Instruments and Effects

Chapter 25 EXS24 mkII 431
Groups
Imagine a drum kit has been created, with a number of different samples being used in
several zones, mapped across the keyboard. In many musical circumstances, you might
want to adjust the sound editing parameters of each of the samples independently—
to alter the decay of the snare, or to use a different cutoff setting for the hi-hat samples,
for example.
This scenario is where the EXS24 mkII’s groups feature comes in. Groups allow for very
flexible organization of samples. You can define an unlimited number of groups, and
can assign each zone to one of these groups. In a drum set, for example, you could
assign all kick drums to Group 1, all snares to Group 2, all hi-hats to Group 3, and so on.
Why might you want to do this?
A group makes it possible to define a velocity range for all assigned zones, allowing
you to specify a velocity window in which the grouped zones should sound, as one
example. Each group also features offset parameters for the amplitude envelope and
filter settings made in the Parameters window.
It’s also possible to play all zones without defining and assigning even a single group—
in this case, the parameter settings affect all samples in all zones equally.
To create a new group:
m Choose Group > New Group in the Instrument Editor (or use the New Group key
command).
A new group appears in the Zones column on the left-hand side of the Instrument
Editor.
To assign a zone to a group, do one of the following:
m Select the group in the zone’s Group menu.
m Select a zone in the EXS Instrument Editor, Finder, Audio Bin, or Browser and drag it
into a group displayed in the Zones column.
m Drag a zone (or multiple selection of zones) out of one group into another group to
change the group assignment to a new group.