ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
| Week 7 - Samplers 2 |
 |
|
01 - Would individual percussion samples be assigned to one key or to a keyzone typically?
02 - What is the importance of setting a root note with a sampler?
03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the late 80s/early 90s
04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument?
05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set?
06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers?
07 - Why is the Gigasampler piano patch so large in terms of MBs?
08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers?
09 - Do any samplers offer solid state storage rather than traditional RAM based storage?
10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers?
11- What instruments may benfefit from velocity sensitive samples?
12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups?
13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not?
14 - What editing facilties will a typical hardware sampler offer?
15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling?
16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an octave higher than the original sampled material?
17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage space?
18 - What are the benefits of multisamples? What are the drawbacks?
19 - Why may some samples not want to be 'tracked'?
20 - What is a 'one shot' sample? What instruments may benefit from this kind of sample definition?
21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from vinyl?
22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone?
23 - How are the at; length; and time functions defined in terms of setting a loop on a sampler ?
24 - What is the major problem that you are likely to encounter when making loops?
25 - Imagine a manufacturer has just introduced a new top-of-the-range sampler. What would be the practical benefits of the following features, compared with previous models?
a)More voices
b)More keygroups per program
c)More outputs
d)More RAM
26 - When looping a sample of a single note, what characteristics in the waveform are desirable at the start and end point of the loop?
27 - You have recorded a two-bar segment of drums. Is it better to loop the sample in the sampler, or to get a sequencer to repeatedly trigger the sample?
28 - Why would you sample several notes of different pitches from an instrument?
29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at different volumes? |
Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:27 am |
|
|
seanm
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Posts: 20
|
| Week 7 - Samplers 2 |
|
|
Hi Ben, here's my answers for this week
subject: Week 7 - Samplers 2
01 - Would individual percussion samples be assigned to one key or to a keyzone typically?
To one key, as there is usually no reason to vary their pitch once edited for use.
02 - What is the importance of setting a root note with a sampler?
Setting the root note and matching it to the same note on a midi keyboard will make it easier to ensure the sample(s) triggered are in tune with any other instruments being used.
03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the late 80s/early 90s
As samplers became affordable, dance music began to be produced which relied on sampled sections of older songs, although such things had been done before (Rappers Delight etc.) only as the technology became relatively easy to access and use did the explosion in loop-based music of the late 80’s/early 90’s really take off.
04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument?
Post modern music is defined as that which contains characteristics of all art (music in this case) after modernism and favours eclecticism in form and genre. Samplers are very well suited to this kind of idea, just as tape loops
were in Musique Concrete”. Also Derrida’s ideas about deconstruction also lend themselves very well to the use that samplers are put, deconstructing beats, vocal performances, riffs and whole songs.
05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set?
DJ’s use samplers to trigger samples e.g. vocals or speech, create breaks, create and play loops over mix points.
06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers?
Single in line memory or SIMM
07 - Why is the Gigasampler piano patch so large in terms of MBs?
The Gigfiles Steinway C natural series
This Gigasampler piano patch is a very accurate multisample of the piano with each of the 88 keys sampled individually. Additionally to reflect the nuances of the piano key struck with varying velocity the patch contains 4 velocity levels for each note. Each note is sampled throughout its envelope for between 10-20 seconds. This makes for a very large patch at 800MB.
08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers?
Older 12 bit samplers particularly some AKAI models are considered to produce a certain sound favoured by some, particularly “hard” drum sounds (due to slight distortion). Some also consider their filters to have a particular sonic quality. Some old AKAI samplers also retain their samples when switched off.
09 - Do any samplers offer solid state storage rather than traditional RAM based storage?
Some “phrase samplers” or “grooveboxes” (Yamaha, Boss, Roland and Korg) offer samples and loops stored in ROM (solid state) and RAM for users samples or editing the ROM samples. Samples can often be saved to memory cards (solid state)
10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers?
Until relatively recently different manufacturers samplers saved samples in their own proprietary formats (e.g. Yamaha, AKAI, E-mu).
11- What instruments may benefit from velocity sensitive samples?
Any where the velocity/amplitude of the note affects its timbre.
12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups?
Most monophonic instruments, where one note naturally ends when another begins.
13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not?
Probably, studios are commercial enterprises which need to cater to “allcomers”. While recording artists use hardware samplers studio’s will. Additionally people like to hang on to gear they like and is familiar. Hardware samplers are still considered more reliable than software or rather the computers that they run on.
14 - What editing facilties will a typical hardware sampler offer?
Trim, loop, normalise, timestretch, re-sample, join, splice, mix, tune, reverse, cut, copy, paste, delete,
15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling?
Copyright infringement or stealing as it more commonly known.
16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an octave higher than the original sampled material?
This action will result in the sample playing back at twice it’s original speed and therefore half its length.
17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage space?
Loop if appropriate, reduce sampling frequency, if stereo convert to mono
18 - What are the benefits of multisamples? What are the drawbacks?
They offer a much more authentic representation of the sampled instrument as it might have been sampled every couple of semi-tones or indeed every semi-tone. Multisamples tend to be very large in size as a result.
