Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
At 20:40 +0200 4/27/98, Woehni wrote: > Could you explain to me the basics of a sampler?? Like: how it works , >what can be done with it , how they are used in homestudio setups , what I >can do with a sampler and a computer , names and brands of good samplers >and wha I should expect to pay on the used market.............and so >forth......... Yup, a sampler is a little digital audio recorder/player. Generally a sampler can: - record audio from an analog or digital in, transfer samples over SCSI or MIDI to a computer, save/load the sounds on a SCSI drive (or CD-ROM). - given a raw recording (sample), specify where to start playing, where to stop, where to begin and end looping (if at all, forward/backwards/both). - truncate (like cropping in a graphics program, getting rid of the portions of the sample that you're not using), normalize (make the signal as loud as it can be without clipping), compress, equalize, mix audio, etc etc etc. - combine multiple samples by layering them or spreading them across the keyboard, dealing with how their pitches relate to the keys struck - VCF, VCA, LFO and performance control over them, just like a synth - assigning patches to MIDI channels, transposing, volume, panning I think of a sampler as a way to grab some sound, loop it if I like and mess with the pitch, amplitude, and timbre (as much as one can with a VCF) dynamically. Samplers are great for drum sounds, capturing loops, and just about anything you'd want to use a MIDI-controlled sound generator for. However, I don't particularly use my S-760 as a synth; I have other devices with better filters and more control. Notes on various models: The EPS-16 has what I consider perhaps the best user interface ever designed when it comes to using keyboards in live performance. You can have 8 instruments which are mapped to either internal sounds or MIDI transmit channels, specify a key range for each one, toggle them on and off, and create presets with combinations of enabled instruments and keyboard splits/transposing. It's also pretty easy to find used ones at decent prices. The sound quality isn't quite what you'd get in a new device however. The S-760's ability to hook up an external mouse and monitor are wonderful (you need to buy the expansion board to do this, but it also gives you extra ins/outs). The con of the S-760 is that it's not one of the more popular ones (Emu and Akai?), so if you'll be buying your sounds, you'll find less of a selection. But if you're making your own sounds, give it a look. A friend loves his Kurzweil K2000 (now there's the 2500) because it's also a fantastically flexible synth. I almost went that route, but the 2000's limited polyphony (perhaps addressed in the 2500?) turned me off, plus there was something a little lifeless about some of the factory sounds. I know people with Akais and Emus who seem to like them. The Emu fans seem to like the filters in particular. There are now samplers that run on your computer. On the Mac there's VSamp (see http://www.kagi.com/smaug/vsamp/ ) and I imagine there's something similar for Windows. It's been awhile since I checked it out. You're subject to the computer's often less-than-stellar sound hardware, but it might be a fun and easy way to get an idea for what the technology can and can't do. Feel free to ask more! That's all I have time to type right now. Doug -- Doug Wyatt doug@sonosphere.com Sonosphere (electric/improv music) http://www.sonosphere.com/ "Accidental Beauties" CD release: http://www.sonosphere.com/wyatt/