Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
What´s wrong with Audiolayers Exs24 import ??? or is it just me ??
Audiolayers promised land of getting my EXS24 libraries on the IPAD is for me a very frustrating experience. Sometimes it works, Sometimes it don´t - mostly it do not 
I do all what the videos say. I have (like you tend to do with samplers and conversions) spent huge amounts of non-musical downtime researching and scratching my head.
What works everytime is if the instrument contains one sample, but if there are more or layers etc. mostly it will say that the samples are imported - but they are not = no samples in the patch on Audiolayer. Other times it will import some of them creating a weird instrument.
I will normally hardwire the Exs24 and it´s samplefolder via the Itunes transfer to the Audiolayer folder and the move them to the import folder. When that does not work - I will try to move them to the"on my ipad" folder of Audiolayer and then import it - but still no succes..... I have just made the EXS24 patches on the newest version of Logic Pro - so it´s not some old weird format and the sample folders contains Aiff´s and not a compiled caf file.
What am I doing wrong or is it just a lost cause to keep trying to get this to work?? It cannot be so that you can only have instruments with one sample
Comments
There seem to be some EXS24 files that it has trouble with. Some multisample instruments import fine. But some don't.
You mention both going the iTunes File Sharing route and cloud route. I think one should stick to either local or cloud storage. I recall weirdness when switching between the two that compounded problems.
Even though @virsyn has not been responding to some people's inquiries, I think it is a good idea to send them problematic EXS files so
that they can figure out the factors common to import fails.
Although I would love to just be able to export and import seamlessly. I think the best way would be to build up the instruments using Audiolayer. Import the samples and just do the dirty work inside of AudioLayer.
I just imported a very small, 10 sample piano and it took about 20 minutes total. I would have spent that much time trying to fool with the exs24 import process.
Also, if someone has created an EXS24 instrument and wants it inside of Kontakt. AFAIK, there is no conversion. You have to manually use Kontakt.
With that being said, not sure about the legality of distributing converted exs24 patches into audiolayer for everyones use.
I am working on some documents and hopefully some videos going through the manual process in Audiolayer but the more I learn about the flexibility of Kontakt, it is night and day. EXS24 is a great tool as well but does not have the options that kontakt does and Audiolayer is not really even in the same ball park.
That being said, for simpler samples, 1 note pads that stretch across the keyboard, etc. it is great. Round robins for drums, and triggering chopped up samples it also shines.
yeah, having trouble here. It is frustrating. The problems for me are with trying to import some of those EXS files that were converted from sf2 files. I haven't got them to work great.
As a test, I used AutoSampler to export a 6-velocity layer EXS of the stock Steinway Grand in Mainstage. This actually imported perfectly in to AudioLayer and plays really nice. So, I'm surprised you are having trouble with EXS patches that you made in Logic Pro.
Does EXS24 even support multi-layer instruments? I know it supports multi-velocity layers, (proven by my test) but not sure about the extra layers like release or other layers for harmonics. I'm not suggesting it isn't possible, I just haven't done the research.
I hope AudioLayer ends up supporting SFZ format at some point and also documents which parts of the protocol they support. At least with SFZ I can use a text editor to create or customize them. Once I have some SFZ files I like, I can easily modify and use them with other sample sets.
When I create my own EXS24 files with MainStage on macOS it can be hit and miss when importing them into AudioLayer as to whether they’ll work. My experience has been that the EXS24 support in Auria Pro is much more robust than for AudioLayer as some EXS24 files work in Auria Pro yet fail in AudioLayer. It’s my understanding the developer is working on an update so hopefully it will address these issues.
When SynthJacker gets AU hosting ability, that would be another method to import sample files into AudioLayer in a more straight forward way although you’d still need to create more complex settings within AudioLayer.
Despite the above issues, the disk streaming capability of AudioLayer still makes it attractive for me.
@Htmx - Weird I use autosampler in maninstage as well, but my instruments do not import well into Audiolayer.
What is you process ?? That is actually the only thing I want to do - to make Exs24´s of the VST patches that keep me tethered to that laptop so I can ditch it
Are there file path options (such as absolute vs relative ) that are relevant? Or the way that the samples are nested? Are there characters in the names that throw AudioLayer for a loop on import?
