#Initial Slice - by Initial Audio

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

wraith wren
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Best slicer plugin I've found, and I've tried pretty much of them. Even better than SliceX, IMO. Workflow is incredibly similar to using a Push 2 controller with Ableton's "Simpler" instrument.

https://initialaudio.com/product/slice-loop-slicer-plugin/

Initial Audio
Clifford Cox
Initial Slice - Loop Slicer | Sampler incl. over 300 royalty free m...

Slice comes with over 300 royalty free melodic loops, samples, drumkits and beatstarters for hiphop, rnb, drill and trap producers. VST and AU compatible.

hollow beacon
wraith wren
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No. haha don't listen to me; you'll go broke. 😉

Srsly though, my "must have" and "desert island" plugins change from year to year as new, better offerings appear, and as my workflow and preferences evolve.

hollow beacon
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Yeah, fair enough

supple mantle
supple mantle
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@wraith wren someone was talking about it so I thought I might ask: Does this have the immediacy of Ableton Simpler? Simpler is beloved for that reason - drag in a sample, adjust sensitivity, and start playing slices immediately - so this might be worth getting if I can have that same kind of immediacy in Bitwig.

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The only other sampler plugin (strictly speaking) I have is Serato Sample, which I do like, but it still lacks the instant feedback of adjusting a simple threshold knob.

wraith wren
supple mantle
wraith wren
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And once you find any slice(s) you like, you can drag them right out of the waveform area into Drum Machine pads, Sampler, track lanes, whatever. Very fast.

crisp schooner
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$99. I’m going to have to wait for a sale for this one.

glacial imp
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I found the slicing in Renoise Redux to be really better than the Bitwig tool, but I haven't tried much else...

supple mantle
storm turret
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anybody here has mapped the VST parameters to macros so it’s usable with controller?

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i have tried a looooot of VSTs and none of em seem to be able to do that

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like the part where you adjust the beginning and end of the sample with parameters

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don’t seem doable (which kinda makes sense) but i’m looking for anything to do it simpler style

storm turret
noble oasis
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imho this ones too elaborate for me, if bitwig would allow playback from cursor wed be 90% there in the audio editor, if they add something like s1s impact xt were basically there at that point. but yeah im contiuously looking at samplers as well but at this point im not really happy with any of them. i wrote the atlas guy some feedback which he responded to and he said hes considering adding slices in future releases. if that happens its getting pretty close to geist and then that would be a great option.

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not that this ones bad it pretty much has everything you need (sans lazy chop) but having the browser and the sequencers there is too much clutter for me that i want to buy it

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the best sampler would be geist 3 :p but roli is not hip for it

noble oasis
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any drum thing that has attack / release should be able to do it

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but thats after the slice is uppose

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i guess your best bet is mpc studio controller (not that expensive) or maschine but for these vsts i think using mouse is faster anyway

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wait you cant put slices in one shot mode? thats a complete no go for me then

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or am i missing the setting

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yeah with out one shot and choke groups i cant use a sampler like this

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the slicing still pretty nice tho

wraith wren
noble oasis
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if you play by midi?

wraith wren
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Not sure what you're asking

Also, ALL slices are "latched" by default , which means they play as a one-shot. Tap the midi note and the entire slice will play as long as that slice is "latched". If you want instant cutoff on MIDI Note OFF, you need to turn the "Latch" button off.

noble oasis
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does it play oneshot if you trigger the slice by pressing a midi key

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or just when you press play in the waveform display

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i thought i tried either

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i guess i missed this then

wraith wren
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Midi key on a controller works fine if that "Play to End" is OFF.

noble oasis
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okay, did i miss the choke setting as well?

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so one of my major usecases for these slicers is take a bit of a song and create irregular slices by ear/or even with some chance and then replay them with oneshot/every sample choking every sample

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so it retains the rhythm of the song but you still get something very different

wraith wren
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Choke = Latch OFF

noble oasis
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alright and that doesnt conflict with what you wrote at the top? "latched means they play as one shot"

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i would test it but i just uninstalled still interested to know if i want to have a slicer after all

wraith wren
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The "Latch" button is global. Applies to all slices.
The "Play to End" button is global. Applies to all slices.

Turn both of them off and you can do MPC-style chop grooves for days.

noble oasis
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okay

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well its a useful software and the mouse manual slicing actually works well, what you cant say for most of these, i agree with that

wraith wren
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Yeah, and honestly the "Manual" slicing mode is way better than the realtime slice in Serato Sample, IMO.

The sample ALWAYS starts on C2. Turn on Manual slice mode. Enable "Play to End" and DISABLE "Latch". Now hold down C2 and watch the playback cursor/highlight. When you hear the next slice point you want, just double click at that spot in the waveform. Keep going until you have your rough slice points laid out. Then go back and fine tune them. Done.

Double-click to make a slice point. Right-click to delete a slice point. Drag to move a slice point. Learn those two buttons I showed above and you can do anything MPC-like (or Serato-like), or Simpler-like.

