Sample Whore...???

C

Chew_Bear

New member
I have spent the last 2 days downloading as many free samples as I could and already....I have over 15 folders and close to 500+ samples.

1. Is there such a thing as being a "SAMPLE WHORE" and hoarding as many samples as you can just in case you ever want/need something...??? Is this a bit much/overboard...???

Already...I feel like its too much because I have to go through "EACH" and "EVERY ONE" now and re-name and categorize them to how I like. I also have to go thru and see which ones are worth keeping and which ones I don't like and should delete.

AND ON TOP OF THAT....TO MAKE MATTERS WORST....

I still have to go listen thru 500+ songs in my personal collection and see if there is "anything" I could sample from there also.

Is this a natural thing/process for a budding producer...??? To be spending soooo much time finding samples and organizing them..?

How do I keep from getting emotionally attached to certain sounds/samples that I know I will probably never use and therefore can delete and make my library as light as possible..??

Advice/Tips are greatly appreciated.
 
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I do the same man haha..sometimes its a dig day sometimes a beat making day..just make sure u spend time actually sampling the stuff, sometimes u gotta force yourself to stop the search and dig in
 
Chew_Bear said:
I have spent the last 2 days downloading as many free samples as I could and already....I have over 15 folders and close to 500+ samples.

1. Is there such a thing as being a "SAMPLE WHORE" and hoarding as many samples as you can just in case you ever want/need something...??? Is this a bit much/overboard...???

Already...I feel like its too much because I have to go through "EACH" and "EVERY ONE" now and re-name and categorize them to how I like. I also have to go thru and see which ones are worth keeping and which ones I don't like and should delete.

AND ON TOP OF THAT....TO MAKE MATTERS WORST....

I still have to go listen thru 500+ songs in my personal collection and see if there is "anything" I could sample from there also.

Is this a natural thing/process for a budding producer...??? To be spending soooo much time finding samples and organizing them..?

How do I keep from getting emotionally attached to certain sounds/samples that I know I will probably never use and therefore can delete and make my library as light as possible..??

Advice/Tips are greatly appreciated.
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I have (or had now there's a baby in the house) cutting sessions sometimes... I'll literally just chop a 4-bar or 8-bar loop that stands out from a song using audacity and then listen to more music til I find another loop I think I can work or chop.
Then when I'm read to mess about and short on time I just go to the 'loops' folder and find something I fancy chopping up further...
 
having that many samples is only going to cause confusion..download.. listen 2 the good stuff put it aside.. and delete the rest and repeat//
 
I keep all the free samples I download regardless for sound design purposes. I don't delete much of anything since I got a decent harddrive nowadays.
 
18 gigs is what I downloaded over those last 2 days.

Is that a lil much?? Haha ?

There mostly drum kits, one shots, some loops and some instruments. But mostly drum kits and FX.

This was mainly to get as many free sounds as I could to build up a decent 'foundation' of sounds/samples before I purchase Ableton Live and a MAC.

No samples or loops from any songs yet. I still have to go and do some 'real' sample digging. Gonna visit libraries and shops for cd's and vinyls.

I also have to browse my personal collection of around 500 songs for anything I can sample. Im also planning on going thru as many dvds and movies as I can and see if I can sample anything there also.

Most of my work now going forward is goin to be organizing ALL these samples as BEST I can on my hard drive so its easy to navigate and search.

Im also gonna be going thru as many as I can and delete the ones I don't like and duplicates. But...as hard drives are so cheap nowadays...I might just say 'to hell with that' and avoid the extra work of listening to 18 gigs of sounds and just keep it all for 'sound design' purposes.

I just gotta make sure I organize them efficiently so I can find sounds easier when its finally time to produce some beats.

Thanks guys for the tips and suggestions.
 
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I like visiting my friends parents houses (bit weird if your friend ain't there...) and going through their music... At Christmas my wife and I visited her friends dads house (her friend lives a way away and was visiting) and I ended up borrowing about a dozen albums of Cuban and South American folk/jazz stuff from him...
 
That isn't too bad. And it's good that you're grabbing free ones. Just make sure they're all pretty good quality. don't waste your time on poorly produced samples. The only problem I have with having a lot of samples is that it takes forever for me to go through them when I'm looking for something specific and then I hear sounds I like but don't really plan on using right then and there and I usually end up forgetting what sample it is when I want to come back to it.
 
