Samplers / Sampling

Have you ever wished you could create strange, ethereal textures like the ones you hear on the best sample CDs? Paul White shows that it's not as difficult as it might seem.

After a hiatus of several years, Yamaha return to sampling with the cheapest, most portable dedicated sampler yet. Derek Johnson coins a phrase...

Paul White concludes this series with a look at phrase and loop sampling, the use of keygroups and mapping, and the use of the modern sampler as a synthesizer.

Paul White continues his introduction to sampling with a look at some of the extras, accessories and peripherals that you might need in order to get the most out of your new purchase.

Having come a long way from its humble beginnings in the early n-n-n-n-nineteen eighties, sampling is now an integral part of music making. Paul White explains what samplers do and how they can be used.

Long-time Akai sampler user Paul Ward tries to stop his credit card from leaping out of his pocket as he gets to grips with the tempting additions to Akai's mid-range sampler.

Come on down, Akai's new low-cost sampler! Astonishing value for money at a mere £999, the basic S2000 is expandable to a top-of-the-range spec by means of add-on cards. Paul White spins the (data) wheel of fortune to see whether Akai have played their cards right this time...

Wilf Smarties explores the never-ending world of sample loops and how best to use them in your music.

Hot on the heels of the ESI32 and EIV samplers comes Emu's latest mid-price unit. We sent Paul Wiffen to find out how the E64 differs from its siblings

Given the outrageously high asking prices of so-called classic analogue synths, it can often pay to hire them and sample the sounds yourself. Paul Ward passes on a few tips.

Timing delays, stolen notes, lack of sampler memory... having trouble playing back your sample files over MIDI? But all these problems can be things of the past. All it needs is a little care and planning — as Wilf Smarties explains.

Once upon a time an Emulator was all eights: 8-bit, 8-voice, 8-outs, but that was a decade ago. Ten years on and the latest Emulator has more of the 128 about it: 128 voices, up to 128Mb of RAM. Paul Wiffen finds out if everything else about the EIV is 16 times as good.

The would-be samplist now has a wide range of samplers to choose from in the medium to high price ranges, but the sub-£800 zone has been looking decidedly bare — until now. Derek Johnson checks out the sampler that plugs the gap...

Are you forever coming up with the same old 'N-N-N-N-Nineteen' effects on your sampler? do you reach for that jaded Peruvian noseflute sample every time you want a 'really original sound' for your latest masterpiece? Fear not, for top tipmeister Paul Ward is back, with more off-the-wall uses for you to try out at home...

News of the ESi32 has set the hearts of ambitious but fiscally challenged samplists beating faster. Mike Barnes brings you this exclusive review of the machine which packs EIII sampling power into a box costing under £1200, and wonders 'Is it too good to be true?"

David Mellor explains why he abandoned his hardware sampler in favour of Digidesign's computer based sample playback card, and takes a look at what you need to make it into a fully fledged sampling setup.

Emu took up the opportunity of a whistle-stop Autumn press tour to announce new products — including their lowest-priced sampler to date — which set the company's agenda for the coming months. Derek Johnson previews the new kit on the block.

Emu took up the opportunity of a whistle-stop Autumn press tour to announce new products — including their lowest-priced sampler to date — which set the company's agenda for the coming months. Derek Johnson previews the new kit on the block.

The S760 sampler represented excellent value for money on its release back in February this year. Now it looks even more impressive, with the arrival of the OP760/1 expansion board and the v.2.12 system software. Paul Wiffen checks them out.

Sampled piano aficionados know the particular problems involved in constructing a good loop of this essential instrument. Craig Anderton passes on a personal solution.

The TX16W was about to go down in the annals of electronic instrument history as a brilliant-sounding sampler handicapped by a pig of an operating system — until a group of Swedish users took matters into their own hands. Duncan Werner investtigates the ultimate in third-party development.