Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
Alume
Confetti
Posts: 2629
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:50 pm
Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Alume »

Hey guys,

So I'm coming to a point that most samples don't really make a lot of sense, specially with the hardware orientated route I've been taking the last couple of months. I'm going to go trough the few packs I have and filter them out a bit. Next to that I want to start building a decent amount of homemade recording and loops. This way I'll always be able to throw something in the mix that I know that will kind of work. Like a controlled surprise as a result.

Anyway, do you guys any tips regarding, workflow, recording, processing and any other elements(bmp?) i need to consider when trying to make this a second nature?

Cheers!

kertikristof
Wastedddd
Posts: 233
Joined: Thu May 21, 2015 9:03 pm
Contact:
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by kertikristof »

Make sure you save different stages of samples. Often from one source you get nasty results, extremely different sounds with heavy processing. Make sure you also have some half-decent, half complete loops, sounds also. This way you have much more freedom to customize your chosen samples to the actual track you are working on.
https://intech.studio <- Modular MIDI controllers, MaxForLive devices, DIY Eurorack panels and intech life.
@ https://www.instagram.com/intechstudio/

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Lost to the Void »

Sampling is the most powerful form of synthesis in my book, I couldn`t live without my huge sample library, I`ve been recording interesting things for years and years.
Sampling provides those interesting textures that typical oscillators just can`t come near.
The main thing is sensible sub folders

Like, here is an example of a folder tree of one of my folders

Main folder
Field Recording Percussion

sub folders
Air and Steam
Bonks wood
Bonks Metal
Boom wood
Boom metal
Clangs
Clonks wood
Clonks Metal
Crashes
Crunches
Slams
Scrapes and Shakes
Thuds

Then the samples are given descriptive names
like....
Tinny thin clang with metal scrapes
Big robot punching side of building
Entire tree trunk falling on to concrete CONK

it makes picking the sounds I want very easy.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

User avatar
msl
║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█
Posts: 1505
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:47 am
Location: Berlin
Contact:
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by msl »

Yeah building your own personal sample collection is the way to go, its helps immensely while composing. I've got about 6gb worth so far sampled over many years.

Organization of the folders and proper file naming are the most important so you can find what your looking for... I include bpm in the name for loops.

I just try and export loops or one shots whenever I make something I like, or if I'm working on an idea but its not a finisher, strip out the good elements on the spot. I got loads of old projects I need to do this with, its a good job for days your not in the creative mood.


.
www.bernadettetrax.bandcamp.com
www.soundcloud.com/michaellovatt


“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Dune

Will Frances
Gnasher
Posts: 227
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:23 am
Location: London UK
Contact:
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Will Frances »

We use sound miner at work, its very powerful for searching with a good interface and many functions. If you have lots of found sound or made sound- labeling well and with meta data if you can be bothered is a great idea. It will speed you up down the line. However you obviously can't loop lock when auditioning with sound miner, which I don't find that important in my work flow.

Also exporting entire tracks with mental automations of me jamming about is often something i like doing, keeping the entire wav in tact.

Also subfolders as mentioned is a great idea. I work with loads of sound for post production purposes and an example of folder structure splitting...

DESIGN FX
Deep
Electrics
Horror
Impacts
Metallic
Pads
Reveals
Shimmers
Magic
Whooshes
Telementry
Zips
Space
Sonar
Synth


REAL SOUNDS
Animals
City
Countryside
Crowd
Footsteps
Human
Home
Sport
Transport
War
Weather

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Hades »

Obviously, the replies above are a great help,
after all, it often comes down to having the perfect names for your folders and sub folders once you have a LOT of files to manage.

Though I love making sounds from total scratch for example, I always hate the moment I have to name one of my patches,
I mean, it's fun and easy for the first 100 or so sounds you make, but once you're way above that, you can't just use names like "silk pad" or whatever any more,
because you have already used all the most obvious ones ages ago... :)
Then you gotta be creative and start with stupid shit like "Maple Leaf Pad" (get it ? I know I know, stupid... :P )

Anyway, my live clip library actually gets a LOT more use than my sample library,
just because I know that the clips in there contain samples that have already been treated by myself,
or recordings of my external synths, which were run through my mixers EQ and/or HW FX units, and sometimes even through Live and some plugins as well.

But yeah, for the moment I have just the most basic folders for my clip library,
like :

bass
pads
textures
leads
drums (with sub folders of course)
...

