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Manually add slice in Egoist?

I bought Egoist in the Sugar Bytes sale and have been having a ton of fun playing with it.

One issue I've run into is that there doesn't seem to be any way to manually create or delete slice points in the slicer window. You can drag the sensitivity slider to create between 2-16 slices, then manually adjust those, but there doesn't seem to be any way to, for example, add a new slice point after you've manually adjusted a handful of slices already.

My work around so far has been to just always create 16 slices and drag unused slice points all the way to the right. But that's annoying because (1) it makes it harder to get close to what I want using the sensitivity slider, and (2) it's just plain fiddly.

Am I missing something? Is there some way to manually add/delete slice points? Neither the manual nor the Sugar Bytes video tutorial say how, if there is.

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Comments

  • There doesn't seem to be a way to do it manually. I think it's more about getting some happy accidents rather than having complete control.

  • Don’t you just slide a slice back from the right if you want to add one of the sixteen slice points back in?

  • edited July 2019

    @BroCoast Thanks, that's what I feared. Egoist is good at happy accidents, but sometimes I like to have control too! :-)

    @gusgranite If you start with 16 slices, you can drag them all to the right and then do like you describe. The problem is that if you have less than 16 slices (because you started tweaking with the sensitivity slider far enough to the left that it identified fewer slices), then those slice points just don't exist.

  • Oh, yeah. That’s annoying. I’ve never really used sensitivity

  • When I start working with a loop, I pull sensitivity up to the max and move slice markers to the end so I have enough "spare slices" - but I bet there's a more elegant way to handle them?

  • @rs2000 Yeah, that's my solution right now too. It's a shame though since sometimes slicing on lower sensitivity is closer to what I want, but it doesn't give me all 16 slices to work with.

  • @walkie said:
    @rs2000 Yeah, that's my solution right now too. It's a shame though since sometimes slicing on lower sensitivity is closer to what I want, but it doesn't give me all 16 slices to work with.

    They could really do a bit more for an app in this price range.
    Like in-app sampling, lockable & adding slices and expandable slice position faders that are less fiddly.

  • @rs2000 said:

    @walkie said:
    @rs2000 Yeah, that's my solution right now too. It's a shame though since sometimes slicing on lower sensitivity is closer to what I want, but it doesn't give me all 16 slices to work with.

    They could really do a bit more for an app in this price range.
    Like in-app sampling, lockable & adding slices and expandable slice position faders that are less fiddly.

    Agree on all of those.

    Another limitation I ran into pretty quickly is that effects are either universally on or off for each of the three instruments (slicer, bass, drums). I'd love to be able to toggle them per effect, or even just in two groups for tape effects (stop and loop) and other effects. The tape effects are really fun but are a bit too disruptive when applied to the bass and drums, so I either use them very sparingly or apply effects only to the slicer. It'd be great to apply them just to the slicer and then go wild.

  • @walkie said:

    @rs2000 said:

    @walkie said:
    @rs2000 Yeah, that's my solution right now too. It's a shame though since sometimes slicing on lower sensitivity is closer to what I want, but it doesn't give me all 16 slices to work with.

    They could really do a bit more for an app in this price range.
    Like in-app sampling, lockable & adding slices and expandable slice position faders that are less fiddly.

    Agree on all of those.

    Another limitation I ran into pretty quickly is that effects are either universally on or off for each of the three instruments (slicer, bass, drums). I'd love to be able to toggle them per effect, or even just in two groups for tape effects (stop and loop) and other effects. The tape effects are really fun but are a bit too disruptive when applied to the bass and drums, so I either use them very sparingly or apply effects only to the slicer. It'd be great to apply them just to the slicer and then go wild.

    Good point. They say Egoist had the"FX power of Effectrix" but it doesn't.
    Effectrix is much more tweakable for each individual effect and that makes a big difference.
    That's why I rather use the drums and bass to only enhance the sliced loop itself rather than composing inside Egoist, and export the loop for further use in Gadget etc.

