Way to individually pitch lots of samples up and down?

[Lazy M Beats]

Hello,

 

I have the lex luger drum sample kit which is a bunch of hip hop samples.

 

There are different categories such as "Hats", "Snaps" and "Snares". In the "snare" category for instance, there are 36 different samples alone.

 

I would love to be able to import the samples into some kind of sampler so that I could play them with my keyboard as opposed to dragging them around as audio regions. I would like to import the different categories into their own sampler patch...all the snares together, claps on another, kicks on yet another and so on.

 

I am fairly well acquainted with the EXS24 but here the kicker:

 

I want to be able to pitch the samples individually up and down in the arrangement to do cool snare rolls that include pitching up and down the keyboard.

 

I am aware that I can import each sample individually into the EXS 24 but this really clutters up my menu with tons of different instruments (like I said: 36 alone just for snares).

 

If it is not possible to do what I am talking about then perhaps someone could tell me how to create folders within the EXS 24 so that I could at least house all the individual samples into larger sub categories.

 

I hope I have been clear enough! Thanks.

[Lazy M Beats]

Let me put some more context.

 

It has been a long time but I believe there was a function in fruity loops where you could open a piano roll on MIDI notes that triggered a sample so that you could pitch the sample up and down...

 

Anyone?

[skijumptoes]

There's so many different methods to achieve what you want as it's such a common task... But for me, this always is the quickest if i want to spread a sample across my keyboard:-

 

You can use the Apple Instrument plugin 'AU Sampler', it's so simple to use, open up the editor view, add samples and then drag them to the ranges you want on the keyboard. Remove the original Sine sample it comes with by default, and you're done.

 

It's in AU Instruments, and then Apple group.

 

You can obviously do the same with EXS24 too, i.e. section out an octave or two per sample and spread the pitch across, but AU Sampler is very quick and simple to use it's hard to knock it's effectiveness at simple tasks like this.

 

I don't know how great it is to recall projects with AU Sampler years later, so i usually tend to mix down any performance i do with drum slides etc. into a bounced audio track.

[skijumptoes]

Sorry, just to add to this (based on a question asked on another thread), Ultrabeat may also fit well with what you're trying to do, as you can easily automate the pitch of each sample via it's Osc pitch controls (Each drum sample is declared as an oscillator source as it's a drum synth).

 

You will need to import your EXS24 instrument in to see how that works out for you, or build an ultra beat instrument from scratch (Just load each sample into Osc 1 for each zone).

 

What this basically means is that you have one sample per key (i.e. not spread across the keyboard), yet automate it's pitch independently. Almost like a pitch bend effect. This may be preferred if you want the sound to be quite glitchy (i.e. movement throughout the sample as it plays).

[Lazy M Beats]

Hey Ski, thanks for the idea but it's not quite what I am looking for.

 

Let me explain my dream situation and hopefully someone can point me to a means to accomplish it with or without logic's native sampler options. If there is a third party sampler software that lets me accomplish this please let me know!

 

THE DREAM:

 

I would open up the EXS 24 editor. Next to the checkboxes labelled "pitch", "1-shot" & "reverse" would be another glorious box called "Individual Pitch Mode".

 

In this magical "individual pitch mode" you could effectively solo a certain sample, let's say a snare out of a complete drum kit, and the sampler would mute all other sounds and instead spread the soled sample out chromatically up and down the keyboard.

 

You could then use the entire instrument as a pitched up and down sample of that one sample. This would eliminate the need to save an entire patch for each and every individual sample that you would like to spread across the keyboard.

 

Someone please share some magic?

[skijumptoes]

I've not come across anything that could do that on the fly (i.e. pick out a sample and spread it out, and then pick another and do the same) - would be a smart idea for someone to pick up though.

 

All the samplers i've used, the only method of pitching an individual sample within a multi-sample instrument is by either setting aside an octave to spread the notes out, by using pitch bend, or some other form of pitch modulation via a hardware knob - all of which EXS24 can do.

 

You're aware that you can spread a sample across a range of keys within EXS24, right? I'm guessing that's all fruity does.

 

And you can also do this with multi-samples, i.e. so you could have each octave on the keyboard a different sample which is then pitched within a single EXS24 patch.

 

Alchemy may offer far more control. But i've not used it a great deal yet.

[David Nahmani]

Alchemy may offer far more control. But i've not used it a great deal yet.

Alchemy does offer an incredible amount of control especially if you're into resynthesis (vs classical sampling). For example in granular you can have your sample spread across all the pitches on your keyboard while keeping its original length: the sample is not being shortened when pitched up or lengthened when pitched down.

[Lazy M Beats]

Hey Guys,

 

Thanks for the replies!

 

Ski: Yeah I feel like a third party sampler would have picked up on something like this. I can't believe that it hasn't been done yet for organization sake! Thanks for confirming my dream doesn't exist yet!

 

David: Thanks for the tip, that it a very cool feature! I gotta get versed in Alchemy.

[skijumptoes]

Seriously mate, i think it's a cracking idea. I've created two very basic plugins myself over the years but i think something like a sampler would be too big for me consider i think, but i'm really stoked with your idea, purely because it's unusual to hear of such a simple idea that hasn't been done yet (At least to my knowledge?).

 

But i got it in my head how it would work - you could simply have the lower octave (Or whatever the user wants) on your keyboard as the sample selector (And normal playback), then the remaining octaves are used for playing that note chromatically, it's such a simple concept in use.... .It must have been done, surely!? lol

 

Trouble is, even if you get that far creating such a plugin, as David has pointed out above, you'd really want to start adding granular resynthesis into it if you're working with pitching samples, and then on top of that you've got envelopes to consider, storing the samples etc for recall. Becomes a BIG job, but mate, superb idea.

