In this secotion I will be talking about the sampler, this section will also spill over into Sound Synthesis, Recording Techniques and other areas.
What Is A Sampler?
Why would I need to know about Samplers?
Who uses Samplers these days?
What types of samplers are available to me these says?
I currently own 5 hardware samplers, surely one is enough you may say, well the straight answer is NO and YES. ...They are VERY versatile machines and although they are pretty much designed to carry out the same purpose defferent samplers handle audio in defferent ways, and most importantly not all samplers allow the same level of control.
What Is A Sampler?
- A sampler is an electronic device originally designed to (hopefuly) faithfull cature sound, store it and then reproduce that same sound at a latter point when required. The history of the sampler is a lot older than you may initially assume, at this point I will be focusing on modern samplers and how you can use them creativly.
Why would I need to know about Samplers?
- The most obvious example is that of a string ensemble.. not every one can afford to hire one, with a sampler all you need to is capture a range of notes and use those notes to recreate the sound of an ensemble where evr and whenever required. The analogy can be applied to any instrument, or sound. As a matter of fact all modern music is reliant on sampling technology, be it your digital keyboard, your mobile phone ..your dum and bass album ...basically if it isnt played live by hand its probably sampled
Samplers are also rediculiously powerful where sound synthesis is concerned, most modern samplers applying the same technigues to shape/control a sample as an analogue or digital synthesizer would.
Who uses Samplers these days?
- Samplers are generally found in the studios of Film, TV/Radio and other audio/visual production apllications.
The are also found on stage, tucked away in the racks of equipment used by bands at pretty much every recent concert of festival.
Modern electronic genres such as HIP HOP, D&B/Jungle House/Techno are also dependent on samplers ..generally hardware samplers but there is a growing trend towards software samplers recently (last decade).
Producers such as Rhyuchi Sakamoto (YMO) Kraftwerk, Pete Rock, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, RZA, Ritchie Hawtin, etc etc ...basically EVERYONE you can think of.
What types of samplers are available to me these days?
- the modern sampler is initaily broken into 2 categories 'Software' or 'hardware'.
Software samplers attempt to emulate hardware samplers ..but it should be noted they are reliant of your pcs processing power & memory (and installed audio hardware) where as a hardware sampler is a dedicated machine that is built for the saoul purpse of faithfuly capturing, storing, manipulating then reproducing those sounds.
The hardware sampler can be split into 2 categories: 'Rack Sampler' and 'not-rack'.
- the rack sampler is generally the more powerful of the two, being controlled by either your midi sequencer or another piece of midi hardware (anything from a drum machine to a midi controler or hardware sequencer'
An example of a non-rack sampler would be an Akai MPC range sampler (i.e MPC2500)as opposed to an Akai 'S' range sampler (i.e S950)
The MPC range for exaple has a built in sequencer (for playback)just like the akai S range does however it allows you to record that sequence directly into the sampler without the need of an external sequencing hard/software to create that sequence.
In order to record a sequence into a S2000 for example you must hook it up to something like say a pc running logic/cubase, create the sequence and then trigger that sequence directly or save as midi sequence on disk and then load that sequence from disk from within the S2000. The MPC sequencer works the same however it has alot of 'big-ass pads', buttons, and dials that allow the sequence to be recorded without external hardware software.
However from my experience rack samplers are far superior to MPC style samplers where sonic manipulation/control is concerned ...you will gain the ability to record sequences directly but this is traded off against the range of power you have over the sounds you are using.
What hardware samplers do I own/use? (for general interest):
Rack Samplers:
Emu ESI-4000T
Akai S5000
Others:
Akai S20
Akai MPC5000
Korg ESmk2
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