Disadvantage of no sample library

Sup

Apart from drum loops/breaks (stereo or mono / wav. & program), I don't have any other samples categorized in their own library. I used to have a mega stash of random loops and samples before I got an MPC but when I finally did step up to the MPC I would make tracks on the fly starting with maybe a loop from an LP, then find another sample from another LP, and so on. But yeah I think if you have a pretty big collection of vinyl or music for that matter, and you don't know your collection inside out this method may take longer to adapt to. Anyway, to make life easier I should probably start re-building a sample library.

Any1 else here do what I'm currently doing, building tracks on the fly with no 'go to' sample library??

astral_Signal wrote:Any1 else here do what I'm currently doing, building tracks on the fly with no 'go to' sample library??

every time i turn on my MPC.

i start with a blank canvas and see what i can find laying around.

if i wanted to paint by number, i'd just use a rompler.

A reasonable library of non-sampled drum sounds (ie classic drum machines and synthesised drums) is a nice tool to have for layering duties and sound design. Some MPC's (MPC4000, MPC2000XL) even shipped with a HD or CD-Rom full of standard MPC Kits. There are floating around somewhere here.

It depends on what sort of music you're making.

I don't do the hip-hop sort of stuff lots of people do here.

I downloaded this a couple years ago, and have been using those drum sounds ever since, along with some ones I sampled from a kit at my school.

The rest of my stuff, I make myself, with synths or whatever.

Also starting from scratch every time you make a beat can kill the creative juices, unless that method suits your workflow. It's good to have a 'stock' kit you've created that will allow you to program a scratch drum track quickly, to be replaced later with a different set of sounds. This allows you to spend more time upfront arranging your samples and other elements.

You don't want to spend hours trying out different drum sounds until or unless the main body of the beat is in the bag. Dare I suggest a hardware drum machine or a virtual drum instrument still have a role to play in providing ready to go kits quickly. Often they sound much better having been sampled into an MPC if need be.

You gotta strike the balance.

We all have computers, likely housing the bulk of our WAV sounds. You want to have at least of moderate amount of organization, same on your CF's and MPC HD's for stuff you've already sampled or will be loading.

But you might be best off just picking some stuff before hand that fits your 32-128MB's of RAM and keep it simple to get to the creation process.

But on the other side of it, it is cool to just turn on a sampler and a turntable and see what happens. Or like I know Sciguy has the Minibrute, the whole idea on that unit is to just go in and create from scratch like it's an analog in 1978, which is great too.

And totally agree with Clint that you want to have those go to classic drum box samples at the ready as so few us actually have 808, 909, Linn Drum and DMX's just sitting there at home.

crossings wrote:

astral_Signal wrote:Any1 else here do what I'm currently doing, building tracks on the fly with no 'go to' sample library??

every time i turn on my MPC.

i start with a blank canvas and see what i can find laying around.

if i wanted to paint by number, i'd just use a rompler.

This.

Ill-Green wrote:

crossings wrote:

astral_Signal wrote:Any1 else here do what I'm currently doing, building tracks on the fly with no 'go to' sample library??

every time i turn on my MPC.

i start with a blank canvas and see what i can find laying around.

if i wanted to paint by number, i'd just use a rompler.

This.

+2

I just ripped the maschine library and add ons just get the bread and butter.

crossings wrote:
every time i turn on my MPC.

i start with a blank canvas and see what i can find laying around.

if i wanted to paint by number, i'd just use a rompler.

+2.5

I start fresh every time I sit down in the studio BUT, like a couple of people mentioned, I always have drum kits on deck. While I have, and I'm sure we all do, 100000000000 of drum sounds, it is worth creating a kit of bread and butter kicks/snares/hats/perc/etc. with maybe 25 of each type of sound. Less is more, I've found. If you are making a beat and can't find anything in those kits that you like, then you should make better kits.

I do the same thing, i dig for a sample, power on the SP, if I know I had some other samples from older beats i may reuse em, but not really any organized library.

My problem is, I've got too many samples, and I honestly probably never heard 1/10th of what's in my collection. If you've been reading the UK mags Future/Computer Music, or MusicTech, they always give you a free cd-rom/dvdrom of samples, and usually showcase some of the sample libraries you can dl on loopmasters.com. Well, I have a gob of those, so my problem would be, to extract the more interesting usefull ones, or possibly sit there and have multiple folders for kicks, snares, hihats, toms, crashes, etc. But I'd also have to have a dozen more for synths, guitars, horns, loops, etc.

I know all I need to do is go out and pick me up a 2TB hd, but I don't even have a proper desk, so I've just put this project off for the time being. As much as I'd love to go out and collect some vinyl and sample from it like most of you all, I have more samples than I'd probably ever use, so why spend the extra money? Not saying I wouldn't, but it's not a major concern right now.

I start with a blank slate every beat. Find sample, chop , build kit, etc seq, mix, master .. And all in one go while I'm doing this spontaneous grooves series . Bout to submit episode 14 (number 2 of season 2)

I think my beats sounds more cohesive when i don't start with pre built kits or pre chopped loops / samples etc... Just personal opinion if course though

I have to start fresh.....always with the main sample. That has to inspire me, whether it be the chord progression, groove, or whatever. If it doesn't have drums I will try to find a break to chop up that fits the sound, then layer with one hits from my library already chopped up. If it needs a bassline outside of the main sample I'll do that too. I just try to listen and let the sample pop out....when I try to find a certain sound I almost never can

Hi All,
I used to think when I was younger that the creation had to be all mine 100% through. Then I mellowed and frankly saved lots of time using romplers and presets. Much of my music has a bit of both in it, live guitar sounds and presets.
Two things happened that sparked the change.

1) I was reading SOS magazine and they had an interview with a guy who just made a popular song that was getting major airplay, it was a well produced tune. When they asked him how he made it he said he only uses preset sounds and has no time for sound creation.

2) The other dynamic was when I realized that the drum library I had created was unnecessary because I just really like the sound of doubled up (or layered) roland drums and then playing live percussion(agogo, djembe, bata, bells, triangles) along with it.

I just got a boat load of pre-made samples and they sound great. The ladies dance when they hear it. The guys buy them drinks, the bartenders make money, the venue says come back. We are doing something right.

Cheers,
Ian

PS...props to anyone who makes original sounds.