  • @walkie said:

    @rs2000 said:

    @walkie said:
    @rs2000 Yeah, that's my solution right now too. It's a shame though since sometimes slicing on lower sensitivity is closer to what I want, but it doesn't give me all 16 slices to work with.

    They could really do a bit more for an app in this price range.
    Like in-app sampling, lockable & adding slices and expandable slice position faders that are less fiddly.

    Agree on all of those.

    Another limitation I ran into pretty quickly is that effects are either universally on or off for each of the three instruments (slicer, bass, drums). I'd love to be able to toggle them per effect, or even just in two groups for tape effects (stop and loop) and other effects. The tape effects are really fun but are a bit too disruptive when applied to the bass and drums, so I either use them very sparingly or apply effects only to the slicer. It'd be great to apply them just to the slicer and then go wild.

    Have you tried using the parts to get around that? Like make a 4 part idea but then spread it over the 16 pads just to have better control over the effects or more subtle variations.

    It could be improved but I kind of like how it's a bit of a wildcard and something I can't deep tweak too much.

  • Have you tried Blocs Wave? You can add and remove any slices you want there.

  • @robosardine said:
    Have you tried Blocs Wave? You can add and remove any slices you want there.

    Really?
    How???

  • @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:
    Have you tried Blocs Wave? You can add and remove any slices you want there.

    Really?
    How???

    You can’t , only by zooming ,slices are added but are always fixed.
    ReSlice is the only alternative.

  • @Korakios said:

    @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:
    Have you tried Blocs Wave? You can add and remove any slices you want there.

    Really?
    How???

    You can’t , only by zooming ,slices are added but are always fixed.
    ReSlice is the only alternative.

    Ah, bummer. Blocs Wave would be a nice candidate otherwise :smile:
    BTW, there's also Groove Rider (free placing of slice markers and one sample cut into 16 slices only uses one of the 16 instrument channels). By recording "parameter locks" in Groove Rider you can do somewhat similar stuff as in Egoist, in a different way.

  • @walkie said:
    I bought Egoist in the Sugar Bytes sale and have been having a ton of fun playing with it.

    One issue I've run into is that there doesn't seem to be any way to manually create or delete slice points in the slicer window. You can drag the sensitivity slider to create between 2-16 slices, then manually adjust those, but there doesn't seem to be any way to, for example, add a new slice point after you've manually adjusted a handful of slices already.

    My work around so far has been to just always create 16 slices and drag unused slice points all the way to the right. But that's annoying because (1) it makes it harder to get close to what I want using the sensitivity slider, and (2) it's just plain fiddly.

    Am I missing something? Is there some way to manually add/delete slice points? Neither the manual nor the Sugar Bytes video tutorial say how, if there is.

    @walkie said:
    I bought Egoist in the Sugar Bytes sale and have been having a ton of fun playing with it.

    One issue I've run into is that there doesn't seem to be any way to manually create or delete slice points in the slicer window. You can drag the sensitivity slider to create between 2-16 slices, then manually adjust those, but there doesn't seem to be any way to, for example, add a new slice point after you've manually adjusted a handful of slices already.

    My work around so far has been to just always create 16 slices and drag unused slice points all the way to the right. But that's annoying because (1) it makes it harder to get close to what I want using the sensitivity slider, and (2) it's just plain fiddly.

    Am I missing something? Is there some way to manually add/delete slice points? Neither the manual nor the Sugar Bytes video tutorial say how, if there is.

    I agree with you, nice update would be add/delete slice markers.

  • Feel sure we're missing something here...

  • edited July 2019

    @JohnnyGoodyear said:
    Feel sure we're missing something here...

    For slicing options..? hmmm... Beats me.

  • @AudioGus said:

    @JohnnyGoodyear said:
    Feel sure we're missing something here...

    For slicing options..? hmmm... Beats me.

    One of those: I was stuck on this ages ago but figured it out but now I done forgotten it all over again...

