Redmatica Autosampler 2 for creating Multisamples

Redmatica Autosampler 2

Not too long ago I discovered Redmatica Autosampler 2 for the Mac and I have to say it’s been the greatest piece of software I’ve ever used and still use now. Currently I’m running Redmatica Autosampler 2 on Mac OSX Lion with an FA-66 Edirol Firewire Device attached and it autosamples both hardware and software instruments with near perfection. Unfortunately the company Redmatica was bought out by Apple and the software is no longer available. Although there are rumors it may be integrated into a future release of Logic Pro. There is another fantastic program too in the Redmatica product line called Keymap Pro 2 which I don’t happen to have but I wish I did. My fingers are crossed that I can find it someday real soon.

Basically with Redmatica Autosampler 2, you can autosample sounds up 128 patches to be exact all while sitting back sipping on a cup of coffee. Of course you have to get your preset or template settings right, but once you’ve got that configured, you’re set. The patches are then exported to a variety of formats of which I primarily use ESX24. From there I use Chicken Systems Translator 6 for Mac to convert the ESX24 patches to Akai S5000. From there I can load these into my MPC4000, MV8000, etc for playing. There is no direct export to SF2 or Akai format, but with ESX24 and a number of converters out there, this is not an issue.

Redmatica Keymap Pro 2

Right now I have Emulator X3 connected by midi/audio to the FA-66 Firewire Audio Capture Device which is connected to my MacBook Pro running Redmatica Autosampler 2. I then usually have to lower the volume a slight bit on the PC because Redmatica Autosampler 2 triggers samples at a pretty high velociy/volume which can slight distortion. This is completely removed if you lower the volume a tad bit. I also AutoSample using dry samples and then later do my tweaks on my MPC4000 or hardware of choice. Of course one can sample how they like, but I find dry sampling to get excellent results.

With Redmatica Autosampler 2 you can adjust sustain, autoloop, and auto name your Wav files. It’s simply fantastic at how well the software works. It took me about 15 minutes to AutoSample an entire 128 patch bank of an old E-MU Proteus Sample set which I then had running on my MPC4000 connected to my Roland A90EX controller. This was WAAAAAY faster and MUUUUUCH more accurate than using any converting software out there and building the patches manually. Redmatica Autosampler 2 is THE BEST option out there, but unfortunately again it is no longer an option at the moment due to the closing of Redmatica.

Are there alternatives? I’m not sure, but I’ll post an update if I find any that work as well as Redmatica Autosampler 2. If I can find an old copy of Redmatica Keymap Pro 2 to purchase, I’ll certainly post more info about that as well. I hear KMP Pro 2 ( Redmatica Keymap Pro 2 ) is very good too, although I don’t have any experience with it. Redmatica Autosampler 2 works well as is and does what I need to do for my sample projects, but it would be nice to checkout Keymap Pro 2 one of these days.

Here is a video of Redmatica AutoSampler 2 in action.

Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 Resources

Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309

About a week ago I broke down and picked up a used Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 that literally had been sitting on the same shelf in the same location for almost TWO YEARS! The 309 would just not sell at this particular used music shop I frequent. So last week I finally sat down and gave it a test drive at the shop and found it to be surprisingly quite good and fun. I asked the clerk if he had anybody interested in it and he said it was a very tough sell. The price was a tiny bit high which perhaps might have been the problem, but as a result of showing interest, he knocked the price down considerably to the point that I just couldn’t refuse. What I found out later after bringing it home was a bonus!!

Upon further research and inspection of the Rave-O-Lution 309, I discovered that the additional audio output section on the back was actually an audio out expansion board. I then opened up the bottom of the unit and found the OS version to be 3.00a. What excited me the most was to see both expansion slots filled!! My goodness, the Synth Expansion and Drums & Percussion Expansion boards where there.

Thus I soon discovered that I had purchased a fully loaded Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309. It even came with the original Quasimidi adapter. No wonder the price was a tad bit high to the casual observer. The original sales clerk who is now long gone probably did some research and priced the unit appropriately at the time. Unless you were “informed” about the Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309, you would never know there were expansions available.

