emusonacid! legacy

I had an e6400 Ultra for several years and never truly learned enough about it, sold it a few years ago, and recently bought another one with the intention of really learning how to utilize it. The price, opportunity to buy it, and the resources on the web to learn how to use it seemed too good to pass up. So here I am, after lurking a little when this forum first started, then taking a long break from production in general, to renewed interest.

Currently I am running Logic Pro 8 on an older G5, with just a first-gen M-Audio Axiom 25 for my MIDI trigger, and now I have an EMU again. For the past two years I have just used the M-Audio with internal Logic instruments, and I need guidance on how to integrate the EMU in to my set up. This is my list of questions & issues:

• Last night I was able to reprogram the Axiom knobs to match up with MIDI A through H in the EMU. However, I do not know how to set up Logic and EMU so that I can record MIDI notes and trigger the EMU from Logic. I can load up a preset, play the Axiom and get sound, plus the pitch & mod wheels, and the 8 knobs that I just reprogrammed will transmit information (e.g. On the Cords menu setting MIDI A to control FilFreq works), but in Logic if I create an external MIDI channel in the arrange page and try triggering from the key roll screen, no sound. If I draw in MIDI notes, again no sound from the EMU. This might be a Logic AND EMU issue, or just one of them. Sorry if this is basic rudimentary knowledge, I have been so used to nearly total plug & play with soft synths for the past couple of years. Also, if there is anything else I should set up on the Axiom, please suggest.
  
  
• The current EOS on the EMU is 4.02 (I think?). Should I upgrade this to 4.7, and if so, can I just jump straight from 4.02 to 4.7, or do I have to do each EOS upgrade up to 4.7?
  
  
• Is there a way to view the EMU sample CDs on my Mac, or do I need to invest in a SCSI CD-ROM to use them?
  
  
• The Z-Plane filters are just the Dual EQ Morph, 2EQ + Lowpass Morph, 2EQ Morph + Expression and the Peak/Shelf Morph filters, correct? What controls the morph from the first filter parameter to the second? Is that Q/resonance? Do I set a cord to control FilRes in order to go from the first filter parameter to the second? Or does the Morph aspect happen on its own and is dependent on the value I assign to it (from 0 to 255?). I guess part of this learning curve for me is figuring this out, looking at page 345 in the EOS 4.0 manual seems to be what I should be reading to figure this out.
  
  
• Is there a formula (or easier way) to calculate what an LFO rate should be when recording for a particular tempo? Say I’m working at 130 BPM and I want the LFO modulating similar to 1/4 if I was working in Logic with the EXS24 and the LFO there was sync’d to the track tempo. What would I set the LFO rate in the EMU to be? Do I just set the tempo in the sequencer in the EMU, and it should sync up? Or do I need a word clock (is that the right thing)? Last night I did mess with the Cords menus and saw the Clock Divisors (quarter, eighth, 16th, etc.) in the sources section, and it was tied to the EMU’s tempo.
  
  
• Searching through the forum, I saw Fracture (whose youtube video with Neptune was part of the influence in me picking up an EMU again) was experiencing an issue with the start point in some of the sample edit features: http://www.emusonacid.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3245. I experienced this same issue last night, when I checked out the gain function. What causes this, how do I correct it, and/or would it go away if I upgraded the EOS?
  
  
• How do I resample in the EMU? Is it really as simple as page 180 in the manual states? Just go to record/create a new sample, change the source to what? I’m at work at the moment, so I can’t exactly see what the different source options are. Also, I feel like I read on here or somewhere else that I need to turn off monitoring when I resample in the EMU. Is that correct? If so, is that done on the same screen? And with resampling, could I play out a sequence with Logic, modulating the filters, and the EMU would record that?
  
  
• Any major resources I should get? I saw something about a Mac program to create patches for the EMU. I have OS 10.5.8, if that helps. Would I just create the patch on the Mac, save it to a Zip disk and then open it using the SCSI Zip drive hooked up to my EMU? Also and really good videos or tutorials I should check out?

Thanks! Sorry again if these are all basic knowledge questions. Hopefully some people here can share what they know, and help me get moving on relearning this thing.

1. As the Emu is triggered while notes are played and control changes are transmitted from the AXIOM keyboard, this must be a setup issue within LOGIC.

2. Before installation of EOS 4.70 (beta) you have to install FlashPrep, which is also available at the EMU website.

3. You can use the MAC-versions of CDXtract (http://www.soundlib.com) or Translator (http://www.chickensys.com), while Extreme Sample Converter (http://www.extranslator.com) is, as well as EMU Proteus VX, Windows only.

