ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
| Week 7 - Samplers 2 |
 |
|
Hi,
Firstly, before I set the questions please note that I have uploaded a short practical to the upload site - it is a .zip file in the Sampling directory. It's a short practical that shouldn't take much more than an hour or so to do.
Ok, here are the questions;
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?
_________________
ben@audiocourses.com |
Tue Oct 14, 2003 12:39 am |
|
|
Albow
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 27
Location: Spain |
|
|
|
Hi Guys, as I said in the class, I've come up short with this week's, but perhaps what I've done might be useful to some of you. I lot of stuff I just thought about it and wrote down my ideas. I could sure use some hints for the stuff I've been unable to answer or gone wrong on. 
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?
The root note in the sampler will be more realistic on that note. As its
pitch is stretched from its root, it will gradually become less realistic.
The root note in a scale is that which the ear identifies more readily with
the scale. It may be an idea to match the two up.
03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the
late 80s/early 90s
Dance music at that point was based on drump loop samples and a bass groove
that more often than not sampled from a soul or funk track from the 60s or
70s. Catchprases were scattered or repeated through the track, together
with well known orcestrated classical movements. Even the more innovative
forms of the genre used samples of their own compositions and repeated and
sped up/ slowed down the tempos to create and release tension in the track.
This was used to build-up / let-go effect for those on the dancefloor.
04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument?
Pot-modernism can be said to be concerned with history coming to an end,
either of history itself, or of the modern era. Each cultural phenomenon
in the post-modern era is thought to be consisting of concepts that are
taken from the past and mixed up and reborn as mutations of past phenomena.
Samplers would seem to be a perfect example of how such things can happen
in music. Old music is scoured for samples of its best moments, which are
put together to create a novel combination, or are modified beyond almost
all recognition so that the source retains its commercial appeal and can
presented as something new.
05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set?
06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers?
72 pin SIMM ??
07 - Why is the Gigasampler piano patch so large in terms of MBs?
Its samples are not looped, as they are with hardward-based samplers. With
GigaSampler, the full decay of a given instrument's sound is captured,
providing heretofore impossible realism. This requiers far more storage to
capture all bases.
08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers?
12-bit bit samplers are used specifically for an old-skool crunchy sound
that have been used throughout hip-hop. I would imagine that Fatboy Slim
would prefer the texture of that sound, and to use and recreate it on his
own records as opposed to using a more clinically "perfect" sound on
digital. After all, if everyone simply used digital because it is
technologically advanced, they would all sound the same. This is an
example of how digital equipment has not managed to match older equipment
in terms of providing warm, distorted, more natural sounds that appeal to
the ear.
09 - Do any samplers offer solid state storage rather than traditional RAM
based storage?
Yes, an example of this is the SSFDC which is a solid state floppy disk.
Also known as Smart Media, it is available as storage cards. They are
based on the principle of NVRAM (Non-volatile RAM), and as such contain ROM
up to 128Mb. An example is the Roland SP505-Groove Sampling Workstation.
10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers?
.WAV files and midi files are the main formats. These may be the types of
files that they are saved as, but the sampler may have a converter so that
different types of formats can be converted on the system. More often
however, the format will be changed first by software on a PC or Mac and
then loaded into the sampler in the required format.
11 - What instruments may benfefit from velocity sensitive samples?
Acoustic instruments benefit from velocity sensitive samples. Eg piano,
acoustic guitar. This is because the idea of velocity sensitivity is that
the keyboard can mimic the volume of the instrument, dependent on the force
with which the key is stuck, so that more pressure will produce a louder
sound and applying gentler pressure will provide a softer sound.
12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups?
Any drum sample, inparticular the snare. Mute groups allow only one timbre
per group to sound at any one time. Therefore to have a central, crisp
snare which dominates the sound, the snare would benefit from this feature.
13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not?
This would depend very much on how the development of the network as the
computer over coming decades. Also on how you define hardware sampler. I
will answer on the basis that a hardware sampler is not one which contains
no SW at all, but that is a dedicated hardware component. At the moment
the hardware samplers are still being produced and newer versions being
released. I would imagine that this will continue up to the point when
individual's computers become terminals hooked up to a supercomputer that
contains all the applications, processing power and storage one needs.
These will be billed on a pay-per-use basis.
14 - What editing facilties will a typical hardware sampler offer?
automatic pitch detection, automatic BPM detection, automatic generation of
drum-map programs, keygroup sorting and removing of unused samples
15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling?
When you sample somebody else's music, you are using their copyrighted
intellectual property. To do this and release the product you will require
their permission which they may or may not give. Otherwise, you will have
to settle a considerable legal bill.