After playing the Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 for a while I soon discovered that this box really rocks loud!! There is a booster on it and when you dial it up a few notches, the drums really kick which is really great. I also found the on board sequencer to be super simple to program and create pattern loops. There is a MASSIVE glitch in the playback however after you finish a sequenced recording which is famously pointed out all over the internet. I’m afraid that likely will never go away since the product and company are pretty much discontinued. Thus you couldn’t really use the Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 has a live looping drum machine, but that doesn’t matter really. You can create regular pattern sequences really fast and quite easily. Plus the multitude of knobs and ways to edit the sounds and grooves are fantastic.

Here are two VERY IMPORTANT links I found on the web that are required reading and downloading for the Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309. They are not that easy to find.

Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 Manuals

Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 Upgrades

Finally, here is a decent link of the Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 in action aptly titled “Acid 309” by Ricky Zeta.

Korg DW-8000 Synthesizer Patches

Korg DW-8000 Synthesizer

My goodness, am I having a lot of fun with my most recent acquisition, the Korg DW-8000. I recently picked up this up off Ebay from a local seller here in Japan. Although I get most of my gear from local used audio/music shops, I also like to snag old broken gear off Ebay from Japan. ( The shipping locally is much better than shipping overseas of course! ). The Korg DW-8000 had a couple of sticky keys on the very right which reduced the price some. Most notably though, I rarely see a Korg DW-8000 for sale in Japan. So, I decided to grab it and I’m so happy I did. It’s a wonderful synth that fits the retro 80’s sound very well.

Although the factory patches are not bad, I quickly collected a few sets around the Internet and found many to be quite good. The Korg DW-8000 patches from this site are very good: http://www.pallium.com/bryan/dwpatches.php.

I also just picked up the four banks of DW-8000 patches from KidNepro as well which are top notch.
http://www.kidnepro.com/KN/Korg/DW-EX8000.html

Furthermore, I recently have been knee deep in programming ipad controllers for some of my synths using the fabulous MIDIDESIGNER app. I previously create a Korg MS2000 layout and now just finished a Korg DW-8000 layout which controls all of the parameters quite easily. In fact, the Korg DW-8000 has really good midi implementation and you can really do a lot of programming with it via midi and sysex.

Overall, I’m really happy to finally have landed a Korg DW-8000. I see a lot of people acquiring them these days and it’s become quite popular with all sorts of styles of music. I can understand why because the sound pallet is not only easy to program and customize, but the sounds can also be quite diverse. Patch storage is decent and the on board ARP is superb! I also really like the joystick controllers on these older Korg synths.

Below is a great Korg DW-8000 demo from AnalogAudio1 from whom I recently purchased Korg Poly-61 and Roland Juno-60 patches from.

Fantastic Analog Korg Poly-61 Patches

Today I bought a set of patches from “AnalogAudio1” on Youtube and I can’t recommend them enough. It has totally rejuvenated my Korg Poly-61 and it’s such a pleasure to play now. The original patches I loaded were the factory presets if correct and they were really uninspiring. From there I spent quite a bit of time programming my own sounds, but found myself dinging around too much with the clunky button way of programming on the Korg Poly-61. I basically wanted to just play and tweak a little when necessary. I ran into the Youtube video I posted below and thought ANY set of new patches would be better than what I had currently inside.

If you are stuck with the preset patches, this is a MUST have Korg Poly-61 custom patch set. Even if you don’t like the sounds 100% which is unlikely, you can easily use them as a basis for modifying to your own taste. There are some really fantastic patches that successfully illustrate the capabilities of the Korg Poly-61. I definitely found out it can do more than I expected.

I can’t thank “AnalogAudio1” enough for putting life back into my Korg Poly-61. The Korg Poly-61 is now out of storage and sitting pretty in the mix! Thank you!!

Note that the patch set I received was in mp3 format and I simply loaded it into Audacity on my old trusty winxp laptop. I enabled tape load on the Korg Poly-61 and turned off memory protect. On the very first try, I played the file all the way through without stopping and the Korg Poly-61 reported a “Good” notice on the screen. The patches all sounded perfect!! Easy as could be!