Sonic Reality/IK Multimedia Group Buy (8 for 1!)

[zed]

I'm not much of an expert on looping, but they mentioned these were R.A.W.? Does this mean I can use them in Stylus RMX??? That would be cool!

Nope. I only mentioned RAW because the libraries have the same content and the RAW libraries have the audio demos. You could have got the RAW (REX/Apple/Waves) version of these loops in the no-brainer deal last month (also at $5 a pack), and imported the REX loops into Stylus RMX.

In this case, these loops load into SampleTank only, but do so in slices so that you can play them much like you would in Stylus RMX.

I just picked "World Grooves" in hopes I can do that. I suppose there's looping functionality in Sample Tank... I've never used it before. I'm more comfortable with Stylus RMX... or UVI Workstation.

When you load presets, the full loop will play on the B2 key (I think it's B2 or maybe B1), and then the slices are available all the way up the keyboard from there. That is an advantage that Stylus RMX doesn't have... you can play the full loop along with the individual slices from the same MIDI channel.

[James Steele]

I'm not much of an expert on looping, but they mentioned these were R.A.W.? Does this mean I can use them in Stylus RMX??? That would be cool!

Nope. I only mentioned RAW because the libraries have the same content and the RAW libraries have the audio demos. You could have got the RAW (REX/Apple/Waves) version of these loops in the no-brainer deal last month (also at $5 a pack), and imported the REX loops into Stylus RMX.

In this case, these loops load into SampleTank only, but do so in slices so that you can play them much like you would in Stylus RMX.

Oops... I read the description too quickly... it said "Taken from Sonic Reality's R.A.W. loop series..." I should slow down a bit when I read... LOL

[James Steele]

Something is funky in the Sample Tank 2 library under Ethnic > Bamboo Flute. If I load a preset in that grouping like "Crazy Horse Fly" and then play a C Major scale starting on C3, the B and C (octave) are flat. This happens to some extend with all the presets in that grouping. They're tuning is out of whack in that general octave, C3-C4.

[zed]

Something is funky in the Sample Tank 2 library under Ethnic > Bamboo Flute. If I load a preset in that grouping like "Crazy Horse Fly" and then play a C Major scale starting on C3, the B and C (octave) are flat. This happens to some extend with all the presets in that grouping. They're tuning is out of whack in that general octave, C3-C4.

It is actually just the lowest note in the instrument which stretches across many keys. And that is from the original SampleTank disc, so that flaw has been there for 7 or 8 years, I suppose.

Here is how you fix it...

(1) Select the instrument on your 16 channel layout.
(2) Click on the ZONE button (lower right hand side of GUI)
(3) Click on the SYNTH button in the middle of the GUI where all those buttons are.
(4) Then the top knobs to the left will allow you to tune individual samples and sample groups which you will see on the graphic keyboard at the bottom of the GUI.

You will see that it is one problem note which starts at F4. Fine tuning by about +40 will solve the problem. But since you can't save the parent patch, you would have to do this on the child presets individually.

Also note that you should be able to find the SampleTank user manual on your computer in this location:
Mac > System Drive > Library > Documentation > IK Multimedia > SampleTank 2.x > User Manual.pdf

Don't ask me why the don't name the manual. It is hard to locate if you don't know where to look or what to search for.

[James Steele]

Thanks! I found one version of the manual, but that might be better. Honestly, I don't have time to mess with it much now, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to work with loops in Sample Tank. I had one version of the manual which shows a LOOP sync button and I can't find it. I wish there were a way to drag MIDI into the timeline like in Stylus RMX. I may just get R.A.W. libraries and convert to Stylus or something... Stylus is so much easier for me. I need to figure this out in Sample Tank.

[zed]

Thanks! I found one version of the manual, but that might be better. Honestly, I don't have time to mess with it much now, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to work with loops in Sample Tank. I had one version of the manual which shows a LOOP sync button and I can't find it. I wish there were a way to drag MIDI into the timeline like in Stylus RMX. I may just get R.A.W. libraries and convert to Stylus or something... Stylus is so much easier for me. I need to figure this out in Sample Tank.

You can't actually do that in SampleTank... though I have heard that it WILL be a feature of SampleTank 3.

I'm actually of the opposite inclination. I have Stylus RMX, and I have all those RAW packs imported into Stylus RMX, but I still prefer to do it in SampleTank... thus I am buying all the SampleTank versions of the same content.

Both Stylus RMX and SampleTank have things that they can do which the other cannot, so both are useful tools which can serve you well.

I definitely think it is good to get the REX version of the loops. I have 10 of them imported them into DrumCore so that I can QUICKLY audition them and then either drag them into the song project, or load up the loop in Stylus RMX or SampleTank to manipulate or play slices.

[James Steele]

So in other words, you have to "play" the loops, you can't drag and drop them? You insert notes and then quantize them in order to play the loops? I guess that's cool if you're a decent keyboard player-- but I'm not. I'd rather just drag and drop them like UVI Workstation or Stylus will do.

