Track’

PRO TOOLS

• Go to the ‘Track’ menu at the top of the screen, and select ‘New’
• In the pop-up, select Stereo and Instrument Track, and press ‘Create’
• In the first Insert slot, select multichannel plug-in and ‘Instrument’
• You should see Solar available as an option

EDNA INTERFACE (QUICK LOOK)

THE MERCURY SYNTH INTERFACE (EDNA)

MAIN CONTROLS

PRESET SELECTOR

1. PRESET NAME
   Here you can see the currently selected preset.

2. CLEAR FILTERS
   Click here to show all instruments at once.

3. FILTERS
   Click on a filter to only show those preset grouped by the filter.

4. INSTRUMENT GROUP
   As you scroll through the available presets, the instrument group is displayed here.

5. STAR
   Favourite to add to the “starred” filter.

6. PREVIEW
   Play back a short example of the preset without having to load it. Enormously helpful when choosing a sound.

7. 7. PRESET LIST
   Scroll through the list of presets here. Double-click to load a preset or click the ‘Load’ button.

8. NEXT, PREVIOUS AND SAVE
   With the presets view collapsed, you will be able to see the Next, Previous and Save icons. Next and Previous will send you to the next available preset – if you have a filter enabled, you will scroll through the filtered set of presets. Save allows you to save your own preset, click save, name the preset and it will appear under the “user” filter.

9. INFORMATION
   Hover over on the “i” icon to see some information about the preset.

10. LOAD
    Select a preset and then press “load” (or double-click the preset).

THE EDNA MAIN CONTROLS

1. VOLUME
   Often referred to as “Expression” in our Kontakt Libraries, this is an overall level control.

2. CROSSFADER
   This controls the mix percentage between Bay A and B

3. KNOB
   The configurable knob controls any of the other available parameters for the technique selected. Hover over, and click and you will be able to assign any of the remaining available controls to the knob.
   Tip: ALT right-click any control to assign it to this knob.
   Tip: Right-click on any of these controls to assign them to a MIDI controller. Remember that if you assign a MIDI controller to a parameter via the knob, the MIDI controller will follow the parameter rather than being permanently assigned to the knob.

SOUND BAYS

The Sound Bays display which sounds are loaded (b) and allow you to favourite (a) and mute (e) the sound as well as swapping the bays with the button in the centre (f). You can also browse for, and load different sounds from the browser (b) as well as unloading the sound (c) and navigating back and forth through the available sounds (d). Finally, use (g) to view the main eDNA panel, (h) to view the FX Pages and (I) to view the Gate Sequencer.

WOBBLES

Wobbles are low-frequency oscillators (LFOs) which are linked to Volume, Pitch and Filter. Each of these has a frequency (a) and an amount (b) which you can change by clicking and dragging up or down. These can be assigned to your MIDI controller by right-clicking.

ENVELOPE SECTION

This section is made up of the Filters and ADSR Filters – Two filters, low pass (cuts frequencies above the cutoff point) and high pass, (cuts frequencies below the cutoff point) Click and drag the curve (a) up or down to adjust the frequency cut off of the filter. Pull the slider (b) left to right to adjust the resonance of the filter. ADSR – The ADSR controls the amplitude envelope of the sound. Adjust the Attack (c) to create a slow or fast fade in to your sound. The Decay (d) drops the volume to the Sustain level (e). Release (f) sets the time it takes the sound to decay to 0dB after you release a note.

