EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

In a message dated 12/21/01 6:24:15 AM, eschaap@... writes:

>From what i've understood it works like recycle. Am I doing justice to
>
>Groove Control or is there more involved? What't the difference between
>a
>
>REX library and Groove Control (when working with softsamplers)?

Nice to see all the interest here about Groove Control. I guess it is a bit 
off topic for the EXS forum, but I'm happy to answer this question.

Basically, the principle that ReCycle and Groove Control operate from is the 
same, but the results of Groove Control are much more "guaranteed". This is 
because Groove Control delivers the final patch and samples, where REX files 
basically have the marker info embedded with the audio file....but you have 
no guarantee of how well the cutting was done. The person who set-up the file 
could have done it very well or very poorly. If you check out some of the REX 
files out there you'll see what I mean. There are many issues that affect the 
end musical result that people often miss.

Where REX is basically a file format, Groove Control is a proprietary system 
of groove library development, that is currently only authorized for use by 
Spectrasonics and ILIO. It is less of a "technology" than it is more like a 
gourmet "recipe". We don't let any Groove Control products out that don't 
meet certain standards for musicality and technical excellence. Library 
developers must first train to master the process, before releasing anything 
with the Groove Control label.

Perhaps all of this sounds a bit like "Jedi-knight" training! Well, we aren't 
that crazy, but we do really care that the results of every Groove Control 
product meet the same set of standards. That way we can ensure that all the 
products that bear the Groove Control logo, will have the same results. All 
of the licensed Groove Control library developers regularly meet and exchange 
information on improving the Groove Control process and in how the products 
are presented, so that there is as much consistency as possible. Even small 
things like the naming of the files is standardized and easy to understand, 
where with REX libraries, you'll often find names that look like this (1-100 
2+4N D.rx2)!

Also, while ReCycle 2 is an outstanding program (and one that I would highly 
recommend to anyone wishing to cut-up their own grooves), it doesn't work 
perfectly for every type of material. We use many different methods, a lot of 
"hand-tweaking" and some custom software tools to achieve consistently 
high-quality results on our Groove Control products. Another thing is that 
all Groove Control products are available in stereo, where REX files are 
divided between REX1 (mono) and REX2 (stereo).

Since it isn't a proprietary file format, Groove Control works with almost 
every kind of pro sampler and sequencer on the market that reads Akai S-3000 
format. The EXS24/Logic combo works particularly well for Groove Control. 
However, you do need some kind of sampler to use a Groove Control library, 
where REX files can be used directly in some host applications (Reason, Cuba
se, Logic 5, etc).

Hope that explains the main differences between REX and Groove Control.

All the best,

Eric Persing
Creative Director
Spectrasonics