I STAND ALONE: a 2020 sampler thread

[jondom22]

I love the 1010 Blackbox. It is very easy to use, spent minimal time getting up and running with it.

But it is a very simple straight-forward device. If you are looking for lots of effects, weird random sequencing or other more esoteric features or even to just be surprised every once in awhile with a feature you did not know about, the blackbox is not for you. But for my purposes, it is perfect.

Agreed. Less of a sound design tool than an MPC or Elektron device for sure. Based on what the OP was saying it seemed like they wanted something straightforward. Having said that, between the new multi-sampling per pad, chromatic playback, and granular mode, you have a lot of options for destroying/mangling or at least creative sample choice. If you're using in conjunction with another sequencer or DAW, you can use MIDI CC learn to modulate things loop length, playback speed, etc.

I'm ok with stretching artefacts, I quite like them most of the time. The demo I heard of the blackbox was certainly good enough for my purposes - but I don't mind a bit of grit and weirdness in samples.

I like the grit too, but I prefer it from transposition to get that fat gross sound (ie pitching down drums or pianos from jazz a record...same effect of slowing down a tape which changes the pitch and speed...think SP-1200 ring or Ensoniq dirtiness). Whereas as straight up time-stretching/contraction and pitch shifting induces a less pleasing set of artifacts...at least to my ears....but then again that's fun to resample that time-stretched stuff and mangle/chop further. Either way all good fun and in the spirit of creative synthesis!

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah definitely whenever you get the pitch stretch artefact it would be nice to have the option to do it without the artefacts as well!

Doesn't suit everything.

Definitely a fan of slowing things down

[jondom22]

Yeah definitely whenever you get the pitch stretch artefact it would be nice to have the option to do it without the artefacts as well!

Doesn't suit everything.

Definitely a fan of slowing things down

Unfortunately almost all pitch shifting and time-stretching algorithms have undesirable artifacts inherent to their design that can't be mitigated, which is different than transposition by manner of slowing down/speeding up the sample (which changes both the speed and pitch at the same time like tape machines do).

Serato def has the best algo for idependent pitch shifting and time adjustment though...besides their full-fledged Pitch n Time Pro AAX plugin, they also have a relatively affordable sampler plugin that has their Pitch n Time built-in (tho not as flex as the audiosuite version). https://serato.com/sample

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah I understand the difference between the two, and I use them for different things. It will be pretty cool when people do make a stretch without glitching but it probably won't happen soon - and when it does it will be expensive and I won't pay for it.

It's certainly not something I care enough about to spend the money on a nice plugin lol, though I'm sure it's great. Sampler plugin looks nice but no real use for it beyond what I can do with hardware and freeware. Thanks for the recommendation though

[fcknoise]

Yeah definitely whenever you get the pitch stretch artefact it would be nice to have the option to do it without the artefacts as well!

Doesn't suit everything.

Definitely a fan of slowing things down

Unfortunately almost all pitch shifting and time-stretching algorithms have undesirable artifacts inherent to their design that can't be mitigated, which is different than transposition by manner of slowing down/speeding up the sample (which changes both the speed and pitch at the same time like tape machines do).

Serato def has the best algo for idependent pitch shifting and time adjustment though...besides their full-fledged Pitch n Time Pro AAX plugin, they also have a relatively affordable sampler plugin that has their Pitch n Time built-in (tho not as flex as the audiosuite version). https://serato.com/sample

The artefacts are essential otherwise you can just play it slower/lower. Slowing down loops on the OP-1 is definitely my favorite time stretch/pitch down effect. It makes everything sound better. But it doesn't just sound better because it is slower/lower. Then I'd just play different chords at a slower tempo lmao

(Although I obviously see the use when it comes to remixing/sampling for making beats and that sorta thing, not hating on the quest to make it better, I just am quite happy with the less good ones anyway)

[coldbrightsunlight]

I mostly use slowing down/speeding up because that's how the hardware I have works. But sometimes I time/pitch change things in DAW deliberately for the artefacts.

But yeah like you said it depends on your use. I'm not really bothered about beat matching samples so they sound perfect or anything. If it sounds gritty or needs to be slowed down and sounds lower I'm probably enjoying that sound

[jondom22]

The artefacts are essential otherwise you can just play it slower/lower. Slowing down loops on the OP-1 is definitely my favorite time stretch/pitch down effect. It makes everything sound better. But it doesn't just sound better because it is slower/lower. Then I'd just play different chords at a slower tempo lmao

(Although I obviously see the use when it comes to remixing/sampling for making beats and that sorta thing, not hating on the quest to make it better, I just am quite happy with the less good ones anyway)

Ya I think we're all in agreement in saying the same thing...Slowing down or speeding up samples via transposition is the saaauuuuce! That's the gritty sound of old rack samplers and sp-1200 that we all love. Those artifacts give it that wavy hazy fat boi drip drop.

That's completely different than straight up pitch-shifting or time compression/stretching which has a different set of artifacts depending on the algorithm (serato having the least amount). People will use this if they want to pitch shift without affecting time, or if they want to slow-down/speed-up without affecting pitch. It does do some more glitchy kinda things but you gotta lean into it hard and saturate so it feels more like a creative choice and less of a byproduct.

But ya, OP, go buy a sampler!

[coldbrightsunlight]

same team same team

Sampling is great

[Dowi]

Bumping this thread because it has a lot of useful infos and it deserves to be bumped.

Sampler GAS is back, and i got a question for Digitakt users: speaking of Length per Track mode, from the manual I see that each track can have an individual length, but that the SCALE function to set the tempo is only applicable to the pattern in general and not to single tracks, is it true or am i just dumb (or maybe it is true but i am dumb anyway)?
It just sounds strange to me because in the Model:Samples each track can have individual SCALE settings, so i don't see why Digitakt shouldn't do it.


(Side note I'm seriously thinking about trading the Minilogue XD for a Samples or a Digitakt, to try the Elektron workflow and see if I like it or not

[coldbrightsunlight]

I am pretty sure they added per track scaling in a firmware update - internet agrees with me.

[Dowi]

I am pretty sure they added per track scaling in a firmware update - internet agrees with me.

Thank you!
I didn't know the firmware and manual had been updated in 2020. Yesterday I was watching a Loopop video that said track scaling wasn't possible (without realizing it was from 2019) so I went to check the manual I saved more than a year ago, and that tricked me.

*GAS intensifies*

[More_Divebombs]

Yeah, scale and length are definitely per track.

Digitakt is great. I'd highly recommend it. I had one for a bit, didn't click with it at first, traded it for a Digitone. No regrets, as the Digitone is awesome, but once I started to go deep with its sequencer, it made me crave a Digitakt again. I picked up a model:samples on the cheap as a financial compromise, and I had it for 3 months before I flipped it and got the Digitakt back. Now I use it for everything. Samples was cool, but all it did was make me want a Digitakt even more. Skip a step and go straight for the Digitakt.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I am also a Digitakt stan so you'll get no argument from me.

Dowi you should keep the Minilogue though

[ProCarsteNation]

Skip a step and go straight for the Digitakt.

or hop a trot and go straight for the jugular, I mean Octatrack?

[cantremember]

Skip a step and go straight for the Digitakt.

or hop a trot and go straight for the jugular, I mean Octatrack?

+1 for the Octatrack! haha

The Digitakt is a great sampler and IMO very easy to use. I had one for a few years and recently sold it because I have a OT and RYTM and it seemed like a lot of overlap. The model samples is cool but not being able to sample straight into kind of sucks for immediate sampling.