Gehenna.com: Sounds for E-mu Series 4 Samplers

E4K Logo PLEASE NOTE: All of my stuff for Emulator 4 samplers has been updated for the new Emulator X and Emulator X Studio Products. Please go to www.emulatorxone.com for the latest stuff!

Here are some sound banks that I've created for the E-mu Emulator Series 4 samplers (E4K, E6400, EIV, E4X, E4X Turbo, E-Synth, etc.). As far as I know, these banks are not compatible with the lower-end E-mu samplers (like the ESI-4000 and ESI-32). Don't forget to check the bottom of the page for other E-mu related links! E-Synth Logo

Unfortunately, the E4's diskette format is proprietary and, when saving to DOS-formatted diskettes, it cannot "span" banks larger than 1.44 megs (the size of one diskette) across multiple disks. So, all of the banks below fit on just one diskette. Though small, they're pretty high in quality. If I can ever find (or program) a good, cross-platform disk image utility that works with E4 native diskettes, I might put some larger banks here. I sure wish E-mu would do this, though! The instructions below tell you how to transfer single-disk E4 banks using DOS-formatted diskettes. Don't worry, it's easy.

In the future, I plan to produce an E4-compatible CD-ROM filled with cool banks. If you're interested in such a thing, send me e-mail (to krc@gehenna.com) and I'll let you know when my CD is available. If you use a Clavia Nord Modular synth, you'll also want to check out my sounds for those machines as well!

Red Box Samples!

Note: This archive had become corrupt. I have uploaded a new version of the file which also contains explicit instructions for creating disks on the Macintosh platform. If you have had problems with this archive before, please download the new copy.

I have begun work on a CD-ROM of samples from the Nord Modular. This small bank of example sounds is just a taste of what you'll find on the completed CD. Expect a lot more pads, wild synth textures, basses, drums, weird noises, and a complete set of basic waveforms for creating your own synths. Click the RedBox1.zip link below to download! If you want to be notified when the CD-ROM is available, send mail to krc@gehenna.com.

RedBox1.zip

This zip archive contains a 3-disk set of samples from my forthcoming CD-ROM. There are 3 programs in this bank -- a sawtooth polysynth, a monophonic square wave lead, and a small collection of analog drums and noises. This archive also contains the SDISK program that you will need to turn the disk images into E4 disks. Instructions are included in the README.TXT file. Macintosh users will need to download the separate SMAC program for turning the disk images into E4 disks. Sorry about the increased hassle factor here, but it's the only way to download a multi-disk bank like this...

How to Use these Files

Click on a filename to download that file. These files are not zipped or otherwise compressed for (1) ease of use, (2) cross-platform compatibility, and (3) the simple reason that 16-bit sound samples don't compress very much.
Once the file is save to your hard disk, insert a blank, DOS formatted diskette in your diskette drive. Mac users can use the Format menu option to format a floppy as DOS instead of Macintosh format.
Copy the bank file to the floppy.
Eject the floppy from your PC or Macintosh and take it to your E-mu sampler.
Put the floppy in the E-mu sampler's floppy drive.
Press the "disk" button. Press the "Browse" soft button. Press the "Drive" soft button and browse the floppy drive.
There will be one folder on the floppy. Press "Enter" to see the banks inside.
Load the bank! Be patient, it takes a while for the Emulator to read from an MS-DOS floppy.
Enjoy! -- krc@gehenna.com

The Banks

Click on the name of a bank to download it to your local drive.
Take some, it's free!

KC's Casio SK-1 Bank

Turns your Emulator into a cheap toy! This bank contains a rather extensive set of samples taken from my old Casio SK-1. For those who don't know, the SK-1 was a funky little sampling "toy" keyboard that Casio made many years ago. The presets contain the original sampled programs (piano, trumpet, brass ensemble, human voice, etc.) all reprogrammed to more-or-less sound like the originals. The SK-1 also featured a pretty powerful additive synthesizer (you could stack up sine waves to create new waveforms and then attach preprogrammed amplitude envelopes to them). I've sampled a few of these "synth" waves, including two multisamples that preserve some of the unique distortion the SK-1 produces. The presets corresponding to these waves are mostly pretty simple, but I threw in a "Stellar SK-1" preset that might give you some ideas of what to do with these waves. I also sampled the little rhythms that the SK-1 produces and turned that into the "SK-1 Kit" preset... nifty little percussive bleeps and bloops not unlike an 808. Groove with me, people!