SAMPLE / NOTE CONTROLS

• 4a. Tune – Adjusts the pitch of the sample in 50 cent (quarter tone or half semitone) steps. To have a smooth dial (which moves in 5 cent steps) click SHIFT and then move the knob.
• 4b. Pan – Moves the instrument within the stereo field left and right.
• 4c. Offset – Is the quickest way of changing the samples you’re using. Use this in conjunction with the tune knob to get the desired effect. In context: offsetting by + 7 keys, you will hear the sample for the note 7 keys higher. If you then tune down 7 semitones you will hear the correct note with a different sample.
• 4d. Trim – Is a gain stage. It helps you tweak the volume balance between sound bay A & B. In Context: use this if a Bay A instruments needs balancing against Bay B. Bend Controls – These control what happens when you use the pitch bend wheel.
• 4e. Glide ON – This activates the glide control.
• 4e Glide On/Off – Click to activate portamento between notes.
• 4f. Glide Amount – Slide this amount up to increase the time it takes to reach the target note, exaggerating the glides between notes.
• 4g. Bend Amount – This controller sets the extreme bend amount up to 2400 cents.
• 4h. % Bend – This controller then sets how much in % the pitch bends. For example, if you set the right to 2400 cents, then the left to -100% you get a bend of -2400 cents. If you put the left slider to +50% you get a bend of +1200 cents.
• 4i. Clone On – This activates the clone control.
• 4j. Coarse Tune – This tunes the clone up and down in 100 cent (1 semitone) steps to +/- 1200 cents (1 octave) 4k. Fine Tune – This tunes the clone further in smaller increments +/- 100 cents (1 semitone/halftone).

OSCILLATE MIXER

The mixer crossfades between the sound in Bay A and Bay B, much like a DJ’s mixer.

• 5a. Oscillate On – Switch this to turn on the Oscillator
• 5b. Stop On Release – this returns the fader to the
• 5c. Speed – Synced to your host DAW tempo, adjust up or down to affect the frequency of the Oscillator.
• 5d. Direction Strength – These control the amount the XFader travels in each direction. Both sliders at 50% will oscillate half way in and out of each bay.
• 5e. The X-FADER – This is the cross-fader between bay a & b.
• 5e. Start/Phase – This slider controls where the x-fader starts and which direction it moves first.
• 50/50 position on note release. When this option is off the x-fader returns to 50/50, after the sounds in bay a and b have stopped playing.
• 5g. Oscillator Shape – These toggle between the standard ‘equal’ shape moving left and right, to a more jagged shape to uni-directional

THE EDNA FX PAGES

ENDA FX SIGNAL FLOW

Below is a diagram of what the signals are doing under eDNA’s hood so you can best decide at which stage you wish to add and tweak your effects. We have pre-curated the FX racks according to their stage in the signal path. Common send FX such as Reverbs and Delays are found on the AUX FX. Phases, Flangers and Distortions are found as direct inserts, for example Bay A and B .

EDNA BAY A FX

SHAPE

• Associated with a talk box effect, a filter that can target the vowel sounds.
• Talk – Controls the frequency response of the filter.
• Sharp – Similar to a resonance control on a synth, this control provides a boost or cut to the notches.
• Size – Similar to a frequency cutoff control.

PHONIC

• Similar to the shape, this is another filter emphasising vowel sounds.
• Cutoff – changes the frequency centre of the filter.
• Resonance – This control emphasises the filter cut off point.

PEAK

• A Ladder Peak filter that emphasises frequencies at the cut off point
• Cutoff – Changes the frequency centre of the filter.
• Resonance – This control emphasises the filter cut off point.
• Gain – Control the overall volume after the filter stage.

AMP

• Bass – Modifies Bass frequencies
• Mid – Modifies Mid frequencies
• Treble – Modifies High frequencies
• Presence – Boosts upper mid frequencies.
• Preamp – Use this to increase drive and distortion.
• Output – Adjust the volume level after the FX.

DISTORT

• Drive – Increase or decrease the amount of distotion.
• Damp – Increase this to increase high frequencies. Similar to a presence control.
• Output – Adjust the volume level after the FX.

FLANGER

• Depth – The LFO modulation amount. Increase this for a greater range of sweeping.
• Feedback – Controls the amount of output signal that is returned into the input.
• Speed – Controls the rate of the LFO variation.
• Phase – The phase difference between the left and the right channels.
• Colour – Adjusts the delay of the effect, lower values result in an effect similar to a Phaser.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal, and the processed signal.

CHORUS

• Depth – The LFO modulation amount.
• Speed – The Frequency of the LFO.
• Phase – The phase difference between left and the right chanels.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal, and the processed signal.

AUX SENDS

8 FX sends. These will not be heard unless activated under the AUX FX section. 2x Delay and Reverb. Convolution, Chorus, Flanger and Phaser. Turn the sends on, and adjust the FX settings in the AUX FX returns area.

EDNA BAY B FX

FORM

• A filter which can target the vowel sounds.
• Talk – Controls the frequency response of the filter.
• Sharp – Similar to a resonance control on a synth, this control provides a boost or cut to the notches.
• Size – Similar to a frequency cutoff control.

SONANT

Similar to Phonic.

• Cutoff – changes the frequency centre of the filter.
• Resonance – This control emphasises the filter cut off point

NOTCH

Similar to Peak however the Notch Filter cuts two bands either side of the cut off point.

• Cutoff – changes the frequency centre of the filter.
• Resonance – This control emphasises the filter cut off point.
• Gain – Overall volume output after the FX.

DIGITAL

• Bits – Adjust the quantisation of the audio to a different bit-depth.
• Sratio – Adjust the samples of the audio to a different sample rate
• Noise – Adds noise to the audio signal.
• Colour – Adds a frequency variation to the noise.
• Output – Overall volume output after the FX.

BIAS

A saturation-based Amplifier.

• Saturate – Increase this to add a gentle compression. Similar to the drive of analogue tape.
• Output – Overall volume output after the FX.

CONVOLUTION

• Pre Delay – Adjust the onset of the reverb in ms.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal and the processed signal.
• Drop-down Menu – Choose from a range of different impulses.

PHASER

• Depth – The LFO modulation amount. Increase this for a greater range of sweeping.
• Feedback – Controls the amount of output signal that is returned into the input.
• Speed – Controls the rate of the LFO variation on the all pass filter.
• Phase – The phase difference between the left and the right channels.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal, and the processed signal.

AUX SENDS

8 FX sends. These will not be heard unless activated under the AUX FX section.
2x Delay and Reverb. Convolution, Chorus, Flanger and Phaser. Turn the sends on, and adjust the FX settings in the AUX FX returns area.

AUX FX

Aux FX are the FX called by the AUX sent from Bay A and Bay B FX. You can also send to AUX FX from the Master FX. To hear these FX, the sends need to be active under Master FX, Bay A

DELAY 1 & 2

• Time – The delay time in notation. For example 1/8 = a delay time of 1 quaver / 8th note.
• Damp – With each delay repetition the high frequencies are attenuated.
• Pan – Create a stereo delay where delay fluctuates between L/R channels.
• Feedback – Controls the amount of repetitions that occur.
• Return – Overall FX volume level.

REVERBS 1 & 2

• Pre Delay – Adjust the onset of the reverb in ms.
• Size – Increase the size to give the impression of a larger room.
• Stereo – Increase the stereo width of the reverb.
• Damp – The room absorption control.
• Colour – Lower values will resemble softer room material, whereas higher values resemble more reflective surfaces.
• Return – Overall FX Volume level.

CONVOLUTION

• Pre Delay – Adjust the onset of the reverb in ms.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal, and the processed signal.
• Drop-down Menu – Choose from a range of different impulses.

CHORUS

• Depth – The LFO modulation amount.
• Speed – The Frequency of the LFO.
• Phase – The phase difference between left and the right channels.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal and the processed signal.

FLANGER

• Depth – The LFO modulation amount. Increase this for a greater range of sweeping.
• Feedback – Controls the amount of output signal that is returned into the input.
• Speed – Controls the rate of the LFO variation.
• Phase – The phase difference between the left and the right channels.
• Colour – Adjusts the delay of the effect, lower values result in an effect similar to a Phaser.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal, and the processed signal.

PHASER

• Depth – The LFO modulation amount. Increase this for a greater range of sweeping.
• Feedback – Controls the amount of output signal that is returned into the input.
• Speed – Controls the rate of the LFO variation on the all-pass filter.
• Phase – The phase difference between the left and the right channels.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal and the processed signal.

MASTER FX

Master FX is placed at the end of the signal chain, and all sounds in the plugin are processed through these FX.

