EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

> (1) The sound of the bigger bells lasts for up to 30 seconds before it
> dies away. It looks like the EXS does not support decay and release
> stages longer than 10 seconds. Is there a way to get longer decays (up
> to 20 or 30 seconds are required). I do not have a problem with the
> version that uses the unlooped full length samples - these can easily
> be played in one shot mode. I do however also plan to offer an 'eco'
> version of the patch with  looped samples. Here I would need the EXS
> envelope to shape the amplitude and the spectral decay.

Hm, I've never used anything with such a long decay. Perhaps the EXS isn't up to the task indeed.
No, I just tried... I could get a release time of around 20-25 seconds. But anything longer doesn't seem to be supported indeed.

>
> (2) Each bell has its own decay time. The EXS however only offers one
> single envelope setting for the entire instrument. Is there a way to
> assign a dedicated envelope setting to each split?

You need to route the samples to individual groups. On those you will find some ADSR offset controls. Btw, this even seems to be
able to add to the maximum release time of the main envelope, so we're probably getting closer to the 30 seconds your patches
require ;-)
Just made a test, main ADSR release full up, release in ADSR offset full up as well, the actual sound was ringing around 45 seconds.
Admittedly, it's a bit lame that you can't do this on the zones themselves. For anything percussive one might want to use groups for
other tasks than just adjusting ADSR offsets, so this should be a zone parameter as well...

> (3) if there is no positive answer to my question (2): I assume the
> mod matrix could be used to connect the key number to the
> decay/release time using  'Key' as source and env release as
> destination.
> Unfortunately I only have an early version of the printed handbook and
> it does not cover the MKII mod matrix. Q:Is there a resource available
> where this topic is explained in greater detail? I would need to know to
> which mathematical formula a given setting can be translated in order
> to achieve an exactly defined setting. (or maybe somebody around here
> has the answer? :-)

I don't think the "key" source is explained in greater detail anywhere.
But I don't think this would suit your needs all too well. It's just the usual thing to expect from a "key" modulation, assuming the
modulation amount is set to any positive value, higher keys will raise the release time while lower keys will lower it. If you'd be
using a negative modulation value, things will be upside down.
I think the group ADSR offset will be your ticket.

Btw (see my other post about the "maximum" setting), when using "maximum" as a source, "Amp 2 release" as a target with full
positive modulation amount, you should be able to raise the release time again. I just tried, and along with maximum general
release, maximum relase offset in the aforementioned group ADSR offsets, I'm now at a total release time of around a minute. Further
modulations of the same sort seem to even add more (yeah, tried again, it's now over a minute allready).

 > (4) Some important settings that are characteristic to the instrument
> can not be made on the instrument level (envelope, filter). Instead
> they are assigned on the plugin UI level and stored apart from the
> instrument in a seperate plugin settings file. I am not familiar with
> this approach (to say it mildly). After reading the EXS handbook I am
> still wondering about the intended workflow. Q:In which form would I
> have to supply my sound set to make sure that the instrument is
> initially loaded together with the appropriate envelope and filter
> settings?

This has allready been covered by Eli, but, just to confirm things, they can be written to the instrument file via "options > save
settings to instrument".

Regards,
Sascha