16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an
octave higher than the original sampled material?
The speed at which the sample will played will be double that of the
original.
17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage
space?
By compressing or zipping each file, or by merging 2 files into one track
where they are to be played concurrently.
18 - What are the benefits of multisamples? What are the drawbacks?
The benefits are that more realistic representation of the sound can be
achieved all the way through the scale. The drawback is that this requires
many different samples be available along the scale for more accurate
reproduction - stretching a note in pitch will make the sample sound more
artificial - and this takes up more storage and processing power.
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?
A one shot sample is one that is not converted into a loop. The sample
will be inserted on single occasions. Quick, explosive sounds such as
those used by Fairlight keyboards, simlulating an orchestra playing a
crashing note, or a drum burst would seem most likely suited to this.
21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from
vinyl?
If the vinyl is warped, the pitch may not be constant.
22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone?
The root note is the note that will most closely resemble the target sound.
This should be set nearer to the notes that will be played most. For
example, if a guitar solo is to be simulated, then as more high notes are
to be played, it would suit the sound better to put the root note higher up
the scale.
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?
That the loop is perfect and loops smoothly. If there are any faults in
the loop they will be heard over and over and will irritate.
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
The more outputs available, the more instruments or sources can be
connected to the sampler simultaneously. This would mean a greater number
of sounds could be fed into the sample at once, creating a thicker, more
layered sound.
d)More RAM
More RAM would cater for all the above. If you simply added the above
features but no RAM, the system may have processing issues such as latency
problems.
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?
You could play them all at once and have a chord, or several notes in
harmony.
29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at
different volumes? |
|
Mon Oct 20, 2003 12:21 am |
|
|
|
|
mommi
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Posts: 47
Location: Tallinn, Estonia |
|
|
|
Hi,
Seems both Albow and I are in the need for good comments there. Would you take it Ben?
My answers follow. Some are missing, some just improvised.
<b>01 - Would individual percussion samples be assigned to one key or to a keyzone typically?</b>
As far as I get it, keyzones or keygroups are used for making a range of keys to use the same sample. Different pitches are made out of the sample by playing it back at different speeds. Individual percussion samples each represent a different percussion instrument, so it seems more appropriate to assign each one to its own key.
<b>02 - What is the importance of setting a root note with a sampler?</b>
The root note of a sample is where the sample is played back untransposed. Sounds for other notes are derived from the root note by varying the playback speed of the sample.
<b>03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the late 80s/early 90s</b>
The two quotes below just contain interesting points for me. I suspect I'm far from answering that question. Nevertheless, it seems that what is described below, could well be done with samplers. Of course, the samplers weren't there in the 1970s yet...
From <url>http://www.lambethmusic.co.uk/student/ShowContent.asp?cid=24</url>:
<i>In 1977 a young DJ named Larry Leven moved from New York to Chicago(The windy city). Because there weren't many clubs there the promoters held parties in disused warehouses. Leven had already started cutting up bits of songs so that he could repeat the same section over and over like a Mantra. He did this so that people would carry on dancing. Another pioneer was called DJ Knuckles. Into the early eighties drum machines were becoming available (notably the Roland 909). DJ Knuckles began to play the drum machine along with his records to emphasise the repeated beat. This eventually became the 4/4 four to the floor sound that you still hear in House music today.</i>
...
<i>Around this time (1991-92) two DJ's called Fabio and Grooverider started to mix speeded up House Music and the now popular Hip Hop music with some of the Hardcore Techno records. This fusion of lots of different influences became know as Jungle. Jungle used a lot of breakbeats, which are essentially drum loops that are cut up and stuck together. It also used the dub (very low) basslines from reggae music and the MC's from Hip Hop.</i>
<b>04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument?</b>
From <url>http://www.jahsonic.com/Technology.html</url>:
<i>Postmodernism "signals a move away from the self-enclosed world of the avant-garde back into the realm of day-to-day life" (Collins, 1992, p. 328). Technology has helped to bridge the gaps between high and popular culture.</i>
From <url>http://www.jahsonic.com/PostModernism.html</url>:
<i>One of the least contestable features of postmodernism is its refusal to accept the hierarchy of value and élitism implied in the distinction between high culture and popular culture.</i>
Another point there were I definitely don't pretend to say I know what the matter is really about  . Looking at the two quotes above may I suggest just one idea: the sampler enables you to take sounds from "high" culture (taking samples from performance of people who are of high-class and educated in playing their instruments) and reuse/edit/loop etc them whenever you like. This effectively brings the "high" culture closer to the popular culture, or blur the boundaries, so in some sense the sampler could be said to be a post-modern device.
