Discuss the various methods you use in music production, from compressor settings to equipment type.

By pad-ophiliac Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:10 pm
Antonym wrote:it's actually kind of better to get steered away from this kind of autochroming stuff. samples shouldn't be stretched that far, really...i do it every now and then but it's really better to multisample, the end result doesn't necessarily sound like it came from a computer...

taking 1 c note and chroming it has always sounded bad to me, even when i used to do it when i produced in acid back in 98. you can and should do better - UNLESS you're going for the chipmunked note sound (no, not talking about kanye, i mean what happens when you chrome a note across a broad range of octaves)

however, if you're just trying to get your melody idea down, use 16 levels til you can get better samples.


ok, sorry for soundin like such a newb but whats the difference between autochromatic and multisample? do i wait until i get into midi to explore multisamples? you say "samples shouldn't be stretched that far", so idoes that mean that autochromatic is just timestretch and zoning together? thanks

By sleepersriddle Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:07 pm
The "too simple" autochromatic is taking one sample and assigning it to different pitches by adjusting the tuning into ...-3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3...etc.

The "good" multisample is covering the same range using more samples:: like a different sample for every octave, or every note even.

Multisample will sound more like the real instrument because real instruments have a different sound character for different notes, not just the same tone pitched up/down.

By pad-ophiliac Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:18 pm
sleepersriddle wrote:The "too simple" autochromatic is taking one sample and assigning it to different pitches by adjusting the tuning into ...-3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3...etc.

The "good" multisample is covering the same range using more samples:: like a different sample for every octave, or every note even.

Multisample will sound more like the real instrument because real instruments have a different sound character for different notes, not just the same tone pitched up/down.


like just using smaller chops?
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By Antonym Mon Jan 23, 2006 10:15 pm
multisamples means a couple of things: using more than 1 sample to derive a melody. basically, a multisample in the mpc would be like a bass pgm where each note was a different sample recorded at different pitches, rather than using 1 bass signal and pitching it.

here's what happens to sample length when you pitch:

+0: -------
+1: ------
+2: -----
+6: --

and so on. the inverse happens when you slow it down. this is basic physics. what happens is that the human ear hears what is happening and rebells against it, spurring a military coup upon the frontal lobes of the brain. this causes one's fists to clench in anger and begin striking the headphones repeatedly, resulting in injury/broken hardware.

using a multisample -> you don't run into this problem since each note is a different file.

an example of using multisamples for drums would be having 4 kicks, 4 snares, 4 hats, and so on....see my kits for details.

By pad-ophiliac Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:32 pm
Antonym wrote:multisamples means a couple of things: using more than 1 sample to derive a melody. basically, a multisample in the mpc would be like a bass pgm where each note was a different sample recorded at different pitches, rather than using 1 bass signal and pitching it.

here's what happens to sample length when you pitch:

+0: -------
+1: ------
+2: -----
+6: --

and so on. the inverse happens when you slow it down. this is basic physics. what happens is that the human ear hears what is happening and rebells against it, spurring a military coup upon the frontal lobes of the brain. this causes one's fists to clench in anger and begin striking the headphones repeatedly, resulting in injury/broken hardware.

using a multisample -> you don't run into this problem since each note is a different file.

an example of using multisamples for drums would be having 4 kicks, 4 snares, 4 hats, and so on....see my kits for details.


ok, i starting to understand but when you said "here's what happens to sample length when you pitch" did you mean to say "tune" insted of "pitch" because i thought that the length stayed the same when we use the pitch shift function. i guess thats why i don't quite get it. i see how autochromatic and tuning are different but the difference between autoC and pitchshift is less visible. to me at least. i guess i just won;t worry about it until i get a keyboard. thanks.

By sleepersriddle Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:44 pm
Whether you use 'tuning' to pitch it up or 'pitch shift' to pitch it up,
neither way will give you an accurate simulation of what a higher note would have sounded like played on the original instrument.

just think about playing a scale on a guitar:: the higher notes may be on a different string, the string is vibrating differently, the string is at a different place relative to the body of the guitar and to the pickup...certain notes resonate more with the body of the instrument and with other strings.. these and many other reasons, every different note has its own 'flavor'.

same thing for velocity, too... when you hit a drum harder, it changes the sound in more ways than just making it louder.

This whole topic is the reason people can sell high quality piano samples for like $300-- they must take the effort to sample each piano key individually at a variety of velocities. hence you get 2 gigs worth of samples, or something.

By pad-ophiliac Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:48 pm
sleepersriddle wrote:Whether you use 'tuning' to pitch it up or 'pitch shift' to pitch it up,
neither way will give you an accurate simulation of what a higher note would have sounded like played on the original instrument.

just think about playing a scale on a guitar:: the higher notes may be on a different string, the string is vibrating differently, the string is at a different place relative to the body of the guitar and to the pickup...certain notes resonate more with the body of the instrument and with other strings.. these and many other reasons, every different note has its own 'flavor'.

same thing for velocity, too... when you hit a drum harder, it changes the sound in more ways than just making it louder.

This whole topic is the reason people can sell high quality piano samples for like $300-- they must take the effort to sample each piano key individually at a variety of velocities. hence you get 2 gigs worth of samples, or something.


that makes since. thamks for clearing that up for me.