Have Never Used Samples So Far... Need Some Advice

Cubase
1

Cubase Pro 12 (soon to be 14)
Windows 10

I’ve been using Cubase since SX1 and I know–really weird that I’ve never used samples.

But I’m old school (and old, soon to be 70 y.o.) so most everything I’ve created so far has been by either using my MIDI keyboard to play and record in a VSTi, and also start with some simple MIDI loop (arpeggios/ostinatos or other riffs) and tweak, edit these until I like what I hear.

And for drums, I use EZDrummer 3 and tend to obsess about taking preset sections and moving things around to fit my more or less mid-70s prog rock sensibilities.

I’ve never used a drum machine type VSTi for it seems best suited for more generic, robotic grooves. I’m sure I’m wrong about that, I’m just not an 808 drum machine sound style fan.

So… my first question and the reason I’ve stayed away from using any samples, be it within Cubase or 3rd party is…

… transposition.

The wider the transpo between the original sample and desired key, the more the resulting events degrade even though I would use the highest definition (like poly Elastique) to do so.

But maybe I’m stuck in an early 1990s mindset about all of this.

Which brings me to…

How do you maximize quality when doing so - besides choosing a sample that is closest in key compared to the desired result - if and when such a choice is available?

And what do you do if a sample is in a minor key, say C Min but the key of the project is in D Maj?

MIDI is far easier to transpose. BTW I don’t use the project Transposition track because, I want all the notes in my key editor to be real, not “artificially” transposed by Cubase - this just ends up confusing me in terms of editing.

But maybe with .wav audio files using the Transposition track may be the way to go instead of cutting up and transposing each event/chord section separately.

Again, totally new to this, so I welcome some wisdom here for a manageable workflow with samples.

Thanks.

2

I’m sure others here will chime in to offer lots of useful comments & advice on the topic.

But I’m gonna suggest taking a different approach. Initially rather than using samples for melodic material where the fidelity of pitch shifting really matters; instead start off exploring percussion sampling. This would let you get a handle on the tools & techniques involved. And you can even start exploring pitch shifting in a more forgiving space - creating new sounds using pitch shifts and other processing. Then move on when it feels right.

Also there are about a jillion different ways folks use samples and what might work great for one type of use can totally fail for a different use. So it kind of depends on what you are thinking of doing. Plus lots of times with samples the stuff you are looking for are the audio distortions.

You should create a playpen Project and try a bunch of different things to see how they work without needing to be part of a song or other structure.

2 Likes
3

Haha, you simply invent a new music style. Seriously, this is how techno was made in the early 90’s. Sample a chord from somewhere and then play it back at a different key to make it sound odd.

2 Likes
4

Plus you can still use minor chords in major keys. If the piece is in D Maj and you have a sample of a Dmin chord, shift it up a full-step and use it when you need an Emin.

1 Like
5

I purposely pitch/time stretch drum breaks and all sorts of things in my old Akai specifically for the artifacts. :joy:

1 Like
6

@raino - Thanks for the sketch-first, paint-later approach - good points.

@Johnny_Moneto and @Monotremata - Good points too - I’ll see what happens with such experimentation.

7

Just stick to MIDI :slight_smile: , there are of course things you can do with audio files that are different - so you could also render your MIDI - and then do things with the created audio - if you then find out it should have been some other key or chord - you can redo it…