EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

Hi,

> Those samples aren't available in the EXS format. I'm wondering what's
> the best format to DL, giga,SF2 or .wav?
Don't you download the EXS preset at that link AND the .wavs at this one:

http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/nskit_wav.html

Presumably, when the whole lot reside together, it should work? I dunno...
not an EXS user as such - just lurking here (and elsewhere) to bring news of
my sound library as and when it's appropriate.
 
> BTW, those drum samples sound great, so thanks from me too for the
> links Steve.
No problem. Glad to have helped.

> It makes you wonder how the companies can get away with charging their
> oh-so-high prices
Coz they have to put food on the table!

Sample library costs money (sometimes serious money) to develop. In the case
of drums, that's hiring a good quality studio with good quality mics, mixer,
monitoring and engineers sufficiently skilled to mic up a drum kit (a rarity
these days!) - maybe a session player also has to be hired. Then every
sample has to be individually topped and tailed and mapped out.

For orchestral libraries (or pianos... whatever), the costs are even
higher... astronomical even. Imagine how much it would be to hire a complete
orchestra in an orchestral hall with good acoustics with quality mics - and
again, the engineers with the skill to apply quite specialised mic
techniques. Then these samples - probably thousands of them - have to be
topped and tailed (and possibly/probably looped) and mapped and so on.

If you're selling CDs, there are the production costs of the CDs themselves
and the artwork and printing and packaging so on. Then there's marketing and
advertising to spread the word - in magazines, this costs $$$; on the net,
it costs time.

If you're selling on the internet with the customer downloading the purchase
directly, storage and server bandwidth to accommodate all those large
downloads can cost $thousands a month. And when you're doing that kind of
thing with on-line registration and so on, it's not something that can be
done with simple HTML and a free bit of ISP webspace ;-) It has to be
databased with some serious CGI or ASP - whatever - programming which can
cost.

Then you have to write in the cost of piracy and the subsequent loss of
sales/revenue that will (potentially/inevitably) result.

Then you have to factor in the 'convenience premium' - in other words, you
might wince at $299 for some impeccably recorded/programmed orchestral
collection (and let's face it, that's a fair old sum of $$$). But once
purchased, you can use this collection over and over again in your work. Now
consider how much it would cost you to achieve the same thing in a studio
with real players, etc. - I doubt that you could get half a string section
in for a morning for just *one* of your tracks for that price !!!

> when samples of this quality can be DL'ed for nicks.
This guy who did the Natural Kit presumably (reading between the lines)
wanted to do his own kit and had the wherewithal to do it. Once done, he
wanted to share it (pride, altruism, ego... who knows?) but you'll note that
the samples aren't hosted at *HIS* site but at a heavy-duty commercial site
owned by a popular UK music mag - he, as a single individual, probably
couldn't afford (or rather *justify*) that kind of ISP package.

Hollow Sun started the same way. I had a few cracking Mellotron samples and
a handful of vintage synth sounds that I was using and I wanted to share
them with the wider Akai S5/6000 community and I was in a position (maybe
like the Natural Kit guy) to be able to do it for free... as a hobby if you
like. Now that my circumstances have changed and I need to *SELL* sounds in
order to feed my family, pay mortgage, bills, etc., I am beginning to
appreciate the other side of the commercial coin!

Consider this - you go into a cafe, order a coffee and don't think twice
about paying £1.20 for it. But why? It's a complete rip-off - 95% water
(essentialy free), a spoonful of coffee and maybe a bit of milk! Outrageous!
Or is it? 

What you are *actually* paying for is convenience (coffee when you want it)
plus staff costs (someone to buy the ingredients, someone to make it,
waiters to bring it to you), 'equipment investment' (the tables and
furniture you're sitting at, the tills that will register the payment/issue
a bill), premises overheads (paying for the building, etc.), accountants
(who will do the cafe's tax returns and other paperwork), advertising (maybe
that attracted you to the place), bank interest charges (on the initial
investment on the purchase of the ingredients).... and so on.

Similarly with sample libraries!

Don't get me wrong.... not having a swipe at you - just explaining it from
the other side of the coin.

And sorry for the long post! It hit a nerve here as I embark upon CD  sales
;-)


Best regards,


Steve
http://www.hollowsun.com