sampling analog synths

sunrahrahrah · Post by **sunrahrahrah** » Thu May 22, 2008 8:07 pm

I've been sampling analog synths to create patches for sampler, taking different waveforms to create oscillator sets that I then combine in racks to make patches as I would have on the original synth. What I'm wondering about is how long a sample is best to record? Is it better to take a short loop of less than a second, or a long ten or twenty or thirty second loop, maybe preserving some of the little fluctuations that would occur in the unstable oscillator? What do most people do when making sample libraries? Thanks.

emef · Post by **emef** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:03 pm

i reckon its better to record longer samples to get all what the synth is doing

i like to record the high notes of old synths then play them back at lower pitches, they sound really dirty

Mr Lager · Post by **Mr Lager** » Wed May 28, 2008 10:20 am

I find (at least on my wonky novation rack) that the envelopes on the analog synths have their own quirks which a subtle but hard to recreate wth software samplers.
i just find that there are so may tweaks and different envelope settings that i want to sample from my synth that its too time consuming to make up banks, then again im not much of a sampler user because Im so set in my ways with manipulating the audio directly.

I tend to fire up the synth as and when the track calls for it, that way I have a more focused idea of what dynamics im looking for

sunrahrahrah · Post by **sunrahrahrah** » Thu May 29, 2008 12:43 am

To Mr. Lager, I agree. Theres a ton that doesn't translate. I'm sampling a polysix, and theres no way to get anywhere near the rippy gritty ghost howl that the filter will break into with digital tools. However....its alot of fun to load samples into Sampler and use the modulation sources there...and it becomes really portable that way.

Hmmm so I guess no one else really has an answer for this? Ive seen some of the puremagnetik catalog, and that is usually just a short loop. Is that just to save space on the drive or is there some deeper issue (phase related?) that I'm just not knowing about?

contakt321 · Post by **contakt321** » Thu May 29, 2008 2:17 am

I too am really curious as to how PureMagnetik gets such good results - anyone have any insight into this?

micah frank · Post by **micah frank** » Fri May 30, 2008 5:17 pm

contakt321 wrote:I too am really curious as to how PureMagnetik gets such good results - anyone have any insight into this?

Aside from programming patches to sample, there's a few things you might want to take special care of - they DO make a difference

1) Use a good, reputable sound card from a company like Apogee or RME.
2) You might want to use a master clock like the Big Ben or Antelope series for optimum results
3) Use short, good balanced cables
4) Might want to go into a decent preamp even if you are sampling line level. The API and UA channel strips we use add a lot of nice character and warmth to the patches
5) Sample at the highest bit depth and sample rate you and your computer can handle. You can always reduce these later. High quality capturing combined with a solid clock and low jitter rate on your sound card will make a huge difference in the end.
6) General rule of thumb is to sample every 4 semitones. If you are looping the samples, then you might get away with tritones. Although for evolving analog type stuff it gets kinda weird with the resampling.
7) Overall, use your ears. If the patch doesn't sound good to begin with, digitizing it certainly won't help!

dankusCDW · Post by **dankusCDW** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:49 am

2 concepts to really deal with that I identify.

1. Long long long samples. This is better if you have a fantastic patch, and that's what you want to replicate. I have heard a number of sample sets of synths that quite simply, rock the house. Some of those are Atmosphere, sample sets that came with Kontakt, or Collossus. This kind of sampling can capture the heart of analog sounds, because it is quite literally just a number of long recordings of analog sounds, that don't intend on using the samplers modulation or filtering capabilities.

2. Oscillator sample sets. If your oscillator is really good sounding, but the rest of the tonality you want to be able to shape in real time with the tool set on your sampler, then I think it can be a decently short sample- just a few cycles of waveform properly looped should do it. Take a look at the digital synths on the market, like Fantom and Motif. These have very small banks of memory comparatively speaking, mainly because most of the tones are very short waveforms with a loop point, and the rest of the tonality is shaped using the synths active processing.