Beginner question about sampling in Live...

[carmstrong1959]

Hi there,

I'm new to software recording/sampling so I hope my question is coherent. A friend told me I could get by without buying a stand-alone software sampler (like Kontakt) because Live does sampling. But when I look in the Live manual that I downloaded, it seems to use the word "sample" to refer to a loop or groove rather than a recording of one note on an instrument, which is what I think of as a sample.

So, my question is: Can Live act as a sampler, in the sense of recording individual notes of an instrument or voice and then mapping those notes to a midi keyboard so that I can trigger those sounds by playing the keys and recording what I play? And can I save a particular set of samples that I have mapped and call those up later as a sort of sample palette to work with? And can I define a sample as several samples layered so that they play all together when I play the key that they have been mapped to?

I hope that makes sense. I may not be using the correct terminology or even understand all the concepts necessary to ask this question so it makes sense to people knowledgeable about this stuff. I just got Live in the mail and I don't wanna open it until I resolve my confusion, since I may just have to send it back and get a Digital Performer/Kontakt combo, which costs quite a bit more than Live.

Thanks,

Chris

[Machinate]

yep. Use the Simpler plugin to do melodic sounds, and Impulse to do drum sounds. It can't do mappings/layers though. But for basic sampler fun just drag samples onto simpler or impulse.

[carmstrong1959]

Thanks a lot for the info. I'm surprized that it won't do layered samples. How do Live users get the sound of several drum sounds combined together? I thought that was a popular way to use samples.

Thanks,

Chris

[melocoton]

Can Live act as a sampler, in the sense of recording individual notes of an instrument or voice and then mapping those notes to a midi keyboard so that I can trigger those sounds by playing the keys and recording what I play?

No. The Simpler plugin only lets you map one sample across the whole keyboard. You can't for example sample each note on a piano or sample different velocity levels.

And can I save a particular set of samples that I have mapped and call those up later as a sort of sample palette to work with?

Sort of. Using the Impulse plugin you can map 8 different samples to 8 different keys on your keyboard. Using multiple instances of Impulse would allow you to map different samples across your entire keyboard. But it's not exactly a convenient way to do it.

And can I define a sample as several samples layered so that they play all together when I play the key that they have been mapped to?

Not quite. But once again, you can do some fancy stuff with multiple instances of Impulse, or by sequencing several slots of Impulse at the same time. So for example, if you want to layer 8 snare sounds into one big snare hit, you could have 8 instances of Impulse with a snare sample in the first slot all responding to the same midi channel. Then when you hit the key on your controller that triggers that slot, all 8 Impulse plugins would fire at once.

Or, you could simply have 8 different snare sounds loaded into the 8 different slots of Impulse and get them to fire all at once by drawing the notes in by hand. Actually, come to think of it, there are probably some other tricks you could do using the chord or scale plugins which would allow you to trigger 8 slots of one Impulse plugin from one key on your keyboard.

At any rate, you should check out the demo and see if you like the way Live works.

[carmstrong1959]

Thank you. It's beginning to look like I may not wanna use Lave after all because I really wanna do these standard sampler things.

Do you know if some Live users use a stand-alone software sampler in conjunction with Live to do these kinds of things? Can another sampler be used with Live?

Thanks,

Chris

[futureproof]

Thank you. It's beginning to look like I may not wanna use Lave after all because I really wanna do these standard sampler things.

that would be a bit like throwin' the baby away with the bathwater. Just use a vsti sampler that offers the functionality you need, shortcircuit for example.

Are you familiar with VST instruments and effects? I dont mean this in a condescending way at all. I just sense that your pretty new to producing music with computers.

heres a link to shortcircuit. I wouldnt be surprised if there was some freeware that offers what you need also. I'm sure someone will chime in about that.

http://vemberaudio.com/products.php

hope that helps





edit: heres a free (donationware) vst sampler that offers multi-sampling, 128 note polyphony, sf2 and Akai import, granular pitch shifting etc etc.

PAAX

http://www.kotkasuniverse.com/paax_index.htm

[carmstrong1959]

Thanks. No, I don't know what VST is. Does it work from within Live or something? If not, I guess I don't get it. I need to trigger the samples and record them in Live. I looked at the link you gave. It mentioned Windows but I'm using Mac. I'll keep looking at that site and maybe I'll figure it out.

Thanks,

Chris

[futureproof]

chris

ever used photoshop? Know how you can use 'filters" to manipulate pixels?
VST plug-ins are analogous to that, but your manipulting sound, obviously.

VST plug-ins are cross-platform so you can use VST's on a mac if the developer codes a mac version. On the mac only front you have audio units, same idea.

There are nowhere near the amount of free audio units available as there are vst's...but hey thats the price you pay if you want a nice looking computer

check out the site osxaudio.com for some freebies and general info on audio units. Im sure some of the mac people here can recommend a cheap/free sampler for mac if one exists.

best of luck.

[carmstrong1959]

Yeah, the Photoshop analogy helps. I don't have to have a free one though. I'm spending some money to get my home studio started so I don't mind paying real money for something that works.

I guess the thing that I'm still unclear about is how these things work with Live. My (admittedly incomplete) idea of a sampler is something that works in conjunction with a recorder/sequencer, so that while you are running the recording software the sampler is running and allowing you to trigger the samples. Is this how it would work with Live? They're both running and the VST sampler thingy is helping to send the sounds I trigger with my keyboard into Live, which is recording them?

Thanks,

Chris

[TekMonki]

I guess the thing that I'm still unclear about is how these things work with Live. My (admittedly incomplete) idea of a sampler is something that works in conjunction with a recorder/sequencer, so that while you are running the recording software the sampler is running and allowing you to trigger the samples. Is this how it would work with Live? They're both running and the VST sampler thingy is helping to send the sounds I trigger with my keyboard into Live, which is recording them?

Thanks,

Chris

That's the basic gist yes.

Think of a VST/AU as a hardware synth/sample or FX box. Think of Live as a DAT deck or other kind of recorder. It can record/playback Audio (from a VST device) OR MIDI (from a VST device).

Only it can do a million more things on top of that.

[carmstrong1959]

By George, I think I've got it. I'll look into this VST business.

I guess the Kontakt sampler isn't a a VST type thingy, right?

I'm trying to use that because a guy who is helping/collaborating with me uses that and we would be on the same page and speakin' the same language, but I don't have to use Kontakt if it doesn't jive with Live.

Thanks,

Chris

[TekMonki]

Yes, it's VST and AU I think as well. Most "soft synths/samplers" are one or the other if not both.

You should get the demo of Live and of Kontakt. See what you think.

[futureproof]

chris

another word of advice if I may: Dont buy anything yet except for Live. Check out osxaudio.com and kvraudio.com/ and read up on whats out there.

Chances are you will find some plug-ins that do exactly what you want for free (donationware).

heres some:


http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php?mode=re ... =1&rpp=100

[carmstrong1959]

Great. I'll try that. Thanks for all your (and the others) help. It's amazing how many people are willing to help a total stranger with his dorky questions. You know, I think this whole Internet gizmo may finally catch on after all

Thanks,

Chris

[TekMonki]

p.s. you're fired.