I hear ya OP, Audiolayer sucks in my opinion. And it totally ruined the sound fidelity compared to loading the exs in Lyra within Auria Pro. My advice is don't waste any more time with it.
What I've noticed when I try to import instruments and AudioLayer can't see the samples, is that the samples aren't where AudioLayer is expecting to see them. For example, I have a very deeply sampled guitar (Shreddage X by Impact Soundworks) and the samples came in one folder and the exs articulation patches came in a different folder. When I first copied them to my iPhone, I copied the samples in their sample folder, and I just copied the exs patches (without using their sample folder). I thought, the patches probably won't need to be in the folder, they'll probably just need to know the folder where the samples are. However, in this case, making sure the patches and samples remained in the same folder names that they were created in was the trick that got them to import. So, my recommendation is when copying your exs24 instruments, make sure you keep the patches and samples in their respective folders and keep their folders the same name as when you got them. I don't know that this will help with everyone's issue, but I'm sure there are others who will run into this problem too.
Also, another thing that stumped me the first time is that the instruments (patches plus samples, folders, etc) need to be moved to the AudioLayer folder to be imported. And the trick that caught me, was that you open the exs files from within iFiles, rather than AudioLayer. There seems to be a file association to the exs file, and opening the exs file auto starts the AudioLayer program and imports them in.
It looks like AudioLayer sometimes tries to be too smart in its sample import. I had two folders that housed an exs file and folder of samples. Even though the samples were all different and in different folders, the sample files had identical names.
Importing either EXS file resulted in the other EXS crashing things. I could see that it was grabbing the samples from the other instrument's folder.
@oat_phipps : when making my own instruments, I am not finding any fidelity differences from the original sample. It makes me think that a translation error on the files you tried was the culprit as opposed to an inherent generic fidelity issue.
I do not use Auria with Lyra that much with regards to songwriting. I have used Salamander where I chose Auria as an input in Gargeband. Is that a stable solution? If so using Auria as an input is fine by me - as long as it does not zap all the resources of the Ipad ?:)
I often use Auria with the sole purpose of hosting Salamander when I am using Xequence or AUM. It works well, but when memory is tight I think Auria's memory footprint might not be as compact as AudioLayer or some other apps I have.
So far, Salamander is my preferred iOS piano when I care whether or not the piano actually sounds like a good piano.
Question: would it be silly to sample Salamander from Auria through iDAM into the AutoSampler in Mainstage. Then would it export as an EXS that works in AudioShare? Haha, sounds so convoluted just writing it down.
I’m eventually going to make it a viable AudioLayer instrument... probably will take a long time but it will happen.
In another thread, someone has said that they will give a shot at using Translator to generate an EXS24 file from the Salamander sfz but that it might take a while for them to get to it.
Btw, I mentioned this elsewhere, it looks like some EXS instruments may open fine in other apps (and on the Mac) even if the file paths are wrong but that this may throw AudioLayer for a loop. I don't have any sort of app that opens EXS files so that they can be examined legitimately, if someone does, it would be interesting to know if the problematic EXS files have incorrect paths.
I peeked at one EXS I had troubles with and could see that the file had the absolute paths to the samples from the author's disk. I think this caused AudioLayer some problems.
I have done some testing and on my system the thing that is throwing Audiolayer off so it cannot find the samples must be the naming scheme in the Autosampler in Mainstage.
If I try to import an instrument that has been made with autosampler I get nothing and loading it in Lyra produces the same result - no samples.
If make my own samples in logic and name them 1, 2 , 3 etc. and make a new instrument with them then it loads in Audiolayer and in Lyra..
@ hmtx you seem to have the Autosampler instruments working in Audiolayer: What are your files named when they are automaticly made in autosampler. Mine are named like this : Piano Grand-C6-106-18E9.aif, Piano Grand-C6-85-MYM9.aif.... etc. etc. (Sample instrument name-Key-Velocity-Weird code.aif)
@xmortenx : what options does mainstage give for:
I've noticed some EXS files have absolute file paths and some relative paths
When Audio Layer fails to load the exs, have you looked to see what is displayed as it searches?
