Here are the answers to some of our most common questions.
Q- How do I get your sounds into my synthesizer from your floppy disk? My synthesizer does not have a floppy disk drive.
Q- Can I save my PCM card data to my computer hard drive?
Q- Do I need any additional hardware besides my computer and my synthesizer to save and load sounds?
Q- What software do I need to start working with SYSEX data transfers?
Q- Do you have patches in Unisyn .ubk formats?
Q- The "Bulk Sysex Utility for the Mac" doesn't run on my computer.
Q- I need more instructions as to how I can access your sounds through e-mail.
Q- Can I load Roland D50 sounds into my Korg M1?
Q- I need the sounds of breaking glass, cars crashing and other sound effects for my Korg 01W and Yamaha V50.
Q- What is a Digital Sampler?
Q- How many sounds come on a floppy disk?
Q- What is the difference between your AIFF/WAV file CD's and your Akai S1000/S3000 CD's? You have the same CD's in both formats, but the Akai costs more.
Q- Can you tell be more about how to keymap AIFF and WAV files?
Q- I'm using a Software Sampler to produce my tracks. What sounds do you have that will work with that?
Q- I have a Juno 106 that's been sitting in my closet for like 10 years. I'm looking to sell it now, but most of the sounds don't seem to be there. It seems like I can just buy your sounds for $25 and load them in. Also, are there instructions on how to load in?
Q- Can I save my PCM card data to my computer hard drive? I have some Roland R8 soundcards and Korg M1 PCM cards that I would like to save.
A- No. You can not save PCM Data to your hard drive. Only Data from ROM or RAM cards can be saved to disk.
Q- Do I need any additional hardware besides my computer and my synthesizer to save and load sounds?
A- Yes. You need is a "Midi Interface" and "Midi Cables". A Midi Interface will connect your computer to your instruments. You can get one at your local Music Store. They start at about $60. and go up to about $500. depending on how many "Bells & Whistles" you need. You can also do things such as recording or printing music with your computer once you get a Midi Interface so it's a great investment if your interested in making music with your computer.
Q- What software do I need to start working with SYSEX data transfers?
A- We provide the software to let you do a SYSEX dump from your computer to your instruments. It can be downloaded free from our demo page. You can also load in our "Standard Midi Files" using your sequencer program (Logic, Cubase, Digital Performer etc). Just import the sounds to a track, play the track and the sounds will load right in. We also provide detailed instructions on how to make everything work. Try to familiarize yourself with terms such as "System Exclusive Dump" or "Midi Dump". Your owners manuel for your synthesizer or sampler will have instructions on how to set up your instruments to transfer data via Midi. It varies slightly from one instrument to another.
There are also some commercial programs that will not only dump data to and from the computer to synth, but will edit and store custom banks of sounds for you. These are called "Editor/Librarians". One of our favorites is Mark Of The Unicorn's "Unisyn". We used it often to create many our synthesizer sounds with our computers. It's a great tool that we use often. Unisyn comes in Mac, PC and Atari formats and will work with over 150 Midi instruments. Check out the at MOTU Web Site for details on all their products.They have lot's of cool stuff.
Q- I was wondering if you had patches for my JV1080 in the Unisyn .ubk formats. I read that you are using Unisyn to create your patches.
A- Most of our patches are available in Unisyn format for Mac or PC. Just let us know which computer you are using.
Q- The "Bulk Sysex Utility for the Mac" doesn't seem to run on my computer. Do you know of an update to Bulk Sysex or another way I can try your demo or possibly download the volumes you have for sale?
A- The Bulk Sysex program is an old utility that will not work on any Mac OS9 or OSX Systems. We have it online so anyone using a pre OS9 system can check out the demos. If your running a OS9 or OSX system then our demos and sounds are also available in the standard midi file format. Just use your sequencer program to load in the sounds.
Q- I need more instructions as to how I can access your sounds through e-mail.
A- There are a couple of different options depending on the format that you need.
