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Comments
Yeah, that is what I've been doing and it does a pretty good job at detecting the file names, but then I lose my loop points set by Autosampler.
Oh that's true.
But there must be a way to make it work with Mainstage's autosampler...
I'm going to work on something else and wait for the UPDATE. @Kuhl reports (elsewhere) that they are working on the app so there's always hope. They let some clues that SFZ's might be used for IMPORT.
Speculating they could go several ways:
1) give us a lot of great IAP's to populate the sampler
2) give us an auto-sampler feature to clone our App presets into instruments
3) give us more robust EXS24, SFZ or SF2 imports
The UPDATE will remove all doubt. It's still the best "Sampler" (as I define Sampler... which is like a software-based ROM-pler with loadable ROM's for free) on my iPad. Many have advised BeatMaker3 is as good if not better (but I suspect they define Sampler more like the MPC hardware boxes... not sure).
What would I pay for "Lyra" as an App free from the Auria Pro container? It's just that good.
I'd go at least $30 and be grateful for SF2 and SFZ support with disk streaming.
BS-16i is still really good but I stopped using it due to AUv3 issues in AUM. IAA seems to work but that means 1 BS-16i sampled instrument at a time.
We are so close to just moving on to other issues regarding Samplers (as I define them).
The other kinds of Samplers will see a boost with NS2 shipping I think. A lot of those Samplers import SFZ's like Synth Master One (not player).
OK. I'll wait on @Virsyn. But maybe WaveMachine Labs will drop an new product on me.
I deleted it out of an accrued frustration with VirSyn, but curious, if I click the exs instrument file to import into Audiolayer (with the app closed) does it import into an 'init'/blank type clean patch, with no filters or effects parameters applied by default?
If it does, then my observations hold true. If it doesn't, and for some crazy reason it applies filters by default, then maybe I'll give it one more shot. But this was a very noticeable difference. I was surprised myself that simple playback wasn't so simple and could be affected like that.
I’m not sure which app you’re referring to now, but Sampleverse in Stagelight imports sfz files. I haven’t tried it, but it’s there on the plugin’s import menu.
Is there any video that actually shows sampling a synth and creating instrument ?
In my experiments it loads ESX24 files and the instruments need immediate attention to tweak FX, add velocity sensitivity for volumes, decide if looping is needed, set layering to
something other than SUM but doing these extra steps can make a powerful instrument fast.
I often save several variations of envelopes and tweaked filtering as unique instruments
or with added FX. AudioLayer includes the @Virsyn AudioEffects "channel strip" of 8 FX units so instruments can be saved with Chorus, Phaser, Delays, Distortion, etc Like Korg does with the EP Models in Module.
I love some of my AudioLayer instruments more than any other ROM-pler sound I own. 'Cause I made them. They are my creations. They scratch my itch.
Like the EP on this track... It's my AL EP go to sound.
https://soundcloud.com/user-403688328/flies-boogie-gf2
Have you reported the bug to VirSyn? Perhaps there is something about the exs file that is resulting in the different behavior.
Let's say that you have and EXS file or sfz file and the folder of samples that they refer to. Let's call them my.sfz and mysamplefolder. Do you put both of these items into a folder that you copy into the AudioLayer folder? I am unclear on how AudioLayer resolves paths.
Guidance appreciated. Thanks.
@VirSyn : is this information found somewhere?
Don't do a subfolder in the Audiolayer directory. Copy your my.exs file there, copy your mysamplefolder there. Then from files, click the .exs file, and Audiolayer will open and import.
Sorry, should've added I use the 'On My iPad' directory, not iCloud
Here's what I've been using following AudioLayer Tutorials I found on YouTube (AudioDabbler?). The iCloud Drive is accessible from any device you own that uses your iTunes Credentials. So, moving ESX files and samples through that directory is key.
Use the Files App on iPad/iPhone and follow this path:
iCloud Drive -> AudioLayer -> Import
Place an ESX file with associated samples in there.
Before you do this next step make a copy of the ESX file to be used. It gets removed in the process so installing on iPad and then iPhone can be a problem or even just re-building for any reason.
Place the ESX file and the folder of associated samples there.
The ESX file will have the information about all the required samples.