When downloading free samples like I am doing now....

Some sites/downloads come with both WAV and AIFF samples/files and to me seems redundant and essentially gives me a duplicate that I don't need.

Does it matter which one I choose...???

Can I delete the AIFF files and keep the WAV's if thats what I prefer or like...???
 
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Also....

Some of these free samples come with something called a REX file.

Do I need this REX file if WAV is fine...??

My DAW choice is Logic and Ableton...should I keep these REX files just in case...???
 
You have 18 gb of samples in 2 days? Took me from 2010 to 2015 to get to 30gb of drum samples lol.
Rex is just a file format some daws can read. Wavpack's better imo unless reason's involved.
 
To OP: I used to be a sample whore aswell. Problem was that i never fully listened all the songs and propably missed alot of ill sh!t. Nowadays my sample process is the total opposite. I spend more time listening 1-2 albums at a time and when i'm done with them i go get some more.
 
I usually take a day (usually Sundays) and just dig for hours. Then when the week starts I have stuff to use and I don't distracted with looking for something to flip (which is hella time consuming if you're picky with sounds). Over the past year or so, I've collected a dozen folders of samples plus I rip audio from CDs (I may dive into vinyl one day as well).
 
Also...Some of these samples come with...

.txt, .alg, .pdf, .doc files that I don't know what its for.

If it just taking up space and I don't need them...Can I delete these also...???

Thanks.
 
2 folders of top notch sounds will go a lot farther than 10 folders of shit. For one, you are more efficient since you don't have to go through tons of stuff to find a sound you like, and two, you're work will be higher quality if you start out with better sounds. If you care about your craft then invest in a few high quality paid sample kits. Even if you only get a couple kits, you will be able to mix, match, and layer for months before you start running out of ways to combine them.

AIFF and wav files are both lossless formats, so it doesn't matter which ones you keep.
 
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pumppuhaulikkomies said:
I spend more time listening 1-2 albums at a time and when i'm done with them i go get some more.
Click to expand...

Similar here. I've currently set myself a 40 quid monthly vinyl budget...
If I dig at charity shops it goes a fair way; between 50pence and 3 quid a record
If I use my local record shop I tend to get better records but the cost increases; between 4 and 12 quid (6 to 8 average)
definitely less samples than when I YouTubed it but the process, workflow and output are all much improved.
 
I'm not sure if you want to, but using a notebook is great. I put down categories such as "deep kicks" or "hard kicks" (as an example). Then I write down what I like. But I suppose you can do that on your cpu as well. Just make a couple folders and go from there. Also get on sampling stuff from your music collection. Sampling songs you have listened to before, possibly many times, gets you a feeling that is great.
 
darkes said:
That isn't too bad. And it's good that you're grabbing free ones. Just make sure they're all pretty good quality. don't waste your time on poorly produced samples. The only problem I have with having a lot of samples is that it takes forever for me to go through them when I'm looking for something specific and then I hear sounds I like but don't really plan on using right then and there and I usually end up forgetting what sample it is when I want to come back to it.
Click to expand...

On the subject of "quality"...

1. How do I 'tell' what's good quality and whats bad...??? I should be good if my samples are WAV/AIFF and not mp3 right...???

One of my speakers is "f#$cked'. Im gonna have to use DJ headphones for monitoring my samples. I have a closed back (pioneer) and open back (off brand/lower price point) headphones .

1. What am I supposed to be listening for in my samples to discern quality...??

2. Hiss, pops and pretty much any 'background' noise that sounds 'out' of the ordinary from the 'original' sample/instrument would be considered 'bad' right...???

On a side note...if your a beginner producer and you have "never heard specific/certain instruments" before...

1. How could/would you tell if the sample is 'raw' or 'organic'...VS...'processed', 'distorted' or poorly recorded...??? Slim chance right...???

Saw a youtube video made by kosmic sound in the UK and they said to use open back as it produces a more 'natural' sound vs closed back which tends to heighten the lows/bass.

1. Should I use the closed back or open back headphones...? I have mostly drum samples, percussion and bass lines/loops.

Thanks guys.
 
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