About to start sampling my own piano, need some workflow tips.

[Dangerman]

I just finished tuning my piano and I'm planning on starting recording the samples tomorrow. I decided on 6 velocities with 4 samples per velocity plus 3 on and off hammer noise samples, 3 on and off sustain pedal samples. This means 2470 samples of 44.1 khz 24 bit wave.

First of all, this is the first time ever I'm this sort of thing. I am using Kontakt and I have learned enough of the script language to make a true random sample script and whatever. So I don't know if my plan is the most practical one. Please tell me if I'm doing something unnecessary.

Okay so for the real reason I'm here - what will be the best workflow for me to record 2470 samples and staying sane? I'm using logic as a daw but I'm not sure it will be very pleasant recording that amount of samples with it. Is there another software I can acquire that will make this process easier? Thanks a bunch!

Dan

[thecontrolcentre]

I use Wavelab. Good luck with that depth of sampling. Its gonna be a lot of work, editing, mapping, etc. What piano are you sampling?

[Dangerman]

Old communist piano my mother had for 30 years. All I know about it is that it was mass produced in the soviet Union. No trace about the company in the Internet. I can't say it sounds like a piano anymore but I just love the way it sounds. I might be crazy tho.

[deastman]

That sounds like an insane amount of work! 4 samples x 6 velocities per note? How do plan to get so precise with your velocities? I sampled my parents Steinway grand, and with only five velocities per note it was imprecise at best and took hours. I would actually recommend making an initial recording of only one or two velocities and one sample each, just to walk through the whole process and learn the pitfalls.

[Dangerman]

Through trial and error I guess. im sick of using the "perfect" commercially available piano plugins and I'm not a good enough player to play in my own compositions. That's why I see this as an important step in shaping my own sound. This is what motivates me. I might suffer a bit but if the outcome will be to my satisfaction I'll be the happiest **** around!

Oh and I already did a "test" and it came out pretty good!

[DSmolken]

How do plan to get so precise with your velocities?

I do this by recording some reference notes for each velocity, and putting them in a muted channel in the DAW. Then, recording in multitrack, I can see whether the new wavs I'm making have similar-sized peaks to the reference and are reasonably consistent within each velocity layer, too. Of course upper octaves won't be as big, I just sort of wing those can make reference notes for each octave. If a note isn't right, I just mute it immediately and try again, so when chopping the files into individual samples I know that short notes bad long notes good.

Or you could go from quiet to loud and back down several times, enough to get plenty of notes to spare, then pick which ones you want to use for which layer. That's how the drums with over 100 velocity layers were done by muslimpunk and company.

For me the hardest part is trimming the sample start points. That's a lot of zooming in on note starts, seeing if there's a zero crossing in a good spot, and doing a very very short fade-in if there isn't. It's not difficult work, but very difficult to get motivated for. I use an old version of Adobe Audition for this, because I've been using it since it was Cool Edit and I'm familiar with the interface and shortcuts.

[Dangerman]

what do you mean by zero crossing?

[thecontrolcentre]

what do you mean by zero crossing?

Very important for editing without clicks ...

http://www.ohdratdigital.com/tutorials- ... -are-they/

[Dangerman]

Thanks a bunch for that link! Gave me some insight.

[Dangerman]

Isn't there anybody else who sampled a piano by himself and want to share some tips and insight?

[bigcat1969]

Yeah don't do it! Lol, I sampled what was it 4 velocity layers and no round robins and it took forever. Beyond 4 its hard to do by hand unless you are a pro piano player. Do a pass where you softly hit the note wait for quiet and then release loudly to get the release samples.
Record each velocity pass as one file, then normalize it and noise reduce all at the same time. Yell out each C note so you don't get lost. Be consistent with the fade up and down to zero. I like to do it fairly tight since there is a bit of delay in the playback no matter what, so if you leave any true white space it will be non-responsive when played. The note by note editing is the longest, hardest part. Name the notes consistantly so you don't get confused and they go into the sampler easily.
You'll have to decide how much noise removal to do. Too much and it changes the sound of the piano.
Upload a beta to KVR, you'll get lots of advice some of it good!
If you want to look at the City Piano for kontakt its here, not sure if it will help or not.
http://bigcatinstruments.blogspot.com/2 ... ion-2.html
Good luck on your quest! Have fun storming the castle!

Oh Audacity works well for a free editor if you don't have a paid one. Don't try editing in your DAW.

[V0RT3X]

Not sure if this might help, but it looks useful if you need a program to help you.
http://www.samplerobot.com/

You can get a version specific for Kontakt for $139.00
http://shop.samplerobot.de/product_info ... cts_id=106

[DSmolken]

Yell out each C note so you don't get lost.

This is an excellent tip.

[dasdrumherum]

This article could be also very helpful:
http://designingsound.org/2014/08/desig ... r-kontakt/

[Dangerman]

Thanks a bunch for your input guys! I am currently using Logic X, but you said I should avoid using DAWs for editing. Is there a better software for editing audio?