Creating multi-sample EXS instruments

following on from this post...
audiotuts has a tutorial on creating a multi-sample instrument within Logic's EXS Sampler. The tutorial focusses on using glass bottles as the sound source, but obviously the same principles apply regardless of the source.
It's quite a brief article but it does cover some tips on how to edit your samples in preparation for loading into the sampler.
In order to take advantage of the "automap" function within the EXS you need to name your samples with their pitch at the end of the file name, eg. sample C3.wav
The automap function will read your file names for a pitch value and automatically map your samples to the correct pitch, saving you loads of time and effort.

Creating custom EXS instrument

audiotuts has a nice little tutorial on creating your own cutsom instrument in Logic's EXS sampler.
It's only basic in that it covers loading a single sample, mapping it across the entire key range and adjusting it's loop points, but it's a good starting point if you want to start making your own instruments.

shatner goes electro

Now that's a title to make you wanna watch...!

This vid comes via waveformless



I like this as it shows what can be done with a little bit of simple processing; splicing and some pitch shifting.

Tom from waveformless suggest these videos as related viewing:
Timber by Coldcut

check out the related videos sidebar on this one for other food stuff

and this one of Dubyah's dad "singing" We Will Rock You

the amen break

This video details the origin, history and use of the most sampled break - the Amen Break.
Its a reasonable length (18mins) and the video is a little odd (you'll see what I mean), but its a good narrative which helps to highlight the creative possibilities of sampling - it's pretty amazing the number of variations that can be achieved from one sample.

Kontakt: Sample Start Modulation

A nice little Kontakt tip from waveformless.
Use a MIDI cc (eg the mod wheel) to vary the start position of your sample as you are playing. This works best if you are using a sample which has quite a bit of variety within it, especially in terms of timbre.

"1. Find a long, resonant sweep synth sample online, or if you have a hardware synth, record your own.
2. Import the sample into Kontakt and set the root key so that it is in tune.
3. Beneath the instrument header, click the small green box marked 'Modulation' in the lower lefthand corner. This will open the modulation section for the sampler module itself. In this section, the grey drop down menu on the left represents the modulation source (ie what you use to change the sound). The slider in the middle represents the amount of modulation this source will apply when it is activated. Finally, the drop down menu on the far right represents the Modulation Destination, or what you specifically want to modulate.
4. What destinations are available is dependent on which of the sampler types (ie DFD, Sampler, Time Machine, Tone Machine) you are using. In order to do sample start modulation, you have to select the Sampler module (assuming it is defaulted to DFD).
5. In the Modulation section, select 'midi CC' as your source and change the number in the window next to it to '1'. This selects the modulation wheel as your Source.
6. Move the modulation amount slider fully to the right. You may have to adjust this, as the appropriate setting depends on the speed and length of the sweep sample.
7. Finally, select 'Sample Start' as your Modulation Destination from the drop down menu to the right."

Moldover - controllerism

matrixsynth has a collection of youtube videos from Moldover discussing controllerism.

Moldover is a performance artist who uses custom modified MIDI controllers and audio software like Reaktor and Ableton Live to create his own music live.

In the videos he shows and discusses his approach to customising controllers, selecting and organising audio clips and performance concepts. His methods are all about keeping things as simple as possible in order to make his performances as smooth as possible.

Live Looper

Livid Instruments have released the Livid Looper, a freeware open source audio looping tool.
The Looper has been created in Max5 so it is possible to adapt and modify the original software to suit your exact needs.

taken from the website:

"Designed to emphasize simplicity and hands-on control, short loops of audio can be sliced, diced, scrambled, and transformed with built-in and VST effects. Gesture and Segment sequencers record synchronized loops of knob and button presses, locking effect changes to the loop. Quantized actions and automatic pitch shifting ensure all your loops stay in tempo. Interact directly with the waveform to sculpt your sound, or use the auto-segmenting feature to break it up into equal chunks. MIDI learn is available for any control, and simple knobs provide complete control over the sound of any loop.
Key Features
• Up to six files loaded in each looper for quick recall and playback
• Loop is automatically pitch shifted to match the BPM
• Automatic segmenting for slicing up a loop
• Interactive waveform display for arbitrary loop selections
• Assignable to crossfader
• Record live audio and instantly loop it
• Multiple audio effects, including a VST effect
• Granulator for scramble or time-shift effects
• Record up to 8 synced sequences of knob turns and effect changes
• Record up to 8 synced sequences of segment and file changes
• All actions are quantized to the master BPM
• Easy MIDI learn function
• Tight integration with Livid's Ohm controller
• Free of charge and open source (developed in Cycling 74's Max/MSP)"

the art of sampling

sonicstate has put together a series on sampling. Episode 1 is available now and looks at the pioneers of what we today call sampling.


The video is not that in-depth (its only 5mins long) but it does give a pretty good introduction to the area and contains enough info for interested parties to do a little research and get pretty deep.
There is also some useful supporting info on their web page, including a timeline of key developments in sampling.

the other episodes should be worth checking out.

edit:
Part 2 - The Digital Revolution is now available


edit:
Part 3 - Sampling the Future is now available

Scripting in Kontakt

Electronic Musician has an article on Scripting in Kontakt; it is aimed primarily at v3 but it seems as though everything would apply to v2 as well.

It takes you through how to declare variables, set up interface controls, handle note handling and MIDI controllers. It also gives you some basic example scripts that you can use as a starting point for your own custom scripts.



Another useful site is Nils Liberg's Scripting Tools. Here he offers a freeware script editor specifiaclly designed for handling Kontakt Script code - this is useful as it includes many helpful features such as highlighted syntax code which will make it easier to produce complex scripts. He also offers some of his own custom scripts for download which you can either use as is or edit/tweak them to suit your specfic needs. Nils has also written a fairly comprehensive scripting tutorial which you can access from his site.


Another useful resource is the Kontakt forum on the Virtual Instrument Composers Forum which has regular posts discussing scripting and other Kontakt based issues.