Moving away from the box

[JonasEdenbrandt]

feeling pressure to compose a track worthy of a release,

This I think is one of the things that a computer does to you. Since you always sorta save your work your always working tords a finished product, and making music for a few hours without getting "further" can make you feel you wasted your time. Playing with the sampler I never feel this. Even if i just get a single hit sampled during an hour I always feel productive. And at least i always get to listen to some fun records that I got from a secondhand crate.

[AK]

As for processing the samples. What should i look into for processing. Filters prolly, maybe I should build/buy a HP/LP filter or two or use the filter on one of my DJ mixers. As for compression if I use mostly samples from records should i be looking into a compressor? One thing that comes to mind is that the sounds on the record are probably already compressed? Will i squish things to much if I ad compression of my own? As for reverb will I be able to resample stuff with reverb tail on it and still make it sound ok? Or will i have to record the sounds seperate and add reverb on the performance?

One of my thoughts is that theres a ton of techno, house and Hiphop tracks that still stand and have been made with sp1200 and MPCs. How did these oldschool producers go about their buissnes? Did they process and resample? Did they record overdub onto tape playing sounds on their own?

A lot of sounds have already been compressed with sample cd's too, compression is not something that you really HAVE to do, a few people on here swear by it and some never use it at all. I think Steevio said he doesn't bother with it and he's one person that springs to mind. Me personally, I tend to use a bit, but nothing noticeable and it's more like glueing mix elements more than as a shaping tool. There is a difference between sampling a sound that has been compressed and using that sound within your own mix. For example, if you sampled a kick from a bar off a record, chances are the drums have been compressed but that doesn't necessarily mean you wont need to compress yourself ( assuming you want to ) because in your mix, it will now be just a sound like any other. You don't capture the compression, you just capture a single sound and the effect of compression may or may not have been a part of it.

As for processing your sounds, that's potentially an infinite possibility but if the sp-404 does not allow to apply an envelope or a filter type for each sample, it might make sense to at least remove some highs or lows from sounds before loading them into your sampler for mix type purposes. If you only have a single stereo out you have no other method for mixing the loaded sounds. This might be guesswork to some degree - at least at first but it's a method that will allow you to at least get well balanced loops and stuff going. As a very quick rule of thumb, people advocate Hi Pass filtering sounds that are not bass related. So kicks, bass, low toms etc would not need to be filtered but other stuff might benefit from having a hi pass filter from at least 100hz. This will clear your low end a bit and bearing in mind this isn't set in stone, it will help with balancing sounds/the mix when you only have a single output.

I just read a little of the specs for your sampler and it seems you have a fair few tools for shaping sounds. It mentions filters so presumably you have at least a LP and HP filter type? It doesn't say though whether these are global efx or whether they can be applied to every single sample in memory. If it's the latter, you might not miss not having multiple outs because in regard to mixing, you can shape each sound with mixing in mind.

[JonasEdenbrandt]

Ok thanks AK for that input. As for how the sample works it has a ton of FX. Only one FX can be on at a time and only on one sample at a time. So this makes me have to resample everything with an FX on and then go process something else. Problem is the filter (that is only LP) sounds pretty crappy. So im not that fond of using it and will prolly use a filter from the DJ mixer instead. Maybe i'll look into a hardware compressor for glueing my mixes a bit, and for processing some sounds that I find need more punch (disco and soul kicks usually lack something when you wan't them in a more house/techno track). What compressors are out there for a reasonable price?

[hydrogen]

feeling pressure to compose a track worthy of a release,

This I think is one of the things that a computer does to you. Since you always sorta save your work your always working tords a finished product, and making music for a few hours without getting "further" can make you feel you wasted your time. Playing with the sampler I never feel this. Even if i just get a single hit sampled during an hour I always feel productive. And at least i always get to listen to some fun records that I got from a secondhand crate.

i guess you could not save then! i was reading a sound on sound article about Giorgio Moroder and the edits they did on the masters for that donna summer track i need love...

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct09/a ... s_1009.htm

“We never thought of it as a stand-out track, we just thought it part of a good album,” Bellotte comments. “However, when we sent the album off to LA, Neil Bogart called back straight away and said, ‘The single is ‘I Feel Love’, it needs three edits and these are the edits.’ Doing these immediately improved the fluidity of the track no end. He was that kind of a record man. And, of course, those edits no longer exist, because they would have been sliced from the quarter-inch master and simply thrown on the floor. That’s how it was then. If you ever did any editing, the floor was cluttered with all the stuff you didn’t use. We never saved anything, it was just discarded. However, because of his uncanny feel for the music, Bogart knew exactly where the track should be edited and, of course, the improvement was fantastic.”

The other articles are really inspiring... just the way they use gear and stuff magically happens that they can't recreate at all!! I think it can be really easy to get stuck in a sort of stasis with the computer and instant recall. The hardware in a way forces you to move forward.

[hydrogen]

What compressors are out there for a reasonable price?

Although i don't have one this little guy comes to mind. highly rated.
http://www.fmraudio.com/rnc.htm

[AK]

What compressors are out there for a reasonable price?

Mate, I wouldn't even bother, IMO, software offers a great deal in terms of compression and for the price, you'd have to spend a fair amount of dosh to get something which exeeds it. For that money, you could easily extend your sampling capabilities with another unit or whatever else floats your boat. You could get one of these used units for the price of a decent 2nd hand compressor: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug99/a ... multra.htm

Personally, it's a no brainer. Keeps you away from the box and extends your potential ridiculously. ( I'm in the market for this unit myself )

[tone-def]

You can get fairly cheap hardware compressors that punch above their weight. I used a focusrite compressor at uni once and i really liked it. I can't remember the model but I think it was cheap. I'll have to check my notes.

[deccard]

Maybe i'll look into a hardware compressor for glueing my mixes a bit, and for processing some sounds that I find need more punch (disco and soul kicks usually lack something when you wan't them in a more house/techno track). What compressors are out there for a reasonable price?

for glue i would check these...
http://overstayer.squarespace.com/stere ... ompressor/
http://www.tkaudio.se/index.php?option= ... 3&Itemid=3

i have these for the 2 bus.
http://www.jdkaudio.com/r22.html
http://www.thermionicculture.com/produc ... ulture.htm
but i use also vst the glue or api2500 depending on the material.

good hardware still sounds better to me than a good vst for the 2 bus.