Hello,
Do you have plans to allow Livelab to import rex, acid or zgr slice data?
I use Beatquantizer ( www.beatcreator.com ) to build most of my basic loops and to quantize the feel of the beats. Your program looks fantastic for taking them to another level, or triggering patterns in a song. However, it would be really nice not to loose all the fine details from my original editing. Beatquantizer has open sourced the information on the ZGR files,and I'm sure the developer would be more than willing to assist in helping you implement his format into Livelab.
Livelab looks like a great tool, I'll be watching it close over the next bit!
Thanks for your time.
Gary=-,
Importing BeatQuantizer slices
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- KVRist
- 47 posts since 6 Aug, 2004 from Canada
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- KVRAF
- 1511 posts since 2 Jul, 2004
Hi Gary
Yes I do have plans to add import functionality to LiveSlice.
ACID and Rex are obvious choices due to the high availability of loops in those formats. Currently I'm leaning towards implementing ACIDized loop import first.
I never heard about the ZGR format before you mentioned it, but if the specification is good and not too painful to translate into LiveSlice I'll give it a go.
So you should definately keep a watch click here to use the kvr "watch for news" function
cheers,
Jacob
Yes I do have plans to add import functionality to LiveSlice.
ACID and Rex are obvious choices due to the high availability of loops in those formats. Currently I'm leaning towards implementing ACIDized loop import first.
I never heard about the ZGR format before you mentioned it, but if the specification is good and not too painful to translate into LiveSlice I'll give it a go.
So you should definately keep a watch click here to use the kvr "watch for news" function
cheers,
Jacob
http://www.livelab.dk - slice up your life
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 47 posts since 6 Aug, 2004 from Canada
Hello Ohm,
I've spend the past bit fiddling around with Liveslice. I love the concept and the interface,and I'm really enjoying working with it.
But for me, the slicing is really lacking some important features. Such as:
1) Add / remove slice marker
2) Copy single slice marker into track.
3) crossfade overlapping slices (for pad sounds)with % control.
4) Paste blend slices (%)
It would also be nice if you were able to keep the tail of a former slice, if the slice you are pasting is smaller than the original. Often the tail sounds like a slight reverberation, and this helps to cover up any gaps. That is if you don't plan on implementing any sort of gap compensation native to the program.
Also, I can't seem to set the start and end point for a loop either. So if I try and add the 2nd bar of a loop, there is no way to import the slice markers for the timing of the slices. I can drag the samples down, but I write techy jungle, so placing the slice markers by hand is a real feat. Being that I work at a BPM of 175, I think in 2 bar phrases as a minimum, so all of the loops I have cut are 2 bars.
I highly recommend that you check out the beatcreator / beatquantizer program I mentioned. It is the flagship beat slice manipulator on the market. It takes slicing to an amazing new level. It doesn't compete with your product in anyway, as it's intended to be an editor, not a realtime player. But after having that sort of control over slices, I kind of feel like my hands are tied when I try to sequence my loops in Liveslice.
Thanks again for your time.
Gary=-,
I've spend the past bit fiddling around with Liveslice. I love the concept and the interface,and I'm really enjoying working with it.
But for me, the slicing is really lacking some important features. Such as:
1) Add / remove slice marker
2) Copy single slice marker into track.
3) crossfade overlapping slices (for pad sounds)with % control.
4) Paste blend slices (%)
It would also be nice if you were able to keep the tail of a former slice, if the slice you are pasting is smaller than the original. Often the tail sounds like a slight reverberation, and this helps to cover up any gaps. That is if you don't plan on implementing any sort of gap compensation native to the program.
Also, I can't seem to set the start and end point for a loop either. So if I try and add the 2nd bar of a loop, there is no way to import the slice markers for the timing of the slices. I can drag the samples down, but I write techy jungle, so placing the slice markers by hand is a real feat. Being that I work at a BPM of 175, I think in 2 bar phrases as a minimum, so all of the loops I have cut are 2 bars.
I highly recommend that you check out the beatcreator / beatquantizer program I mentioned. It is the flagship beat slice manipulator on the market. It takes slicing to an amazing new level. It doesn't compete with your product in anyway, as it's intended to be an editor, not a realtime player. But after having that sort of control over slices, I kind of feel like my hands are tied when I try to sequence my loops in Liveslice.
Thanks again for your time.
Gary=-,
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- KVRAF
- 1511 posts since 2 Jul, 2004
Hi Gary
1) you can add a slice with CTRL+left mouse, delete it with CTRL+right mouse. It's in the manual, but perhaps I should create buttons for it
2) I'm not sure what you mean, but if you hold down CTRL and click anywhere in a track that slice is inserted there. Again it's kind of a hidden feature unless you read the manual.
3) slices are crossfaded if they overlap, you can control the duration with the Attack, Decay, Release parameters
4) use multiple tracks to blend slices
Start / End loop points is on my list. The plan is to be able to set start / end loops in both the slicer and the arranger - independent on each track for polyrythmic craze:-)
I hope you find my response will allow you some more freedom in liveslice. Any more suggestions on arranging are welcome.