But I really need to start making sub folders, because some of these folders have so many clips in them that browsing through them takes me way too long,
and on the other hand, I sometimes copy the same clip into 2 different folders because I feel they can fit both descriptions (for example : "pads" and "textures")

I really like the fact that Live 9 has this "clips" folder in the categories menu,
because in there they give you ALL clips, with no folders or sub folders whatsoever !
Once in a while, I just click around on anything untill I find something I like, and then get funky with it.
Sometimes that works waaaayyyy better than browsing through sample folders for ages... :)

Oh yeah, the names I give to my clips are usually just a description of the gear I made it with.
For example :
"Andy U045 Bright Lead+Midas EQ+H8000 5012 Black Hole+Saturn ikgeefjelekkeropjekanus....." :D
That way IF I want to go back to a more original version of that audio clip (stel dat je kanus dichtbij genoeg is),
I can still try and find most of the original back.
Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't,
but that way I
1) at least don't have to think about original descriptive names all the times
2) know how I made it if... (see above)

Not original at all, but you can always rename your favourites so you'd recognize the name, or put them in a separate folder.
Otherwise, surprises can be nice ! 8-)
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
1nfinitezer0
Tiesto
Posts: 280
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:04 pm
Location: canada
Contact:
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by 1nfinitezer0 »

Organization seems like a lot of work, but it pays off. Even though modern search is way better than it used to be. OSX spotlight is still crap for finding somethings, but I've used EasyFind as a free alternative that is very thorough.

No longer limited to 8 characters in a filename: it's helpful to write as much relevant info as possible to find it without having to dedicate any memory to linking a real name. Including BPM or key if it's loops. I treat naming them like tags, so if I was making another silk pad (to steal your example Hades) then it might be named:
121 Bm I-IV-V silky pad warm melancholy doughnut for brekkie.aiff

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Hades »

1nfinitezer0 wrote:Organization seems like a lot of work, but it pays off. Even though modern search is way better than it used to be. OSX spotlight is still crap for finding somethings, but I've used EasyFind as a free alternative that is very thorough.

No longer limited to 8 characters in a filename: it's helpful to write as much relevant info as possible to find it without having to dedicate any memory to linking a real name. Including BPM or key if it's loops. I treat naming them like tags, so if I was making another silk pad (to steal your example Hades) then it might be named:
121 Bm I-IV-V silky pad warm melancholy doughnut for brekkie.aiff
I only include BPM if it's a clip that is way below the normal bpm of my tracks (which is always around 130),
which is very rarely the case...
I'll never write down the chords (or notes) into the clip name though, no need for that.

"doughnut for brekkie" seems like the part I'm talking about that I would use if I'd have to name patches,
I've used all kinds of stuff.
"Blutches Horse"
"Melancholics Anonymous"
"Maple Leaf Boards"
"Frozen Dreams"
"Bombay Delly"
blablabla

After a while even the more original ones (like for example "Blutches Horse", I'll happily give away a pack of my own patches for free to anyone who can fully explain where I got that title from) start to sound cheesy to me... :)

Sometimes even finding a title for a track is a bore,
though thank god that doesn't happen as often as making up names for clips/loops or patches...
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


gedda
Metric Martyr
Posts: 277
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 12:41 pm
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by gedda »

Do you guys organize between processed and raw, unprocessed stuff? How do you do them? Right now I have both clunked up on a folder, unorganized.

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Hades »

gedda wrote:Do you guys organize between processed and raw, unprocessed stuff? How do you do them? Right now I have both clunked up on a folder, unorganized.
depends on what you mean with "processed"

samples are almost always raw material for me.
once it has been processed, it would be a clip for me (or a preset in simpler/sampler or that one day a year I open Kontakt)
and if I like the processed result, I would just save it in my clip library (or in my preset folder for simpler/sampler)
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
msl
║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█
Posts: 1505
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:47 am
Location: Berlin
Contact:
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by msl »

gedda wrote:Do you guys organize between processed and raw, unprocessed stuff? How do you do them? Right now I have both clunked up on a folder, unorganized.
No I don't separate them, but I will sometimes export both a dry and effected version then I add "FX" or "Delay" or "Reverb" to the end of the name...
www.bernadettetrax.bandcamp.com
www.soundcloud.com/michaellovatt


“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Dune

pimo
rescued
Posts: 72
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2016 6:48 pm
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by pimo »

My biggest problem at the moment is knowing wich recordings i want to archive for later use. How do you think about that? What makes up a "good" sound? I mean to me it seems to be all about context and processing?

