E-mu Emulator II Sampled with Free Kontakt Samples!

[HideawayStudio]

Despite having restored my E-mu Emulator II last year having imported it from the US I've not really had a chance to use this beast much. On realising that so many seem to be intent on digitally transferring the EII's libraries directly I decided to make some samples directly from the beast's mix output in order to save some of the magic that is the EII's unusual sample/companding/analog filter/audio path.

Thanks to it's SSM analog filters and great modulation capabilities the EII makes quite a nice synth and a great vintage sampler. Yes it's loaded with shortcomings but as is often the case these somehow make it all the more special.

The following is the infamous EII Bosendorfer Piano used in countless pop and dance tracks of the 80's and early 90's. It's not a modern super realistic rendition - but definitely works well with some musical styles.

I put together a multisample in Kontakt for those who want to have a play:

An EII Classic Sampled Directly from the EII's Mix Output (In Kontakt):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/s2gkvm

The EII Dwarfs Most Modern Keyboard Synths!

[madtheory]

Great Dan, thanks for doing this. Will be very interesting to compare. If someone ever does a complete EII library sampled from the output, I'd buy it. Could be done with Redmatica Autosampler and a lot of time (!). I don't think there's a big market for it though. In my opinion, the sounds sans SSM and DA have a different flavour, that IMO gives the library a different feel, a bit more modern sounding.

[Roberto]

Thanks very much for this Dan

As you have probably guessed, I would very much love for yo to do more of the EII. Sounds like these are very precious to me. So, if you ever feel that way inclined again, I would certainly lap up anything you decide to do

I just recently acquired a new ReFill made be my friend Patrick Fridh of the entire Fairlight CMI IIx factory library. Like you, he sampled it direct from a fully working example and this now represents the best and fullest example yet of this beast. To have that AND an EII library would be virtual nirvana for me

Keep us informed of whatever you decide to do Who knows, it could be your next collaboration with Steve @ Hollow Sun

Here's a link to the Fairlight library if anyone is interested. It's currently only a ReFill, but I'm twisting Patrick's arm on an almost daily basis to explore other formats

http://bitley.laconicsounds.net/

Regards,

[HideawayStudio]

Thanks very much for this Dan

As you have probably guessed, I would very much love for yo to do more of the EII. Sounds like these are very precious to me. So, if you ever feel that way inclined again, I would certainly lap up anything you decide to do

Maybe this helps

The Original Emulator II Marcato Strings Direct from the Beast!

I've spent this afternoon capturing the infamous "Marcato Strings" directly from my Emulator II's mix output. These are some of the most famous sampled orchestral strings of all time, they have been used on countless pop and dance tracks over the decades by hundreds of artists including the Pet Shop Boys.

These have been topped and tailed and then looped with some added velocity response in the form of subtle volume, attack and LPF just to make it a tad more dynamic.

The lumps in the samples are from the loops in original programs and so this is pretty darn close to having the real thing (all 50lbs+ of it!) in front of you!

EII Marcato Strings Direct from the EII's Mix Output in Kontakt:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vjat6y

[Roberto]

thank you muchly for these!

Feel free to carry on with further examples! LOL

[madtheory]

Those strings have never been bettered, IMHO.

[Roberto]

Those strings have never been bettered, IMHO.

I can't help but play West End Girls whenever I fire those strings up

I am desperate to get my hands on that library!! C'mon Dan, what's it going to take to convince you??

[HideawayStudio]

Those strings have never been bettered, IMHO.

I can't help but play West End Girls whenever I fire those strings up

I am desperate to get my hands on that library!! C'mon Dan, what's it going to take to convince you??

Well there's two issues - firstly I only have access to floppy disks on my EII ie. I don't havethe Sound Designer & Ancient Mac combo and therefore have to request disks off of a mate. Secondly, unlike direct digitial conversions, I can't use a utility to do this ie. it's 2 or more hours of hard slog to carefully capture, map, loop and program each sound in Kontakt!!

[madtheory]

Dan, you need this:

http://www.redmatica.com/Redmatica/AutoSampler2.1.html

It automates the whole process. And the looping is as good as Antares Infinity.

[HideawayStudio]

Dan, you need this:

http://www.redmatica.com/Redmatica/AutoSampler2.1.html

It automates the whole process. And the looping is as good as Antares Infinity.

Thanks for that - I was only wondering the other day why someone hadn't come up with something like this. I have had a look at the website and it looks pretty slick.

[Roberto]

Dan, you need this:

http://www.redmatica.com/Redmatica/AutoSampler2.1.html

It automates the whole process. And the looping is as good as Antares Infinity.

I'd love to have a go with that but it's Mac only, which is such a shame

(cue loads of pro Mac/Anti-PC comments and how it makes a change for it to be that way around!! LOL)

[madtheory]

I think Autosampler is a PC app that does the same thing?

[depulse]

Check http://www.samplerobot.de/english/was.htm

for automation of sampling

[HideawayStudio]

Check http://www.samplerobot.de/english/was.htm

for automation of sampling

Thanks for the info.

I have spent this afternoon capturing and recreating one of the most beloved Emulator II sample disks ever released - direct from my EII's mix output. I will give details on how to download this wonder once it's gone through final testing and hosted.

[Ashe37]

Extreme Sample Converter can do it as well. It can even do it with VSTs.