The use of samples?

[nickmadsen]

I've just recently purchased a sample pack for the first time and I have a few questions. First of all I would like to say that I want to use the samples as a supplement to my music, to add some cool effects and such, because you could pretty much compose a full lenght song using all the samples

My questions are following:
Some of the samples are just small "one shots", which is just a bass note or a synth chord or something like that, what's the purpose of these? Is it the idea that I find a bass single note and then pitch it in different tones to make a melody? I just think using any rompler would do that much easier because you're using MIDI.

Second, there are also many single shot drum sounds, and I know the cymbals are nice to throw in your mix, but I'm wondering if the whole idea is to build you own drum beat using different drum samples, which I find is a lenghty procedure, but maybe it's just because I'm new to samples and just need practice. And furthermore I use Strike alot which I find much easier.

So if you kindly could give me some tips for using samples it would be highly appreciated, since there are so many samples within the sample pack that I find quite useless?

Thanks!

[Chris Lambrechts]

Nowadays the samples or audio files get used straight into the daw just like any other audio file but originally, a sample was used in a sampler.

The genius thing about samplers was that you could 'record' an acoustic or electronic source and map that to a keyboard and then use all or most of the synthesizer filters / envelopes and what have you on those recorded (sampled) sounds.

So ... yes ... definitely one of the uses for samples is to map them to a keyboard / midi notes using a sampler. These days that would usually be a software sampler. Structure for example

http://www.avid.com/US/products/Structure/

Dumsounds : Anyone remember the days before soundreplacer and the likes where we used to 'trigger' the samples. Wasn't that to some extend more fun then the way we go about things now ?

You can map all the drumsounds to a keyboard for example and play along with a track and record the to a midi track or audio track.

Just some random (vintage) thoughts

Chris

[nickmadsen]

Thank you Chris

Most of the files are in Wav format, how do you get that into a sampler?
Or what format should it be?

And if I get structure to use it as a sampler, will it serve the same function as one of these things with quite large square buttons that triggers a sound when you hit a button? Like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Akai_MPC60.jpg

[Chris Lambrechts]

Ah yes - MPC60 - still have one of those - tightest sequencer EVER !!!

Most software samplers will use wav files yes. Some will create little aliases which they then use to refer to them but you shouldn't worry about that. Wav is fine.

Most Soft samplers will even allow you to drag and drop the wav files onto a virtual keyboard for mapping as well.

The big square pads on the MPC60 are nothing more or less then midi notes mapped to a trigger. Just like any midi keyboard.

Chris