Having a hard time getting my feet wet with Simpler/Sampler

[JackDULUOZ]

Hopefully things don't get too wordy and confusing here. I'm hoping someone can help me with getting started creating my own new samples, not using samples that came with Live 9 and other packs I have downloaded. I have been trying to create samples from songs in my iTunes library by importing (dragging and dropping) the entire mp3 track into the designated slot in Simpler and Sampler. The first problem is that when I try to play back the mp3 within Simpler/Sampler itself, I hear no audio, and so I cannot effectively clip and chop and edit the mp3 as I desire. I know that dragging and dropping a sample from the Live library allows for playback and effective sampling, so I am guessing that it has something to do with the file type I am attempting to use (mp3). My first question is: Is that the case?

My second question is: Is Live 9 or any of its many great instruments and tools really effective for the kind of sampling I have described above? Or will I need to download some sort of VST sampler plugin? I know that this is a common type of sampling… it's the one of the main compositional elements of hip-hop.

And in case anyone thinks I haven't tried reading a manual or viewing a tutorial, that is not the case, I assure you. I have viewed many a tutorial, many of them aimed at explaining sampling in Live to beginners. The problem is, all of these tutorials have used existing samples from Live's library of samples. I know there are some great samples that Live provides, but this is a technique I would like to become proficient in.

Thank you, good people!

[siliconarc]

MP3s should be play fine when dragged into Sampler.
Have a look here: https://www.ableton.com/en/articles/import-samples/

[clydesdale]

Can you describe briefly what you intend to do with the samples? Simpler and Sampler are intended (in general) for MIDI input and I'm not sure by your post if that is what you plan to use. If you just want to play a sample, drop the MP3 or WAV directly into an audio track clip slot. What I typically do is import the entire song to it's own clip/track, warp it and then copy it to other clip/tracks which I then trim down to just the particular sample I want. You can then either play the clip while recording to create an arrangement or just drag the clips on to the arrangement wherever you like.

If you're using MIDI you should check to make sure you are generating notes with your input device or you should create a clip with a few manual notes in it to debug your track. If you drag the sample (or entire song) to the correct window slot in Simpler you should see the waveform and then it should work immediately. Mine has always worked using either WAV or MP3.

I think chopping is better done in an audio track. Simpler/Sampler is better for fine tuning the edges and looping of the smaller samples. Sampler also ignores warping (or more likely I misunderstand how to use it) so you need to jump through some hoops to make a beat matched sample sometimes.

[102455]

I agree, it sounds to me as if you've got the wrong end of the stick.

You don't need to use a sampler instrument for constructing a track/beat from bits of existing tracks. You can do that with Session View (the one with all the clip slots).

In basic terms, all the little clip slots in Session View are mini sample players. Load your tracks into the slots, decide how & when you want them to play, then set them going.

See here ---> https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/all-about-session-view/

[JackDULUOZ]

Can you describe briefly what you intend to do with the samples?.

It really depends on what the situation calls for, and that's why I would like to learn how to do this sort of thing. Sometimes I will want to structure a more hip-hop oriented loop around a certain sample, and at other times I will want to use a sample as more of an auxiliary instrument, perhaps in an electronic piece, if that makes any sense. The method you've explained seems sensible. I figured that was one way to do things, I just wasn't sure if it was the most efficient. But that is what I will try first.

For everyone: I am not attempting to use MIDI in making samples. Not yet, at least. I just want to practice manipulating tracks in terms of where I want them to begin and end.

For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmJSO_zG9lQ

Radiohead has managed to create a manageable loop (and consequently, a song) out of a sample of "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" by… you guessed it… Miles Davis. I'm not so much worried about how to record it into a song as much as I am creating the sample itself. But you guys have given me excellent answers, and for that I thank you all.

[Martin Gifford]

I don't have fun with sampling and session view. I just use it to make song ideas - new scene for every added instrument, riff or beat, or variation, then see which ones are best, and transfer pretty quickly to arrangement view.

I'm sure I'm missing out on something. I guess you can load bits of songs and loops and move the warp markers and loop start and end points and keep adding and it would be fun. It seems a bit cutting words from a newspaper to make a poem.

So are their any really good videos for using samples and stuff in session view? I've watched a few videos but they don't turn me on, yet some people here seem to love doing it.

Live isn't inviting me to play, but other people seem to really be inspired by it.

[TomViolenz]

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[clydesdale]

Live isn't inviting me to play, but other people seem to really be inspired by it.

I look at it this way-- Session view is good for jamming and rearranging parts, Arrangement view is a song on it's way to completion. I suspect a DJ would hardly ever use Arrangement view for a set and a composer/producer would hardly ever use Session view to put the final touches on a piece. Arrangement is linear in that you start at one end and finish at the other. Session is abstract and random access allowing you to mingle parts in infinite ways for an indefinite amount of time.

[[stm]]

My two cents: I make a lot of sampling-based music and depending on the "feel" I'm going for, I sometimes find myself just dragging samples to Sampler and tuning them. Going purely by ear can give you slightly sloppy results that can add to the atmosphere - or maybe that's just my feeling.

For sophisticated patterns and elements that carry the track in terms of rhythm and groove, I tend to use edits and warping. Freezing, flattening and re-importing a previously warped loop into Sampler, then manually triggering it can also give some interesting results.

[JackDULUOZ]

An update for you helpful fellas: I found the solution to one of my big problems; I did not realize that a Simpler is activated using the MIDI controller or particular keys on the keyboard. I was pressing spacebar assuming that would activate the sample. Clearly I am very new to this. Sorry if that question was misleading. Often times, the answer you're looking for is right under your ignorant little nose.

[clydesdale]

You're off and running then. Excellent! I found out a lot of stuff at first just by doing youtube searches so you might try that too. Good luck.