 

...If by any slim chance you see it on the market in a years time don't come asking for a free copy, ok?l lol

[Lazy M Beats]

Haha I would gladly pay for a plug-in of that caliber! Thanks again for the reply!

[ProfJustinMedia]

Alchemy may offer far more control. But i've not used it a great deal yet.

Alchemy does offer an incredible amount of control especially if you're into resynthesis (vs classical sampling). For example in granular you can have your sample spread across all the pitches on your keyboard while keeping its original length: the sample is not being shortened when pitched up or lengthened when pitched down.

This is brilliant! Any tutorials on how to do this? This is exactly what I need. Thank you.

[David Nahmani]

I don't think there's a tutorial for it.... 

[skijumptoes]

Alchemy does offer an incredible amount of control especially if you're into resynthesis (vs classical sampling). For example in granular you can have your sample spread across all the pitches on your keyboard while keeping its original length: the sample is not being shortened when pitched up or lengthened when pitched down.

This is brilliant! Any tutorials on how to do this? This is exactly what I need. Thank you.

It's as simple as importing (Drag and drop) a sample into one of the oscillators, and swapping modes from Sampler mode to Granular.

[kiotozane]

The Remote function in EXS can kind of do this, whatever you set it to will manipulate the pitch of any playing sample in +/- one octave of the set value. 

 

For example if you set it to C1, and have a snare on D3, you can keep hitting D3 while simultaneously hitting C0, C#0, D0, D#0... and so on and create a pitched snare roll. Its kind of a way to set up left hand manipulates pitch, right hand selects sample and/or base pitch. Kontakt can do the same with scripts. 

[Lazy M Beats]

Has a sampler that does this been invented yet?! I'm still using logic 10.3.2...maybe something has changed?

[skijumptoes]

Does what specifically?

[Lazy M Beats]

Well,

 

I download a lot of one shot samples from splice for instance. I would love to take every single snare I downloaded from splice, throw them into a single EXS24 instrument preset with each individual snare on single respective keys, tool around and find one that I like and then have the ability to take that one sample and easily spread it out pitch it up and down the keyboard.

 

If there was a mode so that that single sample could override the other samples to pitch up/down over the keyboard, it would be so cool.

 

Sometimes I like to keep the track playing and audition snares on the beat by pressing notes on the keyboard. When I find one, I might want to do a roll and pitch different notes down or up in the piano roll editor without having to do automation tricks.

 

I'm not sure if I'm explaining this clearly enough!

 

My current situation is to import every single one shot I want pitch control over into the EXS24 one at a time which kinda kills my mood, especially when I have hundreds of one shots!

[skijumptoes]

All samplers do that quite easily, in EXS you just drag the samples (Or load in bulk) to the keys (Zones) that you want in EXS edit mode and then save the instrument. You can expand the zone range as much as you want for a single sample and it will pitch across that range based on the base note.

 

You can also overlay them, pick at what velocity they should play etc.

 

Really depends what workflow is best for you, I.e. this is how simple it is to spread a single sample across a keyrange:-

 

If you created, let's say 2 octaves from C1-C3 with different samples on each key (i.e. a zone per key), if there's a sample you like on key A2 and would like to pitch it - then you can move/copy that zone to C4 and widen it out to C5 etc. just as an example.

 

You can put zones into groups and also set which EXS output channel a zone plays on, so you can use that to mute certain zones that you don't want to hear via Logic's mixer - for example. This is very good if you want to put reverb on your snares when trialling sounds. (i.e. put all snares to Output 3+4).

 

There's also a (free?) sampler i've used where you can pick the sample with the lower octaves on the keyboard and the upper octaves will play that selected sample at different pitches. I can't think which one it is off the top of my head though. So if you want something that's more instantaneous (i.e. you don't need to use the mouse) then you may need to look elsewhere than EXS. Damned if i can think which plugin does that though!! lol

[Lazy M Beats]

Thanks for the reply!

 

I guess this answers it for me that there still isn't a plug-in that does this. What you've describes works but it certainly isn't a quick solution to picking a sample out of an instrument and pitching it up and down the keyboard quickly.

 

It would be nice to have a function that you just click once. Ex: Say after hitting keys in a single EXS24 preset that is all my downloaded snare samples, I land on key D4 and can spread it across keyboard with original pitch at sitting at C3. All the other samples would be temporarily overwritten. You wouldn't have to save the instrument as such before leaving the editor so that the when opening the next instance of the same preset on a different channel, it defaults to all the snare samples on their respective keys again and not the one key pitched up and down.

 

I understand that you can go into the editor, select the range and overwrite the samples that way but it would be awesome to just pick a key and instantly be able to audition that particular sample pitched higher or lower.

[Mark R]

Have you looked at the free 'ADSR Sample Manager' plugin?

https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/software/adsr-sample-manager/

 

Video at 2:40 might be showing just what you want to do.

He is using Ableton Live but should also work in Logic.

[Lazy M Beats]

@Mark R

 

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this!

[Mark R]

Oops - duplicate post Edited August 13, 2019 by Mark R

[Mark R]

I've not tried it, so let us know what you think. Look like a very useful FREE sample utility.

[Lazy M Beats]

I will be checking it out later this week and report back!

 

Thanks again!

[Lazy M Beats]

An update on the ADSR sample manager:

 

It is fantastic and does exactly what I want it to do!

 

I've imported all my splice samples and I can easily click through my samples and audition them up and down the keyboard!

Thanks again for the tip!

[Mark R]

Your welcome, and thank you for reporting back.