Sampler Feature Requests

[bigbot]

I would really like to see improvements to the sampler instrument. Here are a few I would like:

1. Zone editing - Select one or more zones and set modulation, filter and other settings for the selection
2. Choke groups - necessary for drum programming in my opinion
3. Enhanced sample editing - Reverse selection, apply and render FX to selection, autolooping, crossfade looping
4. Auto pitch correction - I do a lot of sampling and pitch correcting samples is a chore
5. FX chains per zone just like we have for tracks
6. button to bypass filter as opposed to doing it from the drop down
7. Play from on-screen keyboards by clicking with mouse
8. Edit on zero crossings
9. zoom amplitude like you can time

If any of the above is available already, please let me know. I don't claim to be a Bitwig expert.

[bigbot]

10. display zone parameters from info pane. It currently doesn't display anything when a zone is selected

[pdxindy]

11. Add the filter from Phase-4 to Sampler... along with the per voice gain.

[nsq]

In this type of DAW there's no need to have a super sampler with all the possible options. It should remain a simple module with the necessary features: round robin, stretching, beat slicing, loop crossfading, but no choke groups, zone FX or multi outs. You can create complex structures using the sampler module with other Bitwig devices - eg. for drum programming use drum machine, and for zones use instrument layer.

[pdxindy]

In this type of DAW there's no need to have a super sampler with all the possible options. It should remain a simple module with the necessary features: round robin, stretching, beat slicing, loop crossfading, but no choke groups, zone FX or multi outs. You can create complex structures using the sampler module with other Bitwig devices - eg. for drum programming use drum machine, and for zones use instrument layer.

I'd like to see filter improvement... plus it would be nice to have timestretch

[JHernandez]

In multi-sample mode you can't edit more than one sample/zone at a time. This can waste a ton of time when say building a multi-sampled drum kit, for example. You also have to drag the edges of the zones per sample, makes sense for setting key range and or velocity of one sample/zone, but you can't simply move a predefined zone where needed quickly. Annoying and strange. So doing something simple like setting a velocity and or key range for a large group of samples is a huge time wasting pain in the butt as you have to do each sample/zone individually. You can't even turn off keytrack for more than one sample at a time. Same goes for reverse ,ect. All this = Huge time killer.

Anyways, yeah a lot can be done with Layers, Drum Machine + Sampler. That takes care of effects and choke groups on my end. Although it took me about 3 weeks because of all of the above, and I already had the prepared samples, I built an acoustic drum kit using layers and Drum Machine. Each Layer is a mic (ambient, close, room, ect) and of course effects can run down multiple chain configs per layer/and or pad.

The sampler does need some love. I like that it's native, but it needs multi-sample/zone editing, and round robin, stretching, beat slicing, loop crossfading wouldn't hurt either.

Make sure to ask for them:

"If you have any feature wishes you want to let us know about, also just send them in via"
http://www.bitwig.com/en/support/tech-support.html

[bigbot]

In this type of DAW there's no need to have a super sampler with all the possible options. It should remain a simple module with the necessary features: round robin, stretching, beat slicing, loop crossfading, but no choke groups, zone FX or multi outs. You can create complex structures using the sampler module with other Bitwig devices - eg. for drum programming use drum machine, and for zones use instrument layer.

I tried using drum machine and instrument layer and here are my thoughts:

1. I like to load up a keyboard full of drum sounds and start experimenting. Drum machine doesn't offer the same immediacy in my opinion. Would adding choke groups really complicate sampler?

2. I can imagine instrument layer doing what I want. I wish there was a way to take a a multisample layout and create layers by selecting zones. maybe there is and I just don't know how?

[bigbot]

I wish there as a way to select layer and the zone editor would switch to the selected layer. As far as I can tell, it stays on the originally selected layer.

[JHernandez]

1. I like to load up a keyboard full of drum sounds and start experimenting. Drum machine doesn't offer the same immediacy in my opinion. Would adding choke groups really complicate sampler?

hmmm, I dragged 127 (not what I typically do) drum samples into Drum Machine with less effort than it took to drag them into one sampler.

Drum Machine> drag and drop> play

Sampler> convert to multi-sampler> open extended view> drag> adjust> drop> play

Both resulted in keytrack being on by default so that's a problem because the samples are pitched. Can't start to do anything, imo, until that's dealt with. (time consuming) The advantage of Drum Machine however is that it creates a sampler for each individual drum sample giving me far more control per sample, plus an individual chain to do what I want with for each sampler. Also Choke groups.

The Drum Machine approach wins in this scenario hand down.

Downside, keytrack is on by default on the sampler either way. Does anyone know how to disable keytrack by default, if possible? PITA.

Edit: I tried if again, dropped 127 drum samples onto Drum Machine, this time most of the samples are keytracked but the first 12 aren't. Random. I also forgot to mention the first time, AHDSR is the default mode so I'd have to set each sampler to one shot mode as well as turning keytrack off. I tried highlighting some or all the pads to see if I could edit multiple samplers, nope. IMO, the Drum Machine container should default to one shot mode with keytrack off for obvious reasons. Rather the sampler should be able to detect and assume short burst are drum samples, at least when being loaded into the Drum Machine container.

[Taika-Kim]

Choke groups, or actually choke for individual notes would be useful. If I have a multisampled acoustic instrument for example, only the latter of two consecutive notes should play.

I bought a Kontakt folk harp library for example, and it did not have this option. The notes have naturally a very long decay, so even simple melodies end up with several copies of the same string playing simultaneously, which sounds very unrealistic.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I find sampler useless without loop fades. Otherwise just good for one shot type sounds or with natural decay like a piano.

So I thInk it needs fades but also I doubt I would use it without timestretch, the ability to change length and pitch independently. And preferably some kind of granular. At least a type of playback position control like simpler in Ableton.

[Tearing Riots]

11. Add the filter from Phase-4 to Sampler... along with the per voice gain.

The 'gain' control is per voice

[mholloway]

In this type of DAW there's no need to have a super sampler with all the possible options. It should remain a simple module with the necessary features: round robin, stretching, beat slicing, loop crossfading, but no choke groups, zone FX or multi outs. You can create complex structures using the sampler module with other Bitwig devices - eg. for drum programming use drum machine, and for zones use instrument layer.

So Ableton's Simpler plugin, which can slice samples, warp samples, loop with fades and apply Cytomic-modeled Filters, among numerous other features, is actually un-needed in Ableton because a user can buy Kontakt? Seriously, get real.

[Taika-Kim]

I think a good, creative sampler would be a great addition, if not just from the workflow perspective alone. The more integrated tools BW offers (since in practice it's going to a very different direction from many other DAWs), the less users need to rely on external expensive tools. This actually matters to non-professionals who don't have lots of money to spend. Also combined with the existing creative modulation options a more capable sampler would be IMO more intetesting than Kontakt for example. I have it, but use it exclusively as a player for my bought libraries. Also learning takes time. Tools integrated into Bitwig are easier to learn than completely new software.

I am mostly working purely in BW without VSTs already, this would enable me to start to move away from Kontakt, since anyway NI does not provide official Linux support.
I do have Windows too, so my choice of dropping VSTs is not forced, I've just found that the feeling of working without plugins that all follow their own paradigms, might have cumbersome interfaces etc enables me to do creative work more naturally and faster too.

[pdxindy]

11. Add the filter from Phase-4 to Sampler... along with the per voice gain.

The 'gain' control is per voice

Isn't that what I said?