Build Your Own Sampler Instruments Easily With the EXS24 in Logic Pro X

 

How do you feel about sampling in music?

Is it a bright and fertile future for music producers? Or is music stuck in a cycle of rehashing old material?

Personally, I believe sampling opens up whole new worlds of opportunity for us.

The slam of a car door can be altered into a magnificent kick drum, or a spaceship speeding off.

Or an old idea you wrote a lifetime ago can live a brand new life far from its original intent.

(Just remember though – sampling is a very dicey subject. Recorded a tea kettle boiling? No biggie! Sampled someone else’s music? Either change the sample until it’s beyond recognition, or reach out to the rights owner for permission!)

And thanks to the esteemed EXS24 in Logic, you can craft your own sampled instruments no problem with just a couple mouse clicks.

Remember the EXS24? It powers many of the sounds you use in Logic.

Yeah, I know – it looks a little old. A throwback to another time in Logic’s history. Nothing nearly as slick as Alchemy or the Retro Synth.

But don’t let the EXS24’s rough exterior repel you. The EXS24 is a deep instrument. And it’s actually very easy to set up with samples exactly how you’d like them.

Today on WLPR, let’s take the intimidation out of the EXS24:

• How to quickly load a sample into the EXS24 with 2 clicks of a mouse
• How to tell Logic exactly how to split up your sample using the Audio File Editor
• How to fine-tune the beginning and end of each sample from within the EXS24
• How to play your samples either on a single note or across many notes on your keyboard
• How to load one-shots, reverse samples, adjust the pitch and panning

There’s a lot to uncover, so let’s dig in!