Sampler advice - Bonobo?

[oddstep]

Doing a search on timestretching in sampler will tell you about a way of doing this with an arpeggiator device as well.

[TomViolenz]

Timestretching in sampler. Make really short loop. Map loop start to an lfo. Set modulation to max. Set lfo type to saw up. Set lfo rate to sample duration. Done. You could do the same with an aux envelope as well. Granulator 2 does the same job but sounds smoother due to the use of a grain cloud.

That's really cool!

[boderekstits]

The biggest thing to set is the Root note, that R. I forget the shortcut, you hold a key while dragging it. Or you can change it in the sample tab on the bottom left. Root note tells Sampler what the original pitch of that sample is.

pardon my ignorance, but that would F# right? Since that's the original note, I should set all the root notes to F#?

[yur2die4]

If each sample is of a different note in its original form, you must discern what that note is and then Tell Sampler "Hey, this is the original pitch of this sample." Using the root note setting. Otherwise Sampler doesn't try to figure it out. It assumes your sample is C, and transposes everything based on middle C.

So then when you play in C, it'll be F#. Or, if you have samples that are originally like, F and D and Bb, and they all happen to be set as root note C, you'd just hear a mash of lots of random notes blurred together. If you set the F sample as root note F, D as D, and Bb as Bb, then When you hit a C, all the tones will play a C.

[boderekstits]

If each sample is of a different note in its original form, you must discern what that note is and then Tell Sampler "Hey, this is the original pitch of this sample." Using the root note setting. Otherwise Sampler doesn't try to figure it out. It assumes your sample is C, and transposes everything based on middle C.

So then when you play in C, it'll be F#. Or, if you have samples that are originally like, F and D and Bb, and they all happen to be set as root note C, you'd just hear a mash of lots of random notes blurred together. If you set the F sample as root note F, D as D, and Bb as Bb, then When you hit a C, all the tones will play a C.

gosh i wish I wasn't still confused but I am.

The original sample is one note. An F# synth note.

When I transposed each clip and loaded them into Sampler, I initially changed each note to reflect the root note, so I changed the one after the original to G, the one after that to G#, etc. And when I played that it sounds like garbage. So I set all the root notes to F# and it sounded good again.

So how do I know what the root note is?

Again, this is all very confusing and is taking away from actually making music.

Any Kontakt users wanna chime in? Again, I'm just wanting to take an older Bonobo approach to sampling. Finding a cool sound and making an instrument out of it, so I can create a melody, and play a chord to create harmony, etc. I'm having a very tough time in Sampler.

Or if anyone knows of any good tutorials to make this happen. I haven't been able to find any.

Thanks for all the comments.

[boderekstits]

bump

[oddstep]

The root note is f sharp. When you set the notes to have f sharp as the root they sounded good. That was because you had got it right. Whats the confusion?

[oddstep]

Also ... clip information isn't passed to sampler unless you freeze and flatten the clip.

[Nokatus]

Again, I'm just wanting to take an older Bonobo approach to sampling. Finding a cool sound and making an instrument out of it, so I can create a melody, and play a chord to create harmony, etc. I'm having a very tough time in Sampler.

I'm like 99% sure early Bonobo didn't use timestretching in the sense you're trying to do it. Bonobo used an Akai S950 (first released in the eighties!, although Bonobo used it later), and its timestretching is NOT transparent by a long shot. When Bonobo was playing back samples at different pitches on that machine, using them "as a MIDI instrument", doing melodies/harmonies, the sample's length did change. That was the reality back then, on those 80s machines

The Akai timestretch on those machines was most often used for a special effect, it sounded grainy and often metallic (especially on drums, heh), and generally it wasn't really usable for making transparently playable timestretched instruments in the sense you are after.

[yur2die4]

I saw a more recent producer masterclass with Bonobo a while back and it seemed he just chopped something up and rearranged if in whatever way sounded interesting to him.

As for older sampling, my assumption would have been that he'd just take bits of a song, and use whatever notes/chords he was stuck with from the original to make a piece. Things come off in a pretty interesting way like that since they already have a cohesiveness production-wise. At the most, maybe transposing by a semitone or two.

[boderekstits]

The root note is f sharp. When you set the notes to have f sharp as the root they sounded good. That was because you had got it right. Whats the confusion?

It still doesn't sound great. It doesn't get time stretched as I go up.

I guess I'm looking for other people's methods/advice on achieving this result.

Thanks.

[oddstep]

You tried the timestretching method in sampler I suggested and it sounded too granular? You'll have to use clips or another sample player... maybe Kontact which has a dedicated timestretch mode.

[Nokatus]

It still doesn't sound great. It doesn't get time stretched as I go up.

Again, if you're aiming for the early Bonobo sound, you don't need the timestretching. One could even say, you shouldn't use it if you're going for that methodology

[boderekstits]

It still doesn't sound great. It doesn't get time stretched as I go up.

Again, if you're aiming for the early Bonobo sound, you don't need the timestretching. One could even say, you shouldn't use it if you're going for that methodology

Interesting, I always equate his sound (or any sample-heavy organic-sounding downtempo music) with a cleaner style (i.e. timestreched samples that sound like a real instrument when you play up and down the keyboard)

This was a great thread. At the end of the day i'm just trying to make music and understand the execution better.

Thanks y'all!