EZKey2 – Why no endings?

[Colin Barratt]

Hi. I’m a new user to EZKeys and recently purchased EZKeys 2 along with an additional couple of packs.

Today was the first time I have really had a block of time to sit down with it to try and put a song together and learn a little of what it can do.

I was more than surprised to see that although there are Intros; Pre-chorus; chorus; bridge; verse sections, there are no ‘endings’!

Now I’m just a humble guitarist and also play bass. Most of my songs (indeed every one) has an ending. Am I just missing something here? I can fade out in my DAW but am baffled by there being no ‘endings’ included in the software.

I’d be interested to hear other folks’ views on this. It seems to me like a glaring omission.

Thanks
Colin

EZkeys version: 2.0.2
Operating system: Windows 10

Topic

[Billy 86]

Great question. I have quite a few SD3 and EZ Bass libraries, and only a handful have endings as well. You can create endings by hand in the grid editor, but it can be tedious. For EZK, the original EZK (which I also have) came with a small selection of basic chord articulations such as a “rolling” chord I’ll stretch out to ring at the end. Essentially an arpeggiated root/third/fifth final chord. Or, again, by hand in the grid editor.

SD3, EZD, EZ Keys 1&2, EZ Bass. Win10, i9/9900, all SSDs, 64g RAM, Cakewalk, Studio One

[Glenn Stanton]

because all great songs either end together on a single set of notes or have a fade? i generally will take an intro section and edit it to create an ending since most of my stuff i’m looking for a tie in with the lead intro of the song, or simply want to use a sparse intro section as the means of closing. depends on the emotional aspect – a ballad will have a different ending than a rock or funk number – even if it were several instruments all hitting a final note for example.

EZkeys version: 2.0.2
Operating system: Windows 11

Glenn

www.runnel.com
www.reverbnation.com/fossile

[Vance_2]

I agree. It is a very serious oversight in an otherwise great set up.

EZkeys version: 2.0.2

[DonTardiff]

No endings – it’s the reason I will not purchase. Hard to believe this is not provided. It’s not mentioned anywhere in the sales literature. I never use fades. Toontrack should provide info/video with their suggestions for “How to end a song using EZKEYS”. I use PG Music – Real Band (DAW) with Real Tracks. All instruments have natural sounding endings, including hundreds of piano tracks. EZKEYS has a lot of nice features, but PG Music real tracks blows it away when it comes to song writing and arranging. Check it out, there’s nothing else like it!

Don

• This post was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by DonTardiff.

[Glenn Stanton]

+1 for Band In A Box (BIAB) which has a peer product called “Real Tracks” which is awesome as noted by DonTardif.

definitely do not limit yourself to a single tool or technique to get the job done.

Hookpad is my primary composition tool and use the MIDI export of the drums w/ some edits. Scaler is also helpful to add interest with chord voicing, riffs, and modulation ideas. I use the Toontrack products to create great piano and bass parts (again by re-creating the song structure in EZK and dragging that into EZB), and i sometimes use the EZD for the drums (although the Hookpad drum MIDI plus Addictive Drums are my go-to).

i use BIAB (re-create the song structure) and find a style i like (not even necessarily the same as  the primary composition work), then use the Real Tracks to create solos – all kinds of instruments – keyboards, horns, guitars, etc played by top tier studio musicians. really a great way to top off a song with a hot sax solo or guitar solo performance…

EZkeys version: 2.0.2
Operating system: Windows 11

Glenn

www.runnel.com
www.reverbnation.com/fossile

• The post has been modified 2 times, last modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Glenn Stanton.

[Billy 86]

Not ideal, but if you look in the EZK1 folder, there’s a folder (I think it’s called Chords) that comes with EK1 that has some really  basic single chord articulations. There’s a “rolling chord” that can work as a final chord in a song, or get you close and you can tweak in Edit Grid.

SD3, EZD, EZ Keys 1&2, EZ Bass. Win10, i9/9900, all SSDs, 64g RAM, Cakewalk, Studio One

[Scott]

Plus there is a folder in the EZkeys1 folder called FX and Endings.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Jimmy Borja]

Hi Scott, I just want to be sure about this before upgrading to EZkeys2. So there’re no folder for Endings like there is on EZkeys1?  I was even hoping that Toontrack would have expanded the Ending options on the upgraded version. Is it possible for Toontrack to restore and expand it on 2 as an update? Thanks.

EZkeys version: 1.2.5

[Scott]

Jimmy Borja wrote:

Hi Scott, I just want to be sure about this before upgrading to EZkeys2. So there’re no folder for Endings like there is on EZkeys1?  I was even hoping that Toontrack would have expanded the Ending options on the upgraded version. Is it possible for Toontrack to restore and expand it on 2 as an update? Thanks.

EZkeys version: 1.2.5

The MIDI from EZkeys 1 is included in EZkeys 2 which includes the Endings folder.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Glenn Stanton]

any way for v2 owners to get the v1 content?

EZkeys version: 2.0.2
Operating system: Windows 11

Glenn

www.runnel.com
www.reverbnation.com/fossile

[Scott]

Glenn Stanton wrote:

any way for v2 owners to get the v1 content?

EZkeys version: 2.0.2
Operating system: Windows 11

Sure. EZkeys2 includes the full MIDI content from the legacy version.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Glenn Stanton]

ah. gotcha in the bottom of EZKeys 1 library i see FX and Endings (all 12 of them ) i’ll likely stick to using the intros (there are a lot to choose from in the EZKeys and the extensions) and just edit to fit as needed

EZkeys version: 2.0.2
Operating system: Windows 11

Glenn

www.runnel.com
www.reverbnation.com/fossile

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