Quality vs Quantity ?

[mjolnir]

How do you guys contend with so much content in huge quantities (which is time consuming) vs quality samples that are hard to find unless you make them yourself?

[Fannon]

Good question! Not sure.

I personally try to stick with 2-3 providers that I like (I have Samples from Mars, Wave Alchemy and Goldbaby). Maybe that's already too much? But every sample provider has their own organizing / naming system which makes having too many sample libraries really difficult to manage without a lot of manual care.

To find and "rate" good samples, you could use something like XO, Atlas, Triaz, Sononym.

Something I'm currently trying out: I wrote a small script that takes the favorites in Triaz and exports them into a "curated" sample library. I can also add other sample libraries there, but Triaz factory library is already great and well curated (imho). Also speculating on future Triaz update to bring AI categorization. The script is very primitive right now, but the idea is: Favorite / curate samples in a real drum VST then export via script, where I can bake in (automate) some preferences on how to organize / name things.

[mixyguy2]

? Quality samples are all over the place. Not at all hard to find IMO

[enroe]

How do you guys contend with so much content in huge quantities (which is time consuming) vs quality samples that are hard to find unless you make them yourself?

Yes, an interesting question!

Many of today's sample libraries boast enormous size
(several gigabytes!) and are in a terrible format (24-bit).
This quickly fills up the hard drive. And even worse: The
loading times for a project in the DAW are getting longer
and longer – and the entire software is becoming slow and
cumbersome. Editing in the DAW is becoming a sluggish
and slow task. This is because huge libraries are attached
to VSTs or samplers.

Most sample library providers believe that size in gigabytes
is a quality criterion. And they believe that all samples must
be 24-bit. This bloats the libraries to an exorbitant size –
and if you load several of them into a DAW project, your
Mac or PC will respond sluggishly and slowly – and in the
worst case, even freeze completely.

-----------------------------------------------------------

You hold your head and ask yourself: "Why is development
going in this direction?" "Was it ever different?"

Yes - that was it!

Once upon a time—in the late 1990s—there were still
hardware samplers (from Roland, EMU, and Akai). And
the SF2 format (EMU + Soundblaster) was invented.

At that time, storage space was scarce, and sample
creation was designed to keep them as small as possible.
So, many, many multisamples were created with great
care, using the smallest amount of storage space. This
resulted in true gems in the form of multisamples for the
music world.

If you search a little, you can still find such multisamples
online today in AKAI, sf2, or sfz formats. And the great
thing is: many of these gems were already free back then
and still are.

But: you just have to look.

[DrGonzo]

I personally try to stick with 2-3 providers that I like (I have Samples from Mars, Wave Alchemy and Goldbaby).

I use this strategy as well. After a while you find certain sound designers match your sense of style and taste and you stick with them. Getting samples / presets from big storefronts like Loopmasters is just a huge waste of time for me. I never find what I want. But when Samples from Mars release something I'm always interested. So yeah - find your favourite sound makers and stick with them.

/C

[HAL76]

"Quality" is relative ... even your own perception may have changed the next day. If not the sound is maybe some kind of "good"?

I think "good sounds" are the ones that you still like after some time probably - so listening to them again and again and buying or "staging" them in your collection might be a promising approach.

But to make it short I think your question is more about reducing complexity, isn´t it?

[KBSoundSmith]

How do you guys contend with so much content in huge quantities (which is time consuming) vs quality samples that are hard to find unless you make them yourself?

Hmm. I'd say the first step is to be very clear and specific in what you are trying to achieve musically. It is always tempting to buy samples in the latest blowout deal, but the reality is that if you haven't listened to the sample set extensively and determined that it may/will be a good fit for your specific creative work, it is only going to lighten your wallet and burden your hard drive.

Second, what do you already have available? Odds are there is something you already have that will do the job.

Third, sleep on it -- even for a couple of days... or weeks. There is no urgency to getting samples. There will be another sale, there will be another latest/greatest library. And since this is a hobby for most people, there is no dire need to purchase anything that isn't going to make you money.

Fourth, do some actual work. It's hard to get tempted to buy something if you're too busy using what you already have. Actually composing is the best cure for GAS. And unlike looking at samples and instruments in a vaccuum and thinking about what might theoretically be useful, actually writing will directly tell you exactly what it is you're missing (or not).

Lastly, it depends upon the type of samples you're using. Writing for orchestra? Yeah, you'll probably have to buy something. Synth one-shots sold in a sample pack? Hmm, you could probably make your own faster and not have to worry about licensing agreements.

[HAL76]

Sleeping on it and thinking about the purpose is a more cognitive approach and probably a good strategy if you want to nail some tracks. Nothing wrong with it. But listening through librarys, see what is inside, how it sounds and what the market offers can extend your knowledge and affect your sense of quality. Me personally I have gathered a sample collecion that is too big to handele over the years. I have also bought several samplers, also e. g. Syntronik, Kontakt, Nexus, Halion, Kontakt, all the E-mu Modules and samplers librarys and many many more - and frequently come back to them. For comparisons, for inspiration or for just listening how this adnd that sounded and it helps me lot again and again in different ways.