- Jacob
1) you can add a slice with CTRL+left mouse, delete it with CTRL+right mouse. It's in the manual, but perhaps I should create buttons for it
2) I'm not sure what you mean, but if you hold down CTRL and click anywhere in a track that slice is inserted there. Again it's kind of a hidden feature unless you read the manual.
3) slices are crossfaded if they overlap, you can control the duration with the Attack, Decay, Release parameters
4) use multiple tracks to blend slices
Start / End loop points is on my list. The plan is to be able to set start / end loops in both the slicer and the arranger - independent on each track for polyrythmic craze:-)
I hope you find my response will allow you some more freedom in liveslice. Any more suggestions on arranging are welcome.
- Jacob
http://www.livelab.dk - slice up your life
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- KVRian
- 1443 posts since 27 Dec, 2003
FYI, FL Studio also supports zgr format since the slicer is made by the same company (Zero-X) that makes BeatQuantizer... so while it is obviously not as big as REX and Acid, it may be a larger user base than is readily apparent.
Regards, Mike
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- KVRAF
- 1511 posts since 2 Jul, 2004
Yes, I read about fruity, and emailed Zero-X right away.
Btw. I have made a breakthrough in reading the acidized wav info. At least basic info like tempo, beats, slice positions is in place. Will be part of the next update.
Btw. I have made a breakthrough in reading the acidized wav info. At least basic info like tempo, beats, slice positions is in place. Will be part of the next update.
http://www.livelab.dk - slice up your life
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 47 posts since 6 Aug, 2004 from Canada
Thanks for the info Ohm. I'll take another read of the manual. I must have overlooked that.
What I meant by past replace:
Let's say I copy a whole loop into a sequencer track, now I load a new loop and I want to replace one sound, say the first snare hit. The snare sound I insert is a bit shorter than the snare I am replacing, there will be a gap of silence at the end of the snare. This cannot be fixed with the ADSR settings because adding nothing to nothing, is well, more nothing .
However, if you have a paste function that covers the original but does not replace it, then the end of the first snare, (the reverb tail) will still be there. For many loops this makes the new sound blend in better.
Sorry for the run on sentences... I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right. At any rate, once you implement acid import, It will keep all of my markers from beatquantizer anyway, which is the most important thing for me right now.
Thanks for the quick responses. I'll be picking up the program right away.
Best,
Gary=-,
What I meant by past replace:
Let's say I copy a whole loop into a sequencer track, now I load a new loop and I want to replace one sound, say the first snare hit. The snare sound I insert is a bit shorter than the snare I am replacing, there will be a gap of silence at the end of the snare. This cannot be fixed with the ADSR settings because adding nothing to nothing, is well, more nothing
.However, if you have a paste function that covers the original but does not replace it, then the end of the first snare, (the reverb tail) will still be there. For many loops this makes the new sound blend in better.
Sorry for the run on sentences.
.. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right. At any rate, once you implement acid import, It will keep all of my markers from beatquantizer anyway, which is the most important thing for me right now.Thanks for the quick responses. I'll be picking up the program right away.
Best,
Gary=-,
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- KVRAF
- 1511 posts since 2 Jul, 2004
Thanks for your purchase. Do you want to beta test acidized loop import? I don't have many loops in that format, and those I have seem to be marked for use in acid, not in a beat slicer (too many markers), so some feedback would be great
http://www.livelab.dk - slice up your life
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 47 posts since 6 Aug, 2004 from Canada
The beta version would be great.
Most of my loops are in in the .zgr format, but it just takes me a second to transfer each to acid markers, so I can test it out on a new track this weekend.
I left a message on the Zero-X forum about your program. The developer has been very good about support, so hopefully he'll get you the info soon.
Best,
Gary=-,
Most of my loops are in in the .zgr format, but it just takes me a second to transfer each to acid markers, so I can test it out on a new track this weekend.
I left a message on the Zero-X forum about your program. The developer has been very good about support, so hopefully he'll get you the info soon.
Best,
Gary=-,
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 47 posts since 6 Aug, 2004 from Canada
BTW- could you send the program or any info updates to garysaville@gmail.com
I don't use my other account for anything except paypal.
Thanks
Gary=-,
I don't use my other account for anything except paypal.
Thanks
Gary=-,
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- KVRAF
- 1511 posts since 2 Jul, 2004
I just received work from the developer of Beat Quantizer, and it seems the ZGR format is not open. He's currently working on an SDK in the form of a .dll file I can use to import the files. So no ZGR import in the immediate future, and frankly I'm a bit put off by having to include a second dll - that means I have to distibute an installer - and I hate when a VST plugin comes with an installer - I want to be able to just move my plugin folder somewhere else without having to re-install.
Oh well, since it's the only way to get complete rx2 import I might have to kill that darling.
