Sampling Virtual Instruments workflow?

[skylerocean]

Does anyone have a workflow they recommend for sampling Virtual Instruments into the Sound Manager for their Wave 2?

How many notes do you tend to sample? Do you same every note, or every other note? Any other tips?

I want to give this a shot over the weekend thanks in advance!

[skylerocean]

Hi-

When sampling instruments into the Nord Sample Editor, I find it best to sample about 10 notes or so about a third apart. Make sure you put a space between all of the notes in a single .wav file. Keep the sample dry with no effects. Once you have the .wav file with the 10 notes with spaces, just drop it into the SE and it will automatically map the notes and make the multi-sample for you.

-dj

[skylerocean]

Absolutelly agree with DJkeys. I would also add that the more notes you record, the most accurate the sample will be. If you record every X notes the software will create the in between samples by "guessing" how those notes will sound. There might be very small differences from the original this way. The ideal is to record evey note, but the nsmp size will be be very big and occupy a lot of memory in your instrument. So every 3 notes is good choice IMO.

[skylerocean]

"A third apart" (3-4 semitones) and "every third" (3 semitones) is not the same - but both answers together would be my answer, too: Something between every 3rd and every 5th semitone - depending on the sound type and the quality desired. Maybe, you put them closer together in the middle of the keyboard (or wherever you play mostly). If you have a choice: My calimba/sanza only has 5 tones to record.

[skylerocean]

Thanks everyone! Gonna be trying this out today for fun

[alex78]

"A third apart" (3-4 semitones) and "every third" (3 semitones) is not the same

What I actually wanted to say was every 3 keys, or semitones. Forgive me for not using the right term.
I also want to add that care must be taken regarding the loops, especially when creating pads and other evolving sounds. If there is too many notes it will take longer to adjust all of them. (the new version of SE maybe is more automated in this field, I don't know, still using the old version)
Good luck!

[FZiegler]

Hey, alex78, what I said was nitpicking. No real reason for you to say sorry.

Your second point is the reason why I suggested every 3rd to 5th semitone.

[baekgaard]

I apologize for apologizing....
Anyway, that's a good period for sound creating, exploring and practicing. We are locked down again here in Greece, so there is plenty of time for all that. Stay healthy and spend time with your nords!

[Copia]

If you all don’t mind expanding this thread, I’d love to hear people’s experiences or techniques sampling for this instrument. I’m pretty new to it. I sampled a Voyager and the sample appears to me to be thinner and not as rich/nuanced as the Voyager patch I sampled. Do you find samples generally sound the same as playing from the sampled instrument (aside from the different filter) or is some of the data lost in the exchange?

Also, one of my struggles is getting a long sustained sample. I want as close to infinite as possible so I can choose in the Wave 2 to decay or sustain it per patch. I’ve tried looping, but it introduces beats (predictably) or greatly changes the sound if I loop it after a tiny duration. I’ve been recording samples of about a second or so for every key on the keyboard. Should I sample much longer to get a more accurate sample, like 5-10 seconds per note?

As much as possible, I want to be able to sample my analog synths into this instrument for it to work for me, and I need to get the process to where it can replicate them as well as possible. So far, probably because of my skill, admittedly (but not apologetically), it has resulted in subpar samples, which I need to correct.

[zahush76]

Hi-

When sampling instruments into the Nord Sample Editor, I find it best to sample about 10 notes or so about a third apart. Make sure you put a space between all of the notes in a single .wav file. Keep the sample dry with no effects. Once you have the .wav file with the 10 notes with spaces, just drop it into the SE and it will automatically map the notes and make the multi-sample for you.

-dj

If you sample every 3rd note or so, how do you end up sampling only 10 notes? Seems like there are 3 or 4 notes from every octave.