Using Samplers: Make Your Own Realistic Virtual Instruments

Name: Using Samplers: Make Your Own Realistic Virtual Instruments
Rating: 4.6 (17 reviews)

The complete beginner's guide to sampling and virtual instrument creation for composition and sound design

Highest Rated

Created bySteve Lydford

Last updated 8/2022

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Gain a deep understanding of the fundamentals of sampling.
Apply your new knowledge by creating unique sounding instruments from samples and recordings.
Use advanced sampling techniques to create ultra realistic sounding virtual instruments from your own recordings.
Use envelopes, filters, LFOs and effects to create the ideal sounds for your compositions.

Course content

3 sections • 21 lectures • 2h 23m total length

Introduction1:10
Explore what sampling is, why to use it, and how sampling works, recording your samples and turning them into playable instruments with sound design, modulation, envelopes, stacked sounds, and effects.
Getting the most from the course1:36
Explore the core concepts of sampling and how to maximize the course using any digital audio workstation, from Logic to Ableton and Contact, with headphones and a MIDI keyboard.
How sampling works2:42
Learn how sampling replaces the oscillator with audio samples and preserves the familiar synth architecture. Discover how samplers enable realistic instruments and MIDI playability and creative sound design.
Getting samples2:50

Creating your first instrument8:33
Learn to create your first instrument in Logic using Quick Sampler, record a sample with a microphone, and play it across the keyboard as a realistic virtual instrument.
Waveform and amplifier settings7:07
Explore waveform and amplifier settings in classic mode, trim samples, adjust start and direction, shape the sound with the amplifier envelope (attack, decay, sustain, release), polyphony, glide, semitones, and cents.
Filter controls1:46
Enable the built-in 12 dB per octave low-pass filter to tame harsh highs, with resonance, and drive. The key scale shifts the cutoff across the keyboard for realistic virtual instruments.
Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) controls3:20
Explore how the low frequency oscillator (lfo) modulates a sample engine with triangle, saw, square, and random waveforms, tying tempo and vibrato to one shot and slice options.
One shots1:16
Learn how one shot mode lets a pressed key trigger a sample to play to its end, regardless of finger release, a technique ideal for drum sounds and avoiding clipping.
Using filters, LFOs and effects5:14
Explore sound design with samplers by using lfo automation on a low-pass filter, apply effects like reverb, and experiment with loops and slice looping to craft unique sounds.
Slicing loops and samples8:49
Slice loops and samples in the quick sampler, assign each slice to keyboard keys, and map them chromatically to play audio sections using loop-point markers.
Loop points and instrument number two11:40
Create a realistic instrument by sampling a ukulele, setting loop points in a quick sampler, and shaping playback with forward looping, release behavior, and reverb effects.

Noise reduction6:28
Learn to use the logic sampler to load multiple audio files, chop them into samples, and reduce noise with Audacity and Adobe Audition.
Chopping audio3:01
Chop audio into separate files using the snipping tool or scissors, remove silence with threshold and pre-attack time, and refine nondestructive edits around the transient.
Preparing and exporting samples3:23
Rename each sample section with sensible note-based names using shift+N. Export the audio files so region names become the file names for easy mapping to keys in the sample engine.
Introduction to Logic Sampler - creating our third instrument2:18
Load the sampler instrument, explore its sections from pitch to filters, and map chopped audio to keyboard keys, while adjusting polyphony, glide, and pitch bend to shape a third instrument.
Mapping samples10:03
Modulators4:40
Explore how to use modulators and an lfo to add vibrato to a sampled instrument, adjusting release, rate around four hertz, and mod matrix mapping for a subtle pitch wobble.
Adding realism with round robins14:42
Enhance realism in your sampler by using round robins, cycling through multiple samples per note, and organize groups and zones with auto map and pitch detection.
Using velocity layers to add even more realism19:14
Discover how velocity layers add realism to virtual instruments by mapping soft and hard samples across velocity ranges, using round robins, and balancing samples for efficient performance.
Introduction to Kontakt 6 and our fourth instrument24:03
Discover Kontakt 6 as a powerful sampling engine, create instruments with the mapping editor, map guitar and pad groups, apply envelopes and LFO pan, and compare to other samplers.

Requirements

No previous experience with sampling is required.
I will be using Logic Pro throughout, with a short introduction to Kontakt at the end, but the concepts learnt will apply to the sample engines found in most DAWs, such as Ableton Live, Cubase, FL Studio, etc.

Description

A deep dive into all the common elements of instrument creation and sound design using samplers. Whether you are brand new to sampling, or an experienced sound designer, beatmaker or producer, this course will help you to really understand how to construct exactly the sounds you are looking for and make super-realistic sample-based virtual instruments from scratch.

With over two hours of video split across more than twenty lessons, you will find detailed descriptions and demonstrations of:

Using sample engines and how the different elements work together.
How to take any sound and make it playable across your MIDI keyboard.
Why and how creating your own sampled instruments can help define your own unique sound.
How to use noise reduction, waveform editing, loops, round robins and velocity layers to make ultra realistic-sounding virtual instruments.
How to use envelopes, low-frequency oscillators (LFOs) and filters to modulate your instruments.
How to layer sounds and add effects such as delay and reverb to make your sounds more interesting.

During the course, you will see every step taken in the creation of four unique sample-based instruments.

We'll be using the built-in samplers within Logic Pro X throughout the course, and I've included a short introduction to Native Instruments Kontakt 6 at the end to show how you can apply the concepts learnt to any sampler and know exactly how to use it to get the sounds you need for your compositions.

Thank you for taking a moment to check out my course. Click the enrol button above to join in and learn the art of sound design for music production using audio sampling to create any sound you can imagine!

Who this course is for:

Beginner and experienced sound designers and music producers who want to really understand how to use sampling to create their own unique, custom sounds and instruments

Using Samplers: Make Your Own Realistic Virtual Instruments

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction4 lectures • 8min

Logic Quick Sampler8 lectures • 48min

Logic Sampler and Kontakt9 lectures • 1hr 28min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: