History
Yellow Tools, a German company, created sounds for other samplers for a long time. Then they finally made their own sampler, called Independence, and surprisingly it was loaded with powerful functionality, even approaching Kontakt in it's modular approach.

Independence started out with version 1 with all kinds of bells and whistles - a extended Round Robin facility, plus convolution effects and a complete modular architecture in regards to envelopes and LFO's and the like. It sold quite a few copies. Yellow Tools first distributed through EastWest, then dropped them to attempt distribution with a few other European and American companies, among them SynthAx in Ohio and Best Service in Germany.

Version One came with tons of sounds from Kirk Hunter, the noted string library developer.

Independence then was upgraded to version 2, retitling Independence Pro. An Independence Free was released, adding a included large multi-GB sound set. Independence version 3 was released again later and that as of this writing is the current version.

Best Service has worked with Yellow Tools to release some of their in-house sounds using Independence as a "Player" type of setup, with a custom interface, very similar to Native Instrument's approach with Kontakt. They call it their ENGINE 2 platform.

Most version updates have mostly streamlined the interface and added a few things for ease of use here and there. Version 3 got rid of the Basic Path/Root Folder concept (see below), which was significant.

Two fairly unusual things we can't help but mentioning. One is that Independence lacks any native import ability, besides a inventive way of mapping out incoming single samples. Independence version 1 was released with a Utility called Independence Convertor™, which was a scaled down version of Translator itself, and allows importing of Akai S1000/3000 and SoundFont files. That's it, and incredibly to this day that's STILL it. (This makes Translator invaluable for making the most of the sampler.)

The other is that the interface uses a font that IMHO is incredibly hard to read. Plus the interface has workflow problems. We don't mean to be negative, but hey, that's real-life.

In 2011 Yellow Tools' technology was bought out by MAGIX, the makers of Samplitude and Sequoia and many other professional media apps. It isn't clear as of this writing how far they'll go with it, it's only been recently that they've fully incorporated it into their support channel.

However, Independence remains very powerful and was a major competitor to Kontakt before MachFive 3 or HALion 4 ever appeared.

Synthesis and File Structure
Independence uses a modular structure, allowing an unlimited number of Envelopes and LFO's and modulators on a per-sample basis. Zones are grouped in Sections (just another name for "Group"). Keyswitching, COntroller switching, Controller-crossfading, and Round Robin (called Alternates) are all available.

Other than that, there really is no limitations to Independence as far as structure goes.

Program files use the .ytil extension, and samples can be WAVE or AIFF. The factory samples are in a large image files with the extension .ytif, in the image files folder. These are encrypted and not accessible.

Independence is unique in that it uses a fixed area to store it's Programs AND Sample files. This is called the Basic Path or Root Folder (hereafter called BP/RF). This has some pre-set folders in it. The Programs go into a folder called layers and the Samples go into a folder called audio files. Magix/YT has reserved all the areas for themselves EXCEPT the folders called "Third Party Libraries". All files that Translator creates are contained in "Third Party Libraries" folders in layers and audio files.

A BP/RF does not have to be named anything specific. Independence pre-names these on installation, but different versions of Independence name them differently. What makes a BP/RF a BP/RF is the existence of certain folders, such as layers and audio files (the ones Translator concerns itself with).

The one flexibility Independence gives you is that you can put (or use) sample files anywhere on your hard drives, but they must be aliased (Mac) or shortcut (Windows) from the audio files folder. That's the only way your Program can find the samples.

Independence Program files are also encrypted, meaning that Translator and other Chicken Systems products cannot convert out of the format at all. Chicken System products CAN write into the format though.

Translating and Building Independence Programs

Currently Translator only writes Independence version 1 Program files. This is okay, since all Independence versions can load v1 files, and there are really no additional parameters or functionality that has been added since.

In Format Preferences - Independence, you have the choice of writing or copying samples directly into the audio files or creating shortcuts.

IMPORTANT: Translator currently only recognizes BP/RF's that are named "Independence Data", or end with the words "Basic Path" or "Root Folder".

The Basic Path / Root Folder concept makes figuring out where you are going to create new (or using current) sample files a little tricky. Below are the rules, we've tried to make this as simple for you as possible.

First, a hint: create a Favorite of your BP/RF in Favorites; then, drag anything you want to convert from the Object List on the BP/RF Favorite. This will automatically give you acceptable results. If you have Create Alias/Shortcuts selected, any newly created SAMPLE files will be created as additional folder in your BP/RF, which is okay.

Programs, or Samples - Writing/Copying Files

IMPORTANT: with these objects, it does not matter what you select in either Program or Sample Destination Folders, nor where you drag on the Translator interface. Translator will always write them to the root of their corresponding TPL folder (/layers/Third Party Libraries or /audio files/Third Party Libraries). The single exception is if you choose a folder inside the TPL. So...

• These are always written in the corresponding TPL folder.
• If you destination selection is NOT the BP/RF or within it, Translator will default to the root of the TPL.
• When you convert a Bank, a folder is created to house all the Programs that will be written within.
• When you bulk translate; that is, when you convert a folder or a whole/partial Proprietary Disk, the folder tree is imitated in the TPL or the selected sub-folder in the TPL.

Samples - Creating Aliases/Shortcuts

Using aliases/shortcuts are nice because generally they shield you from managing samples within the BP/RF. In Indepedence itself the alias/shortcut mechanism is transparant. However you do need to know how it works in case you need to manage things at a later time.

• Samples are created normally; they get written in whatever you choose in a Sample Destination Folder. Samples that already are WAVE or AIFF stay where they are (except if you choose Copy Existing Samples in the Master Translation Dialog or Bulk Export). This makes the Sample Destination Folder useful only when you are converting something that doesn't already use WAVE or AIFF.
• Aliases/shortcuts are written in the /audio files/Third Party Libraries/External References folder. There is one alias/shortcut created for every program file created, and is always called "[program name] Samples". This may make for many aliases/shortcuts, but that eliminates the possibility of breaking multiple program's linking by deleting a single alias/shortcut.

Translating Out of Independence Format

Currently this is not enabled in this current version of Translator.