That is the same naming scheme for my AutoSampler files. I've only tried one instrument, and it worked great. It was over 570MB in size and 169 samples, so I was very happy that it imported OK without any fiddling: correct note assignments and samples assigned to correct velocity (roughly).
It may take me a while to get back with you gents, but I will see if I can figure out a consistent, reproducible process for AutoSampler >>> AudioLayer.
@espiegel123 - The Autosampler in Mainstage does not have any options for naming
It´s just sitting there and crashes if I try to go above 10 velocity layers
@Hmtx It´s weird. My autosampler patches does not work in Lyra or Audiolayer while your do ?? - I guess there should be any difference between our two version. Perhaps I have a digital lemon
Anyways : I was reading some other thread about Audiolayer and a guy suggested doing it manually and I tried that - since I only need to port a few number of patches to get rid of that laptop. And what a succes
I bootet up Logic: Made 7 regions with 19, 38, 59, 84, 101, 119, 127 velocity (ones that fit the instrument). Made them the same length and named them all (instrument-vel-.aif) Then used the right click export as audio function which opens up a save menu where you can add a pitch to the filename. Then it bounced everything offline in a second with 7 files each named (instrument-vel-pitch.aif). I then just transposed with 3 semitones in the inspector and did it again, naming the new batch with a pitch accordingly. etc. etc.
This produced a large set of files in a ruff that all could be imported with the auto import feature in Audiolayer. The only thing left to do was to shift the key span a little since Audiolayer did not get that complety right -but it was easy and pretty fast.
Now I have a perfecly working 7 velocity layer instrument in Audiolayer. This I my new way to go untill there is an update where things run more smoothly
You can also use pitch ranges in the naming like instrument_vel_C1-F1.aif or .wav and AudioLayer will map that sample across 6 notes and reduce the sample file count and overall data size significantly. By 2/3rd's in the example you mentioned by mapping each file to 3 notes. ("Now you tell me.")
The Synthjacker app has been updated to act as an AU Host for AUv3 Apps. It creates file names that might work well to make AudioLayer instruments faster from our favorite AU synth App Presets.
NOTE: You configure the AU App as a source in synthjacker. You cannot place Synthjacker in the AU FX slot in AUM like you can with AudioLayer.
Keeping in mind that a range of 6 semitones between samples will not work well for many instruments though it will work reasonably for others.
@xmortenx : Does MainStage have an option for how many velocity layers get created? Does reducing the number of layers make a difference?
It would be very worthwhile being in touch with Virsyn (the contact email address is on their website) and posting a link to instruments that crash AudioLayer so that he can download and test them.
I know people have not had much luck hearing from them, but I was lucky enough to get a brief reply back that gave me a sense that he is reading the emails and taking the feedback seriously even if he doesn't manage to respond to all inquiries. Also, it is clear that he is actively working on AudioLayer.
My guess is that getting this all right has turned out to be a bigger task than anticipated. I've worked on many software projects where our internal estimates on development time were way off because getting the last 1% totally right took way longer than we anticipated despite lots of due diligence.
I get that but it is a naming feature that wasn't documented here yet. C1-C#1 works as well to drop 88 aid files to 44, etc. And selectively using ranges is allowed... adding them on the low bass and upper note extremes for example, C0-B0. Otherwise, someone will just assume they need to "make" correctly pitched files for every note, which it sounds like you were willing to do when AudioLayer can pitch adjust as well automatically.
It's good to see this app get some serious attention. It will encourage Harry to add some extra features. I'd love to see him make us an auto-sampler that just fires off coordinated MIDI requests to an App and then captures the sound in a recorded file using AudioLayer in the AU FX slot for that App. Forget the whole make ESX, SF2, SFZ mess and let us make light weight clones of Synth Presets and apply additional AudioLayer modulations. Throw in extra modulation features to enable the audio manipulation use case.
I can see why "simply" adding SFZ, SF2 import as a stated feature is just a recipe for unsupportable levels of "support". @Virsyn is a very small business with a lot of Apps and potential Apps needing attention. Great programmer's follow what's interesting to them and stamping out bugs in SFZ features is probably just not worth the effort.
