Importing multisamples from Steinberg Halion into the PA1X

Devon · Post by **Devon** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:11 pm

Hello everyone

It seems that you can create/edit multisamples in Steinberg Halion sampler (software), but the thing is you can only export files in .fxp and .fxb format... No idea what kind of format these are, but I'd like to import the created multisamples into the PA1x. Does anyone know anything about this and if so please let me know what the trick is and what I should be doing.

Thanx in advance,
Devon

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:37 pm

Hi Devon,

The .fxb and .fxb formats are proprietary to Steinberg and as far as I know there is no conversion utility program to process these files and automatically generate samples for the Pa1x.

The formats accepted by the Pa1x are documented in the OS2.52 manual page 215 as follows:

"The Pa1X can read common formats, like WAV and AIFF files, Korg Trinity and Triton Samples, Korg Trinity and Triton Multisamples, Korg Triton Programs, and Akai™ S1000 and S3000 Samples and Programs"

Best regards,
Rob

Dreamer · Post by **Dreamer** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:21 am

Hi,

Extreme Sample Converter can read, among others, also .fxp and .fxb files and convert them to whatever format you choose (including .wav and .aiff, that can be imported into Korg instruments).

More info on the program can be found at

http://www.extranslator.com/

galettouille · Post by **galettouille** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:24 am

Dreamer wrote:Hi,

Extreme Sample Converter can read, among others, also .fxp and .fxb files and convert them to whatever format you choose (including .wav and .aiff, that can be imported into Korg instruments).

More info on the program can be found at

http://www.extranslator.com/

Halion store the samples in wav format, and PA1x can read them. So It's not a problem to import them. The problem is to import the multisample structure.

Devon · Post by **Devon** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:11 pm

Thanx guys, looks like it's bad news for me. I had hoped to import multisamples edited on Halion (which is much easier than doing the same with the pa1x). Of course if you convert multisamples to wav or aif the multisample character will be gone so that's not what I'm looking for.

Any suggestions for software with which you can edit multisamples and import them unaltered?

galettouille · Post by **galettouille** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:51 pm

I remember that i've tried a soft which converts akai to korg Triton. But it doesn't work well...

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:04 pm

Devon wrote:Any suggestions for software with which you can edit multisamples and import them unaltered?

Hi Devon,

I think it's a very time consuming manual job, unfortunately. You will need to export the individual samples as .wav files externally to the Pa1x and then build the multisample structures directly on the Pa1x using the Sound editor.

Sharp and Alex are the experts at doing this.

Best regards,
Rob

Post by **Sharp** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:38 pm

You don't need any software to assemble the multisample. The Pa1X can be set to auto create the zones based on what template you give it.

For example, a common pattern a sound engineer would use for sampling would be that for each note sampled, it is to be stretched +/- 1 Semi Tone from the root note. Meaning that 1 sample will cover 3 notes. If you input these setting into the Pa1X on the multisample page, and then hit the create button a number of times (once of each number of wave files that make up one sound), then the Pa1X will automatically create the multisample for you with all the correct the zone ranges.

Sounds complicated when you hear it for the first time, but once you give it ago, you will see that it's dead easy.

Regards.
Sharp.

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 12:48 am

Hi Sharp,

Would you normally sample every note, and if so, over what octave range?

For say a flute, what do you do when you are outside the range of the instrument but still have notes on the keyboard left to assign?

Is the technique you describe of stretching each note + and - a semitone so that the samples "blend in" by overlapping them?

Many thanks,
Rob

Post by **Sharp** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:34 am

Would you normally sample every note, and if so, over what octave range?

I would personally always sample every note in the Studio, but the actual number of samples I would end up using in the final sound I was designing would greatly depend on the limitations of the keyboard the sound was for.

So while I would sample every note, if I where making a sound for the Pa1X which has limited memory, I'd end up using the pattern of one sample stretched +/- 1 semi tone. Where if if was for a Triton, I would probably use all the samples, and not stretch anything.

Is the technique you describe of stretching each note + and - a semitone so that the samples "blend in" by overlapping them?

No, the Pa1 does not have the ability to overlap or crossfade between zones. Your basically stretching by +/- 1 semi tone to reduce the number of samples needed to complete the sound, which in turn reduces the amount of memory needed.

You can stretch the samples even more if you like, but the more you stretch a sample from it's root note, the more the stretching becomes noticeable. It ends up changing in tone which sounds undesirable.

You can get away with a lot of extra stretching for some sounds though, where others like real world sounds don't stretch well at all. So generally I would work to +/- 1 semi tone from the root note.

For say a flute, what do you do when you are outside the range of the instrument but still have notes on the keyboard left to assign?

In this case, for the highest note, I would stretch it by – 1 semi tone down and set the + to C9. It's the highest note the Pa1X will accept. This makes the create button disappear and closes the multisample.

Same goes for the first sample in the multisample. The lowest note will be set to the pa1X's lowest ability, where the + value will be 1.

Regards.
Sharp.

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:09 am

Sharp,

Thank you very much - it's a great explanation and something that will help everyone with Sampling.

Best regards,
Rob

Devon · Post by **Devon** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 5:20 pm

Thanx Sharp, great explanation! I know it's me, still on my way learning things about the Pa1x. The streching by a -/+ semi not makes so much sense, although I've never done it before. You mentioned that you can set the Pa1x to auto create the zones, can anyone please tell me how that's done.

I know many of you guys are experts at this and I can imgine being asked such basic questions can make you think "what an amature!" Lol it's cool. And if there's any tutorial explaining this clearly I'd like to know about it.

Thanx again peeps, you rule!