You double click on the ESX file and AudioLayer will start running and import the samples creating a new instrument that has the name of the ESX file's text.
Once loaded remember to save the new instrument or a crash will force you to start all over again. Save it even if it has issues because you will be saving it at every stage to keep improvements. Sometimes removing extra layers helps making something you'll want to keep. Name the Instruments indicating the Layers being kept. Piano1-3 from an import with 5 layers but the 4-5 layers are pedal on/off noises and you could care less getting that level of detail to work. Too tricky for me.
AudioLayer only supports the ESX sample format. SFZ and SF2 support is not there yet.
After you tweak the instrument adding FX and getting the right settings for volumes/velocity behavior and envelopes, etc you can import the instrument (in an AudioLayer Instrument format) and it will be placed in:
iCloud Drive -> Instruments
and the required samples will be in
iCloud Drive -> Samples
The instrument import is still pretty buggy but getting a lot of samples installed and assigned to keys, ranges, layers and zones
is a big time saver. Then a lot of details can be fixed by hand. For example I import a drum set and every drum samples gets played with every note. Obviously, limiting a sample to a single note is the common practice with drum sets so a lot of hand editing is need to change the sample to note assignments.
There are have many ESX instruments I have exported from MainStage that just opened and only need small adjustments to be great AudioLayer instruments. You can import SF2 (and I think SFZ) samples into MainStage and export instruments out as ESX and drop them into the iCloud Drive on a Mac.
Doing everything on the iPad (and as automated as possible) is the Holy Grail for this app either using SF2, SFZ imports or having an auto-sampler robot capability in the App to create samples by sending MIDI note on-off events to a iPad App or out to external MIDI hardware.
Since the update is taking so long I'm hoping for the latter capability. That would be a killer App for ROM-pler freaks.
Then Exporting ESX formats would open a lot of possibilities as well. Maybe someone can convert the AudioLayer instrument file format into other common SoundFont files. The samples don't need converting... just the file that has the metadata.
$15 for that type of tool would be amazing. I'd expect them to raise the price with a significant update so you might want to hedge that bet and join early. All speculation on my part.
@oat_phipps and @McDtracy : thanks for the replies. Should the same process work with sfz files? As a quick test, I tried what you each described with the Alto Sax sfz instrument and samples that @Lithalean made available. When I click on the sfz instrument in the Files app, AudioLayer is launched but nothing happens.
I am on iOS 11.4.1 and I have tried both methods with both iCloud Storage on and iCloud Storage off.
I imagine I am doing something really stupid but can't figure out what.
When I click on the instrument file (sfz) in Files all that happens is that AudioLayer launches. (I have tried rebooting).
@espiegel123 said:
AudioLayer doesn’t currently support SFZ files, only EXS24.
The fact that it opens AudioLayer at all might be a clue that they are working on the code to use that file to import the samples as well. It's just probably a harder to get every detail right so they started with the easiest to implement and it also has some functionality issues.
A Robot function where the app records the samples, assigns them Note Ranges and Layers and names them should be the most robust approach. Still waiting to see where it goes.
FYI: There are desktop apps that convert some of these SoundFont/Sampleset types for you. Mainstage does a lot.
If Auria Pro's Lyra could export that would be useful to keep everything on the iPad. It can read SF2's, SFZ's and maybe more.
This is a perfect "find a need and fill it" opportunity for a programmer to sell us another utility.
@InfoCheck @McDtracy : Thanks. I'll try with the EXS files I have and see about translating the sfzs into EXS.
Somehow, I got the impression (obviously mistaken) that sfz had become supported.
Just remember to copy the ESX file because the import process seems to remove it so for me that requires going back to the Mac and Mainstage to export another copy to move to the iPad.
Making a copy means I could just make a copy with the original ESX name a re-import.
@McDtracy : if one doesn't use the iCloud Drive option but local storage instead (as it is much faster to get the samples from hard drive to iPad that way), do you put the exs file and folder of wav files directly in the AudioLayer iTunes file sharing folder?
Lastly, let's say that I have a folder on my mac that contains both a folder of exs files and a folder of the needed wavs (which are divided into subfolders), is there a way to move them over as-is of do I need to flatten the folder structure?
