The 'Working only with samples' thread

[Horpe]

Hellay hellay!

First of all, thanx for the subsection EMI & EMP, I think that was eagerly awaited

Now to my question:

When working mainly or only with samples I assume that rules (I know, there are no rules ) of EQ, Comp, plugins with their chains & orders, effects etc is a bit different than if you record the real way thru mic's etc. Almost every thread in the SMGSLT section refers to that setup.

Therefore I would be glad to get some input regarding how you process for example sampled drums (both electronic and acoustic via BFD etc). Sampled acoustic instruments? How does your processing approach differ if you work only with samples?

Cheers!

/Horpe

[Horpe]

...further

Are ready made instruments and drum samples from Sample CD's/DVD's and Sample players already processed in some way?

Cheers!

[Kubilay]

I will often run my sampled instruments through a good DA, a great mic pre (in my case mostly Aurora Audio GTQ2 markIII), and back into a good AD. This is why I will always need at least 4 channels of good DA - two to monitor, and two to "reamp".

Often I will also "create" a recorded ambience by taking an Altiverb small room (i.e. a studio environment), run it through the mic pre the same way, and send it back in.

If the samples are something that would usually be amped (i.e. organ, or synth) I will reamp it, or at least send it through a fake amp plugin, if time is tight.

You could also create a "room mic" by sending the track into a nice speaker in a nice room and record it back as a separate track. Anything that puts 'air' around the samples.

EQ, compression etc. I use as if it were a live recording. The only difference is that usually there is no compression needed for actual dynamic control, since that is mostly accomplished when programming. Compression is really used only for tone/sound shaping purposes, so I use a little less of it than I would with live recorded tracks. Often a 2:1 or even less will do the trick.

Special EQ problem with samples I find is ugly low-mid buildup in overlapping/ringout in i.e. Harp and Piano type sounds - I've tried multiband compressors to control this, or just old-fashioned cutting, but there's always something left to be desired. I found that samples usually tend to need "drier" performances than one would prefer with real recordings, so I program accordingly.

[Methlab]

^^^^

this is a good post. I have never inderstood people who compress the shit out of samples, unless they are going for a specific effect. The samples are already dynamically controlled by your MIDI input.

I don't compress my drum samples much at all (unless im going for an extreme sound or compressing in parallel), and they sound much better for it.

[Kubilay]

Oh, I almost always do the squashed drum-buss thing... and not just for drums. Couldn't live without it. Boy, did it use to be a pain in the ass before Automatic Delay Compensation....

[Kubilay]

Oh, and one more thing, regarding the thread title: I always make sure I don't ever work only with samples - nothing like a few prominently placed live tracks to liven up the whole picture and give the samples more depth. Even if it's just a track or two, makes a huge difference.

Personally, I like to mix things up for musical reasons anyway, with purely electronic sounds, live tracks, sampled instruments and "concrete" recordings all living side-by-side. Just my personal preference.

[Luko]

Originally Posted by Kubilay

Personally, I like to mix things up for musical reasons anyway, with purely electronic sounds, live tracks, sampled instruments and "concrete" recordings all living side-by-side. Just my personal preference.

I like to aim for the same thing, it doesnt always work out for me

I can say recently I discovered the joy of gates, and sampled loops, it was one of those stike moments thumbsup

actually gates full stop have become a major weapon in my arsenal for making a loop my own

ie; use a gate to extract just the snare and kicks, then layer your own hat pattern over it

[Huntley Miller]

Originally Posted by Methlab

^^^^
....
I don't compress my drum samples much at all (unless im going for an extreme sound or compressing in parallel), and they sound much better for it.

Your right compression is usually not necessary. I've been using hardware compressors with synthesized sounds and its great for the added tone/texture and also envelope modification rather than controlling dynamics.