19 - Why may some samples not want to be 'tracked'?
Any samples which do not require any change in pitch do not need to be tracked, Drums, percussion for instance. Instruments which do not want to be tracked include any where pitch intervals are not set in stone. For example tracking a bending guitar note is very difficult, also trombones, which slide from note to note resist tracking.
20 - What is a 'one shot' sample? What instruments may benefit from this kind of sample definition?
The 'one-shot' trigger mode, where the sample always plays through once to its end, regardless of whether or not the key that has triggered it remains held down. Drums and Percussion instruments might benefit from this approach as might a single vocal sample or an instrument phrase triggered “Live”.
21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from vinyl?
Inconsistencies in a turntables rotation speed will cause variations in pitch.
22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone?
This root note dictates the relative pitch for all samples played in that keyzone.
23 - How are the at; length; and time functions defined in terms of setting a loop on a sampler?
At dictates the start point of the loop.
Length the loop’s length.
Time dictates the actual number of times the looped portion will repeat.
24 - What is the major problem that you are likely to encounter when making loops?
Audible clicks. Zero crossing points should be selected (points where the waveform cycle crosses from it’s positive to negative portion). This is an area of equal amplitude minimising any glitching.
25 - Imagine a manufacturer has just introduced a new top-of-the-range sampler. What would be the practical benefits of the following features, compared with previous models?
a)More voices
More voices would increase polyphony (more keys can be played at one time).
b)More keygroups per program
More keygroups per programme would lead to more accurate multisampling (more separate notes can be sampled, leading to less transposition and more “natural” sounding samples).
c)More outputs
More routing options for samples or programmes. Increasing mixing and processing options.
d)More RAM
More memory for sample and programme playback. Also less necessity to save space by reducing sampling frequencies, looping samples or converting stereo samples to mono.
26 - When looping a sample of a single note, what characteristics in the waveform are desirable at the start and end point of the loop?
Zero crossing points should be selected if possible, (points where the waveform cycle crosses from it’s positive to negative portion). This is an area of equal amplitude minimising any glitching.
27 - You have recorded a two-bar segment of drums. Is it better to loop the sample in the sampler, or to get a sequencer to repeatedly trigger the sample?
When triggering such a sample the only part, which you can guarantee is in synch is the beginning. Unless the loop length is matched exactly to the tempo of the sequencer the timing of the loop will drift over the duration of a song. If however you retrigger the loop every two bars instead of looping it in the sampler, as long as the first beat is quantised to the first beat of every other bar in the sequencer, any timing discrepancies in the loop will be rectified every two bars.
28 - Why would you sample several notes of different pitches from an instrument?
Sounds become very unnatural when transposed far from their original pitch. If you are attempting to simulate a real instrument it is far better to sample at different pitches to minimise this. The more keygroups you have the more pitches are sampled giving a much more “natural” sounding simulation of the instrument. This is known as multisampling.
29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at different volumes?
In order to improve the simulation of an instrument it is also possible to sample notes at different velocities to reflect the timbral effects of playing a note louder or quieter. The result being, a velocity sensitive sample. There are two methods: velocity switching and velocity crossfading. With velocity switching key velocity (how hard the key is hit) dictates which sample will play, with velocity crossfading samples are crossfaded depending on how hard the key is struck. |
|
Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:02 am |
|
|
|
|
Rico1210
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 39
Location: Newcastle, UK |
| answers for Sampling |
|
|
Hi,
here are my answers for Sampling 2
01 - Would individual percussion samples be assigned to one key or to a keyzone typically?
Percussion samples would typically be assigned to an individual key for each sampled instrument.
02 - What is the importance of setting a root note with a sampler?
The root note is the sample that any other notes on the scale are derived from. It is the original sample unchanged. Speeding up, or slowing down the root note creates other notes.
03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the late 80s/early 90s
Samplers were very important in the late 80s/early 90s dance music explosion as they introduced the ability to record sounds or even a small section of music, that could be repeated over and over again. This gave a music making tool to engineers and producers who could not play instruments. In order to keep people dancing, the music used repetitive simple beats often with a looped voice or a piano track.
04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument?
The sampler could be described as a post-modern instrument as it dramatically changed the ways in which sound can be produced. Instead of playing the notes of a musical instrument, the notes can be recorded and arranged. A sampler can emulate any musical instrument, and can also be used as a sythesizer.
05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set?
A DJ could use a sampler during a live set to customize a particular song using short samples, perhaps voice or sound effects. A sampler could also be used to help the transition between songs, or could extend a song by looping a particular section.
06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers?
The most common type of RAM used by samplers is 72 pin SIMM (Single In-line Memory Module)
07 - Why is the Gigasampler piano patch so large in terms of MBs?
The gigasampler piano patch is so large in terms of MBs as it uses high quality multisamples. These samples are full length and are not looped.
08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers?
Artists such as Fat Boy Slim use older 12-bit samplers to achieve an older, more retro sound in their music.
09 - Do any samplers offer solid state storage rather than traditional RAM based storage?