  • @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:
    Have you tried Blocs Wave? You can add and remove any slices you want there.

    Really?
    How???

    Yes you can- you can organise your slices in Blocs Wave any way you want.
    Get the part you want flattened first. In order not to lose anything - copy it from one part to another... now it is yours to play with at no risk.. and you can easily go back.
    Now tap the slices and hear the bits you want... Now you can either play it live and add the parts you want- whenever you want or you can put them in by steps (in non live record mode). You can mix the two together... making use of the undo button as you go if you need to.
    This for me is what Blocs Wave is all about- in some ways I find it is vastly underrated. It is pure genius and a totally integral part of my workflow. Whoever came up with it should be given a medal.

  • Only workaround is to reset the 16 slices to equal beats and them manually adjust them, but I love the transient detection. The algorithm is great :)

  • @Korakios said:
    Only workaround is to reset the 16 slices to equal beats and them manually adjust them, but I love the transient detection. The algorithm is great :)

    Indeed, the best on iOS. Horses for courses, etc

  • @robosardine said:

    @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:
    Have you tried Blocs Wave? You can add and remove any slices you want there.

    Really?
    How???

    Yes you can- you can organise your slices in Blocs Wave any way you want.
    Get the part you want flattened first. In order not to lose anything - copy it from one part to another... now it is yours to play with at no risk.. and you can easily go back.
    Now tap the slices and hear the bits you want... Now you can either play it live and add the parts you want- whenever you want or you can put them in by steps (in non live record mode). You can mix the two together... making use of the undo button as you go if you need to.
    This for me is what Blocs Wave is all about- in some ways I find it is vastly underrated. It is pure genius and a totally integral part of my workflow. Whoever came up with it should be given a medal.

    Sorry I don't get it.
    Could you please guide me on how to move slices out of their fixed equal-sized grid?
    These only work for the factory beats without any groove/shuffle/swing applied but never for my own recordings.
    What do you mean by flattening parts?

  • I insist on you can’t move slices . Slices are linked with the zoom level and it’s the only tweak you can do . I redownloaded BlocsWave ,confirmed it , deleted.

  • @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:

    @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:
    Have you tried Blocs Wave? You can add and remove any slices you want there.

    Really?
    How???

    Yes you can- you can organise your slices in Blocs Wave any way you want.
    Get the part you want flattened first. In order not to lose anything - copy it from one part to another... now it is yours to play with at no risk.. and you can easily go back.
    Now tap the slices and hear the bits you want... Now you can either play it live and add the parts you want- whenever you want or you can put them in by steps (in non live record mode). You can mix the two together... making use of the undo button as you go if you need to.
    This for me is what Blocs Wave is all about- in some ways I find it is vastly underrated. It is pure genius and a totally integral part of my workflow. Whoever came up with it should be given a medal.

    Sorry I don't get it.
    Could you please guide me on how to move slices out of their fixed equal-sized grid?
    These only work for the factory beats without any groove/shuffle/swing applied but never for my own recordings.
    What do you mean by flattening parts?

    You have a long audio file that you have imported. Use the left and right drag in bars (they are initially to be found at the extreme left and right of your audio file) to isolate the part you want to work on. This part will then be looping inside the large original audio file. Long tap the box at the top- you will then see a list of options- flatten being one of them. Tap on flatten- then the area you have selected will become the new file to work on in its own right (which is why I suggested making a copy of it- if you had make a copy you will have your original long one and your now little flattened one. If your flattened one is only a bar or two long- you can then easily work on the slice placing that I was mentioning earlier.
    Here are some videos To help you get going with it 🙂

  • @robosardine you should check impc pro2,BM3,ReSlice to see what is moving a slice . The videos are nice ,but it’s not moving/creating slice points :)

  • @robosardine nicely done. And I agree with you about the possibilities here. I'm guessing because Blocs is seen/branded as a loop-buyer it's not credited as much as it should be by many....