But adding auto-sampling... that's doable and controllable.
Still, I wait. I think I'll give the "synthjacker" App with the new AU Hosting feature a test drive to encourage that developer in our direction. He supports file naming that might work well in AudioLayer... worst case he provides SFZ packing that could be used in Auria Pro (Lyra) and the AEMS DAW.
I just like real instruments and will pay for good ones. But the great ones are just so damn big they make lousy AUv3 instruments in complex projects. They crash or fail to render audio when asked. (I'm not sure AudioLayer renders correctly in Cubasis for example).
Part of the IOS Music Making Hobby is just experiments in problem solving and "community bitch sessions" over failed expectations.
I truly hope you are right! AudioLayer is the best thing to happen to iOS!! I know I can't speak for anyone other than myself, but given the choice between a good synth or a good sampler, I'll take the sampler every time. I just understand them better and get along with them better, and I feel that I can do more with a good sampler than a good synth. AudioLayer is the best thing we have right now--especially with the direct from disk sample streaming. So, @VirSyn if you are reading, please let us know that you are still doing fine. We hope that we haven't offended you in some way! If so, we are sorry! We are just an enthusiastic bunch!
So, if you are still around but busy, even a quick, one word, "Hi!" would be incredibly appreciated! Thanks!
FYI: The SynthJacker app ($4) just added AU Hosting. So, any AU capable app can be selected as the sound source and sent the MIDI events to create a folder of suitably named samples for easier automated import into AudioLayer. It uses the IOS Files app and avoids the ESX import process entirely.
I tested SynthJacker for making AudioLayer sample import folders using the "filename-with-velocity-note " approach. There are some nasty bugs (velocity ranges end up importing or being labeled incorrectly and a big gaps get recorded inthe sample start, for example). But these issues can be manually repaired.
So, to me it's worth the price and one would expect bugs to get addressed. The developer is eager to find the right use cases and this is a good one for his efforts. He will likely move towards IAA and/or AudioBus capable apps for the next large update after fixing short term bugs.
I started by importing some BeatHawk pianos using various settings and with some post import work you can get a reasonable (not exact) "clone" of a favorite preset.
PS: For the first time using it, I started to notice AudioLayer missing some MIDI note events.
There's always something.
@McD : just curious, why would one re-sample BeatHawk multisampled instrument for use in AudioLayer. Is there something that AL brings to the game that I'm overlooking?
I try to make AudioLayer instruments that are as light as possible and still don't sound bad.
So, I look for some sources I respect and try to make light weight clones that as just good enough to use and avoid having to grab complex Apps like BeatHawk and navigate the GUI in the little AUv3 box to get to the right Piano sound. For me it's about building a personal library of sounds... mostly classic keyboard variants.
The beauty of AudioLayer is that you don’t need to worry so much about making things lightweight. Direct from disk streaming of samples means very little RAM is used in instruments—even if they are multi-gigabyte sample sets. And because playing of samples uses less processing power than synthesis, things are already quite efficient. 🙂 Personally, I’m loading sample sets that are 1-2 GB each with no problems. 🙂
Thanks to @Lithalean’s tip about running the Awave Studio demo (they have an experimental Mac version which is basically Awave Studio bundled with Wine), I was able to do a quick test of converting Salamander to EXS and importing into AudioLayer. It worked great except that there is one layer that is supposed to be release noise that is problematic BUT I basically turned off the volume for that layer. I will also try with the Ivy in 162 piano. If both work, I’ll share the EXS Files. Salamander definitely sounds better than any other piano that I have tried.
Maybe someone who knows something about samplers can figure out how to fix that layer so that it does what it is supposed to.
Although I don't use EXS at all when working with AudioLayer, I feel your trouble, been through that several times - last time when I created PCM programs for the new D1 PCM expansion.
EXS path issues have been there since, dunno, 20 years maybe?
Here's a few words about a few ways on how to solve the issues with wrong paths:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1824799
Chances are that you have none of these tools. I can offer you to pm me the files and I can have a quick look using my old EXS Manager. Can't promise anything though.