If you purchased a MONTAGE and have not downloaded your free copy of SampleRobot for MONTAGE, you are missing out! This is a GREAT tool that allows you to easily create your own custom sample sets. In this article I’ll show you how easy it is to sample an external MIDI device using MONTAGE and SampleRobot.
SampleRobot automates the process of sampling in a very cool way and greatly speeds up the process of creating playable instruments. It’s an amazing tool and the best part is, the MONTAGE edition is free!
There are some things to consider when sampling audio sources and some tasks are easier than others. Before diving into the SampleRobot for MONTAGE sampling session a few thoughts:
Okay…it’s time to sample something!
For this session I am sampling a synth bass sound from reface CS I created called “EphEmBass” (reface CS sound available here on Soundmondo). There are two ways you can connect MONTAGE and reface to the computer:
Connection 1: Both MONTAGE and reface CS connected to the computer with USB. The difference between the connection is MONTAGE transmits both audio and MIDI through its connection and reface only sends MIDI. There are two drivers for this purpose
MONTAGE: The Yamaha Steinberg USB driver (a dual audio and MIDI driver) for your operating system located here.
reface CS: The Yamaha USB MIDI driver (for MIDI devices with USB MIDI only) located here.
Connection 2: There is a second way to connect both MONTAGE and reface to the computer. You can connect reface CS with a standard MIDI cable using the breakout cable that comes with reface. In that configuration you need to connect MONTAGE and select MONTAGE PORT 3 as the MIDI receive device in SampleRobot. (Want to understand how MIDI settings in MONTAGE work? Go here).
If you wanted to sample a different MIDI device that only has standard MIDI you can use this connection method.
In this article I’m using Connection 1.
Some serious thought went into the user experience of SampleRobot. As soon as you launch the program it is ready for action with the Project Wizard:
Christian Halten, the developer of SampleRobot, is a composer and sound designer who really understands the importance of fast and efficient workflow (Check out my interview with Christian at Superbooth18) The Project Wizard is an example of this workflow.
In the screen shot above you have a quick checklist to make sure your system is ready for sampling verifying MIDI and audio connections, levels and MIDI channels. Once that is set you simply move through the Project Wizard by clicking “Next”.
Moving along you are asked some general set up questions. You first are asked to name your project and set its location on your hard drive:
Next the Project Wizard asks you to choose your audio interface, sample rate and bit resolution. In the screens below I’ve chosen MONTAGE as my audio interface and 44.1 Khz/16-bit as my sample rate:
After you have determined the audio properties you will set Recording Mode and MIDI Out Device. Since I’m are using a MIDI device (as opposed to a device like a pre-MIDI analog synthesizer or an acoustic instrument) I’m going to select Automatic Recording mode and the reface CS as my MIDI device:
Notice that in each window you have a solid description of what is happening with any selection you make. For example, the difference between Automatic and Semi-automatic recording is defined. The next steps:
Try a few different ones and see what results work best for you! I found that for this reface CS sound the above choices worked great! After that the Project Wizard is complete and you are ready to begin your sampling session:
Since I am only recording one velocity level every 6 half steps the entire process to sample this sound over the entire 88-note range is just under 2 minutes. If I had to do this exactly process manually it would take MUCH longer!
With my recording finished I can now take a look at the samples, edit loop points and do some basic tasks like normalization and other gain adjustments. Take a look at the SampleRobot edit window (my comments in yellow):
Once you have things the way you want you will want to export your project as a User (.X7U) or Library (.X7L) file. I recommend saving it as a User file. I use User files as my workspace where I load things in to try out, edit, etc. I use Library files for things that I always want to have in MONTAGE (like the Bosendorfer Imperial 290, the KApro CS80 library (all available here) or some of my favorite stuff from Easy Sounds). I saved this out as a MONTAGE User file by selecting “Import/Export” from the file menu, selecting “Export selected Project as…” and choosing “Yamaha Montage (*.X7U):
I saved this file as “EphEmbass.X7U”, dropped it on to a USB flash. Below is essentially what happens next: Load into MONTAGE, find the Performance “EphEmBass” and start creating some new sounds!
Want to hear some of the Performances I made using this this waveform? Just download the file below:
I managed to create 8 Performances using only this sound created with SampleRobot. Since the waveforms for this sound came from a reface CS synth bass sound these are all synth sounds with different filters, effects, Super Knob control and envelopes. The result are some pretty aggressive synth sounds, all single Part Performances and most with just a single Element:
I consider these Performances starting points to give you some idea of the places you can go with SampleRobot and MONTAGE. If you want to create your own sound libraries, you’ll find SampleRobot to be an indispensable tool.
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