Q- Can I load Roland D50 sounds into my Korg M1? I love the sound of the D50 and would like to get those sounds in my M1.
A- In most cases two instruments from two different companies are "NOT COMPATIBLE". There are few exceptions. In most cases synthesizers have their own special parameters and can only accept data made specifically for it. There are exceptions such as the Roland JV1080 patches are compatible with Roland XP50 & XP80. Also, the Yamaha TX81Z patches will work with a Yamaha DX11. Basically, you must stay within the same family of instruments.
Q- I need the sounds of breaking glass, cars crashing and other sound effects for my Korg 01W and Yamaha V50. Do you have anything like that in your collections?
A- Well....there is our Effectron CD, but that is more for digital samplers. Unless your synthesizer has those sounds (waveforms/samples) in it already, it is unlikely you will be able to get them. You can purchase PCM cards or Expansion boards (for some instruments). These will give you new samples to work with, but your better off buying a "Digital Sampler" to get those kind of sounds.
Q- What is a Digital Sampler?
A- A sampler is a digital tape recorder. An instrument which is capable of recording anything you would like to record into it. You can then trigger the sounds from the keys on your Midi keyboard, Midi Drum pads or even a Midi Guitar or Wind controller. Check out our sample lists to get an idea of what you can do with a sampler. It's very cool! Some of the more popular samplers are made by Akai, Ensoniq & EMU.
Q- How many sounds come on a floppy disk?
A- That depends on what kind of sounds are on the disk. Typically, drum sounds do not take up much sampling (recording) time, so you can fit many samples on a single floppy disk. We have been able to fit as many as 60 samples on a HD Floppy disk when sampling only Kick & Snare Drums. On the other hand, an Acoustic Piano sound requires much more sampling time in order to get a realistic sound. It's not unheard of using 64 Megs or more of memory to create that killer piano sound.
Q- What is the difference between your AIFF/WAV file CD's and your Akai S1000/S3000 CD's? I see that you have the same CD's in both formats, but the Akai costs more then the AIFF/WAV CD's.
A- AIFF and WAV files are individual samples that must first be set up as "programs" before you can create songs with them. The samples must be "key-mapped" across the keyboard so you will be able to play all the notes. In the Akai S1000/S3000 formats we set up the samples as programs and all the keymapping and programming is done for you. All you have to do is load in the data and play.
Q- Can you tell be more about how to keymap AIFF and WAV files?
A- We've written a cool article at our BLOG which covers this subject in detail. Click here to learn all about how to key-map multi samples into your sampler.
Q- I'm using a Software Sampler to produce my tracks. What sounds do you have that will work with that?
A- Our Aiff and WAV files and our Akai S1000/S3000 CD's are compatible with any software sampler including; Kontakt, Halion, Reason, Gigasampler, MachFive and any other Software Sampler that you may be working with.
The AIFF/WAV and S1000/S3000 formats are considered a "universial" format and are compatible with just about any hardware of software sampler on the market.
Q- I have a Juno 106 that's been sitting in my closet for like 10 years. I'm looking to sell it now, but most of the sounds don't seem to be there. It seems like I can just buy your sounds for $25 and load them in. Also, are there instructions on how to load in?
A- Your synths battery went dead. That is why you lost the sounds. This usually happens to most synths that are ten years old or more. Our collection will replace the sounds. However you will also need to replace the battery so the machine will hold in memory any sounds that you load in. The battery is a lithium battery and you might be able to get one at radio shack. You will have to open up the juno and remove the battery to get the battery model number or contact an authorized repair center.
Once you have the battery installed then you can load in our sounds. The sounds come in either a WAV file or Data Cassette. The sounds get loaded in though the cassette port, not the midi port. You will need to either connect your computers audio output to the cassette port if you want to load the WAV file or connect a cassette player to load in the sounds from the cassette tape. The WAV file can be e-mailed to you. Just save the file to your hard drive and open up the file in any program hat will play audio files. The cassette tape must be sent in the mail to you. Both come with basic instructions. More info can be found in your owners manuel.
and we will be happy to help you.