Logic Notes

EXS24 MkII Features

Published in SOS February 2003
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Technique : Logic Notes

The new EXS24 MkII. The modulation matrix settings have been imported from a MkI instrument.

The big news in the latest v5.5 update is a completely overhauled EXS24 MkII, so what new features are there?

With the release of Logic v5.5, Emagic have included a new version of the popular EXS24 software sampler, which is good news for Logic users of any platform since this update has been made available for Mac OS X and 9 — and Windows. While the EXS24 has been consistently improved since it's original release way back in those crazy days of summer 2000, adding extra features such as virtual memory and support for additional sample formats, the EXS24 MkII represents the first major revision since the original EXS24 in Logic v4.3.

The EXS24 MkII effectively replaces the original EXS24, and although the latter is no longer available, the former offers full backwards compatibility, so your existing songs that use the older EXS24 should play back without any problems and, most importantly, sound exactly the same.

Dominating the new EXS24 MkII interface panel is the Modulation Matrix, providing a very flexible system for handling 10 simultaneous Modulation Paths. Seasoned EXS24 users will notice that many of the previously hard-wired modulation possibilities have vanished, although it's still possible to recreate these with the new Modulation Matrix if necessary. And to make this as easy as possible, you can select Recall Default EXS24 MkI Settings from the EXS24's Options pop-up menu, which automatically creates the original Modulation Paths in the new Modulation Matrix for you.

The use of Modulation Paths in the Modulation Matrix is pretty easy to understand. Say you wanted to modulate the filter's cutoff frequency via the new third LFO, which always generates a triangle wave ideal for filter sweeps. In this example, the source is the third LFO and the destination is the cutoff frequency, so, in a free Modulation Path, click Src and choose LFO3 from the pop-up menu. Then click Dest and choose Filter Cutoff.

All you need to do now is drag the green arrow in the Modulation Path either up or down to set how much the Filter Cutoff will be influenced by the LFO, and you can even invert the modulation source by clicking the Inv button next to the Src selector. If you want to temporarily disable a Modulation Path without removing it, you can simply click the bypass button next to the destination selector for that Modulation Path.

If one modulation source isn't enough, you can add another by clicking the middle Via button on a Modulation Path and choosing the additional modulation source from the pop-up menu. So, for example, if you wanted to alter the amount the LFO influences the Filter Cutoff value using the modulation wheel while you were playing, you'd set Via to Ctrl #1. The green triangle now divides into green and orange half triangles so you can set the range for the modulation, and note that you can also invert the value of this intermediary modulation source by clicking the Inv button next to the Via selector.

One of the most significant new features in the EXS24 MkII, which is perhaps my own personal highlight, is the ability to crossfade between velocity layers using a MIDI Continuous Controller (such as the modulation wheel) while a note or chord is being sustained. This makes it possible to be far more expressive when programming crescendo, diminuendo and other volume-based articulation, instead of just using volume control, since the tone of the instrument can now change more realistically.

Other Changes In Logic v5.5     The inclusion of the EXS24 MkII is the biggest change in Logic v5.5, although there is also the usual collection of minor improvements. Logic Control is now supported by the full Logic series (Audio, Gold and Platinum), and there are many 'enhancements and changes', as Emagic describe them, to the way Logic Control interacts with Logic. There are many scoring improvements for Logic Audio users, which have been possible in Gold and Platinum for some time, and the Strip Silence command can now be used from the Arrange window, not just from the Audio window as before. For Mac OS X users, OpenTL and OMF files can now be imported and exported, and I for one am very excited by the support for Japanese localisation. Mark Wherry

Until now, this crossfading ability has been one of Gigastudio's big advantages, and has been exploited by libraries such as Garritan Orchestral Strings, Sonic Implants' Symphonic Strings, and Dan Dean's Brass Ensembles. Unfortunately, while Logic can import the basic patches of these libraries via its Giga import facility, extra programming information such as crossfade settings is not imported in the current version and has to be reprogrammed manually. However, on the plus side, it means that EXS24 users can expect many of these high-level libraries to become available in EXS24-native versions — the forthcoming Vienna Symphonic Library, for example, is one such library that will be released for both Giga and EXS24 MkII platforms.

Mind you, it's worth bearing in mind that any multi-sampled instrument can be given a new lease of expression by adding the ability to crossfade with the modulation wheel, and I've been having a great deal of fun tweaking many of my older Akai libraries, such as Spectrasonics' Symphony Of Voices. Fortunately, very little black magic is involved in converting a regular velocity-sensitive patch, and the short procedure is actually very easy.

First of all, if you're going to crossfade with the modulation wheel, you need to disable any other modulation paths that use the modulation wheel as the source, such as the 'modulate pitch with LFO1 via the modulation wheel' path. To do this, simply click Dest on the appropriate modulation path and choose '-' from the pop-up menu. Of course, if you're going to crossfade via a different continuous controller, this isn't actually a problem.

