Masmöd sound design avatar
As some of you may know, a new release of mine has been in the works since the completion of my album, Axiom. Unfortunately, the transition from Axiom to my new release hasn’t been a smooth one. I hit an unexpected snag. The snag I’m referring to is specifically Logic Pro 8. When I made Axiom, I was using Logic Express 6.4. I’m sure if you’ve ever used LE 6.4, you know its limitations. Anyway, I really pushed the capabilities of that limited software, and the one key factor that really made Axiom possible was the EXSP24. The one major factor of the EXSP24 that really made all the difference was the ADSR envelope capabilities for manipulating sine waves. From the research I’ve done, most people never used the EXSP24 for actual sound design with the stock sine wave, (that would be without loading any samples into the plugin). Through excruciating trial and error, and weeks of nonstop loops through my headphones, I was able to produce a frequency kick, using only the parameters of the EXSP24, with no samples at all. Later, I beefed it up using the stock EQ plugins provided by garage band, and LE 6.4. The end result, well, if you’ve heard Axiom, I think the work speaks for itself.
Anyway, once I was finished with Axiom, I decided to treat myself to upgrading to Logic Pro 8. I can’t tell you how excited I was to have all the capabilities of Logic Pro 8 at my fingertips. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, Apple (the now proud owners of Logic) had decided to do away with the EXSP24 (play back sampler). I can’t tell you how crushed I was to discover this. I thought to myself, “how could this be?” “Why would they do this?” Then I remembered… No one ever used (or at least documented publicly) the EXSP24 like I did, so there was probably no reason for them to keep it. Besides, they had the EXS24, which is supposedly better, but so far it seems to fail in comparison. But that’s a whole new rant for another time.
Moving on, after panicking, contemplating using a new DAW, and desperately searching for a way to port the old, and now diminished EXSP24, I decided to roll up my sleeves, and get down to the dreaded task of working with a new synth that could carry the torch of the EXSP24.
This was not an easy task I had ahead of me… But! After more trial and error, especially with the really shitty “Sculpture modeling synthesizer”, (which, if I might say, is supposed to be able to produce such results, but has a bug in it, but apple refuses to acknowledge that fact), I was able to find a suitable, and more than capable replacement, using the ES2 synthesizer.
The ES2 synthesizer is everything that the EXSP24 was, and more (minus the sampling capabilities). The great thing about the ES2 is that is has the capability to use both the ADSR envelopes, and it’s vector envelopes simultaneously. It’s like layering frosting with whipping cream. It’s dangerous, but it tastes soooo good.
Anyway, I’ve decided to share my experience, (and the parameters) with designing my new frequency kick for my new release, using the ES2. Please note, though, I purposefully used an earlier saved progress version screen shot for this post, so that you can learn to familiarize yourself with the ES2, without just jumping right in and using it, without knowing what does what.
I have since refined the ES2 kick sound, so if you end up using the parameters that you see here, and they don’t sound the same as the example below, don’t worry, just tweak the parameters more, and eventually you’ll nail it. :)
ES2 parameters image 1. Click to enlarge.
ES2 parameters image 2. Click to enlarge.
ES2 parameters image 3. Click to enlarge.
ES2 parameters image 4. Click to enlarge.
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You can download the ES2 preset here:
The preset should save to your download folder. After you’ve downloaded the preset, be sure the logic application is shut down. Then go to the Finder, and select the » “GO” tab from the horizontal menu. From there, select » “Home”, then select the “Library” folder. From there, select the “Application Support” folder. Then select your Logic folder. From there, select the “Plug-In Settings” folder, and then scroll down to / and select the “ES2″ folder. After you do this, drag the ES2 preset you downloaded into the ES2 folder. After you do this, start Logic Pro 8 again, and select the ES2 plugin. You should see the “Masmod sub kick 9″ preset. Once you select it, all the parameters that you see here should load.
In the event that you end up using these parameters as a stepping stone to create your kick, I’d love to hear what you create. If you want to share what you’ve done, (presuming that you’ll do anything at all with these parameters) feel free to post a link to your work here, or you can hit me up at:
michael@masmodmedia.com
So anyway, that’s it. Thanks for reading. :)
Peace ¥,
- m
Tags: Apple, DAW, DUB, ES2 Synthesizer, IDM, Logic Pro 8, Masmod, Nueva Forma, Plugins, Software, Sound Design
That is the first time I have ever heard anyone lament the loss of the EXSP24! The EXS24 is technically a much better sampler, but I understand how it feels to lose a tool that you’re comfortable with.
I’d like to hear more about the alleged bug in Sculpture. I have been using it since the release of Logic 7 with no issues. Sculpture is definitely not the synth to use if you want analog sounds, but it excels at creating warped impressions of acoustic instruments.
It looks like you found a good solution with ES2. Thanks for the nice little tutorial on kick programming!
July 14th, 2009@Heuristic Music
I’m glad you like the tut, although I think it’s probably more of a subjective resource post than anything. ;)
As far as the “bug” I referred to in Sculpture; it seems to occur when I really push the parameters. What happens is it locks up, then logic quits, and then when I try to refer to the saved progress preset later on, it acts as if it’s corrupted, and logic quits again. Ultimately I have to delete that preset, and start from scratch. Initially I thought it was just my setup, but I later concluded that the issue was on Logic’s end. My conclusion was solidified when I was able to walk a Logic support tech through remaking the incident over the phone, although he played it off that he had “too many programs running in the background, and that’s why it quit on him.” For me, I had just Logic running, and I’m running that on an Intel based Quad core Mac Pro, which uses virtually no CPU what-so-ever. Anyway, I think the problem might possibly be with Logic Studio Pro 8. I’ve heard that Logic 7 was really solid. Unfortunately I never had the privilege of using Logic 7.
Are you still using Logic 7?
Anyway, thanks again for the feedback. Let me know if you end up using those parameters for anything. I’d love to hear it. :)
July 14th, 2009Wow, I haven’t had that problem with Sculpture, but I’m going to try to recreate it! Are there any specific parameters that seem to cause the crash?
I have been through every version of Logic since Audio Platinum 4, waaaaay back in the day. :-) Each one has been an improvement. Logic 7 was good, but I haven’t had any stability issues with Pro 8 and I really prefer the new UI. My workflow is much more intuitive.
July 14th, 2009Wow, Audio Platinum 4? I’ve only seen screen shots. Never actually used it. My first encounter with Logic was with LE 6.4
Anyway, I agree, the GUI of Pro 8 is so much better than any of their previous versions. Although it’s almost reminiscent of the Ableton Live DAW.
As far as the parameters go for Sculpture, shoot me an email at michael@masmodmedia.com, and from there I can send you some screen shots of the parameters in sculpture. I might even have an earlier preset saved, so I could possibly include that as well. If you can recreate the crash as well, then I think it’ll have to be documented as an official bug. ;)
July 14th, 2009