Talk:Sampler (musical instrument)
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Please add a section on the evolution of hardware samplers to software.
Trackers (octamed, fastracker, impulse tracker)
Unity DS-1
Soundfonts
Battery
Kontakt
Halion
The list goes on...
Most people have dumped their hardware for software solutions.
[edit] What about the layman?
Please explain to me what a sampler is and how it works in practice. This is an encyclopedia, is it not? (done?, but can still be expanded?)
Agreed, it also needs further details of the Akai range and some inaccuracies in that section correcting. I intend to do this (and update the Thomas Dolby Page which is what should have led me here!) JDM
Comment from someone else: NB! I searched for "sampler" in Wikipedia, believing that an article on the subject would give me an introduction. (done?) However, this was not the case - this article tought me nothing about how a sampler works. Poor work - please fix!
I feel like while this article has some pretty solid technical information in regards to sample rates and such, that kind of thing would be better handled in seperate entries - it's simply too much for the layman, as noted above, and beyond the scope of this general article. Same goes for the mention of wavetable soundcards/tracker software - relevant as a mention, sure, but a complete chronology? not so much. Also this article is highly POVed... i.e. 'gritty punch' in E-Mu section. Tremspeed 08:47, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Software sampler section needs fixing
An interesting article for the most part, but still needs some work, IMO. The software sampler section is highly POVed / unsourced. Here the section I think needs some reworking:
"Unfortunately, most vendors of software based samplers have taken serious shortcuts that limit the potential of these products. For example, most "soft-samplers" lack sample editing, sample recording capability, top-flight DSP effects, and resampling. While these products are significantly easier to use than typical hardware samplers, their ease of use stems at least partially from the fact that their capabilities are nowhere close to those provided by real samplers. The "soft-sampler" term itself is really a misnomer, because in only a few cases do these products actually sample. Soundbank players would be a more accurate and less misleading term for most of these products. For people that require the creative possibilities and workflow only a true sampler can provide, there are fortunately some real software samplers available."
"Unfortunately" is an inherent opinion. In this context, words such as "most" and "top-flight" are inappropriate unless you have some sources to back these claims up. "Easier to use" than hardware samplers? Possibly, but this is an opinion. Do we have a source such as a survey of professional musicians? "...only a true sampler... some real software samplers..." etc, etc... ???
Regarding the term "soft-sampler" being a misnomer, I happen to agree, but this is somewhat subjective, as there are no "official" definitions on which to rely. The phrase "only a few cases", is probably inappropriate unless a source citation can verify this.
A term I've heard more often used than "soundbank player" is "Rompler", a combination of ROM+sampler. Again, this should be presented as an alternative form, not as an authoritative definition, IMO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rompler
I can't speak for all the software products listed, but Kontact is clearly mis-labeled as a "soundbank player". It certainly has the capability of creating original sampled material - the entire point of a sampler. Kompact, however, is a good example of a "soundbank player".
Jboer 02:04, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
I totally agree with the comments about softsamplers (or whatever we want to call them) - the current section is biased and miseleading. I moved from hardware to software samplers in 2000 - from an Akai S5000) to (then) Emagic's ESX24 - and I don't have any idea why that should be concidered to be less than a sampler - you sample a sound and throw it at the sampler and play it to your hearts desire. That's what I did witht he S5000 and that's what I do with ESX24 (rev.II). I do agree that there's much "rompling" going about - the attraction to (and fascination of) sampling your own sounds is perhaps on the decline, but I don't think the technology is to blame here.
