Korg Forums

[srwray]

Hi,

Just got a ES-1 from eBay. Im loving it.
I understand that sampling directly into it is difficult and not something i really fancy doing.
So i'm going to make my samples with audacity and then put them on the ES-1 through smart media.
My question is: what do i need on my computer to do that?
What reader do i need, what software do i need ect?

I have a mac with Yosemite 10.10.4

thankyou!

[King Duppy]

Here's my process. I use XD cards, not SmartMedia cards, because they're more reliable and easier to find on Amazon, and they're fairly inexpensive. just remember that the ES-1 only recognizes cards up to 64MB — any larger than that and the sampler just won't be able to read them. Also, beware of getting XD cards on ebay, since I've read a lot of reports of people selling defective cards there. You can find more info here.

Anyway, it may look a little complicated when it's all written out, but transferring from your computer to your ES-1 can be boiled down to four simple steps:

1. File arrangement (on the computer)
On the computer, create a folder to hold your samples, and then arrange and rename them so they're ready to be loaded onto the XD card.

(Keep in mind that the only file names that ES-1 recognizes are two-digit numbers followed by ".WAV," for instance 00.WAV, 01.WAV, 02.WAV, etc., up to 99.WAV.)


2. Transfer samples to XD card
Once you have your samples all organized and ready to go, use a USB-to-XD adapter like this one to move the sample files from the folder on your laptop onto the XD card.

IMPORTANT: Remember to drag only the files inside the folder onto the XD card, and not the folder itself. Since the ES-1 doesn't let you navigate folders, you can only access files that are stored in the card's main directory. (There is a way around this, so see *, below)


3. Load XD card into Electribe
After your XD card is all loaded up, pop it into a XD-to-SmartMedia adapter, slide it into the back of your Electribe, and turn the machine on.


4. Load samples from XD card
From there, it's just a matter of going through and loading the samples from the card into the Electribe's internal memory.

And that's it!

One you've got a Bank that you like (or a bunch), be sure to back them up onto your computer's hard drive, or an external, by reversing this process. So it goes:
Electribe --> SM/XD combo --> XD/USB converter --> Computer.

I try to do these backups fairly often, so that if I change a Bank in a way I don't like or later regret, I still have the ability to go back to a recent Backup file and start over.

Hope this helps!
-Regis Duppius.


*Using Banks as sample folders
The Electribe lets you to save up to 9 Banks on your SmartMedia/XD card, and each Bank can hold 100 samples. So once you've built a Bank that you like, you can save it onto your card, and then use it as a folder to load samples from later on.

For instance, I tend to keep one Bank 1 as a collection of my favorite drum sounds, and Bank 2 for other sounds I tend to use a lot (basses and pads, etc). I also usually reserve an empty Bank just for chopping and resampling, etc., since you tend to need a lot of free memory for that.