Got Samplers?

E

endoraver

Guest
Ok, real basic question... I come from producing, but i don't see the need for samplers... Besides looping a loop (hehe!) why would u use such a machine... Everywhere i see people and adds mentionning the this is the king of sampling or sampling-based music... What's the point? Find your own bass drums and snares and make your own beats with a sequencer??? My main question though, is what is the deal with rackmount samplers like the Yamaha ones?
 
i am glad you've pointed this out.
I am a musician myself, and my background being classical piano, I am still wondering why people would loop things up.

so I agree with you, but ... but I can make a good point also, to make you love samplers as much as I do ;)

Now.. Im going to make a point that will make you want a sampler ;) i STILL dont like looping, but i love samplers.. why?

Because you can use a sampler without using loops. If you get a sampler, you can get CDROMs (akai, etc..) with wonderful KEY-MAPPED-INSTRUMENTS

What is it? basically you can use a sampler AND PLAY THE NOTE yourself.. and when you press a C# for example, with a mapped cello, you will hear a realistic cello playing C#

This concept turns the sampler into a really different machine if you ask me... I love beautiful voices.. well I got the collection called "Symphony of Voices" and I was able to play the most beautiful pads/voices of the planet, but I played the melodies myself! This is a good use of a sampler.

Basically you sequence it just as you are sequencing a synthesizer, but the sound's oscillator is a sample. dont mean this sample is a whole sog or a drumbeat... as explained above.

Hope you are following me here...


Another example... you mentionned drums. Yes, I don't see th epoint of using someone else's beat either... BUT.. but i like the fact that you can assign any sound to the keys... let's say.. take your frying pan, hit it with a spoon (follow me here hehe). record this sound in your computer, open it in sound ofrge and tweak it around, compress, etc..

You can actually load this WAVE in your sampler, and hit the keys (or send some notes from your sequencer).. BOOM! and reBOOM! you are actually playing with a frying pan at the tip of your fingers! and you can trigger this on different semitones, or map some other sounds you captured... and you have a custom drum-kit


voila

:) i hope you'll enjoy reading this post. I believe I point out some important facts about samplers.
 
simply because the sampler is SO versatile. You can sample anything you can actually hear, and then play with it.

Also - it lets you load in sounds you couldn't otherwise use. For instance - say I need a particular Rhodes Piano type sound and don't like any in my synths - I can just find a suitable sample on a sample cd - or off the internet (i don't mean a sample frmo a song - i mean just 1 note played on its own) and then load it into the sampler.

I can load my drum kit sounds into the sampler - ones i've made myself and those off sample cd's and use it as a powerfull drum machine basically.

I never use the loop function to loop phrases - but often if i have a pad that last for 3 seconds - i can set it to loop alternately (i.e. forward----backward---forward----etc etc) and make it last forever - i.e. as long as i need it to in the context of the song.

I don't agree with ripping phrases out of music and pasting them back together as blocks and loops - thats not making music - its building a wall of audio - with bricks that were never yours to begin with.

I have three samplers now and love them to bits. They perfectly complement my synths - especially the analog ones which i can't control via midi etc - i can sample a phrase i play on them, or a note - then play it back from the sampler in the sequence.
 
Thanks A LOT for the time you all took to reply to my post. I was aware of all these features just not as open minded about this... So, now when i hear of an artist that makes "sampled-based" music i'll know what its all about... The looping thing is something i WOULD infact use though but on a sampler with pads of course... like on the Yamaha SU200. Also, the key mapping thing would really be amazing. I'd go to www.analoguesamples.com and download a classic 303 or Juno synth sound and actually play it like it where my own (minus the real time control of course).
 
But don't forget...

Whereas a TB303, for example, changes the behavoir of components in its electrical circuits to change pitch and other parameters - a sampler does it digitally. While the perticular note u sampled will sound the same - the further you play on the keyboard from the original sampled pitch - the stranger it will sound.

This isn't a problem with most synthesiser sounds because theres no natural sound our ears compare it to - but sampling a piano well is notoriously hard! Try it - you'll cringe.
 
hi, long time occasional lurker here.

also apologies for digging this old thing up!

as spoken about above, *KEY MAPPED INSTRUMENTS* - i got to thinking, as you can sample any sound, is there a software out there that can take that sound, analyse it, decide what note it is (or nearest to) & then create a range of clones that are *KEY MAPPED* ?

even if it was some clank or thud sound that would get a barely noticable end result, to have some prog that would try anyway, regardless of the type or length of sound you give it..?

that would be cool
 
Loops still have a place even if you're not sampling other people's music.

You can take a sample of a musician's live performance and loop it. A human player has a different groove than a machine does.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top