SAMPLING YOUR OWN SOUNDS
© E-mu Systems, Inc. 1985
Page 59
Enhanced by The Emulator Archive 2002 www.emulatorarchive.com
4H MODIFYING A SAMPLE VIA TRUNCATION AND LOOP
Truncation shortens a Voice’s length by trimming off parts of the beginning and/or
end. This allows you to cut off unneeded portions of a Voice to save memory, change
instrument characteristics (i.e. remove the attack from a plucked string note), cut off a
long decay (which is great for simulating noise- gated reverb effects on drums), or
isolate a particular section of a sample.
As mentioned in the introduction, the SP-12’s standard memory capacity is 1.2
seconds. Since each second requires 27,500 samples, this works out to a total
available memory space of 33,000 samples. All truncation and looping times are
referenced to samples, not seconds. Example: If you truncate the beginning (start) of
a sound by 2,750 samples, you have cut 1/10th of a second from the start of the
sound (27,500 samples 1 second, so 2,750 samples = 1/10th of a second).
To truncate a sound:
1. It is good practice to set Sliders #1 and #2 all the way down, and Sliders #3
and #4 all the way up, before beginning the truncation process.
2. Activate the SET-UP module and key in 19. The display’s top line will show
the User Sound to be truncated. If this is the desired User Sound, press
ENTER. If not, key in the desired User Sound with the keypad and then press
ENTER.
3. The display’s top line will now show the Start point (which defaults to 00000)
and the User Sound being truncated. The display’s bottom line will show the
End point of the sample (which defaults to the sample length) and Loop
Length (which defaults to NONE). Example: If the End display shows 27500,
then the sample is exactly one second long.
4. Slider #1 gives coarse control over the amount of start truncation, while Slider
#2 gives fine control. Moving the sliders upwards increases the amount of
truncation.
Example:
Adjusting these sliders so that the bottom line indicates E=2750 means that
you have cut 1/10th of a second from the beginning of the sample.
Note that you cannot truncate a sound one sample at a time, but rather, in
groups of samples (even with the fine truncation slider).
5. Slider #3 gives coarse control over end truncation, while Slider #11 gives fine
control. Moving the sliders downwards increases the amount of truncation.
Example:
With a 27500 sample length sound, setting these sliders so that
E=13750 means that the end point now occurs halfway through the sample
(27500 divided by 2 = 13750).
As with start truncation, samples are truncated in groups rather than one at a
time, even with the fine truncation slider. As you change truncation, press the
appropriate Play button to hear the results.
