Re: Looping with a sampler

[Kim Flint <kflint@chromatic.com>]

At 04:12 PM 11/6/97 +0000, Robert S. Carter wrote:
>Basically i'm wondering whether there are any samplers (particularly the
>new "phrase" sampler boxes) which can loop on the fly in the style of a
>sampling digital delay (i.e. the JamMan). Sure all samplers loop, but in
>my experience (I've got an S-760) there's always a couple button presses
>worth of processing to be done after recording before you can play back
>the loop, plus you've got to trigger the sample somehow. I'm thinking
>about something performance friendly that immediately loops and plays
>back the sample.

The phrase sampler type boxes generally do allow for fast looping, just 
like
the jamman/echoplex approach where you tap to start/stop and the sample
starts looping automatically. The frustrating thing I've seen, at least 
with
the akai stuff like the remix16, is that you can't record and play back at
the same time. That limits a lot of performance applications, where you
might want to sample a new audio element and add it to the currently 
playing
loop. (overdubbing, inserting, replacing, etc.)

On the other hand, those devices usually have built in sequencers which the
digital delay type boxes don't have, and polyphonic loops are a given.

It's interesting to see how the sampler approach to real-time looping and
the digital-delay approach are moving towards each other and adopting each
other's features. The devices from the sampler world like the remix16 and
others now have the tap-style, easy loop capturing features that delays 
have
long had with the "hold" button, as well as other performace features like
real-time reverse, etc. And the loop devices from the digital delay
background, like the echoplex, have features like loop triggering with 
midi,
velocity sensitivity, midi sync, sample dump, etc. You can expect the lines
to get more blurry....

kim
_______________________________________________________
Kim Flint                       408-752-9284
Mpact Systems Engineering       kflint@chromatic.com
Chromatic Research              http://www.chromatic.com