Re: How2 make samples??
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 3:02 pm
This sounds like a relatively simple and therefore beginner friendly project, so you are in luck.
The recording process is the hardest part when it comes to sampling. That said... percussive instruments like drums and pianos are relatively simple, that is why they make great beginner projects and most if not all good "free" samples are such instruments.
Take your time and record clean notes, several variants of the same in multiple dynamic levels (aka velocity layers)
If your 7 note instrument can be played with varying strength I would expect 5 recorded samples for let's say 3 velocity layers (soft, medium, loud). That is a basic set appropriate for a quick sampling job without any experience. So in the end you will have 5 * 3 * 7 = 105 .wav files. Convert them to flac for better download size but never never never use lossy compression like mp3, ogg or opus.
How to play them now...
My clear advice is to use the sfz format. SFZ can be loaded in Linuxsampler (standalone or through Carlas internal implementation). Sadly we do not have an open source sfz sampler. But every new sampled instrument is one reason more to program one.
You will have to look that format up yourself for now. My advice would be to just write it with a text editor.
There is also "polyphone", a graphical editor. I didn't use it in recent times so I can't say anything about its state. But the scope of your project is small enough to write the text directly.
Also: there are several scripts to convert a directory of .wav files into an .sfz file. If you have a bit of python or bash experience you can write such a script in an evening yourself. (that is why there are so many scripts that do it
For the three octave instrument, that sounds like a real instrument so I would record more than the small amount of recorded samples mentioned above. Again, take your time, keep your recordings consistent (mic positions, room conditions like temperature and humidity, the room arrangement itself like furniture) so you can spread it over several days. You will end up with some hundred samples which are technically enough to have a respectful and quality sound.
A more difficult task is the varying length of the tones. There are several approaches here, but it comes down to having several .wav files and trigger them (sfz does all that for you) depending on the key action. For example in a piano that would be one sample of a key played and the ringing out (the natural behaviour). But for ending sooner you need to record the hammer and key alone. For example by pressing down the key silently and then record the release.
Recording and automatic sfz triggering of instrument noises (keys, bows, piano pedals, breath/wind, guitar slides) is a key step to make your instrument much better.
Another approach is to split it into the beginning of a tone, a looped section and the release sound. Finding good loop points (and preparing the recording with that in mind) is a task not to underestimate but very important for bow- or wind instruments. And recording a choir etc.
In the end it depends on your instrument. An experienced sample creator learned as well to analyse the instrument itself, from a musicians and from an instrument makers point of view. He learned to think like a recording engineer. And he learned to think like a programmer.
In the choose a good license. I have one but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
The recording process is the hardest part when it comes to sampling. That said... percussive instruments like drums and pianos are relatively simple, that is why they make great beginner projects and most if not all good "free" samples are such instruments.
Take your time and record clean notes, several variants of the same in multiple dynamic levels (aka velocity layers)
If your 7 note instrument can be played with varying strength I would expect 5 recorded samples for let's say 3 velocity layers (soft, medium, loud). That is a basic set appropriate for a quick sampling job without any experience. So in the end you will have 5 * 3 * 7 = 105 .wav files. Convert them to flac for better download size but never never never use lossy compression like mp3, ogg or opus.
How to play them now...
My clear advice is to use the sfz format. SFZ can be loaded in Linuxsampler (standalone or through Carlas internal implementation). Sadly we do not have an open source sfz sampler. But every new sampled instrument is one reason more to program one.
You will have to look that format up yourself for now. My advice would be to just write it with a text editor.
There is also "polyphone", a graphical editor. I didn't use it in recent times so I can't say anything about its state. But the scope of your project is small enough to write the text directly.
Also: there are several scripts to convert a directory of .wav files into an .sfz file. If you have a bit of python or bash experience you can write such a script in an evening yourself. (that is why there are so many scripts that do it
For the three octave instrument, that sounds like a real instrument so I would record more than the small amount of recorded samples mentioned above. Again, take your time, keep your recordings consistent (mic positions, room conditions like temperature and humidity, the room arrangement itself like furniture) so you can spread it over several days. You will end up with some hundred samples which are technically enough to have a respectful and quality sound.
A more difficult task is the varying length of the tones. There are several approaches here, but it comes down to having several .wav files and trigger them (sfz does all that for you) depending on the key action. For example in a piano that would be one sample of a key played and the ringing out (the natural behaviour). But for ending sooner you need to record the hammer and key alone. For example by pressing down the key silently and then record the release.
Recording and automatic sfz triggering of instrument noises (keys, bows, piano pedals, breath/wind, guitar slides) is a key step to make your instrument much better.
Another approach is to split it into the beginning of a tone, a looped section and the release sound. Finding good loop points (and preparing the recording with that in mind) is a task not to underestimate but very important for bow- or wind instruments. And recording a choir etc.
In the end it depends on your instrument. An experienced sample creator learned as well to analyse the instrument itself, from a musicians and from an instrument makers point of view. He learned to think like a recording engineer. And he learned to think like a programmer.
In the choose a good license. I have one but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.