<b>05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set?</b>
<b>06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers?</b>
Volatile RAM
<b>07 - Why is the Gigasampler piano patch so large in terms of Mbs?</b>
<url>http://www.bigfishaudio.com/4DCGI/detail.html?823</url>
Because of extensive use of multisampling. The Gigasampler piano patch includes up to 10 velocity zones, with or without pedal string resonance, and 22 to 42 samples per layer.
In addition to the above, there is no looping used for sustained part, all the samples are full-length (got that from Albow, thanks )
<b>08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers?</b>
As it often happens, properties once considered as problems or disadvantages (distortion, noise) are later esteemed because of the "characteristic sound" they offer.
<b>09 - Do any samplers offer solid state storage rather than traditional RAM based storage?</b>
Yes. There are samplers using so called flash memory cards (SmartMedia or SSFD, Solid State Floppy Disk Card).
<b>10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers?</b>
Depends on vendor. WAV, AIFF, or some kind of proprietary format like Akai or Ensoniq use.
<b>11 - What instruments may benefit from velocity sensitive samples?</b>
All acoustic instruments that have their timbre dependent on how loud they are played (as is usually the case). Strings, winds, pianos ...
<b>12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups?</b>
Mute groups allow only one sample from the group sound at any given time. It is useful for instruments capable of different sounds, but only one at a time. Plucked or bowed strings come to mind. Or just different hits on drums - you could put different sounds of snare into the mute group, for example.
<b>13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not?</b>
Yes I do think so. Maybe not quite always, it is hard to make such statements. But they have an advantage of performance, at least.
<b>14 - What editing facilties will a typical hardware sampler offer?</b>
Cut, copy, paste, trim, fade up/down, merge, time-stretch, pitch-shift, EQ and filtering, looping.
<b>15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling?</b>
Taking and using sound excerpts from recordings of someone else is a subject to the copyright law. It means, if the author has not been dead over 70 (50 in USA) years, his/her or the copyright owner's permission must be sought to use these samples.
<b>16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an octave higher than the original sampled material?</b>
An octave higher means doubling the frequency. On a sampler, this is done by doubling the playback speed. So the duration of the sample will diminish two times.
<b>17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage space?</b>
1) If it is a sample from an instrument with some kind of sustain sound, use looping in the sustain part of the sample. This way sounds of arbitrary length can be produced without increased storage requirements.
2) Lower the sampling frequency or bit resolution.
<b>18 - What are the benefits of multisamples? What are the drawbacks?</b>
Multisamples help to create more realistically sounding instruments. The keyboard is divided into regions, each has its own sample. Also different key velocities can be made to trigger different samples.
The drawbacks are much greater storage requirements and more work involved.
<b>19 - Why may some samples not want to be 'tracked'?</b>
Tracking is when the filter cutoff frequency is made dependent on the pitch being played. In nature, it is not always the case that the prominent frequency bands move along with the pitch of the sound. The human voice, for example, has got the so-called formants in it's spectrum, these are more or less stable prominent frequency bands. I would imagine if these bands were represented by filters, it would not be a good idea to make their frequency to change along with the pitch.
<b>20 - What is a 'one shot' sample? What instruments may benefit from this kind of sample definition?</b>
The one shot trigger mode is the mode where the sample playback will always continue until it's natural end, note-off messages are ignored. When new playback is triggered while the earlier one still sounding, it will be played on top of that. This is in contrast to the retrigger mode where the earlier sound will be stopped and the new one then played back.
This option works well with short drum samples.
<b>21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from vinyl?</b>
Instabilities in the desk turning speed cause it's pitch to change, as well as does vinyl warping.
<b>22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone?</b>
As I get it, the root note is the one where the sample should be played back as it is, ie no transposing applied. Playback of other notes in the keyzone includes pitch transformation by altering the playback speed.
<b>23 - How are the at; length; and time functions defined in terms of setting a loop on a sampler ?</b>
I would suppose 'at' determines the loop start position, 'length' has to do with the looped section's length. But 'time'
<b>24 - What is the major problem that you are likely to encounter when making loops?</b>
Clicks occurring on transitions from the loop end to its start. To avoid this, it is advisable to set the loop points so that the signal crosses zero line on both loop ends.
<b>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?</b>
<b>a)More voices</b>
That sampler would be able to simultaneously play back more voices independently of each other.
<b>b)More keygroups per program</b>
This would allow to extend the use of multisampling, as more keyzones can be defined and, consequently, more samples be used to represent an instrument. The net result - more realistically sounding instruments.
<b>c)More outputs</b>
Greater flexibility to use different outboard effects for different voices simultaneously, or to have the voices under different channels of a mixing desk.