EQ
3 bands to adjust the frequency spectrum.

• Frequency – Controls the band location.
• Gain – Controls the boost or cut in dB, of frequency.
• Q – Controls the bandwidth of the chosen frequency.

GRAIN FX

• Delay – The time offset from within the delay line from which the grains are generated.
• Delay Spread – Random distribution of delay times measured as a percentage of the delay parameter.
• Duration – The duration of each grain.
• Duration Spread – Random distribution of grain duration, measured as a percentage of the duration parameter.
• Gain Frequency – The frequency at which new grains are generated. Frequency Spread – Random distribution of grain frequency, measured as a percentage of the grain frequency parameter.
• Tuning – The pitch tuning of grains in semitones.
• Tuning Spread – Random distribution of grain tune, measured as a semitone from the grain tune parameter.
• Tuning Quantise – Select which scale the tuning of the grains should follow.
• Mix – The overall mix of the granular effect.

AUX SENDS

8 FX sends. These will not be heard unless activated under the AUX FX section. 2x Delay and Reverb. Convolution, Chorus, Flanger and Phaser. Turn the sends on, and adjust the FX settings in the AUX FX returns area.

TAPE SATURATION

Tape Saturation emulates gentle compression and distortion of recording to tape.

• Gain – Increasing this will create a greater distortion.
• Warmth – a tone control for the tape and adds in harmonics.
• HF Roll off – attenuates high frequencies.
• Output – allows the user to compensate for any gain reduction.

FLANGER

• Depth – The LFO modulation amount. Increase this for a greater range of sweeping.
• Feedback – Controls the amount of output signal that is returned to the input.
• Speed – Controls the rate of the LFO variation.
• Phase – The phase difference between the left and the right channels.
• Colour – Adjusts the delay of the effect, lower values result in an effect similar to a Phaser.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal and the processed signal.

CONVOLUTION

• Pre Delay – Adjust the onset of the reverb in ms.
• Dry / Wet – Adjust the balance between the original signal and the processed signal.
• Drop-down Menu – Choose from a range of different impulses.

LIMITER

Limiters are a safeguard against clipping of the overall output signal. with a ratio of 1.100 and a fast attack.

• In Gain – Sets input signal gain. Turn this up until attenuation is heard.

• Output – Compensates for any gain reduction.

GATE SEQUENCER

The Gate Sequencer rhythmically mutes and unmutes both sound bays independently. The top line is the gate for Bay A, the bottom for Bay B. The default position is everything “on”. To gate either A or B click on the step you wish to gate.

1. Speed – Adjust the speed of your gate sequence in relation to your DAW tempo.
2. Gate Sequencer – Switches the machine on or off.
3. Gate Cell – Click these in / out to activate a sequence.
4. Volume – This adjusts how much the gate cuts the sound. It’s the default position is all the way off, the more you adjust the slider the more you adjust how much the gate drops down to.
5. Smooth In – Changes the shape of the front of the gate and smooths it in.
6. Smooth Out – The amount of tail the gate has.
7. Length – If you need more or fewer steps than the default length, use the division slider. This will not affect the gate speed, but the number of steps in your pattern. Particularly useful when working in a 3/4 time signature.
8. After Layer FX – This switches the gate stage to after the bank FX.
9. Stop on release – Switch the gate engine off when you release your sound.
10. Flip – This swaps the A/B sequence around. We also have some quick keys that help you tweak and experiment quickly and easily:
    • Holding shift toggles a range of cells (i.e. press the 2nd cell, hold shift, press the 10th cell – cells 2-10 will change)
    • Holding ALT affects both A and B cells (same as ALT and knob twiddling)
    • Holding CMD/CTRL (Mac/PC) and clicking inverts the current sequencer track. On becomes off and vice versa.

TOP MENU

1. LED
   Shows when an instrument is loaded by lighting solid green. If this flashes, your instrument is not fully loaded.

2. CPU METER
   An indication of how much your CPU is being taxed, the green flash next to the CPU meter will turn red when you are overloading it.