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Hades »

pimo wrote:My biggest problem at the moment is knowing wich recordings i want to archive for later use. How do you think about that? What makes up a "good" sound? I mean to me it seems to be all about context and processing?
your gut feeling will decide for that.

of course context will help you make the final decision,
but if you stumble upon a good clip/sample/loop when you don't have a proper context,
then go with your gut feeling...

after a few years your gut feeling will get better and better,
and you'll even stumble upon clips/samples/loops which your previous gut feeling had selected,
and you'll happily delete them, while thinking "what was I thinking ???" :shock: :? :lol:
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


Alume
Confetti
Posts: 2629
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:50 pm
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Alume »

Good advice here. Thanks guys. Ill just get on with it:)

wormcode
unsure
Posts: 391
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:27 am
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by wormcode »

Good tips already, but I'll offer this one that I think is important:
Don't wait until later to sort your new stuff. If you import, dump, or create a batch of sounds just sort them out immediately, otherwise you'll find 3 months have passed and you've got a load of random sounds with names like RECORD_8283773.wav sitting there and it becomes quite annoying. I always try to edit them in one go as well (trim/remove clicks or noise etc) so that I don't have to do it later. It always sucks when you 're working on a track and feeling inspired, but then have to break up that workflow to have to go and spend 10 minutes to clean up a sound.

Alume
Confetti
Posts: 2629
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:50 pm
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Alume »

And next to samples and loops what do you save in ableton as presets of clips. Is that even more effective?

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Hades »

Alume wrote:And next to samples and loops what do you save in ableton as presets of clips. Is that even more effective?

I save the sounds I made with Operator, Analog, Simpler and Sampler as presets obviously,
but in my own folder and subfolders, not inbetween the presets Live comes with.

The idea of saving clips into the clip library came from reading the manual.
I haven't read it in years, so not sure if it's still in there now, but I've been using Live since version 5,
and I used to be quite anal about reading my manuals,
so I read the one for Live from cover to cover more than once.
It literally said something like :
"it's a good idea to save clips that you like into your clip library,
so you always have a collection building blocks to go back to when you need some inspiration."

The advantage of clips is that you save the sound, the level settings, all the FX you used (even the plugins).
If you want to save stuff like the FX with a preset, then you gotta make it into a rack.
I pretty much always make presets into racks, but I don't like incorporating external plugins into my racks.

I go back to my clip library (obviously a different folder than the standard one in Live, which doesn't even have sub folders since Live 9) almost constantly.
Once or twice I've even made complete tracks using only clips from there.

Building that clip library tip is probably the most useful tip I learned from reading the Live manual.
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


Alume
Confetti
Posts: 2629
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:50 pm
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Alume »

Yeah seems like the clip lib is also one do start doing. Thanks for the insight.


And the tip of creating my own folders instead of using live

User avatar
Hades
Shit Eater
Posts: 9795
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:02 am
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by Hades »

Alume wrote:Yeah seems like the clip lib is also one do start doing. Thanks for the insight.


And the tip of creating my own folders instead of using live
mine is in the bottom part of the menu on the left called "places" (upper part is "categories")
it's in the folder called "user library" (just above "Live 8 library" which is a thing I never quite understood, because do they now plan to have each new version like that?? like "live 10 library", live 11 library" ???)
I think you already have all this,
and you probably even have the folder in there called "clips" (above "defaults", grooves",...)
mine is in there called "my clips",
but that's probably because I had a folder like that from Live 6, and it copied that one in there automatically.

If you use that "clip" folder in there (which is empty for me since I use the "my clips" folder), it should not be at the same place as all the live 9 clips.
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


User avatar
msl
║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█
Posts: 1505
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:47 am
Location: Berlin
Contact:
Re: Recording And Collecting Your Own Samples Into Libraries

Post by msl »

Your better off and safer just exporting audio... clips are nice and all but plugins change and become incompatible, computers change, source sounds get lost etc etc. Audio is the way to go.


.
www.bernadettetrax.bandcamp.com
www.soundcloud.com/michaellovatt


“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Dune


Post Reply