<b>d)More RAM</b>
More RAM would increase the amount of sample data that the memory can hold.
This would allow to use longer samples, or more of them simultaneously. If more voices and more keygroups are showed in the spec, it is wise to expect more RAM also, as without more RAM, these features could not yield the desired result.
<b>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?</b>
The waveform should have a more or less repetitive pattern. The start of the loop should be placed at the same location relative to the pattern as the end point. The signal at these points should cross the zero line.
<b>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?</b>
It is better to trigger it repetitively. Looping in the sampler works best for loops in the sustained part of the sample.
<b>28 - Why would you sample several notes of different pitches from an instrument?</b>
Because that way a more accurate sounding instrument can be produced. If the sampler doesn't have a sample exactly corresponding to the note being played, that note is derived from another sample by pitch-shifting it through varying the playback speed. This tends to change the timbre as well, and is acceptable only in modest amounts of pitch-shifting. Having multiple samples, at different pitches, you could construct an instrument by means of keyzones. There each zone is assigned it's own sample, and fewer notes must be derived from each individual sample.
<b>29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at different volumes?</b>
My intention would be to create an instrument and use different samples for different key velocities. Instruments tend to change their timber along with how loud they are played. Having samples of the same note at different volumes at your proposal allows to take that fact into account by assigning these samples to different velocity zones.
Last edited by mommi on Thu Oct 23, 2003 12:17 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
Mon Oct 20, 2003 5:54 pm |
|
|
Fenderocks
Joined: 09 Aug 2003
Posts: 26
Location: Music City, USA |
|
|
|
01 - Would individual percussion samples be assigned to one key or to a keyzone typically? Depending if you didn’t like the way it sounded, then it would be appropriate to assign to a different key.
02 - What is the importance of setting a root note with a sampler? The sound would be more realistic and would be better, opposed to having it set differently because the sound it makes would be more fake.
03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the late 80s/early 90s? Because the music was made by using samples, some were made up to intensify the bring in of the track or towards the middle for dance music to catch the listener.
04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument? Because the use of samplers first started only a few used them after the dance exploding in the 80 it has become a typical item used very frequently even in concert for more rap and hip hop artist not forget pop music.
05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set? All right we a have a hip hop artist flowing to a beat on stage, by all the equipment boss and other companies have came out with, with a push of a button you can bring an just about any noise or drum beat you want instantly.
06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers?
07 - Why is the Gigasampler piano patch so large in terms of MBs? Using a gigasampler piano patch the samples aren’t looped so a lot more space is needed.
08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers? With all the new digital gear that comes out we have the quality is perfect, “a little too perfect” perfect enough to so fake, with the 12 bit sample you will get more of a rough sound, that was more warmth to it, and I’m sure he’s mastered the 12 bit with so much more out there he just sticks to what he knows best.
09 - Do any samplers offer solid-state storage rather than traditional RAM based storage? Yes, by the use of, flash cards and solid-state floppy disk cards.
10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers? Really depends on what you got, Wav, Mp3, and AIFF are some.
11 - What instruments may benfefit from velocity sensitive samples? Any instrument you can’t plug in. as far as Acoustic guitars, pianos and so forth. When the velocity sensitive samples key is stuck, the more pressure that apply will produce a louder sound but when applying gentler pressure will provide a softer sound.
12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups? Any drum samples, by using the mute-group it allows only one timbre at one time.
13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not? Yes, it makes life a little easier.
14 - What editing facilties will a typical hardware sampler offer? Cut, copy, paste, EQ and filtering, trim, fade up/down, merge, time-stretch, pitch-shift, and looping.
15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling? You must ask, not steal.
16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an octave higher than the original sampled material? By making the sample an octave higher it will have double the frequency.
17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage space? Double up the tracks and lower the samples frequency.
18 - What are the benefits of multisamples? What are the drawbacks? You get more of a realistic sound, vs. different samples can be triggered on different key velocities.
19 - Why may some samples not want to be 'tracked'? Tracking happens when the filter cutoff frequency is made dependent on the pitch being played. Sometimes it’s better to not have the frequency to change along with the pitch.
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 doesn’t not end till the very end. A good instrument would be the drums.
21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from vinyl? Warping, will make the pitch go up and down. “not good”
22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone? The root note is the note that will most closely resemble the sound you shooting for.
23 - How are the at; length; and time functions defined in terms of setting a loop on a sampler ?
At: would have to be the starting point of the loop.
Length: how long you wish to have the loop
Time functions: the total time that the loop is played including the end of it.
