#64

On iOS - if you have an ipad - I quite like the slicing/sample prep UI of Beatmaker 3. It hasn’t been updated in a while, and some say it’s getting unstable - but it’s working fine for me. I imagine the instability comes from loading up a bunch of AU/inter-app stuff. I just use samples and built in effects.

one follow up detail: i use an ipad with the apple pencil. multi-touch for moving around with the precision of the pencil is a great combo. i think if i was just using my finger tips the whole time i wouldn’t enjoy it as much.

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#65

Here’s my current setup for sample based work. Record anything interesting into H6 recorder.
Transfer to PC and think about how to use them. Edit on PC then transfer them to Norns via cyberduck.
Use Norns and Grid plus a suitable script to get the most from the samples. Performance play them whilst recording with ‘tape’ on Norns. Transfer recordings from Norns back to PC.

Yes it’s a little long winded, but its worth it. The magic happens when you sit down with Norns and Grid and your script of choice for the process.

That said even without Grid it’s still a satisfying workflow. There’s a collecting stage, a preparing stage and a performance stage. Sometimes gaps in the workflow or taking a step back can influence decisions and yield better results I found.

Edit : I missed the Eurorack domain in the OP. In which case I would put the samples into Radio Music or Bastl grandpa. I have heard good things about the 1010 music modules though.

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#66

While you’re in Euro throw it through Phonogene. I don’t know what the deal is with it but the way it degrades sound is magical in a way other things (including, disappointingly, Morphagene) are not.

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#67

Two words. Polyend Tracker.

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#69

I recently bought a MPC Live 2, after using an OT for years. The MPC definitely feels more like a solid music workstation than the OT. The advantage of the OT is its immediacy and unique approach of course.
For the last few days I started to use the MPC with my (very) unfinished eurorack. It’s basically an Audio I/O, Mum M8 Filter and two envelopes. Still, I had great fun playing around with the CV/Gate-tracks on the MPC. Especially the Note Repeat-mode is great, if you patch one Gate to an envelope trig and the velocity to the filter cutoff of the Mum M8 :slight_smile:

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#70

It’s interesting to me that so many people consider the chopping and “prep” to be separate from the track making.

For me this is all 100% the same thing. I might have some idea of what record I want to start by sampling first (sometimes tho I’ll just start playing albums I don’t remember how they sound to find something that inspires), but the process of chopping and playing around with it is what gives me the idea what record to move to next. Sometimes it works better than others but that whole method of working in the moment is related to how I work when djing so it comes very naturally for me.

It may require some ability to shift between playing and chopping, kind of faster and slower activities, but for me the ability to sample and chop quickly while working is what it’s all about. I take inspiration here from old school hiphop.

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#71

Great thread!

I just posted an episode on Sampling Hardware, using a 1960s hypnotism recording:

Here’s the demonstration section, which talks about sampling workflow and ideas with Radio Music, a pair of SSL Samplecorders and my favorite sampling tool for over a decade, a Korg MicroSampler:

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#72

does anyone here use any particular hardware sampler for structuring/composing primarily sampled field recording/layered concrete material that is not beat or necessarily pattern oriented? I’d like to find one that also processes audio flexibly but i think that’s asking a lot

#73

The easy answer is Octatrack.

Manually triggering short or long recordings, supremely versatile fx, easy resampling, timestretching, sequenced fx so on and so on.

This was done with field recordings done by festival participants on their phones and some iPad processing all loaded up and remixed on the OT.

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#74

I used the Octatrack for this purpose for years without ever pressing play on it. just using it for hand playing samples, modifying parameters and processing w/ the built in effects modulated by LFOs and the crossfader as well as using the cue outs like an effects loop to process the sound further through a eurorack skiff.

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#75

As with the other replies, Octatrack is probably the best answer. Another worth at least mentioning is Gotharman’s Little DeFormer mk3. It is not really intended for storing long files; the device has 93 minutes of sample time (per audio channel) by default; an optional extension is available. It’s intended more as a sampler for voices and drums. Still it works. It can also process and route external audio with a range of unusual effects. I adore mine.

