Does anyone use Sampletank for...

[PaulG]

Hi, there,

In my quest to simplify, and loving Sampletank, I am wondering who found benefits in using it as their sampler for other sound sets that you may have programmed on your own. I've got so many sample "packs" in .wav or other form of various other instruments (drums, flutes, etc), and with the quality of the built-in effects it seems like a no-brainer to port everything to ST.

How do those of you with the same intent find zone/velocity programming, etc, to be?

I haven't explored ST to this extent, and I am well aware that I might need ESC to convert my non-wav or Akai samples to the format, so it's no big deal...

Do a lot of you tend to find that the built-in effects might render - for specific patches - the use of third party ones of a similar type unneeded?

Thank you for any and all input, it is always amazingly good and much appreciated, even if it's just a subjective opinion.

Take care and happy holidays, all,

- Paul

[Bassballjg]

Sampletank will import wav, aiff and Akai S1/3K. The Akai import is ok. The wav import does what it does, but you have to be careful in naming the samples by note name so you get them properly mapped. However, with native ST import, you are locked into their zone scheme, and have no ability, for example, to map drums to single keys. At least not that I can see or have heard of. This is [robably the most limiting thing if you want Sampletank to be your one and only sample player.

ESC will convert to ST1 format, which ST 2.1 will load. It's a must-have if you deal with multiple formats. ESC will also let you work at the sample level with its own set of tools as well as the ability to open the currently selected file in your audio editor application.

If you've got a lot of wav files not attached to any preset format such as Akai S5K/Z series or Kontakt or whatever, your best bet for creating your own keymaps is the wonderful sfZed utility, which is free and has an easy-to use interface for creating sfz files from your wavs.

One of the reasons I'm such a huge ST fan is the effects. I think they are among, if not actually the, best available built into a synth. Obviously, that's totally subjective. But most of the time I prefer to write child presets to get the effects I want for a patch rather than use external plugins with ST. You can do a lot with them to really shape, sweeten, bend, warp and trash the sounds with them.

[PaulG]

Thank you for this.

So the SFZ file is just all the wav's in one file with key/note assignment?

[advaya]

One of the reasons I'm such a huge ST fan is the effects. I think they are among, if not actually the, best available built into a synth.

Agreed. IMHO, it's the only real 'saving grace' of ST2. I find the sample set to be really quite poor (big quantity, lousy quality)... but at the same time, the patches are fun to mash-up-beyond-recognition with an overabundance of the included effects (some interesting results obtained).

Keep in mind, my only experience is with the ST2 sample set, I've no idea of the quality of SS2 or the Miroslav sample libraries.

[Bassballjg]

Thank you for this.

So the SFZ file is just all the wav's in one file with key/note assignment?

It's a file that specifies keymapping, velocity, layering, enveloping and more. It can be edited with any text editor like notepad. Here's more information on the format:

http://www.rgcaudio.com/sfzformat.htm

[Bassballjg]

One of the reasons I'm such a huge ST fan is the effects. I think they are among, if not actually the, best available built into a synth.

Agreed. IMHO, it's the only real 'saving grace' of ST2. I find the sample set to be really quite poor (big quantity, lousy quality)... but at the same time, the patches are fun to mash-up-beyond-recognition with an overabundance of the included effects (some interesting results obtained).

Keep in mind, my only experience is with the ST2 sample set, I've no idea of the quality of SS2 or the Miroslav sample libraries.

The SR stuff is brilliant. You should really get into it for really high quality samples to match the quality of the engine.

[telebunke]

I'm using ST2 to import my AKAI samples. Amoung others it's Siedlackek Advanced Orchestra and Psychic Horns.
I like the idea of having a "standard" child preset with verb and pan set as a start point. And for some instruments I'll also have EQ and compression included in the presets.

tele

[BERFAB]

One of the reasons I'm such a huge ST fan is the effects. I think they are among, if not actually the, best available built into a synth.

Agreed. IMHO, it's the only real 'saving grace' of ST2. I find the sample set to be really quite poor (big quantity, lousy quality)... but at the same time, the patches are fun to mash-up-beyond-recognition with an overabundance of the included effects (some interesting results obtained).

Keep in mind, my only experience is with the ST2 sample set, I've no idea of the quality of SS2 or the Miroslav sample libraries.

The SR stuff is brilliant. You should really get into it for really high quality samples to match the quality of the engine.

Well, SR did do a fair amount of the Sampletank 2 stuff as well, and I think the updated 2.1 sample set is great.

The effects on ST, SS2 and MIRO are all fantastic (especially MIRO with the CSR reverb). I generally don't import commercial sample sets into ST2 because I like to use the stuff it came with. Acoustic Piano 3 is my favorite piano patch (and I own a high-end piano standalone package). The bass and guitar patches are great too. I've said elsewhere that the 'Guitar Collection' expansion pack was probably the best money I've spent on a sample package.

What I DO import to ST is my own samples: guitar riffs, drum loops or vocals. The FX are so easy to use in ST that I can usually get what I want very quickly. Some other samplers get you so bogged down in programming/tweaking FX that you lose the creative spark very quickly. ST works quite nicely for me.

-B