What I´d finally add is that sample libarys are often not more than a starting point and you have to invest time to make them useable for you - even if they´re delivered with sampler programs. With just a little bit of effort you can turn them into more and make them something they weren´t before. I wouldn´t say that you always have to do that, but I think you should - also to malke them valuable for yourself and give them your personal flavour.

[KBSoundSmith]

Sleeping on it and thinking about the purpose is a more cognitive approach and probably a good strategy if you want to nail some tracks. Nothing wrong with it. But listening through librarys, see what is inside, how it sounds and what the market offers can extend your knowledge and affect your sense of quality. Me personally I have gathered a sample collecion that is too big to handele over the years. I have also bought several samplers, also e. g. Syntronik, Kontakt, Nexus, Halion, Kontakt, all the E-mu Modules and samplers librarys and many many more - and frequently come back to them. For comparisons, for inspiration or for just listening how this adnd that sounded and it helps me lot again and again in different ways.

What I´d finally add is that sample libarys are often not more than a starting point and you have to invest time to make them useable for you - even if they´re delivered with sampler programs. With just a little bit of effort you can turn them into more and make them something they weren´t before. I wouldn´t say that you always have to do that, but I think you should - also to malke them valuable for yourself and give them your personal flavour.

There is definitely something to be said for buying enough general samples that you can go sample spelunking and look for inspiration in a quasi-random way, I absolutely agree with you; I also have Kontakt/Komplete and Halion/Absolute, plus some orchestral/instrumental libraries -- sometimes it's fun to load them up and wander about to see what happens. It just seemed to me that the OP is/was trying to find ways to limit choice and speed up work.

[HAL76]

There is definitely something to be said for buying enough general samples that you can go sample spelunking and look for inspiration in a quasi-random way, I absolutely agree with you; I also have Kontakt/Komplete and Halion/Absolute, plus some orchestral/instrumental libraries -- sometimes it's fun to load them up and wander about to see what happens. It just seemed to me that the OP is/was trying to find ways to limit choice and speed up work.
[/quote]

I suppose he doe, too. That´s why I concluded in the end that it´s possible to create "quality sounds" from given materials by spending some time to optimize them and their functionality. Thas is one of the strategies I use. And I don´t just use it on other sounds. Not anymore anyway. I have sampeled and created so much myself now that I´m standing before exactly the same problem as the thread opener - with my own sounds.

That is a different perspective, but the problem of complexity is the same. And the solution lies somewhere between all that has been said like e. g. taking time for assessments and sleep over it, setting targets, finishing what you have started, invest time to generate quality over quantity. And maybe it´s sometimes also about taking in another perspective. You don´t like the sound maybe, but maybe others do. And hoiw can I know before having tested it.

That is crucial anyway. Testing the sounds and the feedback on it. I know for sure that you can make cool stuff ith "garbage" as well as I know that the "quality" of a sound depsendfs on the arrangement and the sounds function in it.

I think it´s one of these endles topics we should maybe not try to discuss in summertime

[HAL76]

There is definitely something to be said for buying enough general samples that you can go sample spelunking and look for inspiration in a quasi-random way, I absolutely agree with you; I also have Kontakt/Komplete and Halion/Absolute, plus some orchestral/instrumental libraries -- sometimes it's fun to load them up and wander about to see what happens. It just seemed to me that the OP is/was trying to find ways to limit choice and speed up work.

[/quote]

I suppose he doe, too. That´s why I concluded in the end that it´s possible to create "quality sounds" from given materials by spending some time to optimize them and their functionality. Thas is one of the strategies I use. And I don´t just use it on other sounds. Not anymore anyway. I have sampeled and created so much myself now that I´m standing before exactly the same problem as the thread opener - with my own sounds.

That is a different perspective, but the problem of complexity is the same. And the solution lies somewhere between all that has been said like e. g. taking time for assessments and sleep over it, setting targets, finishing what you have started, invest time to generate quality over quantity. And maybe it´s sometimes also about taking in another perspective. You don´t like the sound maybe, but maybe others do. And hoiw can I know before having tested it.

That is crucial anyway. Testing the sounds and the feedback on it. I know for sure that you can make cool stuff ith "garbage" as well as I know that the "quality" of a sound depsendfs on the arrangement and the sounds function in it.

I think it´s one of these endles topics we should maybe not try to discuss in summertime
[/quote]

[BlackOctopusSteve]

Hey there! I co-run a sample pack label and we have to cycle through literally hundreds of thousands of samples every year.

The one tip that I have is use some type of organizing or tagging system (like Ableton's color coded or Mac's color dot tagging on files). Choose one color and mark it as "faves."

Also, as a solo producer, I put all my favourites into one single folder, rather than keeping them all in one.

One other insight gathered from this process is it's a matter of personal taste, something high quality to one person, may sound like hot garbage to another. We tell a funny story of a disagreement about this in the Black Octopus Sound brand story documentary film Making of a Monster. You can find it on the Black Octopus Sound Youtube channel if you'd like to see it.