3. DISK METER
   How hard your hard drive is working? If this is close to, or going over 100% it’s time to consider a faster drive.

4. MEMORY
   This shows how much RAM you are currently using in this instance of Mercury. While the preset is loading, this will show the instrument loading into memory.

5. VOICES
   Shows how many voices are being used at any one time.

6. REFRESH
   Refresh the instrument, and alt-click to refresh the whole plug-in. This can be useful if you have hanging MIDI notes or have moved samples in your file system.

7. MIDI CH
   Set the MIDI channel that will control the instrument here. If in doubt select “any” so that the instrument will react to any incoming MIDI messages.

8. TUNE
   Move this knob to tune in increments of 0.01 of a semitone. CMD/CTRL-click to reset to default.

9. PAN
   Pan the signal left/right. CMD/CTRL- Click to reset.

10. VOLUME
    Control the overall volume of the instrument.

11. PRESET SETTINGS
    A. VELOCITY MAPPED TO DYNAMICS
    A. VELOCITY
    Pick from 4 different velocity curves to suit your controller’s touch.
    B. RESET AND CLEAR CC MAPPINGS
    Clicking reset will set all of the CC mappings for this instrument to the defaults – useful if you’ve got yourself in a mess! Clear will remove all CC mappings on the plugin.

PLUGIN SETTINGS

• HELP TEXT
  Turn this on to display parameter information in the bottom left corner of the plug-in.

• DEFAULT SCALE
  How big the plugin UI is when opened? Press “get” to set the current scale or type a value before pressing “Set” and “Save”

• GAIN UNITS
  Toggle this if you want your gain to be displayed in dB instead of as a percentage

• SWITCH MIDDLE C OCTAVE NUMBER
  If switched on, Middle C will show as C4, rather than C3.

• MAXIMUM VOICES
  Enter the maximum number of voices that can play at once. More voices = More CPU and memory used.

• PRELOAD SIZE
  The minimum number of sample values preloaded into memory for each audio recording. Increase for slower hard drives. Default is 12288

• STREAM BUFFER SIZE
  The number of sample values kept in memory for each audio recording stream. Increase for slower hard drives.

• MASTER TUNING
  Change the default tuning of the plugin. For example A = 440hz or A = 432 HZ.

• PLUGIN
  Under this heading you can choose a default preset to load, click on the preset name and choose your preferred preset from the list.

APPENDIX A —

FAQS AND TROUBLESHOOTING

• Q: WHAT ARE THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS?

  • MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
  • Mac OS X 10.15 – OS 13
    Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 (quad-core), 8GB RAM Recommended: 2.8GHz i7 (six-core), 16GB RAM
    32 bit is no longer supported. Apple Silicon / ARM is supported.

• PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

  • Windows 10 and Windows 11. (latest Service Pack, 64-bit) Minimum: Intel Core 2.8GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM Recommended: Intel 2.8GHzi7 (six-core) or AMD R7 2700, 16GB RAM

• Q: I WANT TO RESET THE PLUGIN SETTINGS TO THE DEFAULT

  • You can delete the .settings file to reset the settings to default. This is located at: Users/username/Music/Spitfire Audio – on a Mac
    C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\ Spitfire Audio – on a PC.

• Q: MY LIST OF PRESETS IS EMPTY, HOW DO I SOLVE THIS?

  • If you have moved your Mercury Library folder, you can solve this problem by using the “Locate Library” feature in the Spitfire Audio App. If this does not solve the problem, the library likely needs reauthorising, to do this, use the “repair” feature in the Spitfire Audio App.

• Q: I SEE A RED EXCLAMATION MARK IN THE TOP LEFT OF MERCURY, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

  • This means that there is an error, you can click the exclamation mark to open a log with further details. It is likely that using the “Repair” and “Locate Library” features in the Spitfire Audio App will solve the problem but if not, contact our support team at spitfireaudio.com/support and attach the log.

• Q: CAN I INSTALL ON MORE THAN ONE COMPUTER?

