Creating samples

[soratach]

Hi all, i've been sampling sound using the Nord's software for quite sometimes yet i cant seem to find the "perfect point" in doing so. And i'd very much like to ask for some advice here as how you guys normally do it.

Things like, velocity, length, and sample loops.

When u record the sample, i generally use logic, what velocity would you set it at, also the level of the sample... 0db? Or louder?

And how long would you have the notes play for? I normally have it at about 8-12 beats on 100bpm.

Am i doing things correctly? Or should i change my settings?

Thanks !

Tat P.

[mjbrands]

If you sample sound including the attack phase, be aware that you may need to change the way you use the amplitude envelope (loudness). If you sample a sound which has a long attack phase (such as a pad sound) and apply a long attack (or slow attack, if you want) using the amplitude envelope on the Stage 2 (or Wave), you get a sound where the attack is even slower.

On my Stage 2 I didn't really mess with samples I recorded myself, but on the Wave I did (it is more capable in that respect though). I tried to record sounds in such a way that there was no effect on them, not from the amp envelope nor from the filter. The advantage of this is that you can use the tools provided by the synth (envelopes, filters, reverb, etc.) to further 'sculpt' the sound. If you record a sound with a reverb on it, there's no way to get it off and if you apply more reverb (on-board effects) to it, it will sound weird. In other words: I tried to capture the clean oscillator sound.

However, for some sounds the attack phase, applied effects or filter (on a Moog for example) are so typical for that specific sound (or cannot be reproduced by your Nord) that it doesn't make sense to record a 'clean sound'. In that case, it might be better to use a very fast attack (just short enough to prevent ticking at the start of a note), since the attack phase is already included in the recorded source material. The included Mellotron sounds are a good example of this, as is a typical piano sound.

A piano sound is a nice example: it has a very typical attack phase (the sound of which changes drastically as your vary the velocity with which notes are played) and if you sustain the sound, it will pretty much settle in a state where the sound doesn't really change much anymore (except the amplitude, which slowly decreases). For such a sound, I would sample the full attack phase and then maybe 2-3 additional seconds of material. I would then open it in a sound editor and try to find a point where the sound seemed to have settled (doesn't have to be very exact); the sample you want to load in the Nord is from the start of the sound up to the first 'zero crossing' (the point where the amplitude is zero) - this last bit is an attempt to prevent clicking and may not be necessary. Then I'd load the sound into the Sample Editor and define loop points, pretty much from the end of the sample up to maybe 0.1 second earlier (at least several cycles in the sample, so it depends on the pitch of the sound). With the newly defined loop points, play the sound in the editor and listen for any unwanted noises (such as clicking) when you play that note and sustain it. Shift the loop points slightly until you get rid of any unwanted noise. I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but I think the Sample Editor had some functionality to do this automatically (or at least make it easier).

As to what level would be best: I can think of two ways of looking at this.

1. If you record it at the maximum volume (amplitude) where it still does not clip, the noise will be at the lowest possible level. You can lower the maximum volume using the level knob, which also lowers the volume of any noise.
2. If you should record it with some headroom (= less than maximum amplitude), so you will not clip if multiple notes sound out at the same time.

Digital clipping sounds horrible and should be avoided, while analog clipping (not the case here) generally has a much less disturbing effects; sometimes analog clipping is even desirable.

I think I tried to keep the maximum levels I recorded samples at between -3 and -6 dB, but I'm not completely sure. I hope someone has some better guidance when what I just talked about, since I think there's quite a bit of improvement possible.

[soratach]

Mjbrands,

Thanks so much for the advice! I'll give it a try soon and see how it will turn out.

Thanks much!!!!

[mjbrands]

I'll give it a try soon and see how it will turn out.

I would appreciate some feedback on how it went for you. While I think I got the technical side to work, my results were never that interesting.

[soratach]

I'll give it a try soon and see how it will turn out.

I would appreciate some feedback on how it went for you. While I think I got the technical side to work, my results were never that interesting.

Giving the fact that i hardly got anything right i have a strong feeling that this time i will have a big improvement! ^^

But yes, i will let you know how it goes.

[soratach]

Hi mjbrands,

Sorry it took this long for a feedback!

I sampled a brass sound. All went well but one thing, the volume of the sound is rather quiet when put together with everything else on my NS2, i mean the level and the balance is as perfect as i could hoped for but the sampled sound appeared to be much quieter than others. Is this a natural thing or am i doing something wrong. I set the recording level to the max as i could without clipping. But its not as loud as i'd hoped

Anyways, thanks for the help again! Really made my process much easier!!

Bests

Tat P.