Samplers / Sampling

Most modern musicians use samples, even if only in Sample & Synthesis-based keyboards or virtual instruments. But sampling itself has become something of a lost art. In the first part of a short series on rediscovering this skill, we look back at how the technique and the technology developed.

When the epic, studio-created drum sounds of the 1980s had to be translated to a stage setting, sample triggering from drum kits came to the fore — and our man Gavin Harrison began his personal quest for the ultimate setup...

With a software sampler such as Emagic's EXS24, creating multisampled instruments from your favourite patches on your hardware sound modules needen't be a chore.

The sheer power of Emu's three ESI samplers has endeared them to many home musicians on a budget. However, it can be tricky to get the most out of these machines, so here are some power-user tips to help you.

Craig Anderton shows you how to use Acid, the popular composition tool, to create your own original sample loops.

In the final part of this series, Oli Bell gives you some practical tips and tricks on looping, re-grooving and time-stretching.

In part 2 of this series, Oli Bell offers advice on choosing a sampler for modern styles, finding and using samples from the Internet, and deciding which sample CDs to buy.

The sampler has made its presence felt throughout modern music production, and phrase sampling in particular is the backbone of many musical styles. Oli Bell arms his loop points and explores some tricks of the trade.

Paul White and Paul Joyner explain how to import samples directly to your Mac from an audio CD with Logic Audio — a technique which can be adapted for use with most popular MIDI + Audio sequencers.

Even the more basic sound-manipulation tools offered by most samplers can lead a safe sample into a world of weirdness. Nicholas Rowland reverses, stretches, bends and loops, all in the interests of sampling science...

These days, samplers are the electronic musician's bread and butter — but they need not be used in commonplace ways. In the first part of a short series, Nicholas Rowland looks at ways to spice up your tracks with samples from unusual sources.

Using a sampler without some sort of hard drive is just not an option these days, which means that some understanding of SCSI is necessary. Devoted Akai samplist Paul Farrer explains some of the pitfalls that can befall the unwary user of SCSI'd up samplers, and examines some of the other cross-platform issues that can complicate sampling.

Akai's S1100 hard-disk recording option caused quite a buzz on its release, and even now makes this well-specified sampler even more versatile. Chris Carter passes on some hard-won tips for making the best of S1100 HD recording.

Does looping drive you loopy? If you have a hard disk recording system, and currently spend hours hunched over your sampler trying to find perfect loop points, this article could be for you. Simon James supplies the foolproof method...

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.

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.

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

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.