HEADS UP
I have installed AudioLayer to use "Local Files" to speed up instrument loading times. But the Import process still uses that iCloud Drive/AudioLayer/Import folder anyway to see the ESX file and associated samples. There is no local drive Import folder to use.
Exported instruments end up on iCloud in the Export folder (or is it the Instrument Folder?).
Copying files on your iPad into those iCloud Folders is fast. When you copy files from the Mac to the iCloud Folder then everything has to go through internet transfers but it still happens one sample at a time in AudioLayer. Installing a very large instrument that way does take some time and it appears that some of the samples don't make it over reliably. There are holes in the note-sample coverage maps which look like Football fields to me. When it happens I just widen a neighboring sample to cover that missing note.
@McDtracy : so no way to import without the iCloud Drive? That'll be super painful for me due to slow upload times on my internet (and limited cloud storage). Sigh. Dragging via iTunes file sharing is so fast and doesn't eat up cloud storage.
I hope they will address that.
I think moving into that folder on your iPad and installing in AudioLayer makes the actual iCloud upload/download irrelevant.
Try it out to see.
I could of course be wrong and there maybe local only options.
@Virsyn is apparently heads down on new features so no Doc's, Videos or even answers have appeared in weeks. I think it's a small shop with a lot of Apps and VST's and such working in parallel. I generally like what I've got from them at the prices I paid but I can see how they get dinged for customer support and App feature updates. When their stuff is on sale I always add something and find it to be excellent.
AudioReverb is my favorite Reverb
AudioEffects is my favorite Channel Strip
AudioLayer is in a class by itself (some say BM3 competes)
Harmony 8 makes you sound like Imogen Heap or Jacob Collier
I’m on iOS 12.1 on an iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 2 that both have iCloud turned off in Audio Layer. I can still use the Files app to transfer files to the On My iPad/AudioLayer location.
The first time you install an EXS file, the AudioLayer location with the icon won’t show up under the On My iPad section unless you use the Files app to move a folder into it from another location such as AudioShare.
After that in the Files app you can go to the On My iPad/AudioLayer location and locate your FileName.exs file and tap on it which will launch Audio Layer.
In Audio Layer you navigate to your EXS instruments.
@McDtracy and @InfoCheck : thanks for the info. It looks like it is ok to move a folder of EXS files into the AudioLayer folder (via iTunes File Sharing) and the folder of samples (with nested subdirectories). When an EXS file is opened, AudioLayer seems to do an exhaustive search of its directory tree.
The created instruments themselves had some apparent wonkiness (like keys that should be triggering looped samples but didn't have the looping set correctly). I can't say for sure that the problem was AudioLayer's. I'll investigate some more to see if I can figure out if the EXS file was wonky or if the import was wonky.
In any case, I've got a start. Thanks.!
@espiegel123 @tja @rs2000
Unfortunately, AudioLayer doesn't currently support SFZ. I'm very hopeful @VirSyn will add it.
SFZ is an open format and basically just a text file. EXS is controlled, and unupdated by Apple.
Buying OLD commercial instruments and importing is easier with EXS.
Creating NEW instruments from scratch is easier with SFZ, and doesn't require a computer.
EXS supports both .WAV and .AIF, and AudioLayer will search for samples.
Technically .SFZ supports .FLAC so you could possibly save some space vs .WAV.AIF
.SF2 is inferior in every way to both .SFZ and .EXS
The idea of @VirSyn 's ReSlice app recording any sound, slicing it, importing it into AudioLayer as an SFZ
instrument, and then editing it with a simple text-editor built into AudioLayer would be absolutely epic.
Anyway, Heres how to import via USB into AudioLayer for anyone not wanting to use iCloud.
I had the same. I can only import esx24 files with wav samples. Autosampler can only produce air files....
Anybody an idea?
Could you send me an example Autosampler program including the AIF files?
I have an idea I'd like to try...
(send me a link by PM)
I have another good source for esx24 instruments.
On my iphone I imported the disco strings from keyboardwaves.com. A few short adjustments followed.
Now its a good addition to my other apps and sounds. Excellent !
https://keyboardwaves.com/product-category/keyboard-sampler/exs24/
Nice one. Thanks for the tip!