When a sampler is turned off, any material that has been recorded into the RAM will be lost. Therefore most samplers come with a 1.44mb floppy disk drive, which is ok for small samples as a disk will only hold around 15 seconds worth of mono samples. More professional samplers come with the option of hard disk based storage.
10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers?
Samples can be saved in the following formats Akai, AIFF, wav.
11- What instruments may benefit from velocity sensitive samples?
Instruments that may benefit from velocity sensitive samples include guitars and wind instruments. A guitar gives a distinctly different sound when plucked compared to the sound made when strummed. These different sounds can be assigned to the same key, where different velocities trigger the different sample.
12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups?
Samples that may benefit from Mute-Groups are those that make a different sound depending on how played. For instance, drum samples may benefit from mute groups. A drum will make a different sound depending on how hard the skin is struck.
13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not?
Hardware samplers will always have a studio niche as some engineers will prefer to use soft-samplers, whereas others will prefer hardware samplers. Therefore there will always be someone who will want to use a hardware sampler in a studio environment.
14 - What editing facilities will a typical hardware sampler offer?
A typical hardware sampler will offer the following editing facilities: compress, pitch change, time stretch, stereo - mono, normalise, volume change, sample rate convert, looping facilities (cut, copy, paste, clear).
15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling?
When sampling a recording artists work, permission must be granted to use the sample commercially. Otherwise the artist may take legal action against you.
16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an octave higher than the original sampled material?
If a sample is played an octave higher than the original, the timing of the sample will halve. It will be played twice as fast.
17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage space?
A sample could be reduced in size by reducing the sample rate. If a sample has a rate of 44.1kHz, this could be reduced to 22.05kHz to save space. Another way to reduce the size of a sample would be to reduce the bit depth. If a sample has a bit depth of 16bit, this could be reduced to 8bit to save space. A sample could also be reduced in size using a looping technique, or changing the sample from stereo to mono.
18 - What are the benefits of multisamples? What are the drawbacks?
The benefits of multisampling are that the different notes will sound more realistic, or authentic. Speeding up, or slowing down the root note creates other notes in the scale, this will only sound realistic a couple of notes either side. Multisampling allows a larger range of the scale to be covered realistically. The drawbacks of multisampling are that it can be time consuming to record the samples, and also takes a lot of storage space.
19 - Why may some samples not want to be 'tracked'?
Tracking is when the cut-off frequency is increased in proportion to the frequency of the note. This gives such samples as piano or guitar a more realistic sound when changing the frequency. A sample may not want to be 'tracked' if it already sounds realistic in frequency change. Drums are a good examples of this.
20 - What is a 'one shot' sample? What instruments may benefit from this kind of sample definition?
A ‘one shot’ sample is a sample that is played to the end, regardless of how long the key is pressed. Instruments that benefit from ‘one shot’ sampling are: Drums (individual or loops)
21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from vinyl?
If a record is warped or the mechanics of the player are old, this could cause the pitch to change during sampling.
22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone?
Setting a root note is very important in a keyzone as this is the sample that will be speeded up/slowed down to determine the next/last note. Each keyzone across the keyboard will have a designated root note.
23 - How are the at; length; and time functions defined in terms of setting a loop on a sampler ?
The 'at' is the point at which the loop will begin. The loop length is the section of the note that is to be looped. The time is the overall time of the loop.
24 - What is the major problem that you are likely to encounter when making loops?
The major problem likely to be encountered when creating loops is audible faults or clicks where the start and end points join. Care must be taken to achieve a zero crossing point.
25 - Imagine a manufacturer has just introduced a new top-of-the-range sampler. What would be the practical benefits of the following features, compared with previous models?
a)More voices would enable more notes to be played at the same time.
b)More keygroups per program will make the sound more accurate when multisampling.
c)More outputs will enable a greater number of effects modules to be used with the sampler, or would enable samples to be sent to different channels on a mixing desk.
d)More RAM would enable more samples or longer samples, to be used during a session. It would also enable multisampling to be achieved easier. You can never have too much RAM!
26 - When looping a sample of a single note, what characteristics in the waveform are desirable at the start and end point of the loop?
Desirable characteristics when looping a single note are zero crossing points to restrict audible errors, and a similar shape and level of waveform to make the loop sound real.
27 - You have recorded a two-bar segment of drums. Is it better to loop the sample in the sampler, or to get a sequencer to repeatedly trigger the sample?
Is it better to get a sequencer to repeatedly trigger the sample. If the section were looped in the sampler it would eventually drift out of sync with the sequencer. It would be more advisable to set the sample as a ‘one shot’ sample and have the sequencer trigger it every two bars.
28 - Why would you sample several notes of different pitches from an instrument?
Several notes of different pitches would be sampled from an instrument to enable a larger range of notes to be accurately presented. This is how multisampling is performed.
29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at different volumes?
If a note was sampled at different volumes they would be intended to be used in velocity switching or velocity crossfading. Both of which use key velocity to determine which sample plays. |
|
Sun Oct 24, 2004 12:54 pm |
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT. The time now is Sat May 17, 2008 4:07 am
|
|
|
|
| |
