Post by guydenruyter on Dec 7, 2006 11:06:51 GMT
I have seen a couple of people asking on how to use loops, single-shot-samples etc in the Fusion. I came accross this situation myself quite often, in particular when I want to use some of my loops, sound effects, vocal phrases etc which have already been heavily processed on my computer.
In order to keep things manageble, I decided I wanted all these shots, FXs, phrases, ... in one single program (one per Song or Mix). That way, in a Song or Mix, I can have one specific track for all these sounds.
Hence, 2 approaches are possible:
- the 'multisample' approach: your program contains up to 4 multisamples, and each multisample contains various samples. The multisamples are spread over the keys.
- the 'drum program' approach: your program does NOT contain any multisamples, but rather directly addresses the samples. The samples cannot be spread over the keys: for each individual key, you assign one (actually, up to 4) samples (but, of course, you can assign the same sample to various keys - you just have to do the work).
I experimented with both approaches, and to me the 'drum program' approach seems best for this purpose, this because
- you avoid the additional 'multisample' hierarchy
- the Fusion Converter does not really manage multisamples well
- loops, sound effects, vocal phrases etc do not require a 'spread' over different keys
How to achieve this?
I discovered that following approach works best:
- start the Fusion Converter program. Use it in 'Offline' mode, and also specify that you want to import your stuff as a Drum program.
- import your samples in the Fusion Converter.
- Instead of uploading them to my Fusion via the Fusion Converter, I prefer doing it manually: go to the directory where the Fusion Converter stores the samples and the programs, and just copy the samples and the programs to your Fusion via USB. You can copy them to an existing bank, for instance, I have one single bank called 'LoopsAndFX', so I just copy the .afs files to \Samples\LoopsAndFX, and the .afp file (should be just one) to \Programs\LoopsAndFx.
- I am not sure it is needed, but I also delete the bank.txt files in those directories.
- Disconnect the USB, and Verify in the Fusion. Now you should be able to open and play your new Drum program containing those samples.
- You need to make some manual adjustments. There is a minor bug that apparently assigns all those samples to the same mute group - although it doesn't appear so (the screen says Mute Group: None). So, you need to scroll through every Oscillator in your program and change the 'None' into e.g. A and back to 'None'. If you don't do this, launching one sample will mute the other sample.
- Optionally, you might need to make some adjustments in the velocity modulation settings, but only if you want to make your sounds velocity-sensitive (often, for FXs, loops etc you do NOT want this - so you don't need to change anything).
- Optionally, you might change the keys to which the sounds are assigned (e.g. if you traditionally have your hihat-loop to the Eb3 key, it might be useful to do so). This is very easy.
This might look a bit complicated, but it is in fact not, and pretty straightforward once you've done it.
Finally, some tips on how to use this progam in your Song or Mix. A major shortcoming of the Fusion is that you cannot assign different FX send levels to various oscillators. In a synth program, this is already a pain, but for drum programs this can really be annoying (e.g. you'd like to use some reverb on your snare and some short delay on your hi-hit-loop).
As a workaround, I simply assign the same program to various tracks. This is a bit cumbersome because you might easily end up with 20-25 tracks, but it works.
Have fun!
In order to keep things manageble, I decided I wanted all these shots, FXs, phrases, ... in one single program (one per Song or Mix). That way, in a Song or Mix, I can have one specific track for all these sounds.
Hence, 2 approaches are possible:
- the 'multisample' approach: your program contains up to 4 multisamples, and each multisample contains various samples. The multisamples are spread over the keys.
- the 'drum program' approach: your program does NOT contain any multisamples, but rather directly addresses the samples. The samples cannot be spread over the keys: for each individual key, you assign one (actually, up to 4) samples (but, of course, you can assign the same sample to various keys - you just have to do the work).
I experimented with both approaches, and to me the 'drum program' approach seems best for this purpose, this because
- you avoid the additional 'multisample' hierarchy
- the Fusion Converter does not really manage multisamples well
- loops, sound effects, vocal phrases etc do not require a 'spread' over different keys
How to achieve this?
I discovered that following approach works best:
- start the Fusion Converter program. Use it in 'Offline' mode, and also specify that you want to import your stuff as a Drum program.
- import your samples in the Fusion Converter.
- Instead of uploading them to my Fusion via the Fusion Converter, I prefer doing it manually: go to the directory where the Fusion Converter stores the samples and the programs, and just copy the samples and the programs to your Fusion via USB. You can copy them to an existing bank, for instance, I have one single bank called 'LoopsAndFX', so I just copy the .afs files to \Samples\LoopsAndFX, and the .afp file (should be just one) to \Programs\LoopsAndFx.
- I am not sure it is needed, but I also delete the bank.txt files in those directories.
- Disconnect the USB, and Verify in the Fusion. Now you should be able to open and play your new Drum program containing those samples.
- You need to make some manual adjustments. There is a minor bug that apparently assigns all those samples to the same mute group - although it doesn't appear so (the screen says Mute Group: None). So, you need to scroll through every Oscillator in your program and change the 'None' into e.g. A and back to 'None'. If you don't do this, launching one sample will mute the other sample.
- Optionally, you might need to make some adjustments in the velocity modulation settings, but only if you want to make your sounds velocity-sensitive (often, for FXs, loops etc you do NOT want this - so you don't need to change anything).
- Optionally, you might change the keys to which the sounds are assigned (e.g. if you traditionally have your hihat-loop to the Eb3 key, it might be useful to do so). This is very easy.
This might look a bit complicated, but it is in fact not, and pretty straightforward once you've done it.
Finally, some tips on how to use this progam in your Song or Mix. A major shortcoming of the Fusion is that you cannot assign different FX send levels to various oscillators. In a synth program, this is already a pain, but for drum programs this can really be annoying (e.g. you'd like to use some reverb on your snare and some short delay on your hi-hit-loop).
As a workaround, I simply assign the same program to various tracks. This is a bit cumbersome because you might easily end up with 20-25 tracks, but it works.
Have fun!