Samples and sampling tutorial

#1

I recently got Axo + Axocontrol and have been exploring the synthesis options. I am an avid sampling person and have looked on this forum and Youtube for tutorials on samples and sampling, and I'm having challenges finding anything, and going back through various threads. Can anyone recommend a resource to get started with this? I'm interested in both streaming samples from SD card as well as live sampling/looping etc. Thanks in advance
STRATEGY

#2

What is it that you would like to accomplish?

If you want to get started right away, in the patcher go to File>Library>Factory>Demos>Sampling>Sample Drum Machine. From there you can drop really any sample in. There are a few steps to formatting your samples right, so make sure you convert your samples to .raw, make sure they're mono, and 48000hz, and that your sample file names are 8 characters or less like kick1, snare1, etc. (all of this can be done quickly and in a batch in Audacity, ymmv), and that they're in the same folder as your sampler file.

From what I understand, there are two primary ways of reading samples which is straight off the card, or using "tables". Using tables puts the sample you're using right on the SDRAM drive which will allow you to have a lot more flexibility regarding manipulating the sample in real time, but you only have a limited amount of samples you can hold on the SDRAM vs the memory card.

So yeah, welcome! I actually only got my Axoloti in July but have been playing around with it quite a bit. Let me know what you would like to accomplish, and I'll see if I can help you get there. My music is 50/50 samples/synth so maybe I'll learn a bit along the way too.

#3

Hi, thanks hitachii, this informatoin is very helpful.
There's a variety of things that I'd like to accomplish:
- ability to play keymapped samples from live panel controls and MIDI sources but apply manipulations to the sound in real time using the modular modulation sources
- create sound collages played back by generative sources in the patch (SD card fine for this)
- Live looping and then applying manipulations to the loop

Thanks!
- Strategy

#4

I made an incredibly basic sampler based off of the Factory "Sample Drum Machine" I mentioned above. There are a few effects in there that you can plug in if you would like. Play around with them and get a feel for where the effects fit best.

StrategySimpleSampler.axp (9.7 KB)

Also if anyone else is reading this and you have a better sampler to recommend, please step in.

For looping and generative playback, I recommend finding projects in File>Library>Community to study. There are patches in there that are everything that you have described and more.

I also highly recommend using the File>Library>Factory>Tutorials section from top to bottom. You learn a lot about how the patcher works and many of the things you'll learn there will translate directly into the things that you have described.

#5

Great answers from hitachii. Haven't had a chance to look at your patch, so not sure what you've used...

As for me-

For internal sample recording/playback the factory table objects can be used: table/record, table/play pitch.

For my guitar Looper I like to use rbrt's Looper objects, there's some help patches for ideas. These can also be used for sample record/play, depending on how you set them up, etc.

For mangling/stretching/fx/etc, I like to use sss's Factotum object (use capital F when searching for it). I tend to use it for shorter loops like beat repeats and short phrases, but it could be cool as a more traditional Looper too.

For my drum machine, which loads .raw files off the sd card, I load the samples into tables, and then use table play/pitch to play them.

#6

Matthew Tyas has a couple of excellent video tutorials on creating samplers, worth watching if you have not already seen them:


He has a bunch of other great tutorials too, highly recommended!

#7

Hey since we're all here and talking about it, I'm in love with the sss/delay/stutter objects, but they have suddenly begun to crash the axo when I go to use them. Factotum is awesome (@MattilynMattroe I actually put it in the sampler patch above!) but it's very resource intensive and I want to focus on the stutter effect in more expensive patches.

Can anyone recommend a basic stutter object that's more or less just s-rate in, s-rate out? @MattilynMattroe, your Launchpad patch looks really cool but I only have one Axoloti and zero Launchpads.