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Also it's just so easy to drag the slices out of the VST and into something else in Bitwig. I honestly like this plugin better than SliceX. I haven't touched SliceX since I got this.

noble oasis
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i still think its a different workflow because in what akai calls lazy chop you basically eyeball it by feel when you want to start a new slice. i actually had this implemented in reaper and studio one once, reaper especially nice with slice at playhad position. but i also didnt like serato sample enough to buy it, im slowly starting to get to terms with how bitwig handles audio and sometimes i actually just record stuff from the daw into the mpc and do sample chops there.

wraith wren
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Well, I mean, MPC is the king granddaddy of sample flipping and chop grooves, so if you have an MPC and you don't mind the extra steps of getting samples into and out of it....

noble oasis
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but dont you think initial slice is overloaded, like you probably want neither the browser nor the sequencers there. if they sell me just the sample chop bit for 30 bucks im into it 😉

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i didnt like slicex either but i barely remembre it

wraith wren
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I tend to move the slices I want OUT of Intial Slice and INTO a Bitwig Drum Machine, because I tend to find interesting slices in a big mudpie resample session, and then I want to arrange them in a pad order (inside Drum Machine) that makes the selected slices easy to play like an instrument.

noble oasis
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yeah i sometimes use hy-slicer and that has no drag and drop from bitwig which sucks

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but i use it to remix my own loops

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but once i realized i can just do 4 lanes of audio comping iwth the same loop and have most of the editing featuers in bitwig as well... i often just use timeline

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basically the audio comping makes bitwig into some type of regroover (RIP)

wraith wren
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Yeah, the plugin is indeed "overloaded" with features I don't use. All I want is the various slicing modes--especially the excellent "Transient" mode that is just like slicing in Simpler with a Push), the ability to QUICKLY set the start/end of each slice I want, and then to easily drag the slice out of the VST and into a Drum Machine (or onto an audio track).

noble oasis
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i agree with that

wraith wren
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But of all the slicer plugins out there--including SliceX from FL (which yes I do have), I find this one is the most intuitive and fast for getting the slices I want for sample flipping or for chop grooves. Serato Sample used to be my preferred tool, but Serato keeps messing it up with new updates and it was always clunky and slow to create the slices in.

noble oasis
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i think when i last used it it also didnt have sample end points

wraith wren
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This one doesn't either, but once you drag a slice into Drum Machine you have complete control over loop start/end, AD envelopes, looping crossfade, speed/warping, etc.

noble oasis
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i think its good to overcome bitwigs shortcomings with slicing

wraith wren
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Exactly. Drum Machine is great, perfectly servicable, just as easy to use as (for example Impact XT from S1), and you can really mess with each sample in each pad of the machine. (Because Bitwig!)

But Bitwig SUCKS at slicing. Its "onset detection" is terribad, and they don't give you nearly enough options/control in "Slice to Drum Machine" or "Slice to Multisample"

BTW pro tip: you can keep Initial Slice sitting right in front of Drum Machine on the same track. Pull a sample into it and slice it up to drag the chunks you want into Drum Machine. Then just deactivate Initial Slice. It's now out of the way and not taking any resources. Need to grab a new slice or maybe tweak a slice you brought into Drum Machine? Just reactivate Initial Slice and do whatever, then drag the new thing into Drum Machine. Rinse and repeat as needed.

noble oasis
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i think impact xt is alot faster for handling samples, e.g. because how the adsr and sample start end is located next to the pads. id just use sitala if they would add a and r independently. i would also buy an impact xt vst. i will try adsr sampler next but i think its too much again.

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good workflow idea

wraith wren
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I will admit that Impact XT was pretty nice

noble oasis
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at the time i thought why is it so much worse than geist 😂 now i want it back

burnt nacelle
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just downloaded the demo for this. wish i didnt come with the 300 loops

burnt nacelle
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ok, this is a damn good sampler. Does everything i want a sampler to do.

Only three issues I have with it.
1.Can't import Mp3. not a deal breaker, but not great.
2. The GUI keyboard is off by an entire tone. So when I hit a C it hits a shows me hitting a D. Not sure if theres a setting, but i didnt find it. Hopefully a restart will fix it.
3. no attack or release for samples in drum sequencer?

burnt nacelle
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transient detect works really well

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Barely any CPU usage on m1 max

tardy hazel
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They say:

  • Lifetime free updates. Pay once get all future updates for free.
    but what is on the list?
supple mantle
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Yes, I'm curious about this too. I tried the demo and it seems... I dunno, it seems a little rough around the edges, it's hard to describe.

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This is giving me "I can't trust other people to do it right so I might as well do it myself" vibes, but something like this is way above my pay grade to develop...

tardy hazel
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i wait for Slicer 2 by HY...this maybe will do what i want, i got Egoist, Slicer 1 by HY...so and the Sampler in Bitwig doing well also...i can wait

burnt nacelle
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im still trying the demo. ive yet to have it stop working for me, it just asks if you need more time after every 30 minutes.

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worth a shot to demo it imo. It works pretty damn good

frosty widget
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@vital epoch Simpler alternative

frosty widget
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The sampler feels good, but I have a few problems:

  • Zoom control feels stressful, not really accurate
  • can't drag resampled audio files from BW into the sampler from inside the DAW?
    -transient sensitivity range is too limited?
burnt nacelle
frosty widget
burnt nacelle
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not sure, i've not tried that, i usually just record sraight to a track

heady hare
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looks sweet

burnt nacelle
supple mantle
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Had a loop I liked, saved and came back to it later and it seems Initial Slice forgot my settings and now the slice points are different. I'm hoping that's just a bug with the factory content...

crisp schooner
burnt nacelle
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Yea not on sale anymore