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!
Hi Chris – Thanks for the video about the EXS Sampler. Do you ever post walkthroughs on how you went from your sample to the full track that you demonstrated?
Hey Anne, thanks for the comment and idea! I don’t, but is something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while. If I did, is there anything you’d love to see in particular?
Well, unless I misunderstood it, the video has a piece that was created from basic sample you created in the video. I would be really interested to see what you did to create the piece, or a few different sounds that you made in the piece, so I could perhaps follow along.
Hey Anne, thanks so much for the clarification! I’ll keep this in mind for future videos.