Quick Question About The ESX-1

[MIDI_Thru_Kid]

Ok, so I'm thinking about getting a sampler in the next year or so, and I was wondering... Can you assign drums to the keyboard part? Like, entire sampled kits? Like have a TR-808 in the Drum Part, and let's say an entire TR-707 and TR-727 kit in the keyboard part, among other kits? (a 707 and 727 would only require 30 notes.)

What I really want is to be able to access a large collection of TR-x0x drum sounds via MIDI keyboard, play and sequence them all at will. Can the 2 keyboard parts of the ESX-1 help me out in that endevour?

[Pastor-of-Muppets]

each part can only have one sample assigned to it. for a keyboard part, the sample will be pitched up and down to play different notes across the "keyboard" (i.e. the step keys) but you can't assign a different sample to each note of the keyboard

you could pick up an old rack sampler pretty cheap (e.g. Akai S3000) which would allow you to assign different samples to each note of a keyboard and then you could play that from a midi keyboard controller. you'd need something else to do the sequencing, which the ESX could do, but there are better options if all you want is a sequencer

an MPC or something like that would work as both sequencer and more flexible sampler than an ESX

[MIDI_Thru_Kid]

Ah, ok. Thank you for the input.

Looking into getting an MPC1000. With a 100,000 note sequencer, 128 MB upgradable ram, and the ability to layer sounds in "Pad Banks" it seems to be what I'm after. Thanks for the input!

[gil videla]

or....

if you're comfortable enough, just plop Ableton into your computer, there's a sampler in it and you can lay out the samples across the keys as you're seeking

[MIDI_Thru_Kid]

or....

if you're comfortable enough, just plop Ableton into your computer, there's a sampler in it and you can lay out the samples across the keys as you're seeking

A software sampler was actually the first thing I tried when I came up with this idea. I hated it, hahaha. I'm so used to working with hardware, ESPECIALLY for drum machines, that I just couldn't work with it to my comfort level. I gave it a good shot, though. Thanks!

[Pastor-of-Muppets]

the MPC1000 is a great piece of gear. if you get one secondhand watch out for faulty pads on the red&blue models. The RAM upgrade is definitely worth it (get it cheap from ebay not the official Akai component) and you should consider installing the third-party alternative JJ OS which has a lot more features than the standard Akai OS.

Oh, and installing a hard drive is not essential - a 2GB CF card is quite a lot of space, you don't nee the hard drive option unless you run out of room and don't want to use multiple CF cards.

[MIDI_Thru_Kid]

Good advice, I'm keeping that in mind. The only thing that pisses me off is about 60% of the used ones on eBay have faulty pads... Also, the fact that the MPC needs upgrades in order to stay relevant.