24 - What is the major problem that you are likely to encounter when making loops? I would say a click or a noticeable noise separating the two.
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- you can play back more voices that can be played at one time.
b) More keygroups per program- more key zones, and more samples with more realistic instruments
c) More outputs-Different plug-ins and more of the ones that were currently on the older model.
d) More RAM- increasing the amount that could be held, with longer samples.
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? That the note be the same shape throughout the looping process with the signals at the point of crossing should be at line zero.
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? More room is saved with the sampler, but to have it continuous going you won’t forget it, or worry about punching it in at the right time either????
28 - Why would you sample several notes of different pitches from an instrument? To form a rad chord hitting octaves you can’t do with you hands.
29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at different volumes? Spread them out so you would have the same note, but more or less going up and down. |
|
Wed Oct 22, 2003 9:06 am |
|
|
|
|
mommi
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Posts: 47
Location: Tallinn, Estonia |
| Time function |
|
|
Hi,
Talked to a friend of mine lately and asked about the time function with regard to loops. He said on his machine the time always indicates how much memory you have left for samples. It might display 172 s, for example, meaning you can load / record 172 seconds of stereo samples in addition to what you already have loaded into memory.
Cheers 
mommi |
|
Wed Oct 22, 2003 5:38 pm |
|
|
ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
| Keep going! |
|
|
Hey everyone,
glad to see that this topic is belatedly being covered by everyone.
Ok, a few things;
The time setting in context of loop creation is used to assign how many times a loop repeats itself.
For instance, a piano sample with 1sec sustain could have a loop set to time value 6 meaning that there would be 6 seconds of sustain before reaching the end of the loop the user has defined.
Exact terminology may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer - or instance I have an instance of the soft sampler Kontakt loaded in front of me and the equivalent command is called 'count'.
One shot samples are usually used for percussive samples. The main difference here is that the sample will play in its entirety regardless of how long the 'note on' message is. This means to trigger a crash cymbal with length of 3 seconds you would not have to keep the note depressed for 3 seconds - the intial note on would trigger the entire sample.
When looping a drum loop, you are always better triggering the loop every bar (or however long the sample is) from the sequencer. Although you could triger the loop from the sampler timing errors are likely to occur unless the sample is exactly the right length. For instance, if your song has a tempo of 100bpm and your loop has a tempo of 100.001bpm, trigger ing the loop every bar would result in the timing staying stable throughout. However, if the loop was triggered from the sampler, then after 100 bars the loop would be 1 bar out of time. Plus, starting the song anypoint after the initial sample triggering would result in no drums!
Keep the answers and ideas coming,
ben m
_________________
ben@audiocourses.com |
|
Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:43 pm |
|
|
|
|
mommi
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Posts: 47
Location: Tallinn, Estonia |
| Sample storage size |
|
|
Hi,
Just found a way to reduce the required storage space of a sample: compressing! 
New points never stop to appear ...
Cheers,
mommi |
|
Thu Oct 23, 2003 12:22 am |
|
|
julesf
Joined: 31 Aug 2003
Posts: 58
Location: Southampton, UK |
|
|
|
Better Late than never, sorry Ben 
<b>01 - Would individual percussion samples be assigned to one key or to a keyzone typically? </b>
Individual percussion samples would normally be assigned to individual keys (one key for each sample) however the percussion sample range of keys could then be assigned to a keyzone.
<b>02 - What is the importance of setting a root note with a sampler? </b>
The sampled root note is the not from which all other notes of the scale are derived. Due to limitations of the system the notes will sound less authentic as they move away from the root note. It is possible to uses only 4 or 5 notes above and below the root before the sound starts to sound less credible. Multi sampling addresses this limitation and uses anything from 1 to 3 notes per sample. This is memory hungry and time consuming but is worth the effort.
<b>03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the late 80s/early 90s </b>
The late 80’s early 90’s was the beginning of the so called “House” era. Here the music was being created by the engineers and producers rather than traditionally by the artist. DJ’s also started to create tracks that would use a repetitive beat or groove that would keep people on the dance floor. I would say that it wasn’t so much that the sampler was important to these producers as the whole reason for them starting to produce this music. The sampler gave anyone the ability to make music with little music theory or knowledge. When the Fairlight was available {I think the first commercial sampler Ben?} it was very expensive and was owned by a small number of major commercial artists. Kate Bush, Phil Collins, Nick Rhodes {Duran Duran}. These artists seem to focus on the ability of the tool to produce unusual and different sound textures that they sourced themselves {no sample library's then eh!}.
Phil Collins was seen walking around scrap yards with a Nagra recorder and a hammer breaking TV tubes and hitting other objects recording the sound to use on his Fairlight.