Gary btw. could you email me a simple beat sliced on every transient in Zero-X and exported as acidized wav?
- Jacob
Oh well, since it's the only way to get complete rx2 import I might have to kill that darling.
Gary btw. could you email me a simple beat sliced on every transient in Zero-X and exported as acidized wav?
- Jacob
http://www.livelab.dk - slice up your life
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 47 posts since 6 Aug, 2004 from Canada
I'll send that off to you as soon as I'm off work this evening.
I'd really love it if you could add zrg at some point. I'm a bit weary of the compression of rx2s. The reason I forked out $250 for beatquantizer was it's hands down no compromise quality. It really is AMAZING at time stretching, slicing and quantizing audio.
Installers are a bit of a drag, but I wouldn't mind seeing eventually develop into a stand alone some time in the future.
It's one of the things I love about Guru, which I use for my initial loop creation prior to choping in BQ. I travel a lot, and I don't get into my studio very often, so my soundcard configuration changes frequently. I hate resetting LIVE's (my sequencer) audio settings all the time. So when I'm on the road it's great to just boot up an app to build patterns for later use in a seqencer.
DLL me baby.
Best,
Gary=-,
I'd really love it if you could add zrg at some point. I'm a bit weary of the compression of rx2s. The reason I forked out $250 for beatquantizer was it's hands down no compromise quality. It really is AMAZING at time stretching, slicing and quantizing audio.
Installers are a bit of a drag, but I wouldn't mind seeing eventually develop into a stand alone some time in the future.
It's one of the things I love about Guru, which I use for my initial loop creation prior to choping in BQ. I travel a lot, and I don't get into my studio very often, so my soundcard configuration changes frequently. I hate resetting LIVE's (my sequencer) audio settings all the time. So when I'm on the road it's great to just boot up an app to build patterns for later use in a seqencer.
DLL me baby.
Best,
Gary=-,
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 47 posts since 6 Aug, 2004 from Canada
So far the beta is reading acidized markers without incident. Hopefully Jacob will be able to release an official update soon.
For anyone else here using BeatQuantizer or BeatCreator to tune your loops, be aware that acid markers are NOT saved in wav files by default, you have to select the option from the (settings -open) menue.
One other feature I'd like to suggest, is the ability to import markers from a loop without importing the audio. This would be useful for blending two loops together.
This can be done by changing patterns, but that requires that you are record a midi track to run the pattern, which at times slows down my work flow.
I'd like to throw out props to the speed of this program! Changing patterns is very fluid. Also the file browser shows much less latency than using my windows file browser. Great programming!
Best,
Gary=-,
For anyone else here using BeatQuantizer or BeatCreator to tune your loops, be aware that acid markers are NOT saved in wav files by default, you have to select the option from the (settings -open) menue.
One other feature I'd like to suggest, is the ability to import markers from a loop without importing the audio. This would be useful for blending two loops together.
This can be done by changing patterns, but that requires that you are record a midi track to run the pattern, which at times slows down my work flow.
I'd like to throw out props to the speed of this program! Changing patterns is very fluid. Also the file browser shows much less latency than using my windows file browser. Great programming!
Best,
Gary=-,
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- KVRAF
- 1511 posts since 2 Jul, 2004
that's because I have allowed patterns to overlap - you can play back several patterns (arrangements) at onceChanging patterns is very fluid
I am getting very close to ACID import. I implemented cue / marker import too (set by standard wav editors like soundforge).
I like the idea of importing just the slice info, it'll be a three way switch then: a) import both b) import slices c) import audio. I've been using this technique myself to extract the timing of a conga and apply the sound of a fly.
To do this we need some kind of export of ACIDized and standard WAV file markers.
I'll keep you posted, but don't worry: now that my news item sadly disappeared from the news section I am motivated to get an update ready soon
- Jacob
http://www.livelab.dk - slice up your life
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- KVRer
- 3 posts since 24 Apr, 2003
Adding a dll file doesn't neccesary force you to make an installer. These days Microsoft actually suggests you not to make "system dlls", but to copy the dlls that your programs needs to the folder of the program.ohm wrote:I just received work from the developer of Beat Quantizer, and it seems the ZGR format is not open. He's currently working on an SDK in the form of a .dll file I can use to import the files. So no ZGR import in the immediate future, and frankly I'm a bit put off by having to include a second dll - that means I have to distibute an installer - and I hate when a VST plugin comes with an installer - I want to be able to just move my plugin folder somewhere else without having to re-install.
Oh well, since it's the only way to get complete rx2 import I might have to kill that darling.
- Jacob
So, if your plugin dll needs to use another dll for importing, simply zip your dlls (including your plugin) into a single file and distribute this file to your customers. Then, all the customer has to do is to simply unzip and copy two (or more), instead of one, dll files to the plugin folder.
PS. the ZGR Import SDK is now available, a complete demo VC++ project is even included and it's very easy to use!