For discussion about setting up your studio and advice on the gear and equipment within it.
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By vinyl_junkie_1620 Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:37 pm
Did a quick 2 part tutorial on multi sampling synths into an Akai s-3200xl and thought of sharing, same priniple applies to all the 3000 series and pretty much the 1000 stuff as well, same tricks apply to making key maps for drums only your low and high notes should be set the same when creating the key span.
I have missed a few small things but I tired to make it super quick
If any one is new to these old beasts and dont want to read the manual here is your chance lol but I highly reccomend reading the manual :lol:

pt1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNif_Iexr-Y

pt2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_UfA6BSa5s
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By rebel_lion Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:43 pm
Hey nice video demonstration there. Thanks for sharing. I have the S3000XL too which I mainly use for my drums. I never realized its potential beside using it for drums. I need to start sampling synths now after your video. I'm always running back to the manual to learn its capabilities and functions. You give me more reason to love my s3000. Peace.
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By Ras Desta Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:30 pm
Yo that was actually a really good vid. The akai s-series aren't exactly the most user-friendly samplers out there (compared to say, ensoniq) but there is so much potential if you just invest a little time into your programming. This a great walk through for beginners so don't understand the akai keygroup concept right off the bat (cuz I know it was a **** trying to learn when I first got my s3kxl), so kudos

...btw, I clicked the link to one of your quick capture vid beats and it was sounding pretty hot. Keep up the work :)
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By vinyl_junkie_1620 Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:33 am
Thanks guys, I totaly agree that the akai s-series aren't exactly the most user-friendly samplers out there. When I got my first Akai which was the older S-3000 a few years back it took me days to work it out, what now seems logical looked totaly wrong, I remember reading the first bits of the manual over and over again scratching my head thinking ok...so how do I create a program or keygroup? lol
Once you get your head arround them though they can be quick.
Looping anything other than synth'e kind of stuff though like drum loops I leave to my MPC-2000xl...it just does it so much quicker as does the time stretch although the time strech on the 3200 is much more complex and tweakable.
The other great thing is re-sampling your MPC and filtering it can create some cool sounds or layering it under your tune.
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By Comrade Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:57 pm
word, nice vids... i was always wondering how chopping on the S samplers is like... seems like its much easier then mpc 60/3000....

might add a S3000 to my gear list when i start to rebuild my bedroom studio...

goodd stuff...

BTW i still didnt quite what the Mono 1998 was meant for??? makes midi assignment easier???
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By vinyl_junkie_1620 Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:20 pm
Thanks, the Mono 1998 was basicaly a pre-made program with no samples assigned to keys.
It has 20 keygroups...think of each keygroup in that program as a pad on your mpc or in this case a note on your keyboard, each one can hold a sample.

If you wouldnt have that Mono 1998 program, you would have to create your own program and keygroup which although fairly easy is time consuming.

I covered creating keygroups here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNif_Iexr-Y
For that one I had 4 samples and I made 4 keygroups; I made each sample span one octive of the keyboard (so kg1 would range c2 to b3 and kg2 would be c3 to b4 and so on)so the string sound wouldnt suffer from digital distortion. For a drum program this would be different as we want each key to have a different sound on it so you set up your key groups different...that mono 1998 program already has a good template so might as well use it then all you have to do is assign samples to each keygroup
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By faze1 Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:40 pm
You probably dont realize how many people you have helped and will help (in the futre with these tutorials). B4 this video i either chopped in the mpc or soundforge and then transfered the samples via zip disk, or recorded the chops into the s3000. I guess i was to intimidated with learning different chopping functions. I will now start dropping in drum breaks and other longer samples after watching this. After these videos, theses "S" series samplers might be in high demand again!! Thanks for the videos and my 7 year old daughter says she likes the way you say "FANTASTIC"! Its her favorite thing to say. I think she gets it from one of those disney cartoons or something :lol: Oh and 1 more thing.... do you worry about your S3200xl getting proper ventilation with your mpc sitting on top of it?
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By Comrade Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:33 am
vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:Thanks, the Mono 1998 was basicaly a pre-made program with no samples assigned to keys.
It has 20 keygroups...think of each keygroup in that program as a pad on your mpc or in this case a note on your keyboard, each one can hold a sample.

If you wouldnt have that Mono 1998 program, you would have to create your own program and keygroup which although fairly easy is time consuming.

I covered creating keygroups here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNif_Iexr-Y
For that one I had 4 samples and I made 4 keygroups; I made each sample span one octive of the keyboard (so kg1 would range c2 to b3 and kg2 would be c3 to b4 and so on)so the string sound wouldnt suffer from digital distortion. For a drum program this would be different as we want each key to have a different sound on it so you set up your key groups different...that mono 1998 program already has a good template so might as well use it then all you have to do is assign samples to each keygroup



yea! thought so, so the s3000s can also be used as "Virtual Synths" iso you get a single synth sound then spread it over the keyboard??? thats what you did in the 1st vid right???

really interesting... im deff going to look into a S3000 now... where can i get those Midi key-groups files???
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By vinyl_junkie_1620 Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:47 pm
lol thanks faze1, I have the mixer sitting on the S-3200xl and yeah heat is an issue but I am pushed for space.
I do try and give it some ventilation by propping the mixer up and leving some space arround the air holes, the 3200xl does have the option for the fan on the rear but thats a pain in the butt...i want the thing silent.
I have the music making stuff in a different room to where i have the turntables and so on...
This is how the mixer sits on the sampler > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnCF9YLM ... ture=email (Deep house tune i was working on)

Above on the shelf is the JX-3P and to the left where the camera sits is the usb midi keyboard i use for logic.
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By kneebone77 Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:57 pm
vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:the 3200xl does have the option for the fan on the rear but thats a pain in the butt...i want the thing silent.


You should look into the Noctua NF-B9 Vortex. 8)
Image
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=prod ... =16&lng=en

I just ordered two for my Custom PC build. They are suppose to be super quiet. I'll be glad to update you on how quite they really are when they arrive...
If they act right, I'm gonna order another for my S-3200XL.
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By faze1 Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:33 am
kneebone77 wrote:
vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:the 3200xl does have the option for the fan on the rear but thats a pain in the butt...i want the thing silent.


Is this only an option for the s3200xl? I have the original S3000 and would be interested in this.
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By vinyl_junkie_1620 Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:42 am
I dont know but judging by the rear of the 3000 it doesnt have the cut out for the fan, the 3200xl's fan was mainly for the optional internal mo drive or hard drive should you install one.

Thats my 3200xl there and the black blanking plate is for mounting a fan, also has the power connector on a pcb board.

Image

S-3000 doesnt look like it has this
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By kneebone77 Sat Apr 04, 2009 6:21 am
***Update***

OK, so I just slapped those fans in my PC and while they are not totally silent, (didn't expect them to be...), they are hella quite.
They made a major difference and I highly recommend them for any application where you want to cool stuff off but don't want things getting to loud.