But when Akai launched the first affordable sampler {sampling for the masses} the ability to create loops and sample grooves from other recordings seemed to be the focal point for producers and thus the House era began and is really still with us today, and probably for evermore.
<b>04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument? </b>
I don’t fully understand the “post modern” concept, however I see the Sampler as being an instrument that has no fixed anchor in history as such. A lute is an ancient instrument it will always sound the way that it does. This can be said for most instruments, even a Moog sounds like a moog, and DX7 sounds like an FM synth if not specifically like a DX7. However the Sampler can sound like any instrument, even instruments that haven’t been invented yet! When they are invented it is likely that the sampler will be able to emulate their sounds, which kind of makes it a timeless instrument.
<b>05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set? </b>
A Dj could use a sampler to trigger samples containing phrases, which can
Add to the excitement of his set and customise the music that he plays. Also loops
Can be generated to be used as links between songs. Phrase samplers can be used to sample sections of a record on the turntable and this can then be looped and used to extend the tune to keep people dancing. If working from CD, most high quality Dj CD machines allow sections of the CD to be looped like a sampler. These can then be implemented with triggered samples and phrases.
<b>06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers? </b>
Most samplers use the now outdated 72 pin 300ns SIMM format.
<b>07 - Why is the Giga sampler piano patch so large in terms of MBs? </b>
Giga sampler uses high quality multi-sampled samples which when loaded take up
Large amounts of RAM. The system also uses multiple gated layers to recreate the sound over different velocities. Sustained notes are usually not looped but are played over the length of the sample. This is a no compromises sampling platform and library.
<b>08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers? </b>
I think that this is to produce a kind of LO-FI retro sound. Which is part of the character of
his productions.
<b>09 - Do any samplers offer solid state storage rather than traditional RAM based storage? </b>
Yes Akai offered non-volatile flash RAM on the SX3000XL and I am sure that other manufactures offered a non-volatile option. SCSI hard drives and MO drives can be used
To store Samples, but they need to be loaded into memory to be played. If the memory is non-volatile then the samples will remain in memory even after the power is switched off.
<b>10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers? </b>
Most samplers offer 16Bit 44.1 Khz or 48 Khz stereo PCM non compressed format such as .wav or .aiff
<b>11 - What instruments may benefit from velocity sensitive samples? </b>
Well really all instruments except perhaps traditional Organ would benefit from Velocity sensitive samples.
<b>12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups?</b>
Maybe a monophonic analogue synth emulation would benefit from a mute grouped zone.
<b>13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not? </b>
Yes I think that many producers will still enjoy using a real hardware sampler, however Giga Sampler looks set to take over where the old hardware samplers left off. And now that Giga Sampler is available as a hardware software package this will almost definitely be the market leader for high-end industry professionals.
<b>14 - What editing facilities will a typical hardware sampler offer?</b>
Truncation, loop, cut, copy, paste, move, compress, remove offset, pitch change, time stretch, reverse, stereo - mono, swap L&R channels, normalise, volume change, sample rate convert.
<b>15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling? </b>
Breech of copyright. If material is sampled from a recording owned by another party you must not use it for anything other than promotional use. If you wish to use sampled material from a recording, which belongs to another party for commercial purposes, you must first obtain permission from the owner and receive copyright clearance.
<b>16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an octave higher than the original sampled material? </b>
The tempo will speed up.
<b>17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage space?</b>
A long sample could have a section looped. A stereo sample could be converted to mono,
The sample rate could be reduced. Where possible the bit rate could be reduced.
<b>18 - What are the benefits of multi-samples? What are the drawbacks? </b>
Multi-samples allow instrument emulation to sound more accurate across the keyboard range.
The drawback is that this method uses a lot of memory and storage space for the samples and takes a lot more time to construct.
<b>19 - Why may some samples not want to be 'tracked'? </b>
Individual samples like drum samples, or perhaps vocal samples would not want to be tracked as there timbre would not need to brighten in the higher registers in a way that a piano or guitar sample would.
<b>20 - What is a 'one shot' sample? What instruments may benefit from this kind of sample definition? </b>
A one shot sample is a sample that is assigned to one key and is just triggered as it was sampled,
Though it may be edited or be processed with effects. The MIDI off event is ignored and the sample will always play its full envelope. This sort of sample is good for drums or
Phrases that need to be triggered at a certain point in a film, drama, or an audio book.
<b>21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from vinyl?</b>
If the vinyl is warped it may be impossible to remove the wow and flutter.
<b>22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone? </b>
The root note of the sample is the note that all others are derived from. If this is not set correctly then the sample will not sound correct as it is played up and down from the keyzone.