  • With our products, you have two licenses. This means that you are allowed to download and install on two computers you own, say your main rig and your mobile rig. If you have purchased the library on a hard drive, you should copy the contents of the drive on to the destination machine before completing the download with the Spitfire App. If you downloaded Mercury, you can copy the library folder over to the second machine and then use the “Repair” and “Locate Library” features in the Spitfire Audio App.

• Q: I CAN’T SEE THIS IN THE KONTAKT LIBRARIES PANE AND WHEN I TRY AND LOAD IT INTO KONTAKT IT SAYS NO LIBRARY FOUND

  • This library does not run in Kontakt, it is a standalone plug-in that you can run in your chosen DAW.

• Q: HOW DO I AUTHORIZE MERCURY ON A MACHINE NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET?

  • It not possible to authorise Mercury on a machine not connected to the internet. Authorisation is done with the Spitfire Audio App and an internet connection is required

• Q: HOW CAN I RE-DOWNLOAD A    PRODUCT?
  **** This can easily be done via your Spitfire Audio App. To reset both your entire library download or the latest update;

  • Open up the Spitfire Audio App and log in with your account email and password.
  • Select the product artwork you wish to redownload
  • On this page is a “cogwheel”. Select this, and choose “reset” from the menu. Then “Reset Entire Download” (for a full download) or (Latest Update) for the latest update. This will reset your latest update ready for install again. You can repeat this process for any of the libraries you own.
    Note that there is a limit to how many times you can reset your downloads in a certain time frame. If you do exceed your reset limit please get in touch.

• Q: DIFFICULTIES IN DOWNLOADING / INSTALLING
  Customers may find that they have some difficulties in the downloading process. If you find that you are having some trouble, please check the list below for possible causes:

  • The formatting of your drive, if it is FAT32 will cause errors because there is a maximum file size with this format of 4GB and our download files will exceed this limit. To solve this problem, reformat your drive or use a different drive. We recommend NTFS on PC and Mac OS Extended on Mac.
    Other possible issues:

  • Spitfire App freezes in the “Extracting” stage for hours. This may be because our libraries are often very large files, and this is the stage where the compressed files are extracted and placed in their final locations on the hard drive. There could be hundreds of GB of content to unpack, so it really can take hours. If you’re unsure whether it has crashed or is extracting files, visit the installation folder you chose when you started the install. If everything is working normally you’ll see various files appearing in the folder (or one of its sub-folders).

  • If your download gets stuck and is continually cycling and not resuming, please get in touch with us, giving us as much detailas possible about your set up. It would be helpful if you can tell us your operating system, where you are downloading from (your country, and also whether you’re at home or work), your ISP, and whether there are any proxy servers or firewalls between your computer and the internet.

• Q: I HAVE FAST INTERNET, WHY IS MY DOWNLOAD SLOW?

  • We have no direct influence on your actual download speeds, our libraries are hosted on Amazon S3 servers which are normally very quick but it may well be that at certain times of the day when traffic is particularly busy, your ISP may throttle your connection speeds. We would advise you to leave your download running overnight as speeds should ramp up at less busy times. Our Spitfire App downloader aims to use as much of the available bandwidth as possible to give you the quickest possible speeds, and may take several minutes to reach its peak.

• Q: CAN I TRY BEFORE I BUY?

  • No – it is not currently possible to demo our products. If you go to our Youtube channel you’ll see many walkthroughs containing detailed info about all our products — you can hear them being played in real time with no smoke and mirrors!

• Q: MY LIBRARIES ARE NOT SHOWING UP IN MY SPITFIRE APP

  • A handful of customers may find that when they log into their Spitfire App, some of their previously purchased products do not show up in the ‘Installed’ section or in the ‘Download Ready’ section either. It may be that you have purchased these under another email address. Checking other possible email addresses for your previous purchases may help to find these missing products. If this is not the case, and these missing products were purchased a few years ago, please create a support ticket telling us your account email address, and any serial numbers you may have to go with these missing products. Our support team can also merge one or more accounts together if you’d like to consolidate all your purchases in one place. The more information we have, the quicker we can get you back up and running!

