How can I slice and modulate samples in Logic like Ableton's Slice To Midi feature?

Question

Ableton Live has particularly strong capabilities when it comes to converting audio to midi and vice-versa.

One particular feature is the ability to take a sample of audio, and simply click a button, and it will slice it up (according to your parameters) and load the samples into a drum machine virtual instrument. It will even then print a cascading midi region of all of the samples being played in order, which results in an exact duplication of the audio sample, but being triggered by the midi samples.

I prefer to work in Logic Pro X, but I am requiring progressively more features for being able to manipulate sample slices and create unique (advanced/warped) regions out of them.

In Ableton, for example, using the example I just gave, one could in theory use the LFOs built into the drum sampler instrument (which has just had the samples automatically loaded into it), and assign the LFOs to various parameters causing randomization during playback.

For advanced drum and bass music (e.g. Aphex Twin), and experimental music, this is an invaluable tool. Yet, as an overall DAW, I am used to Logic's workflow.

What I would like to know is, is there any way to "Slice to MIDI" in an equivalent way in Logic?

If not, what are the alternatives while still working in Logic?

What ways can I chop up samples, work with them (whether directly or by loading them into a drum machine such as the built-in Ultrabeat/EXS-24 or a third-party tool), and do so without having to spend hours cutting, exporting, and re-importing them into a sampler by hand?

Answer 1

Not sure which version of Logic you are on but this video is for Logic 8 and is a very good tutorial on a quick way to do this. Creating samples for EXS24. I'm not familiar with Logic X but I'm fairly certain that this functionality will translate with maybe minor differences, as it does translate directly to Logic 9, which I use. This guy, SFLogicNinja, has a whole bunch of tutorials. I believe he now has some sort of service that you have to pay into to watch his tutorials. He also does a video or two on Ultrabeat.

Answer 2

1. Right click the audio passage -> convert -> convert to new sampler track. You can also go to the audio menu and select convert to new sampler track directly.

2. Select create zones from transient markers, and select the sampler's range. Click ok.

And you are done.