<b>23 - How are the at; length; and time functions defined in terms of setting a loop on a sampler? </b>
Well on my sampler I think that this is defined as Start, End, Size.
Were start defines the start of the loop, End
<b>24 - What is the major problem that you are likely to encounter when making loops? </b>
Finding a good zero crossing point to join the loop that sounds natural and leaves you with a loop sample that is the correct length for the requirement.
<b>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</b>
a)More voices
More voices will enable greater polyphony or more Layered samples (timbre's) to be played at once. Generally over the years as keyboards and samplers have evolved and enhanced the number of voices has increased. This allows a much richer sound to be created by allowing the playback of more timbres assigned to the keyboard.
b)More keygroups per program
Allows for greater flexibility when multi-sampling, more zones can be created and more velocity gates.
c)More outputs
More outputs mean more flexibility in terms of managing and recording output from the sampler through the mixing console. Bass samples can be Eq and compressed individually, while hi-hats can be treated separately. Individual reverb can be added to the snare.
d)More RAM
More Ram allows more and larger sample programs to be loaded at once. Also the programs can contain higher quality stereo samples with more samples per note allowing for a more accurate sound of the modelled instrument. If the program is to be used for phrases, then more phrases can be loaded for each program.
<b>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? </b>
A zero crossing point. Also the waveform should be similar in order to sound natural at the join.
<b>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? </b>
<b>28 - Why would you sample several notes of different pitches from an instrument? </b>
IN order to create a multi sample. It is possible to not just allow for different pitches to be sampled but also different timbres of the pitches, which can be velocity, gated for a more realistic model. If just one note is sampled and used for the entire instrument then only a few notes will sound accurate. As you move away from the original root sample on the keyboard the sounds will start to change character as they are speeded up or slowed down to create the new note.
<b>29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at different volumes?</b>
To create a multi-sample with velocity gating. As the volume of an instrument changes its timbre also changes. This can be replicated on the sampler to add reality to the model.
1 down 2 to go, happy holidays!
Cheers,
Jules  |
|
Sat Oct 25, 2003 3:30 am |
|
|
|
|
indigojf
Joined: 03 Aug 2003
Posts: 12
|
|
|
|
01 - Would individual percussion samples be assigned to one key or to a keyzone typically?
Since percussion samples represent seperate percussion instruments I think it would be best to assign them to individual keys.
02 - What is the importance of setting a root note with a sampler?
The root note determines the pitch at which a sample plays back unaltered and pitches near the root note will sound more realistic than pitches further away from the root note.
03 - Why were samplers so important in the dance music explosion of the late 80s/early 90s
Dance grew to rely heavily on repeating loops, thanks to the sampler. By sampling a series of drum loops, you could construct a changing rhythm track with ease. Often times they would sample a hook from an older familiar song, or use repeating vocal samples throughout the song. Without samplers, dance music would not be what we know today.
04 - Why could the sampler be described as a post-modern instrument?
I would say that the sampler is a postmodern instrument in that it challenged the current way of thinking about music when it was introduced. Instead of picking up a flute and playing a song, you could record the flute playing the song, make samples, and rearrange the order, change pitch, or change the timbre how you like. Instead of just creating something new, you're using something old to create something new. Also, when you think of traditional instruments and write for traditional instruments, you take into account the way they sound... their natural timbre. A sampler, however, can sound like anything. It's best point is the fact that it doesn't have just one signature sound.
05 - How could a DJ implement a sampler into a live set?
They could use a sampler for playing transitional phrases when moving from one song to another, or original material for a mark of customization on a song they plan to play.
06 - What is the most common RAM type used by samplers?
72 pin SIMMs.
07 - Why is the Gigasampler piano patch so large in terms of MBs?
The gigasampler piano uses multisampling to make the sound much more realistic. Also, the sustain is not looped and the sample contains the full sound and decay of the piano, which requires more space.
08 - Why do certain artists such as Fatboy Slim use older 12-bit samplers?
Because of the signature sound that they offer. On a lot of older 'classic' dance and hip hop recordings, they used samplers like these, so it's likely that an artist would want to use one if they wanted that classic sound.
09 - Do any samplers offer solid state storage rather than traditional RAM based storage?
Some samplers use solidstate flash memory, such as SmartMedia.
10 - What format are samples saved in on hardware samplers?
Usually wav files, but they could also use aiff or a proprietary format depending on the manufacturer.
11 - What instruments may benfefit from velocity sensitive samples?
Acoustic instruments such as piano, acoustic guitar, violin, etc. With instruments such as these, the timbre changes dependly on how loudly you play the instrument, so velocity sensitive samples would create a more realistic sound.