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#76

i love this track. i actually have an octatrack. i’m having a really hard time placing my samples linearly in a similar way to my ableton composition process. in ableton, i like to start with one, then process it, then place and sort of crossfade the next small clip right up next, almost overlapping on a micro-time scale then keep building from there. i guess this is possible with uTrigs on the octatrack but im really interested in manual triggering. did you use manual triggering and some sort of resampling or daw to record the results for this track? im not sure how people use manual retriggering for compositional purposes. i guess the possibilities are endless, i might just have to change the way i think about structuring on the octatrack.

if i were to manually trigger samples in slots mode, after processing and re-saving them i guess, i could resample that segment and then place the resulting recording on the grid. is that how you do it?

@marcus_fischer would you mind elaborating on hand triggering samples? are they usually short or longer recordings? do you use slots mode?

I do like sometimes using an lfo on the “rate” param, then lfo 2 on lfo 1’s speed for interesting playback gestures but as far as doing that on a bigger, track long scale with multiple samples using 4 parts and many patterns, im not sure what the best way to go about achieving that is

i got a tascam 414 mki recently so i could try recording that way again. i think maybe coupling the octa, norns, and that will help piece them toether in a more organic way

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#77

Thanks!

I can’t remember exactly what I did but I expect (cause it’s what I normally do) I triggered samples manually - probably slots in this track’s case cause the samples were long - and then, just as you said, process them until I get some results I like, setting up some LFO automation or scenes to process it with cross fader, triggering a second sample, slowly bringing it in all the while mangling it to try and sit with the previous. Rinse and repeat. I probably setup a flex track with predefined processing assigned to a recorder to which I would send a track and crossfade between them. I don’t think the sequencer was running on this track.

Recently I’ve been halving the original samples bpm in the sample attributes page and starting them with rate at 32. This allows me to also speed up the sample with rate.

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#78

I would just use the trig keys (9-16) to trigger the samples. they were all different lengths, some 10-20 seconds some 5+ min. slots mode is a good way to do it too.

I pretty much only used Octatrack for performances but now since those don’t exist anymore i’m finally getting into actually using the sequencer. it’s like a whole new instrument now… i know how stupid that sounds, but it is pretty much my approach to tools. Once I figure out how to make it work for my purposes I rarely get around to using it for what it was actually designed for.

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#79

an iphone playlist on shuffle + repeat is my ideal field recording sampler

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#80

this is interesting. yeah people always talk about using it without the sequencer but i never knew exactly how that worked. this makes sense. i think i may prefer that technique, thank you

i really like the idea of pre-setting up a playback flex with a record buffer from another track. i’ve tried that with mutiple parts/patterns before but it turns into a mess pretty quickly since i dont have the patience to map out anything that makes sense in that way. live mangling is very exciting to me. i will have to try to nail down a good practice for that + triggering playback without the sequencer. this is a good way to re-train my brain to think of the octatrack though, i appreciate it

as far as fading volume goes, meticulously crafting scenes for unexpected and crazy results is one of my favorite things to do but i think i would also benefit from figuring out how to use the norns passthrough script with my midi merger since i already have norns midi going into my octatrack and my nanokontrol (with faders) going into the norns and i would really like to not have to re-wire any cables. but that seems pretty useful, if not a little complicated

@marcus_fischer i’ve never tried using track trigs, good idea. thank you for the tip. yeah i do love the sequencer but i feel like it limits me with longer material that involves short slices of field recordings and off-the-grid playback

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#81

Er-301 can do that…

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#83

+1 on this approach. @mlogger’s Most recent reel On freesound.org is a gold mine for such a tactic.

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#84

To what extent would this be possible with a Microgranny rather than a Morphagene, do you think? I don’t have a modular rig so the Morphagene isn’t a possibility without “going there” but the MG seems like it might put me in similar territory…

#86

I just got a bitbox micro (and started down the euro path) for just this purpose. So far it’s really flexible and fun. I intend to use it as a looper too, but my input module (Sewastopol) won’t be here until later this week.

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