15
votes
Difference between drum sounds and melody sounds
For the purposes of this question, lets consider three broad categories of musical sounds:
Unpitched sounds - examples include cymbals, bullroarer
Semi-pitched sounds - examples include tom-tom drums,...
- 50.9k
14
votes
Accepted
How to check the quality of an audio sample?
The only thing that matters is if the sample sounds good. You have to listen to it and decide whether you want to use it. No numbers or waveforms or analysis programs are going to tell you whether ...
- 14.9k
10
votes
Cannot seem to discover what scale is used in a sample (Dm F Em D♯)
A chord progression doesn't have to all fit one scale. This one seems basically in D Dorian, with the E♭ a chromatic passing chord between Em and Dm. (I wonder why they named it D♯ instead of the ...
- 77.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Difference between drum sounds and melody sounds
Well, sound is pretty much all about spectrum. And it so happens that there is a fundamental difference between typical unpitched percussion sounds and the typical sounds of melodic instruments (even ...
9
votes
Accepted
Will characteristic acoustical properties of real instruments also be observed when using high quality digital samples?
In general, yes - a high quality sample is essentially a high-quality recording, and will capture the overtones/harmonics, as well as other 'unstable' noises, that would be heard when simply listening ...
- 45.6k
8
votes
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Cannot seem to discover what scale is used in a sample (Dm F Em D♯)
I'd consider that progression in D minor (Dorian) with the D♯ as a transition chord. In other words, the D♯ is a chromatic transition chord, taking you from Em to Dm: Em -> D♯ -> Dm
- 6,251
7
votes
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Electronic music beats: Sample or Synthesis?
There is no blanket answer to your question. It depends. "It depends" isn't very useful though, so let's try to dive a little more into it.
Advantages and disadvantages
Generally speaking:
Sample: ...
- 15.9k
6
votes
How to check the quality of an audio sample?
While the ultimate indicator of quality is what sounds best. If you're looking for the "cleanest" sound, there are a few things you should look for.
Typically, you want to find audio files in ...
- 61
5
votes
How to check the quality of an audio sample?
While everyone is rightfully emphasizing that the sound is, at the end of the day, the only important metric, there are still a few basic technical things to look out for:
Lossy vs. lossless: given ...
- 150
5
votes
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What sort of samples you need to record for a good flute sample pack
This boils down to "How much detail do you require, how much articulation & can your playback engine support that articulation?"
At one end of the scale we have the single sample, stretched the ...
- 22.5k
4
votes
How can I slice and modulate samples in Logic like Ableton's Slice To Midi feature?
Right click the audio passage -> convert -> convert to new sampler track. You can also go to the audio menu and select convert to new sampler track directly.
Select create zones from transient ...
- 15.9k
4
votes
Time-aligned sound samples
Maybe I'm not understanding something about the question, but why do you say non-percussive instruments don't align to the beat?
If I'm playing a MIDI keyboard, for example, I want the sample to ...
- 20.2k
4
votes
Electronic music beats: Sample or Synthesis?
When should I use one over another?
The big advantage of using samples is that it's easier to make your hits sound like real instruments. If you sample a snare drum, and use that sample, it will ...
- 484
4
votes
How to check the quality of an audio sample?
There are no real indicators like that. Of course, in general you could say for example, that .wav files are higher quality than .mp3 or that during the production phase 24 bit may be better than 16 ...
- 2,881
4
votes
Accepted
Can a song be made entirely of samples?
Can a song be made entirely of samples?
Of course.
For example, say I sample a single middle-c piano note. My understanding is that a DAW sampler can then change the pitches of this one sample so ...
- 45.6k
4
votes
How to check the quality of an audio sample?
Other answers have given some information about the technical considerations of the audio format, and pointed out that one primary consideration is of course "is this the sound I want?".
There are ...
- 45.6k
4
votes
Where can I get Native American drum and flute samples
Sample libraries exist [hundreds of them], but though they all are licensed so you can use them in your own compositions for commercial use, I doubt whether any of them would permit re-use inside what ...
- 22.5k
4
votes
Are most modern drums in pop/hiphop/edm music synthesized?
It's not clear exactly what genres (the phrase "modern music" isn't very precise) you're asking about, so I'll cover several of them:
Rock, Hard Rock, Punk, Country: More often real acoustic drums ...
- 50.9k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the lowest scientific note on a piano (for sampling)?
The range shown in the last link is correct for almost any standard piano.
There are models with a narrower range (like those small pianos seen in living rooms of many american films and tv series, ...
- 5,730
3
votes
Can a song be made entirely of samples?
I think you have a number of issue combined in this question.
But about the piano sample using only middle C, you could do this but when the single sample is pitch shifted through the full piano ...
- 49k
3
votes
Can a song be made entirely of samples?
Yes, we can make music with only sampled sounds. And we do. If we're trying to imitate 'real' instruments, it's almost exclusively what we do.
There'll be more than one base sample for each ...
- 77.7k
3
votes
Accepted
How can I slice and modulate samples in Logic like Ableton's Slice To Midi feature?
Not sure which version of Logic you are on but this video is for Logic 8 and is a very good tutorial on a quick way to do this. Creating samples for EXS24. I'm not familiar with Logic X but I'm ...
- 7,379
3
votes
Accepted
Time-aligned sound samples
If a human is playing the samples, I would prefer it if this latency was consistent, and as close to zero as possible.
Whenever I make my own samples, I zoom right in and trim any 'silence' from the ...
- 1,458
3
votes
How to import a piano sound from a VST plugin into a synth?
Because the flute can be considered (if we exclude the initial breath noise) as a single waveform that can be repeated or extended without too much problem, it is very easy to import it as a sample. ...
- 36.3k
3
votes
Accepted
Using additive resynthesis to avoid sample clearance?
It's always wisest to get clearance first than to try to apologise for it afterwards. It's cheaper too, in the long run.
Of course, if it's not from one of the 'big boys' who pay people to hunt down ...
- 22.5k
3
votes
Cannot seem to discover what scale is used in a sample (Dm F Em D♯)
One way to approach this would be to use D Dorian for the first three chords, then D# Lydian on the D# chord.
- 31
2
votes
Creating music tracks from samples in ableton live
Yes, Ableton has two powerful samplers built in, Simpler and Sampler. I think some of the smaller versions of Ableton (like Live Lite) only contain Simpler. But they both can be used to create sample-...
- 2,437
2
votes
Accepted
Batch create high quality audio renderings of midi files
You need
some loopback, either a virtual sound card, or just an analog cable;
some command-line MIDI player (probably MIDImyAPP, or some AppleScript); and
some command-line audio recorder.
- 1,537
2
votes
What's the best way to play variable-tempo samples live?
I would suggest looking for a Tap Tempo feature on a sampler. This should allow you to have prerecorded samples stored within a single device that can have their output tempo adjusted simply by ...
- 7,379
2
votes
Accepted
Standard scratch samples used in every dang song ever
The opening scratch to "My Name Is" is a baby scratch of a kick drum sound. "24K magic" also has a baby scratch of a kick drum. So I'd guess that's what you mean.
It may be a sample but it's probably ...
- 751
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