Recreating the Korg EM1- Using Simpler and Impulse

Mark Lane · Post by **Mark Lane** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:35 pm

Hi All,

I have a question for you. I have a Korg EM1 but it is annoying that I cannot get seperate audio outs from it into Ableton (isolate each synth line and drum). So I was thinking of recreating the Korg in Ableton and using Midi.

Now I have managed this with the drums by sampling each drum into Impulse and then recording the midi notes.

However I want to copy the synth lines in and I like the synth sounds on the EM1. The synths are monophonic and based on PCM samples. So I was thinking of recording a short clip of each synth sound to a WAV file. Loading the WAV into simpler. Then triggering it via the recorded midi from the EM1. Effectively recreating the synth in Simpler.

Does the second part regarding the synth sound feasable? I am led to believe that a synth such as the one in the EM1 is just one sample being played at different pitches.

thanks for your input!

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:41 pm

Sounds like it's more work than it's worth to me and you probably won't get the flexibility of changing and morphing the sound you get on the Electribe. I'd just invest in a decent softsynth.

Mark Lane · Post by **Mark Lane** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:56 pm

There are actually only two or three sounds on the EM1 I want to port over, and I also thought that Simpler allowed manipulation of the samples frequency etc?

I have a few soft synths but can't seem to match the sounds so easily.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:54 pm

I'm not expert in these matters, but I think a lot of what you like about the sounds happens under the hood in the hardware. I don't think just sampling a sound is going to do it. I don't hear about too many people sampling a Moog or Virus and getting the same results as using the hardware.

andrewbrewer · Post by **andrewbrewer** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:17 pm

hey! don't be discouraged by these cats! sampling a synth can be pretty fun, and in fact quite a few "live packs", such as those created by trackteam, puremagnetik, and covert operators, IN FACT use samples of synths!
yes, a sample of a synth never sounds like the original, but it is a different sound that I find interesting. sometimes I resample a note played in simpler, and put it back into simpler! just to get that feel.

if you only have simpler, i would recommend sampling notes at a few octaves, and racking up maybe 5 simplers.
you will have to map the "key" range for each lane in the rack so that your note sampled at a low octave plays in the lower range and your high note sample plays in the higher range, etc.
the easiest thing to do is to sample long, sustaining notes. that way you dont have to worry too much about looping.
if you want to use the filters in simpler on your sampled notes, you may want to start by tweaking your synth in the korg, so that it is very bright. this will give you more sound-shaping flexibility in simpler.

this type of thing really isn't very difficult, but if it seems like a burden, there are some auto-sampling tools out there. i know micah from puremagnetik was using some kind of auto-sampler for one of his guitar packs...

SampleRobot is an auto-sampler. I'm sure there are others, there may even be some free ones. These things basically try to sample an entire hardware synth patch at different frequency ranges and velocity layers... Never used one myself, but it's an option.

Mark Lane · Post by **Mark Lane** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:58 pm

thanks for the input!

mapping the key ranges with five simplers sounds complicated, how would i go about doing this?

I am leed to believe the sounds of the Korg EM1 synths are PCM wav files. Is it likely for each synth sound to have more than one sample under the hood? it isn't a very sophisticated synth as its monophonic

thanks again

db2 · Post by **db2** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:53 pm

There are certain utilities that can automate multisampling on certain pieces of midi enabled hardware. Do a few google searches for "automated multisampling synth" or some such. It does so by reading the midi sysex and triggering various samples of each voice in each preset. Once the synth is confirmed to be communicating you can leave the whole process alone and let it do its thing.

kristoffer1989 · Post by **kristoffer1989** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:34 pm

midisync the electribe and solo one synth?

jonny72 · Post by **jonny72** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:34 pm

Redmatica's AutoSampler is another option for auto sampling, it works with hard and soft synths and creates samples in EXS format. Costs about £90 but is Mac only.

andrewbrewer · Post by **andrewbrewer** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:47 pm

Mark Lane wrote:thanks for the input!

mapping the key ranges with five simplers sounds complicated, how would i go about doing this?

I am leed to believe the sounds of the Korg EM1 synths are PCM wav files. Is it likely for each synth sound to have more than one sample under the hood? it isn't a very sophisticated synth as its monophonic

thanks again

it's not too tough. before i go into specifics, have a good read in the ableton manual over "instrument racks".
once you grasp how the key-mapping works, i think this will be really obvious to you.

Mark Lane · Post by **Mark Lane** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:22 am

kristoffer1989 wrote:midisync the electribe and solo one synth?

this would be fantastic if ther bloody electribe didn't cancel its solo out when changing patterns in Song Mode!!

As for the auto sampling suggestions, is this required if I am only going to be sampling two or maybe three patches?

thanks again