Groove Machine

This bank uses new features (the MIDI clock modulation sources) in Emulator EOS 3.0 to make an algorithmic drum machine. You must have EOS 3.0 installed in your Emulator for this bank to work properly! This bank is also optimized for the E4K/E-Synth keyboard version. It makes extensive use of the sliders and Thumby button. Here's how to use it:

Make sure you have a MIDI clock source available. The easiest thing to do is to use the E4's internal clock. Set a tempo (BPM) by selecting Sequencer - Setup - Clock. Select Clock Source: Internal, Tempo Cntrl: Screen Value, and Select a Tempo (try 120 and up for danceable grooves).
Keys C1 through E1 start a drum machine groove going. C1 is bass drum only. D1 is bass drum and snare. E1 is bass, snare, and high hat. Note that these keys use "latch mode" to keep the groove going until you hit the key again. I suggest just hitting E1 and listening! You can stop the groove by hitting E1 again. Having more than one of these keys going at the same time usually makes a mess... Just use one.
Move the MIDI sliders (MIDI A, B, C, and D) to make different rhythms. If all sliders are set to zero (all the way down), you get a basic rock groove -- bass drum on each quarter note, snare drum every other quarter note, and sixteenth note high hats. Different slider settings change the groove in complex ways. Note that these aren't being made with loops -- the MIDI clock events are retriggering individual drum samples that have a few milliseconds of looped silence at the end. Cool, no? How many beats can you discover?
Hold down the thumby button to get an alternate groove or "break". Let up on the thumby button to return to the standard groove.
The mod wheel lets you select different drum sounds. With the mod wheel at zero (all the way down), you get 808 sounds. Move it up to reveal a "trashy electro" drum set, "rave" drumset, and a bongo/clave set.
Starting at C2, you'll find a synth sound that uses one of the vocal formant filters to make a weird chanting sound that varies with the groove. Sometimes it sounds good, other times not so good. I threw this in to show that you can also use the MIDI clock sources to do complex filter effects.
Advanced tweakers may want to substitute their own drum samples for the ones I used. To make them work, however, you need to go to do two things. (1) Paste a short amount of dead silence at the end of each sample. To sample silence go to Sample Manage -New and use "resample 16 bit" as the source. Force sampling and don't play anything. Now you have a totally silent sample. Use Sample - Edit - Utils mode to Cut some of the silence to the clipboard, then Paste it to the end of your samples. (2) Use Sample - Edit - Tools 1 - Loop to enter looping mode. Make a short loop at the end of each sound in the totally silent area. Now your sounds are ready to be substituted for any of the voices in this preset (using Preset - Edit - Voices mode).
Have fun!

The Breathy Bank

As you might guess, this bank contains a number different presets that are "breathy" in character. The bank contains 6 presets. For all the presets in this bank, the sliders and thumby buttons change certain parameters. Play around.

LatelyBass TX81Z

M.C. Satan The TX81Z is a classic FM synth module made by Yamaha back in the heyday of FM. This bank contains a preset that uses samples from the Z's "LatelyBass" program. It's one of the most popular rap/dance bass sounds ever. Here it is for you to use in your own funky compositions. There are just two presets in this bank. The first one uses a standard lowpass filter. The second uses the bat phaser filter for a more aggressive sound. The MIDI sliders adjust filter resonance, filter cutoff, filter envelope effect, and glide. Velocity controls filter cutoff, too, just like in the original program (the sound gets brighter at higher velocity). "Peace, I'm out!"

AstroTones

This is a bank of mostly "spacey" sounds that use two samples that I created using the E4's transform multiply feature. I can't remember what the original sources were. The Aquarius preset is a space signal from a distant galaxy. AstroRhodes is a glassy electric piano sound. Psychedelicize and Mello Tonez are quirky, LFO'ed pad sounds. I also threw in Fat Little Bass, the transform multiplication product of two different bass sounds. On some of these, the sliders and thumby button do neat things. Remember: space is the place.

About the Banks

I hope you enjoy my little samples! All of the banks on this page are shareware. Any of these banks can be freely redistributed for non-commercial purposes as long as they are in their original bank form with no additions or deletions.

If you really like any of the sounds here, end up using them in a recording, need some custom sound design, or just want to say "hi", please send me a note to krc@gehenna.com.