[zed]

So in other words, you have to "play" the loops, you can't drag and drop them? You insert notes and then quantize them in order to play the loops? I guess that's cool if you're a decent keyboard player-- but I'm not. I'd rather just drag and drop them like UVI Workstation or Stylus will do.

No... you can do essentially the same thing just by playing the B1 note (which contains the full loop in all slice loop presets), and recording that note into your sequence, then you loop that single or double bar (after making sure the note extends all the way through) and it will be looped in your song. You either adjust your song tempo to the loop tempo, or you can use SampleTank sync to adjust to the tempo so that it plays in time with your song.

It is a little more limited in some ways, but it also allows you to play the loop slices and sections of the full loop together with them. You could record the loop manually with the click track by hitting the B1 key each time the loop ends, and that allows you to introduce a little human variation, or play only half the loop before triggering it again.

[tonester]

Not sure what to do next when it gets to 6!!! Maybe the Drums or Bass.....

If you happen to like the Beatles... you'll find some useful Rickenbacker 4001 and Hofner instruments in the bass collection.

Some 12-string electric guitars included in the guitar pack, as well. They might not be convincing for strumming, but you can do some pretty neat stuff with them as leads (especially if you use them to double a real guitar track).

There is also a dead ringer for John Lennon's "Imagine" piano in the Piano Collection.

Hmmm. Decisions decisions! I see that it's up to 6. I have Ivory, so maybe the bass...

but it could go to 7, so I may want to check the Pianos, too. I usually like to play guitar, bass and keys myself. Never been all that impressed with guitar emulations. To me they never sounds really convincing when programmed.

[Tobor]

Not sure what to do next when it gets to 6!!! Maybe the Drums or Bass.....

If you happen to like the Beatles... you'll find some useful Rickenbacker 4001 and Hofner instruments in the bass collection.

Some 12-string electric guitars included in the guitar pack, as well. They might not be convincing for strumming, but you can do some pretty neat stuff with them as leads (especially if you use them to double a real guitar track).

There is also a dead ringer for John Lennon's "Imagine" piano in the Piano Collection.

Hmmm. Decisions decisions! I see that it's up to 6. I have Ivory, so maybe the bass...

but it could go to 7, so I may want to check the Pianos, too. I usually like to play guitar, bass and keys myself. Never been all that impressed with guitar emulations. To me they never sounds really convincing when programmed.

I must say that the Acoustic Guitar Capsule (included in the new Acoustic Collection), particularly the Larrivee and Taylor patches, are very well recorded and programmed and were my go-to sounds until I recently picked up Pettinhouse. They really sound nice.

Tobor

[zed]

Never been all that impressed with guitar emulations. To me they never sounds really convincing when programmed.

I would agree. But you can get a whole bunch of guitar instruments that are in the ball park of a variety of styles, and they're perfect for mocking up and arranging your song before actually recording the real guitar part.

And sometimes they are so cool sounding that you will want to leave them in the song anyway. You can just double them with a real guitar track so that it isn't obvious that they're phonies.

[mhschmieder]

Cool; thanks for the details on the links. I see now that it's a set of 15 multi-samples and 15 loops, coming to the advertised total of 30 sets.

I had used the eSoundz link before, and that one didn't give details. This direct link from IK Multimedia is much easier to work with. I'll give the audio demos a listen tomorrow -- am especially interested in the World and Cinematic collections. At that price, if there's just one instrument or sound effect that I don't have elsewhere, it's a bargain.

[wylie1]

Don't forget that it Imports WAV, AIFF, SDII, AKAI S-1000/3000 and SAMPLECELL instruments

[zed]

...am especially interested in the World and Cinematic collections.

There's all sorts of great sounds in both of those collections.

Part of me is a little bothered by these dirt cheap prices, since everyone and their dog is now going to have access to some of my secret weapon instruments.

[James Steele]

So in other words, you have to "play" the loops, you can't drag and drop them? You insert notes and then quantize them in order to play the loops? I guess that's cool if you're a decent keyboard player-- but I'm not. I'd rather just drag and drop them like UVI Workstation or Stylus will do.

No... you can do essentially the same thing just by playing the B1 note (which contains the full loop in all slice loop presets), and recording that note into your sequence, then you loop that single or double bar (after making sure the note extends all the way through) and it will be looped in your song. You either adjust your song tempo to the loop tempo, or you can use SampleTank sync to adjust to the tempo so that it plays in time with your song.

I noticed SampleTank's sync of course changes the PITCH of the loop. That's not too bad if it's the song tempo is only slightly different from the loop's tempo, but otherwise that's a real drag. Other thing of course is to lay out individual MIDI notes on the timeline... I don't know if it's just a chromatic ascension like Styles RMX uses, etc., but syncing loop without altering pitch would be nice.