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I'm hazy on what a sampler actually is. I know, it's like, a fundamental, but still...

Like, for example, the Akai S850, it's used if you wanted a sound from somewhere, right? But it's not a sequencer? Correct me if I'm wrong, i'm just tryign to figure out what the point of having a sampler is .

the same thing software samplers like kontakt do
cept akai samplers have a sound to them and emu samplers have the z plane filter

A sampler is a means to playing samples,look at it like this you have a audio recording that you would like to take a section from then use that section in a track you are making you need a way of playing that sample and tis is where samplers play there part.That is the basic use for a smpler"the playback of audio samples".Nowadays samplers do a lot more than just that,ni kontakt has some beasty functions and some quality built in effects.

deadly habit wrote:the same thing software samplers like kontakt do
cept akai samplers have a sound to them and emu samplers have the z plane filter

And what does Kontakt do...? The word 'sample' is used so loosely it confuses me. I heard that all Zomby used for his 'Where Were U in 92?" was an Akai digital audio computer and sampler, does the sampler come with a program or something?
What I'm trying to say is, is a sampler only for editing sounds, or can you make a song on one?

no you can't sequence on a sampler
it's only for loading and playing sounds

I havent found the term to be used generically. Originally hw samplers were very useful to both record "samples" of audio and then further chop, edit, shrink, stretch,.. basically twist and effect the sampled audio into something "new". But now a days it's very simple to capture audio digitally through your daw or other means so a lot of software samplers are void of the actual record function. But they still are great, must have, tools. You can do much more but think of this as an example: soft samplers like Kontakt and the like allow you to take a piece of audio and map it to your keyboard and even layer it with a bunch of other sounds (samples), so then after you mangle it to your liking you can "play" or sequence the sampler, via daw, as an instrument. The difference is instead of actually generating a sound with osciallators like a synth, the sampler plays back the processed audio in a multitude of different ways. Like I said before, there are other things you can do, for instance in electronic music a lot of what you hear percussion wise is sampled material from different sources simply mixed and rearranged, but that's the best way I can simplify it for ya!

Lots of samplers can also be used for sequencing, especially ones from the late 90s onward. But even older samplers from the 80s had sequencers, like the E-MU Emulator for example.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/akai/s3000.php
10 most important samplers in history
Samplers Wiki

A bit misguided. Samplers like that akai were used to not only record external sounds from records, mics etc, but also the play-back of instantaneous audio, and manipulate its pitch etc. Every sampler has a synthesizer section ware you can control envelopes etc... Now you cant record whole songs on those old machines, I think they had more like a 10 second limit , and that was all their space used up. These samplers were then triggered to play these samples with an external computer programs like cubase and the early versions of logic. These sequencers only worked with midi, and had no internal sounds themselves, only purpose was to tell the sampler to trigger what note and what not on a timeline grid with bars and beats with a time sig. These sequencers couldn't handle digital audio themselves until later when they progressed and disk space increased.

I remember my dads friends making music on an atari ST with a few keyoards and a sampler.

Modern Software samplers on the other hand; its only use is for sample playback from pre-recorded sounds and samples, no recording necessary.

Depone wrote:A bit misguided. Samplers like that akai were used to not only record external sounds from records, mics etc, but also the play-back of instantaneous audio, and manipulate its pitch etc. Every sampler has a synthesizer section ware you can control envelopes etc... Now you cant record whole songs on those old machines, I think they had more like a 10 second limit , and that was all their space used up. These samplers were then triggered to play these samples with an external computer programs like cubase and the early versions of logic. These sequencers only worked with midi, and had no internal sounds themselves, only purpose was to tell the sampler to trigger what note and what not on a timeline grid with bars and beats with a time sig. These sequencers couldn't handle digital audio themselves until later when they progressed and disk space increased.

I remember my dads friends making music on an atari ST with a few keyoards and a sampler.

Modern Software samplers on the other hand; its only use is for sample playback from pre-recorded sounds and samples, no recording necessary.

+1 I think some people would be surprised at how many of the older EDM and hiphop records were pretty much soley made with an Akai, 4 track, and a decent record collection!

I used to have a Roland SP 808 which had a 4 track sequencer onboard, I wish I still had that thing, even though it would be completely redundant now.

Speaking of...has anyone played with the Korg MicroSampler? I've been thinking of buying one for live stuff.

Samplers are one of the most important instruments in the history of electronic music. Whole styles were built with just samplers.

does anyone here actually use a real hardware sampler?

Anne Droid wrote:does anyone here actually use a real hardware sampler?

Yeah I do, I'm sure others do as well. I think Deadly still has an Akai hooked up.

These days I use them more as effects processors, like the S1000 for its unique timestretching and crunch it can add. Had an EMU 6400U too which I used for the filters, but not any more. I use their Proteus and Emulator X software along with DSP card sometimes, but it's not quite as nice, just much more practical. Still have a couple of upgraded Yamaha SU700 which I used to use for live shows, actually a pretty great sequencer on those and some nice multieffects as well as excellent timestretching and pitching. I got rid of my mixer though after a move so I only have them hooked up when I'm feeling nostalgic now, but I've built a large sample library from them over the years, boxes of ZIP disks.

They can still add a lot of character, but it's possible to get the same character now with some software, it just takes longer and isn't quite as fun.

[asterisk] wrote:

Depone wrote:A bit misguided. Samplers like that akai were used to not only record external sounds from records, mics etc, but also the play-back of instantaneous audio, and manipulate its pitch etc. Every sampler has a synthesizer section ware you can control envelopes etc... Now you cant record whole songs on those old machines, I think they had more like a 10 second limit , and that was all their space used up. These samplers were then triggered to play these samples with an external computer programs like cubase and the early versions of logic. These sequencers only worked with midi, and had no internal sounds themselves, only purpose was to tell the sampler to trigger what note and what not on a timeline grid with bars and beats with a time sig. These sequencers couldn't handle digital audio themselves until later when they progressed and disk space increased.

I remember my dads friends making music on an atari ST with a few keyoards and a sampler.

Modern Software samplers on the other hand; its only use is for sample playback from pre-recorded sounds and samples, no recording necessary.

+1 I think some people would be surprised at how many of the older EDM and hiphop records were pretty much soley made with an Akai, 4 track, and a decent record collection!

See that's what I was wondering, I heard that Squarepusher pretty much just used a sampler to make one of his albums.

-TraX- wrote:See that's what I was wondering, I heard that Squarepusher pretty much just used a sampler to make one of his albums.

I'm sure more than one. The Akai s950-2000 models were a staple in pretty much every studio. Many jungle classics were made on an Akai and overloading desks, not much else.

This is posted a lot, but if you haven't seen it, check it out. All 3 parts are great: