Sounds n Sample Search
March 5th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I’m just about done the outlines and script for the upcoming MakeProMusic production tutorial series, and the last bit deals with programming, sounds, sample arsenal, anything and everything to do with how we make noise and turn it into music. Pretty chaotic and personal stuff, so there’s bound to be some strong opinions.
I’ve been typing all week and working on new Kat Penfold stuff, and starting a whole new (and involved!) section on a Friday, especially since it’s also ‘eat-anything-i-like-day’ (diet described here by these fine folk), and after that much sugar I kinda keel over every hour or so.
So it turned into a creative day, looking over and finding new sounds to play with. I haven’t had this much fun (and sugar) in a while (week)!
I first dove into all the cool user-made libraries for one of my favorite synths, Reaktor. There was all sorts of cool stuff, a lot of synths expanding on some of my favorite patches will lots of options (some still pretty lame). My only complaint is that I wish they’d clean up all the dead links from some libraries. I’d get all excited seeing the title “Super accurate vintage Prophet 5 Emulator” and of course, dead link. Still, this should cram all sorts of FM, Subtractive and Granular synthesis down my clients’ ears for years to come. A healthy refresh.
What excited me even more, though, was finding samples people had made for my main sampler Kontakt. Soooo inspiring. I think back and give thanks for all the hard work my Japanese friends put into at Korg with their old M1 series. Those patches kept me going for years. And now, the whole world is contributing to an online synthesis database giving people access to their own inspiration. The things people will do with these rad sounds!
One thing I love is that I have access to a big ol studio, so getting ‘big, awesome’ sounds is a fairly regular affair, and manipulating those samples is easy and happens all the time. But unlike back in the day when I’d carry a laundry basket full of gear from studio to studio, getting unique, organic sounds depends entirely on getting unique, organically dressed hobo music dudes in with their unique, organic-looking instruments. And that doesn’t happen often. Well actually, it does, but getting all that organic-ness to align with whatever organic-ness I need at the time, is, well, tough. Plus coordinating all those outfits.
Anyway turns out people are really passionate about sampling their own instruments, kitchenware, pets, you name it. And it all has that pleasant charm of not sounding like a slick, corporate studio. Cause I’ve already got piles of those.
To be honest, I did spend some money on ‘official and pro’ sample libraries, but those were on super expensive vintage instruments and sounded nothing like a studio session of today. I’m really digging Yamaha CP70s right now, and Fairlight CMI samples.
I got ridiculously excited when I was suddenly playing patches used on old Peter Gabriel records, I even found the patch used on Sledgehammer! Such a treat. Turns out angels didn’t descend and make those flutey-sounds for the solo section, after all. It was a patch. Well stay tuned for those sounds, bound to sneak in there somewhere. The design effort put into the pads and string sounds back then are absolutely unmatched. All the patches from the top stuff these days only manage to match how well they sit, and even then that’s a rarity. I just wanna call up a pad, and have it sit well in the track! Well now, guess I can.
Well, back to finding more sounds! I hope I can take some mics this summer and sample everything I see, to give back to this awesome online community that spreads inspiration.
