A Sampler Instrument in Logic

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Logic ESX24 Sampler

To get started with Logic’s ESX24 Sampler:

  1. Create a new Software Instrument track.
    • Image:LogicPro8-NewTrack.png
    • Image:LogicPro8-NewSoftwareInstrumentTrack.png
  2. Select the ESX24 Sampler as that track’s instrument.
    • Image:LogicPro8-SelectESX24.png
  3. To open the instrument’s controls, click ESX24 on the channel strip.
    • Image:LogicPro8-ESX24InChannelStrip.png
  4. To add sounds, click the edit button in the upper right corner of the ESX24 window.
    • Image:LogicPro8-ESX24Window.png
    • If you see the Instrument Editor full of sounds already, then you need to make a blank instrument to start with instead. There are two ways to do this:
      • Click the instrument name (e.g., Grand Piano) in the EXS24 window and select “No Instrument” from the menu that appears,
      • or in the Instrument Editor window, click the Instrument menu, then click New.
  5. Drag sounds from a Finder window into the ESX24 Instrument Editor window.
    • Image:LogicPro8-DragSoundsIntoESX24Editor.png
  6. Click Show Velocity at the top of the ESX24 Instrument Editor window, then drag the boxes at the bottom of the window to specify the key ranges and velocity (loudness) ranges for which each sound is active.
    • Image:LogicPro8-ESX24Zones.png
  7. To record music played by the sampler:
    1. Click the R button on the track you want to record. This is called “record enabling” the track.
    2. Use the main transport controls to start and stop recording as needed.
    • Note that by doing this, you have not recorded sounds, but musical “notes” in MIDI format: which key was pressed, when, how hard, and when was it released. You can edit them note by note if you like and record multiple layers using the same instrument you’ve saved.