4. Maybe someone else can answer on this.

5. You have to set the MIDI Cock source to external (=Logic) and assign within the Cords a Clock Divisor to e.g. LFO1trg or LFO2trg and set the amount to +100%.

6. Never occured to me.
FYI: I use EOS 4.70, but I can't say if the issue would accure on this version.

7. Yes, it'S that simple. Just create a new sample, set the source to one of the resampling-modes (16, 18 or 20 Bit) and go ahead. It is not necessary to switch Monitoring off unless you get a feedback loop.

8. ZeOS is a realtime remote-editor that needs a connection to the EMU sampler. The development of ZeOS has been stopped some years ago. You have to use it AS IS. If you had a Windows-PC you could get Emulator X3 and use this for browsing your EMU-library and edition patches on your computer, save the bank to (ZIP-) disc and load it into your EMU hardware sampler.

Danke mosrob! I appreciate the quick help, definitely opened up a few more doors for me.

From what you had info on, this is where I'm at with my stuff:

1. After reading some more in the manuals (EOS, Logic and the Axiom), watching a couple videos (SFLogicNinja's tutorial on the Logic 8 environment), and general fumbling around I now have Logic triggering the EMU. Just in case someone else comes along (or I somehow forget), I had to use the Mac Utility application Audio MIDI, and make sure port 2 of the Axiom connected to the EMU. I'm still trying to get my head around the Logic environment stuff (I think this is why I got rid of all my hardware years ago?), but right now I can record MIDI notes and automation, and the EMU is playing it back. Here's a screen of the application:
   
   
   
   
2. So I can jump from 4.02 to 4.7, I just need to install FlashPrep? If that's the case, I need to track down a PC with a 3.5" floppy drive.
   
   
3. Great, thank you! I might put the PC applications on another computer and mess around with them. Checking out the Mac ones over this weekend. Been meaning to check out AudioFinder too.
   
   
4. No problem, will wait to see if anyone else has some insight, at least on fun ways to use those filters. I now get that the Morph feature is controlled by FilFreq, I'm just wondering if there is a Cord set-up that lets you adjust the Morph amount.
   
   
5. Is MIDI clock set up strictly in the Sequencer Edit menus? I can take photos if needed, there is a Sequence Metronome page, then Sequence Clock (set Clock Source: External, and MIDI Clock Out: On -- ?)
   
   
6. Hopefully someone has a solution to this. I almost want to contact Fracture and see if he has any insight, but not sure how he is about random people contacting him over the internet. And this issue leads in to...
   
   
7. Great, did exactly like I hoped... except now if I try to truncate the new sample, I am getting that scrolling start point issue that I described in my 6th issue.
   
   
8. And thank you for suggesting ZeOS. Will have to read up on it. Off the bat though, can I connect via MIDI, or does this require SCSI?

And speaking of SCSI, I have a new issue tonight. I picked up a DB25 to SCSI-1 Centronics cable, came in the mail today, and with the EMU and Zip drive both turned off, I connected the two. When I booted up the EMU though, it did not get past the boot up screen, so I powered it down, turned off the Zip drive, and tried booting up the EMU again. Same problem though, did not get past the boot up screen. Disconnected the Zip drive, and was able to boot up, but then when I plugged in the unpowered Zip drive, the EMU would freeze up on any screen it was on. I did not power it down this time though, just unplugged the SCSI cable, and the EMU was working fine. Do I need to set anything special on the SCSI/Disk screen? Right now it lists:

SCSI ID: 4
SCSI termination: no
Disk Button goes to: Last
Avoid Host on ID: none

Thanks again for the help!

Checked the model of the Zip drive is a Z250P that my friend sold me. It's a parallel port Zip drive and will not work with SCSI... eBay here I come.

r4ns0m wrote:Searching through the forum, I saw Fracture (whose youtube video with Neptune was part of the influence in me picking up an EMU again) was experiencing an issue with the start point in some of the sample edit features: http://www.emusonacid.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3245. I experienced this same issue last night, when I checked out the gain function. What causes this, how do I correct it, and/or would it go away if I upgraded the EOS?

Quick message to Fracture at his Soundcloud, and he said he thought it was a MIDI issue. Booted up my EMU without my Axiom plugged in, and the issue was gone.

Also got a SCSI Zip drive and CD-ROM off of eBay for $10 each, got them working fine, so that's sorted.

Now I'm banging my head over a soundcard issue, hope to fix that this weekend and I should be good to go.