Yamaha A4000 sampler

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FreeBrick

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Hello, wonder if you guys have any thoughts on the Yamaha A3/4/5K sampler? I bought the fella 4-5 months ago, but have been dubious ever since whether I should keep it or not. I didn't produce nothing yet, it takes too much time to mess with all the functions and heh stuff. Anyone have it/them? What's your opinion? Cons, pros?
Thanks
FreeBrick
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I think you should keep it. Samplers are very useful if you explore all the possibilities (ie not just loop a sample playback). Its my advice

I listented to "Imonia Part VII", a song on your site. Nice site, and nice music too. Just wanted to say. Deep and Etheral pads, nice melodies and arrangements. Welcome to onlineDJ.com man, glad to see you here, part of this community.

Let's talk later, see you around in the forums!
:)
 
Hi ManoOne, thanks for your input. Yep I agree, they are real diverse instruments and a great part of a creative process. I do have the Ensoniq ASR-10 also, and have used it for a bunch of songs earlier. Guess I think it's much easier to learn and faster to work with than the Yamaha. I'll think some more about it...
Glad you like that music and homepage. I'll try to stick around here when I can, thanks. Great site, nice community!
Cheers!
 
A4K

Hi,

I recently got an A4000, and am really impressed by what i've got it to do so far.

I find the filters are very impressive and the effects can give some really dramatic results.

Not quite sure on the loop divide/remix function.
Sometimes i get some interesting 'useful' variations, and other times it's quite dissapointing.
*Quite good for chopping up 'amen'and 'apache' style breaks, but when used on simple steppy rhythms it has issues !!!
Also it can do some interesting stuff with bass loops !

I've still got a lot to learn about the A4K, but so far i'm very impressed.

Rich
 
I've heard from more than one source that with the a3/4/5 you don't even really need any other equipment. Of course I find this kind of hard to beleive. Im actually seriously considering getting one of these to see what its like.


Anyone know a good place to pick one up for a fair price?

/.v
 
Vetch said:
I've heard from more than one source that with the a3/4/5 you don't even really need any other equipment


we... not really.. YES you can do a lot with a sampler, but having a synthesizer is a great addition too. Either a Virus B or a Novation Supernova II, add a lot to your studio.. the sound is "alive" as it's generated by the oscillators (ie NOT sample based synthesis) and it has quite some charm.

It's great to have both a GREAT sampler (+ orchestral CDROMs, Drums CDROM, etc..) AND a great synthesizer.

But yeah, dont buy a sampler AND a fake synthesizer (MOST of the keyboards out there are sample based and it's not worth buying if you have a sampler)

Hope this was clear :D
 
A4000

Yeah you're right Mano,

I use my A4000 with my RM1x (as the sequencer), sometimes i take soundz off the RM1x's tone generator and tweak them in the sampler which can be interesting, but my next buy will probably be one of the following; either a virus, a nord, or a supernova (When i've saved enough cash that is...).

Also use some softsynths (with difficulty) but the results are always thrown into the sampler for further tweaking.

You can do so much with the A3000/A4000/A5000, but i wouldn't say everything.

Rich.
 
A3000 filters are reeal good, some hot trance or deep house or ambient subtleties arise in a soundsample depending which filter type is applied (providing you R willing to break all the rules and/or learn all the rules, and mess with the parameters).
And realtime controlling of a sample's filter parameters can be applied via a Nordlead2 knob (or some other true synthesizer with at least midi out and a filter sweep knob).

Hey! cool tip - If you go into the sampler and assign a function to the A3k's "assignable" button that resets any outside changes to the your initial sample filter settings, this can be very convenient.
warning tip-any filter sweep sent on say midi channel 2 will affect all samples in the program that have had a filter put on them and that are setup to respond to midi channell two.
When you set a sample to respond to a midi channel, you can push the knob underneath the number, it flashes, you hit a note, and whatever channel your synth or sequencer is transmitting on automatically replaces the default of midichannel one. Same for choosing the original, high, and low note mapping of the sample on the A3000.
 
On the A4000/5000, you apply effects on an incoming signal right?
Cause I've made a sound not unlike the synth from Sashas "Expander" and I'm making a wild tune with it.
I'd like to have both my own lowpass filter and an additional highpass filter applied, cause bandpass is far too weak a tool.
 
a4k question

I just got the a4k a few days ago and I am impressed but I have one burning question: what's the best way to use sampled loops with an external sequencer? The only way I could figure out to do this was to have the a4k calculate the bpm, then set the bpm to match on the sequencer...but then if I have another sample at a different tempo, how do I make that jive with the first loop? I tried resample but it seemed very inaccurate? I am new to sampling so if I am missing something conceptually obvious please enlighten me.

thanks
 
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