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Emax II operation manual
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Part Three: MULTI-SAMPLING
You would think that sampling an instrument would be a piece of cake, right? After all,
you just play a note, sample it, and there it is—you’re done.
Well, not quite. First of all, a single note transposed over the range of the sampler is going
to sound very unrealistic. That’s why most samplers allow for multi-sampling, or
placing samples every few notes. This means that no note will have to be transposed over
too wide a range. The tradeoff, of course, is that more samples use up more memory. As
a result, it’s usually best to concentrate the greatest number of samples toward the most-
played range of the keyboard. For example, I’ve noticed that some bassy sounds can be
transposed downwards to an octave or so without sounding too unnatural. Likewise, for
some sounds like a cello, you’re not going to play too much in the top octave. Therefore,
one sample might suffice for, say, the top octave and a fifth. You might also be able to
get away with a tighter loop on this sample as well since it will not be played as often as
the other notes.
However, unless you take a sample for every note, there is going to be a noticeable
difference in sound when you cross over from one sample to the next. For example,
suppose you’ve sampled a sound at C3 and another at C4. You transpose the C3 sound
up to G3, and transpose the C4 sound down to G#3. The note at G3 will tend to sound
bright, and the note at G#3 will tend to sound rather dull, compared to their respective
original samples. As a result, when you cross over from the G3 to the G#3 you’ll notice
a distinct timbral difference.
There are two common ways to minimize this problem. One involves the use of filter
tracking, and the other requires equalizing the sample as it gets recorded into the Emax
II.
Filter Tracking
If you’re not sure what filter tracking is, refer to the Dynamic Processing module, VCF
section. In this particular application, you will generally want to set the tracking so that
the filter is open all the way (maximum brightness) for the lowest-transposed notes of
the sample, then closes down as you play towards the highest-transposed notes of the
sample. Thus, the lower notes are allowed to play as bright as possible, whereas the high
notes, which tend to sound bright and sometimes shrill due to the transposition, are
mellowed out a bit. This minimizes tonal differences as you transition from one multi-
sample to the next. In fact I have used this technique so successfully with some analog
synthesizer patches that even though there may be only five samples across the
keyboard, which means that each sample has to be transposed over an octave, it is very
difficult to tell where one sample begins and the next one ends.
One trick is to record the original sample with a bit of treble boost or aural enhancement
(Aphex Exciter, EXR Projector, etc.). This extra brightness, when transposed down-
wards, gets reduced to what is perceived to be a normal amount of brightness on the
lower transposed notes. Sure, the high notes will be very bright, but that’s what filter
THE ART OF SAMPLING
Multi-Sampling
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