  • @robosardine said:
    You have a long audio file that you have imported. Use the left and right drag in bars (they are initially to be found at the extreme left and right of your audio file) to isolate the part you want to work on. This part will then be looping inside the large original audio file. Long tap the box at the top- you will then see a list of options- flatten being one of them. Tap on flatten- then the area you have selected will become the new file to work on in its own right (which is why I suggested making a copy of it- if you had make a copy you will have your original long one and your now little flattened one. If your flattened one is only a bar or two long- you can then easily work on the slice placing that I was mentioning earlier.

    So basically the idea is to cut a groovy audio file into pieces small enough that the fixed grid is applicable, right? Which would mean 16 files for one bar if the groove is totally off the grid...

    Here are some videos To help you get going with it 🙂

    Thank you!
    Interestingly I've never seen anyone demo a loop that is not a perfectly straight groove.

  • @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:
    You have a long audio file that you have imported. Use the left and right drag in bars (they are initially to be found at the extreme left and right of your audio file) to isolate the part you want to work on. This part will then be looping inside the large original audio file. Long tap the box at the top- you will then see a list of options- flatten being one of them. Tap on flatten- then the area you have selected will become the new file to work on in its own right (which is why I suggested making a copy of it- if you had make a copy you will have your original long one and your now little flattened one. If your flattened one is only a bar or two long- you can then easily work on the slice placing that I was mentioning earlier.

    So basically the idea is to cut a groovy audio file into pieces small enough that the fixed grid is applicable, right? Which would mean 16 files for one bar if the groove is totally off the grid...

    Here are some videos To help you get going with it 🙂

    Thank you!
    Interestingly I've never seen anyone demo a loop that is not a perfectly straight groove.

    Yes that’s about it- yes 16 slices is a good amount to work about with. When you play your slices in live record mode they will keep going for as long as you keep your finger on it. You may not have the ability to exactly set the slice points as @Korakios was saying- (other apps would certainly be more useful if you are trying to isolate a specific sample) but that has never seemed to matter to me- I’m usually happy with the slices that Blocs Wave provides.
    It’s certainly worth experimenting with as @JohnnyGoodyear mentioned- there are many possibilities with it.

  • @robosardine said:

    @rs2000 said:

    @robosardine said:
    You have a long audio file that you have imported. Use the left and right drag in bars (they are initially to be found at the extreme left and right of your audio file) to isolate the part you want to work on. This part will then be looping inside the large original audio file. Long tap the box at the top- you will then see a list of options- flatten being one of them. Tap on flatten- then the area you have selected will become the new file to work on in its own right (which is why I suggested making a copy of it- if you had make a copy you will have your original long one and your now little flattened one. If your flattened one is only a bar or two long- you can then easily work on the slice placing that I was mentioning earlier.

    So basically the idea is to cut a groovy audio file into pieces small enough that the fixed grid is applicable, right? Which would mean 16 files for one bar if the groove is totally off the grid...

    Here are some videos To help you get going with it 🙂

    Thank you!
    Interestingly I've never seen anyone demo a loop that is not a perfectly straight groove.

    Yes that’s about it- yes 16 slices is a good amount to work about with. When you play your slices in live record mode they will keep going for as long as you keep your finger on it. You may not have the ability to exactly set the slice points as @Korakios was saying- (other apps would certainly be more useful if you are trying to isolate a specific sample) but that has never seemed to matter to me- I’m usually happy with the slices that Blocs Wave provides.
    It’s certainly worth experimenting with as @JohnnyGoodyear mentioned- there are many possibilities with it.

    I guess it comes down to using Blocs Wave only with perfectly straight loops without any swing, shuffle or groove, or without slicing them at all. The random sample selection is fun indeed, and like with most iOS apps the trick is again to embrace the limitations :D

  • Blocs Wave always seemed like it was 2 features away from being useful to me. There is no MIDI control right and you can't transpose your part/project via a midi keyboard?

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