EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

"Hendrik Jan Veenstra" <h@...> wrote:

> All sorts of respect for John, but isn't this plain vanilla & rather
> obvious old-fashioned synth programming?

I'm sure it is for some, but there are plenty of other people that tend to
play rather than program, so don't really delve into this sort of tweaking.
It certainly is basic stuff for John, which is why he asked if anyone would
like a little walkthrough, rather than just posting it...

Anyway, I think it's cool when people post this sort of good info, and I for
one have learnt *a lot* from Skip's programming skills over the years - I
would never turn down tips from good people - you can never stop learning...
And he's certainly one of the best voicing programmers out there.

> Or does this remark only show that I'm getting old and
> come from a generation who actually tweaked the knobs
> they had at their disposal?

Actually, it's mostly the other way around for me - the older I get the less
programming I do and the more I concentrate on the simple things - the
playing, the arrangements, the song, the lyrics etc.

I find these days, with *sooo* many sounds at my disposal, the need for
tweaking is much less than when I just had a CZ-101 and a drum machine and
had to do *everything* with that one synth. I used to really program the
nuts out of my limited gear. To do the same with my current gear would mean
I'd never get any music done..!! (An XV-5080 is rather deeper than a
CZ-101..!)

Of course, knowing what to do when you need to tweak things is very useful,
and being able to program sounds means that you can often find your voice
with otherwise often quite bland instruments, so they are good skills to
have - but for me, it's the end result that's important. If I need to
program something from scratch for a particular reason, I will do it. If I
can achieve what I want through more immediate means, then great! :-)

Ben Hall
www.benhall.co.uk