EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

on 28/7/02 7:00 AM, realkukhl at realkuhl@... wrote:

>> I picked up Translator mainly for converting my Emu library to
> EXS24 format. Now here I am
>> with the cellophane just off of Skippy's Noizbox and Stark
> Raving Beats and I'm thinking:
>> should I use Translator to convert these Akai CD-ROMS  to
> EXS format?  Or is the EXS's
>> internal conversion just fine.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Andy
> 
> Hello to you all -
> 
> My name is John "Skippy" Lehmkuhl. I am the creator of both
> Skippy's Big Bad Beats and Skippy's Noizbox. I wanted to reply to
> this question and point you guys to further information on these
> libraries as well as information on Stark Raving Beats (this
> library was created by a close friend of mine, Chris O'Brian and
> follows similar layout features with Skippy's Noizbox).

Well I'll throw in my 2 cents worth seeing as I have bought all three discs
you mention.
1. Noizbox. I find this very useful. Naturally it depends on what styles you
are working on but there is enough material here to cover many styles. I've
even used grooves from Noizbox as sub loops in rock tracks......Linkin Park
type of thing.

But John mentions this in his post.....

>>format for one of the grooves in a song you want to write - that
>means you have to call up 12 EXS instruments, assign each one
>to the correct groove control EXS file and load the correct MIDI file
>into the arrange window so that it will play all of the EXS
>instruments correctly. This takes a lot of work (trust me!). So I did
>all this work for you and you can download Logic songs for all 32
>grooves from the Ilio web site right now:....................


Well it may have taken you a lot of work John but it was in vain for some of
us.
The problem depends on what system you are running. For eg I use TDM and
when I load your Logic song pre sets they load in to the instrument channels
and not the auxiliary channels. Of course you cant change the channel strip
without losing the instrument.
Can't please everyone I suppose...........but why include Korg 12/12 support
and not TDM?
2. Stark Raving Beats. I love this collection. It does not however lend
itself to that many styles. It's great for rock and experimental stuff. The
snares are all tuned high......he seems to like that. The kiks  are very
useful.  I use the individual sound menus a lot for replacing instruments.
Nicely recorded but very "same" sounding. He is very busy with the kik drum
and likes to fill in a lot of space so if your looking for more feel type
grooves then this is not for you..........it isn't called Stark Raving Beats
for nothing.
One failing I believe is the lack of any fills. Being a live drum loop
collection I find myself spending many hours building fills from his
existing material. A few fills per groove would have been great to have.
We have all been spoiled by Eric Persing and his Backbeats and RetroFunk
collections. Not only alternative grooves to the main one but plenty of live
fills and bar endings. I find this omission from Stark Raving Beats
disappointing.........after all it's the same price as Eric Persing's
offerings.
3. Big Bad Beats. Bought it and never used it. Can't seem to find a place
for any of these older sounding white R n B ........"kind a sort
of".........don't know where it fits really. This style is dead in this
country at the moment. I could probably take all my RnB grooves and erase
them from my drives and I wouldn't miss them. The radio took a turn here and
I have no call for this stuff. Sounds dated now....it's a couple of years
old I guess.......although I did use a kik the other day.....great bottom.
Doesn't mean that it's not good though. Just that I don't have a use for it.
Strangely enough I still get loads of use from
Metamorphosis..............Eric again.


Well it's very presumptuous of me to give a review in a public forum but
there you go. Just one users opinion. I figure that if manufacturers can
tell us about there stuff  here then it's ok for the actual end user to
chime in.
One thing I find with all these groove libraries...especially the three
mentioned, is the small number of actual grooves made available. Ok there is
a lot of work put into all the percussive noises and stuff that surround
every groove and therefore an enormous amount of time cataloguing and
"Groove Controlling" all of these but really there are only a hand full of
actual "ideas" on the discs.
The other thing to note is that when you audition these grooves they sound
wonderful because they are taking up ALL the available space in the mix.
There's stuff going on all over the place.
Most of which doesn't work in a song mix......cos there's no room for
anything else.
As a foot note I have to say that these libraries have made it possible for
me to complete many jobs over the years and I really could not operate with
out them.  Being able to combine a perc loop from NoizBox with a room track
from SRB underneath a groove from BackBeats creates a very different and
useful backdrop.
Phil Buckle.