EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

on 8/15/02 8:32 PM, nozehed wrote:

>This folder now has 1300 folders in it, and I would like to remove
>one of the libraries to make space for a new one. How can I figure
>out which folder is for which library? The names of the folders are
>cryptic.

> Anybody else in this situation?

I'm by no means the expert on this, but here's what I've noodled out:

// Lengthy Post Alert //

When you convert an AKAI disk, EXS first checks to see if the the filename
exists already in the AKAI samples folder.  IF it doesn't, it just converts
and copies it.  However if it does, it "name mangles" it to get a unique
name for the sample, then diddles the sample reference in the EXS instrument
file to match.

This is necessary, but the problem with the scheme is it makes spagetti out
of your files.

Unfortunately I figured this out only after having converted about 12 disks,
and then discovering I wanted to change the folder relationship, which then
screwed up the links to the samples.

My solution (drastic) was to just throw everything away and start over.

This time around I planned it out:

1)  I reformatted the drive (told you it was drastic) and created a 60 gig
partition just for samples.

2)  On that partition I have 2 folders:  Online and Offline.

On my Logic partition in it's application folder I have thrown away BOTH the
EXS Instruments and AKAI Samples folder.  I then Alias the "Online" folder
to the Logic folder and rename this "Sampler Instruments".

When I boot logic, it looks in the "online" folder and walks that directory
structure to get it's instrument files.

Before I get into the contents of these folders I'll describe how I do
conversions now:

I quit logic.  Then I throw away both the "sampler instruments" and the
"akai samples" (if present).  Bear in mind "Sampler Instruemnts" is just an
alias to my "online" folder on the samples partition.

I then launch logic, and convert an AKAI CD.  Before I do anything else, I
hide logic (option click in the Finder) and open both the "Sampler
Instruments" folder and the AKAI Samples folder.

I select everything in the "Sampler Instruments" folder (which essentially
is the directory structure of the converted AKAI CD and the .exs files) and
drag the whole mess onto a renamelet (created with Drop Rename, great util,
btw) which renames everything as Title Case, which I find much easier to
deal with than ALL UPPER CASE.

After that's done I then take the sampler instruments folder and put each of
IT'S folders in the matching folder in "Sampler Instruments".

I.E. If the AKAI CD had "SOME FLUTE" then there will be a "Some Flute"
folder in the sampler instruments folder, and a "SOME FLUTE" folder in the
AKAI samples folder (this has the actual samples.  Do NOT rename these, or
the folders or your .exs files will not work).  I drop the "SOME FLUTE"
folder from AKAI samples into the "Some Flute" folder in "Sampler
Instruments"..

I repeat this for all folders.

Next I make a new folder on my samples partition in either Online or Offline
and name if whatever makes sense.  I then drag the whole mess from "Sampler
Instruments" into the new folder on that partition, and when the copy is
done I chuck both the "sampler Instrument" and "AKAI samplers" folders in
the logic folder.

Repeat for each CD you want to convert in this session.  When done, just
re-alias the "Online" folder over to your logic folder and rename it
"Sampler Instruments".

This sounds like a lot of work (it's work, but not nearly as bad as it
sounds)..

I've found a number of benefits to this:

1)  the conversions are a LOT faster.  Since Logic doesn't have to do any
name mangling or check for the presence of any existing files, it converts
several times faster than if you have a loaded up directory.

2)  the online/offline scheme allows me to just move entire cd's between
those 2 folders on the samples partition and only load what I think I'll
need for a given logic session.  As a result, Logic loads a lot faster than
if I have everything load.

3)  My EXS instruments menu is a lot cleaner.  I have main folders in both
"online" and "offline" for Drums, Bass, Percussion, Brass, Strings, etc..

I keep the converted (and my own created) sample libs organized by topic.
When I move the main folder, I know the samples are inside, so everything is
kept tidy and the .exs files always know where to find their samples, as it
will always be a subfolder downstream of the .exs file itself.  This also
makes archiving the sample set easier as well.

Hope that helps.

Mark