12 - Apart from High-Hats, what other samples may benefit from Mute-Groups?
Any samples from an instrument that has several different playing styles which can only be played one at a time. For example, you cannot pluck a violin and use the bow on the same violin at the same time, in reality, so if you want it to sound realistic you would make sure that the two sounds never play simultaneously.
13 - Will hardware samplers always have a studio niche? Why or Why not?
I think so. Although software samplers are becoming more and more popular, and are sometimes more flexible of a creative tool than hardware samplers, there will always be people who prefer to use a physical machine than a software package. Things like this usually boil down to a matter of preference, so they will probably both be around for some time.
14 - What editing facilties will a typical hardware sampler offer?
Copy, cut, paste, merge, pitch shifting, increase/decrease volume, time stretch, mono/sterero conversion
15 - What is a fundamental legal issue associated with sampling?
When you sample someone else's material, you have to receive their permission to use the sample, otherwise you're infringing on their copyright and they could sue you.
16 - What effect on the timing of a sample will be caused by playing it an octave higher than the original sampled material?
The tempo the sample plays at will be twice as fast.
17 - Name 2 ways that a sample could be reduced in size to save storage space?
You could loop a short section of sustain on some instruments, instead of having having the full sustain be part of the sample. You could convert a stereo sample to mono to use half as much space.
18 - What are the benefits of multisamples? What are the drawbacks?
Multisampling allows for a more realistic recreation of an instrument, but requires a lot more storage space and memory because of the larger number of samples that must be used for a single instrument.
19 - Why may some samples not want to be 'tracked'?
Samples that don't need a change in timbre according to pitch to sound realistic don't need to be tracked. For example, many drum samples, or vocal samples.
20 - What is a 'one shot' sample? What instruments may benefit from this kind of sample definition?
A one shot sample is when a sample is played for its full length once triggered. This is good for any sample you want to playback completely unaltered whenever you trigger it, or short drum sounds, like a rimshot for example.
21 - Name one pitch related problem that may occur when sampling from vinyl?
Warped records or instabilities in the turntable may cause the pitch to vary and shift out of tune.
22 - What is the importance of setting the 'root' note for a keyzone?
The root note is the pitch at which the original sample plays back unaltered. All other pitches are derived from speeding up or slowing down the root note. If it has to speed it up or slow it down too much, the sound is unrealistic and you should keep this in mind when setting the root note. Also, it occurs to me that if the original recorded sample was, for example, a bass playing a C note, you would need to set the root note as C, right? Otherwise the tuning wouldn't be right. Is this right or am I totally off on this one?
23 - How are the at; length; and time functions defined in terms of setting a loop on a sampler ?
At must be the beginning point of the loop and I'd think length would determine how long it lasts, but I'm not sure what time could be...
24 - What is the major problem that you are likely to encounter when making loops?
If you don't make a loop with both ends at a zero crossing, you can get clicks and pops.
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
This allows you to play more notes simultaneously.
b)More keygroups per program
This allows you to have a more realistic sound if multisampling. The more keygroups you have, the more accurate the sound can be, but you would also need more memory.
c)More outputs
With more outputs, you can be more flexible in your signal routing to the mixer and recorder. You can send different samples to different channels and alter them independently of each other.
d)More RAM
RAM is critical in a sampler because it determines to what extent you can use memory-intensive features such as multisampling.
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?
You should try to make the loop points at zero crossing to avoid glitches. Also, the wave characteristics should be somewhat similar or there will be a noticable change in timbre when the sample loops.
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?
It's better to use the sequencer to trigger the sample repeatedly. This is because that even a small difference in tempo can cause the sample to shift off beat over time. However, if the tempo of the mix and the tempo of the sampler are close, using a sequencer to trigger the sample at the beginning of each bar would cause such a small difference to go unnoticed.
28 - Why would you sample several notes of different pitches from an instrument?
To prepare for multisampling. You would sample several different pitches along the range of the instrument and then use them as the root notes in different keygroups so that any pitch you played was within a reasonable range of a root note. This creates a more realistic sound.
29 - What would you be intending to do if you sampled the same note at different volumes?
You would use them for velocity switching, or velocity crossfading. In velocity switching, softer sounds would use the quiet sample and louder sounds would use the loud sample. In velocity crossfading, both samples would always play, but softer notes would heavily filter out the louder sample and louder notes would filter out the softer sample. In between there would be a mix of the two. Velocity switching is more efficient because crossfading requires the use of two voices for every note you play. |
|
Tue Nov 04, 2003 2:21 pm |
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT. The time now is Sat May 17, 2008 3:46 am
|
|
|
|
| |
