Samplers

Question 1

What is the main ‘instrument’ for sampling

Answer 1

Tape recorders

Question 2

How would you manipulate a tape sample

Answer 2

Cutting and splicing the tape
Making loops by splicing the ends of a length of tape together forming a literal loop
Reversing the playback direction
Altering the speed of playback
Combining/layering sounds

Question 3

What is a limitation to tape samples

Answer 3

Impossible to change the speed of playback without altering the pitch

Question 4

What was the successful sampler in 1962

Answer 4

Mellotron

Question 5

What are some features of the mellotron

Answer 5

Used different banks of pre-recorded tapes, giving several choices of sound, including strings, brass, flute and choir

Question 6

How can digital samplers be used as instruments

Answer 6

Can record audio either as a one-shot,single note samples or as short loops/musical excerpts. Audio can then be played or manipulated.
Bit depth and sample rate are lowered as early samplers had limited memory so sounds more lo-fi.
Drum machines used early sampler technology as the samples were short, at a single pitch, and didn’t take up much memory.
Modern samplers use controls similar to synths such as envelopes and lfo’s

Question 7

What are some historically important samplers

Answer 7

Fairlight CMI
E-MU Emulator
AKAI S900
E-MU ESI Series
Nemesys Gigasampler

Question 8

What are the three techniques used to make sample sounds realistic

Answer 8

Keyboard tracking
Multisampling
Velocity layering

Question 9

Keyboard tracking

Answer 9

Spreading a single sample out across the keyboard. The sample is pitch-shifted in response to the key played; however, it is noticeable when a sound is pitch-shifted beyond a few tones

Question 10

Multisampling

Answer 10

Taking a sample every few notes and mapping across the keyboard so that samples are pitch-shifted across a smaller range of notes

Question 11

Velocity layering

Answer 11

Switching between a number of different samples depending on the MIDI velocity of the note

Question 12

Zero crossing editing

Answer 12

Cut samples at a zero crossing point to avoid creating a click if the edit is at the end, or use crossfade looping

Question 13

What is a fade used for

Answer 13

Can be used to avoid a click when it’s not practical to find a zero crossing point for a sample audio edit.

Question 14

What is a crossfade used for

Answer 14

Can be used to fade between two different samples, audio regions or loops

Question 15

What are the two common types of crossfade

Answer 15

Equal power crossfade
Linear crossfade

Question 16

What is a key difference between a synth and a sampler

Answer 16

A sampler uses an audio source as its starting point rather than a tone produced by an oscillator on a synth

Question 17

Loop

Answer 17

Repeats the sample

Question 18

Transpose

Answer 18

Changes the starting pitch/key of a sample

Question 19

Normalise

Answer 19

Increases the volume to the maximum without distorting

Question 20

Stuttering

Answer 20

Repeating small parts of the sample to create a ‘stutter’ effect

Question 21

Gapping

Answer 21

Adding spaces between small parts of the sample

Question 22

Reverse

Answer 22

Playing the sample backwards

Question 23

Time stretch

Answer 23

Slowing down or speeding up the sample. On tape and on many digital samplers, slowing the sample down will also decrease the pitch and vice versa

Question 24

Pitch shift

Answer 24

Moving the entire sample up or down in pitch. On tape and on many digital samplers, a higher pitch will result in a faster sample playback and vice versa

Question 25

What is destructive editing

Answer 25

Changes the audio file associated with the sample, meaning processing is not normally reversible.
Editing in a DAW sample editor and physically making changes to tape are examples of destructive editing

Question 26

What is non-destructive editing

Answer 26

Does not change the audio file, and effects or processing are normally easily removed.
Channel strip plug-ins used as inserts and send effects are examples of non-destructive editing

Question 27

Why is hardware samplers still mainly used in comparison to software

Answer 27

Software is more unreliable than hardware