Next, locate the 'modulate Sample Select with Velocity' path, click Src and choose Ctrl #1 (the modulation wheel) from the pop-up menu. Now, when you hold down a note or chord and move the modulation wheel, the point at which the samples switch should be exceedingly audible since there's no crossfading involved just yet. To set up the crossfading, you need to adjust the Xfade parameter, located in the top left group of the EXS24 MkII's main interface, from zero to a value appropriate for the instrument.

However, before you go crossfade crazy, there's a serious caveat to bear mind: when you play an instrument set up for crossfading, all velocity layers play back simultaneously, regardless of which layer is actually sounding. So if you've got an instrument with four velocity layers set up for crossfading, each note you play will use four voices — play four notes and you've used 16 voices. Mind you, on the plus side, at least Emagic have provided a handy used voices display next to the new Voices selector, so you can keep an eye on how many voices you're using.

While the new modulation features are certainly the main focus of the EXS24 MkII, there are many other improvements. High-pass and band-pass filters have been added, in addition to an extra one-pole option for the low-pass filter, and the Fat option now has its own control so that 'fatness' can now be applied to any of the low-pass filter settings — it has no effect on the high-pass and band-pass filters. There's also a rather useful control that randomly detunes every note played within the specified range, and it can be set to a maximum of ±50 cents — great for adding variation to fast short-bowed string sections.

Although this isn't a review, I have to say that I'm seriously impressed with the EXS24 MkII and, once again, coupled with the last few updates, it really is the ultimate integrated software sampler. While the new versions of HALion and Gigastudio may have been officially announced by the time you read this, right now, with a powerful enough computer, the Logic/EXS24 combination provides a real alternative to a room full of Gigastudios. But the question is, how powerful does your computer need to be?

Using a fairly modest Athlon XP1700 Windows machine with 512MB of RAM for testing, I loaded up an orchestral arrangement that made use of imports from the Garritan Orchestral Strings, London Orchestral Percussion, and Dan Dean Solo Woodwinds, Solo Brass, and Ensemble Brass libraries. With 18 instances of the EXS24 MkII loaded, using about 64 voices of polyphony over 24 tracks, virtual memory enabled and 460MB of the system memory in use overall, and the UAD1 Realverb Pro and Waves L2 plug-in effects thrown in for good measure, I was only using around 70 percent of my processing potential — impressive!

While I haven't tried this on my Mac yet, I'd be interested to know what results Mac Logic users are getting with dual 1.25GHz machines under OS X, and especially the new 1GHz Powerbooks. With a fast enough FireWire drive, the new Powerbook could be a dream machine for orchestrators, or anyone working with complex multi-samples.

Logic Tips     Logic's Transport window (normal view) has two rows of buttons, the top row controlling the Transport (record, play, and so on) and the bottom row toggling options such as cycling and punch-in recording. The last two buttons, which toggle synchronisation and metronome playback, are also pop-up menus and provide a handy way to open Logic's several tempo editors, synchronisation options, metronome settings, and Song Preferences. Clicking and holding on the button opens the menu. Len Sasso I mostly use three pan positions: L, R and centre. I position most other things in the stereo image using Logic's Sample Delay plug-in to simulate interaural delays, and this works best on mono tracks — using it on stereo tracks works, but doesn't have the same impact. You have to select the plug-in from the Mono->Stereo submenu in the Audio object's pop-up plug-in menu, and then delay the channel you wish to pan away from. For example, for panning left increase the Delay R [Samples] parameter. Values between about 40 and 400 are best, with 44 samples being 1ms at 44.1kHz sampling rate. Beyond this range, it just starts to sound like a fixed flange. One thing to bear in mind, though, is that you should leave the channel's pan control centred — the more a track is panned, the less effect the Sample Delay has on panning the signal. Tom Dolbear You can now apply plug-in effects directly to external sources, such as the output of your hardware synths, for monitoring and recording in Logic. That is made possible by the new Input Audio objects. The processed input is recorded during bouncing, which enables you to mix live and recorded audio tracks in one go. Len Sasso When you find yourself constantly switching between two windows, consider assigning a convenient key-stroke to Logic's Select Next Window Key Command. That can be very handy when you're going back and forth between two open editors, or an editor and the Arrange window, because it saves you having to grab the mouse each time you want to change window. Len Sasso

Giga Triggers     You can now set sample groups to trigger on note release. In the last versions of the original EXS24, many other Gigastudio-like facilities were added in the Instrument Editor to allow layers to be triggered by other factors than just a MIDI Note On message. This has been taken further with the EXS24 MkII, and it's now possible to program the full range of conditional triggers in EXS24 instruments, including keyswitching and release triggers. However, as with the crossfading mentioned in the main text, even though the EXS24 supports conditional triggering, these settings aren't imported from Giga instruments just yet, so a small amount of manual tweaking is still required. You make it possible to select different layers in an instrument by using the Select By parameter in a group, which goes beyond standard keyswitching by offering the potential to switch layers using controllers in addition to notes. And release samples can be accommodated by setting the relevant group to Trigger On Key Release instead of Key Down. Mark Wherry