VSampler

[M'Snah]

I have VSampler and am reasonably happy with it. It takes some time to get used to the non-intuitive interface, but after that it can do anything you want. It's either VSampler or ShortCircuit if you want a sampler to play with and don't want to buy one of the big guys.

[Sascha Franck]

Hi, While on the subject of software samplers, I find them horrible to use. I use the Vsampler and Kontakt. First of all there is the latency, its just unacceptable even at 60ms, you cannot do anything realtime. There does not seem to be anyway to achieve zero latency. Secondly when I play a sample by pressing a key on my midi keyboard, I never get a proper pitch like as do ray me fah.... all I notice is that you press a low key, the sample plays slow and you press a high key and the sample goes fast. That is of no use to me. Maybe I have the wrong concept of the whole show.

No, you don't have the wrong concept, but you've got no clue about setting up a proper DAW machine, sorry. Let alone that apparently you don't know how to map a sample properly.

Of course, latencies of 60ms are completely inacceptable, but my machine is running at 3ms, which is as good as almost any hardware sampler.
And, probably to your excitement, my samplers *do* pitch things properly, so "do re mi fa" is all fine with me.

Next time, when you "buy" these expensive software tools, you should probably get informed about the minimum computer requirements first.

[modobo]

Thank you for your response franck. However it doesnt put me on the right path to acheiving any useful activity from the samplers. Advice on how to get proper pitchs like do ray me fa would be a good start for me.

[Sascha Franck]

Thank you for your response franck. However it doesnt put me on the right path to acheiving any useful activity from the samplers. Advice on how to get proper pitchs like do ray me fa would be a good start for me.

Maybe you should specify the problem first.
In short: I load a properly tuned sample onto the appropriate key, after that it's immediately playable over the full range.
Yes, there's strong limitations, due to pitched samples often sounding unnatural, that's why you usually use "keymapped" samples, read: More than just one sample, often several per octave.

[Klemperer]

...and, for example in Kontakt, but in any other sampler too, it is extremely easy to add new samples. For example take Kontakt: it's a simple "drawing" of the ends of your first sample (you load one into your Sampler and of course it occupies the full range). You "draw" the beginning or end of it to the left or right. Say, a sample recorded in about E3 from C3 to F#3 or so, not the best of all examples, but roughly. Then you load the next sample and put it where it's meant to be ( concerning drums there's no real "where it's meant to be" because you don't have to take care of the root notes = the ones you recorded for example a synth-sound or some piano. You can put it like all people do, or just like you want).
And you could even take 2-X samples for, say, a more silent and a louder synth-sound (or piano, or drum or fieldrecordings or whatever you want). Here you drag your sample down if you, for example, want your "more silent" sample to be just hit if you play "more silent" on your keyboard...and so on.

[Lagrange]

Ok I've been a Vsampler user since 1.x days (yes before the 2.x days) and I gotta say it's saved my projects more than once.. Here are just a few things I like/dont like..

Upside: great sounding, lots of modulation options, external editing is a life saver, can create templates for imports/Drag and drop of files, great for hosting soundfonts, really good internal routing/mapping of controller/NRPN info, Zone/Velocity spilts are easy to use, Has a internal recorder (under pattern), really good for live performances (stable under pressure), Gui can be customized, Like the midi monitor.

Downside: Automating some of the parameters directly does not work (got to work around this), The freeze function for the effects is hellish (it will wreck your sound), Does not support some vstfx, has a hard time importing some formats (namely Kontakt), Pattern record button does not sync to host, support forum has been inundated with porn spam (last time I checked), there seems to be only one skin for version after 3.x??

C

[Lagrange]

Advice on how to get proper pitchs like do ray me fa would be a good start for me.

For example take Kontakt: it's a simple "drawing" of the ends of your first sample (you load one into your Sampler and of course it occupies the full range).

In Vsampler you do this once then save it as a template, then you assign that template as your default (if you want).. The next time you drag a sample in it will apply this setting to it automatically.. so you dont have to mess around with zoning everytime!!

C

[modobo]

Thanks guys. Having read the advice given, I think my problem is the source of my samples. I like to try and make a sample from an already existing song. I kinda cut out a bass or drumm piece. Especialy the bass, I can never get it to sound good in any other key. If I am to sample notes played of a synth I dont think it would make any diff to playing the synth itself. This brings me to one big question, if I have a tone module like a jv2080, can I achieve the same sounds found in a software sampler. Considering that most samples were generated by a synth anyway. Its all so confusing being that a sound comes at you differently after processing and its hard to get the right process.

[Lagrange]

modobo:
I would suggest sampling each octave or half octave.. forgive my crude explanation but synths do some processing that samplers dont.. You can then program vsampler's modulation to emulate the synths or just create your own to get an original sound!! With regards to bass from other songs.. try this:

- Load small bass samples in different notes or octaves.
- find the proper key or note in Vsampler under ZONES.
- spread them it across multiple octaves in ZONES making sure they dont overlap.
- go to SAMPLES -> SAMPLE EDITOR (make sure it's set to internal wave editor).
- Select the 1st wave and right click, go to AUTO LOOPER.
- Try the Minimal Loop Length @ about 50% or so.
- Make sure SMOOTH is checked and the SMOOTHING % is above 12% or so then press FIND LOOPS.
- Press PLAY to make sure the loop sounds smooth with no clicks.
- Then Press APPLY and CLOSE!
- Repeat this for each sample..

Then when you can mess around with envelope LFO and modulation you can reproduce a nice sounding bass! You can also apply this to most synth sounds also..

C

[modobo]

Lagrange. Thankyou so much. This information is so helpful. thanks a million.