Samplers / Sampling

As we saw last month, sampling is really just a form of digital recording, but to use short recordings to emulate real instruments, you soon need to understand new concepts like multisampling, looping, and velocity switching. We explain all...

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.

Native Instruments' Kontakt has become one of the most popular software samplers since its release in 2002, and the new version, with its many excellent new features, should keep it near the top of the heap.

DJ Format has been making funky, sample-led hip-hop since the old school was new — and it seems the world has finally caught up.

The Dust Brothers changed the course of record production with a new approach to sampling. In their first ever in-depth technical interview, John King and Mike Simpson explain their unique way of making records and open the doors of their remarkable LA studio, The Boat.

The latest in Roland's SP series of phrase samplers can also double as a computer and audio interface, and PC users can take advantage of a bundled Cakewalk sequencer/mixer. Is this the best SP yet? We find out...

I have some sampled drum patterns that I am trying to loop. I find that they are losing sync over the course of the track. What's going wrong and how do I fix it?

If you are keen to move to an all-software setup, but still depend on sounds from your hardware synths, Redmatica's utility might smooth the path...

I have recently bought an Akai S5000 sampler and I am attempting to create samples of some synths I have...

Version 3 of Gigastudio has taken a long time to arrive, and plenty of other software samplers have come along during the wait. Does it still have what it takes to see off the competition?

Storm, the French software studio from virtual-instrument creators Arturia, keeps on improving. We check out version 3.

MOTU's software sampler seeks to be accessible to everyone, irrespective of preferred platform, sequencer or sample format. Can Mach Five really be all things to all people?

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...

Emu's range of soundcards offers an unprecedented level of flexibility, DSP power and sound quality for the price — with the added bonus of a very impressive software sampler.

NI have taken the technology behind Kontakt, and used it to build a sampler that's all about loops.

Rackmount studio samplers may be pretty much a relic of the past, at least in terms of manufacturers producing new examples, but it's not quite all software and computer RAM yet — not if instruments such as this new one from Korg are anything to go by.

Sampletank was a hit: a sample-based virtual instrument with great sounds and, at the time, not much competition. Two years on, there are plenty of fully-featured software samplers and non-sampling virtual instruments too. Can Sampletank 2 keep up?

Back in 1986, Sequential's Prophet 2000 represented a genuine breakthrough in sampling technology, and became a 'secret weapon' for up-and-coming programmers. We take you back to the dawning days of SOS, when 12-bit was king.

Two and a half years after the launch of Yamaha's impressive Motif workstation synth, the range has been further enhanced and upgraded. How much better can it get? We find out...

The latest in Roland's line of MC-series workstations is their best (and most expensive) yet, incorporating synthesis, sequencing, real-time control, and sampling. But in an increasingly software-driven world, can a Groovebox still cut it?

Can you advise on the powering and positioning of Behringer's Truth monitors? How can I control proximity effect? Why do speaker stands have spikes? Will Steinberg's Virtual Guitarist run on my PC? Will replacing my carpet with laminate affect the acoustics? Can you recommend a second-hand sampler with a floppy drive? How can I get broadcast masters to sound louder?