Samplist Unite and Be Heard :) We Need A Super Slicer

[stale bread]

we shall see

[laserbeak]

heh i cant believe i didnt see this topic. i'm actualy making a slicer now. almost done with my algorithms. just need to get it to sync to host bpm

[laserbeak]

heh i cant believe i didnt see this topic. i'm actualy making a slicer now. almost done with my algorithms. just need to get it to sync to host bpm

[Distorted_Mastermind]

For a control freak like myself I just do it all manual. When on the computer I use Direct Wave for all my sample work (I record them prior in sound forge). If I want to chop in 1/4 notes it's easy enough.....1/8 notes no problem. If I want a slice so I can pitchshift, no problem. If i want just the notes chopped out, no big deal.
That more or less is the same way I work on my asrx (which would be a classic sampler), the only difference at all really is that I record my samples ahead of time on the computer rather than while making the beat. Sometimes having them recorded ahead of time is more efficiant, other times it seems like grabbing for records helps the creative flow.
Bottomline is for a control freak like myself one sampler can do everything very easy, and best of all.....it's all manual.

[Saukar30]

Thanks STale Bread for dropping this thread (wow, I always knew I was good with the rhymes LOL)

I do agree, most samplers do not look at sampling at an instrumentalist point of view. I don't knwo how many free & paid for synths that I have that do SOOOO many different types of synthesis. There's even free granular synthesis synths. But not a lot in the sampling arena as far as features (unless you have more than one).

In addition to Stale Bread's requests for features, I would like a streamlined sampler with a VERY impressive timestretch alogitihim.

[lordvader48]

I agree with stalebread and juanjo. I too am very tired of "samplers that don't sample". And it really is a workflow issue.

When people actually do sampling, they need to record audio tidbits INTO THE SAMPLER. Why have them recorded someplace else first that the sampler doesn't even know about? It makes the work a lot slower and really does impede the creative process.

Despite this, I am sticking with software-based samplers anyway, except for my Mirage which I still use because nothing else can come close to its weird mojo.

Samplers that don't sample are a pain, and are a real copout by the vendors IMHO. Having to take an extra step to hunt down a DAW-recorded file every single time you want to add something to the sampler is really ridiculous. Especially when you consider that these software sampling tools are supposed to make sampling easier.

DirectWave in Fruity is a sampler that can sample. Unfortunately I found Windows/Fruity so unstable that I had to dump it and get a Mac, so it isn't an option. And I don't want to go back to hardware samplers either. So I just hunt for file after file after file after file after file....

[Sascha Franck]

When people actually do sampling, they need to record audio tidbits INTO THE SAMPLER. Why have them recorded someplace else first that the sampler doesn't even know about? It makes the work a lot slower and really does impede the creative process.

What do you mean by "a lot slower"? Dragging a file from explorer to a sampler qualifies as "a lot"?
I really fail to understand that, seriously. It's taking me like an extra 2 seconds, something I seriously don't consider to qualify as a "lot".

[stale bread]

depends on what point of the workflow your in i guess, there are work arounds ie:, leave a folder on the desktop that you can drop from one app into and drag out of from another app but i'd rather not look at workarounds as a primary fashion, i don't think we're asking too much really, a sampler that records, slices, and automaticly maps/ manual mapping, good file compatibility like reading rex, mp3, ogg, flac, wavs, aiff, whatever...

synth features are being repeated over and over everyday
for samplist, tools like these are our synths and i for one would like as many sampler choices.

[stale bread]

hey LaserBeak what'cha know good, what's the haps what's going on with that slicer, tell us all about it

[laserbeak]

i'm prolly just gonna make my own synthedit module based off of the midifile playerbut able to be manipulated in live situations and have it push soundfont oscillators

[shamann]

What do you mean by "a lot slower"? Dragging a file from explorer to a sampler qualifies as "a lot"?
I really fail to understand that, seriously. It's taking me like an extra 2 seconds, something I seriously don't consider to qualify as a "lot".

One problem is that drag and drop is not implemented in all samplers. Personally I find flipping between windows not so much slower as simply an irritant. It just feels handy to have everything in one place.

I suppose it depends on how you like to work. Being able to record and use the recording immediately can be a fun process, since each step feels like part of the same process rather than a workaround. It's maybe irrational, but think if you were using a softsynth like Vanguard, and every time you changed a patch you had to manually find and load the wavetables from disk. Not that big of a deal, but it would irritate almost everyone who tried it.

If you like the act of sampling and view it as part of the immediate musical process rather than a preliminary step, you'll likely want that process to be integrated into the composition stage. If I just want to capture a 5 second sound clip off of the television and work out a riff with it, do I really want to:

1. open Sound Forge
2. record
3. save
4. go to my sampler
5. open wave file
6. map sample

when the process could simply be

1. go to sampler
2. record
3. map

Again, on the surface it might seem trivial, but eliminating half of the steps required to perform a function without losing any utility is a good idea in my book.

[jones-y]

Yeah, what he said

Its real simple Sascha. Its just a workflow wart. Window management, and file management interfere with the creative process.

Now, for me, when I find a song I wanna chop I do the following:

1. Record significant chunks of it in DSP Quattro (1-2 minute chunks)
2. Toy with and chop out various small segments (1-10 second segments)
3. send to sampler (either pHAT, iDrum, Crossfade Loop Synth, or EXS24, depending)
4. Begin to sequence/compose
5. Repeat steps 1-4 a few times to fill in the gaps in the sequence.
5. After I have a good working idea, send the chops back to DSP Quattro and apply fx
6. reload in sampler (which means remapping MIDI in some cases)

That takes three apps at least. If I could do all of that in one piece of software, it would be so much quicker.

I been playing with Guru, and its another step in the right direction, so there is hope. But as a standalone app, there really is no excuse as to why it doesn't have the ability to record audio. And it should be able to send a file to an audio editor (I don't expect them to make another audio editor inside Guru, of course).

[Sascha Franck]

I may actually agree with you folks (shamann and jones-y), but I developed some habits that allow me to do these things very fast. For instance, I have Logic opened almost all the time. My autoload song has a temporary recording folder assigned. I use to keep that folder opened in explorer as well. I usually also have an empty instance of Kontakt available too (so a simple doubleclick will open the GUI).
Admittedly, a dual monitor setup defenitely helps a *lot*, without it things would just not look as efficient.
However, with this setup there's no need to save anything, things go straight into explorer. One drag later and the recorded file is in Kontakt.

But then, as said, I may agree with you. In addition, personally, I find it quite annoying there's no sampler allowing for destructive edits. So further use in other samplers requires files to be edited again or somewhere else (in a dedicated sample editor).

[stale bread]

here here, i concur

[shamann]

In addition, personally, I find it quite annoying there's no sampler allowing for destructive edits.

You might want to have a look at IL's Edison. Still a few performance issues that I hope are easily fixed, but it records, lets you do destructive edits, has some neat playback options and, and supports drag and drop for use with another sampler.