What's a good way to organize chord samples for a sampled instrument?

[skybrian]

Hi, I'm making a sampled instrument based on recording samples from my accordion. I'm wondering how best to handle samples made from the chord buttons.

So far I've created samples for all the major and minor chords and put them in different octaves, C2 through B2 for major chords and C3 to B3 for minor. I could go on to do the (dominant) seventh and diminished buttons, and then start in on multi-button combinations like major and minor sevenths. The number of combinations adds up.

Putting them in different octaves will work for me since I'm also building a custom MIDI controller (I control the inputs), but it doesn't seem very playable using a standard MIDI keyboard. I'm wondering if there's some arrangement that will work better? For example, I've heard of articulations but I'm not sure if they're appropriate for this.

I think that, ideally, you should be able to play a chord on your keyboard, and it will figure out which chord that is and play the appropriate sample. But I don't see any way to specify samples to be played only for multi-key combinations in a SFZ file, so I'm thinking that if it exists at all, it's not that common?

[BertKoor]

You probably know about the Roland FR-1x &FR-3x V-Accordeons?
https://www.rolandus.com/go/v-accordion/
https://www.roland.com/global/products/ ... lang=en-JM
I'd suggest to make your library compatible with that, so users of such instruments can use it directly as a controller for yours. That might mean you need to obtain one and study what's outputted by the midi port.

There is a chance that Roland made samples of the single reeds of the left-hand part where the chord buttons are, and combine them when playing chords. That's also how it internally works on the real thing. An accordion doesn't contain more reeds than necessary.

[enroe]

Putting them in different octaves will work for me since I'm also building a custom MIDI controller (I control the inputs), but it doesn't seem very playable using a standard MIDI keyboard. ...

A standard that is often used is "key commands":

You define a low octave whose keys only serve to switch the chord: So c0 switches
to major chords, c#0 switches to minor chords, d0 switches to dominant chords,
etc.

This way you can easily play all the chords on a small keyboard. This can also be
easily implemented in SFZ.

[Tj Shredder]

But why sample chords instead of just recording the single pitches and then combine the chords in the DAW? There are tons of plugins which aid in playing chords with a single key.

[BertKoor]

Why? Because it's an Accord-ion. Press one button and it plays an accord - a chord.