• Q: HOW DO I UPDATE MY PRODUCTS?

  • The main premise of downloading our products is that our Spitfire App downloads into the folder you choose, so it is important to choose the folder above where you want the download to go. The best file path for our products is something very simple, a long file path will cause errors as there is a character limit on how far the Spitfire App can read. We advise a file path of something along the lines of: Samples Drive > Spitfire Audio When it comes to downloading / updating – if you have a folder called ‘Spitfire Audio’ always point the Spitfire App to the folder Spitfire Audio – never go into this folder and choose the actual library in question.

• Q: HOW DO I REDOWNLOAD THE LATEST UPDATE?

  • With the continuous improvements to our Spitfire Audio App, we have incorporated the ability to reset your own downloads. This can easily be done via your Spitfire Audio App.
    Open up the Spitfire Audio App and log in with your account email and password.

  • Select the product artwork you wish to redownload

  • On this page is a “cog wheel”. Select this, choose “reset” from the menu. Then “Reset Entire Download” (for a full download) or (Latest Update) for the latest update.

  • This will reset your latest update ready for install again. You can repeat this process for any other updates you wish. If you do not see the option to reset your download in your Spitfire Audio App, we would advise to download the latest version of the Spitfire App from spitfireaudio.com/ info/library-manager/.

• Q: I’VE BEEN WAITING AGES FOR MY DOWNLOAD LINKS?

  • We run all our orders through a fraud checking process. The automatic fraud check takes 20 minutes (but can take up to an hour during a very busy period, eg. Black Friday) If your order gets caught at this stage, we run a manual order check, and this can delay the processing of your order for up to 24 hours. You should however receive an orderconfirmation email IMMEDIATELY upon placing your order. This confirms that your order has successfully been logged in our system and that your payment was successfully taken. Please check your junk folders before contacting our support. MERCURY 31 USER MANUAL

• Q: CAN I DOWNLOAD ON A PC, THEN TRANSFER TO A MAC OR VICE VERSA?

  • Yes, you can copy the library folder and plugin files over to the second machine and then use the “Repair” and “Locate Library” features in the Spitfire Audio App. Please note that although the majority of the download can be done on a separate machine, you will always need an internet connection to finish the authorisation process.

• Q: HOW DO I DOWNLOAD PRODUCTS ON MAC OSX 10.9?

  • The version of the Spitfire App needed to install Mercury only supports Mac OSX 10.13 and upwards.

• Q: I HAVE FOUND A BUG

  • In some cases we can’t squash them all and bugs shamefully make their way through. If you think you have found a bug, please contact us with all the relevant information;
  • A description of the bug you have found
  • A screencast (video) of the bug happening, or an audio example
  • The exact preset name (or presets) in question and also the library giving us as much detail as possible will help us get to the bottom of the issue.

• Q: WHAT IS YOUR REFUNDS / RETURNS POLICY?

  • If you have NOT completed the download/installation process and bought it within 14 days then we CAN refund/return your product, please contact support with your account email address and order number so we can handle this quickly. If you HAVE completed the installation process (even if you’ve not yet registered your serial number), please see our EULA in regards to why we do not accept refunds and returns. We can refund hard drive orders up until the point when the drive is dispatched from our office. This is usually 1-2 days after you order.

• Q: I’VE FORGOTTEN MY PASSWORD.

  • If you have forgotten your password, please see this link spitfireaudio.com/my-account/ login/, and click ‘Forgotten Password’. If at some point in the past, you asked us to merge two or more accounts but have since forgotten, you MAY find that the forgotten password isn’t working for the email address you asked us to merge FROM. In this case, please contact support with your name and any email addresses you think we might know about, and we’ll work out what has happened.

APPENDIX B —

DEFAULT CC MAPPINGS

• Crossfader 1
• Global Gain 7
• Global Pan 10
• Expression 11

References

• Spitfire Audio
• Sign in — Spitfire Audio
• Support Centre
• Spitfire Audio app — Spitfire Audio
• About Spitfire Audio — Spitfire Audio

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