Cheap-ish Sampler? (live use)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Myriad_Rocker
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Myriad_Rocker

Myriad_Rocker

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My band is thinking about incorporating some simple sampling into our live shows...song intros, maybe some string tracks, etc. Our old drummer had an SPD-S but that seemed a bit overkill for what we're wanting.

We definately want something that the drummer can use easily live. We thought about just a simple laptop but I'm not sure that would be the easiest way and the best way (the laptop only has headphone outs).

So, any ideas?
 
Hi,

Before we got our Akai MPC1000 sequencer / sampler, we used a Boss SP 202 Dr Sample, review, roland site. It is a very simple unit but by adding the memory card you get to store 32 samples up to a total length of 37 mins. You can trigger the samples from the buttons or via midi from a keyboard, we triggered it from an external sequencer. It served us well for a few years and we did an overseas tour with it.

The best thing is that they are as cheap as on e-bay. There is also the next model an SP-303 and the next again SP-404 and on and on, but cheap and works sampler go for a good old SP-202

Cheers
Alan.
 
I have an SPD-S and it is great and takes a beating.

The problem with the laptop is that its going to be prone to dying on you at the worst time - during a song or set. Your audience will be walking out or throwing beer bottles before it reboots.

You can put a free vst host (Toybear's Minihost is great) and a free sampler like Shortcircuit on a laptop.

But you're going to have to have something to trigger it (the drummer isn't going to want to tap the tiny keys); most likely a usb midi keyboard. And the built-in POS soundcard of laptops is awful. Plus a laptop is a rather delicate piece of equipment that doesn't like to be manhandled.

In the end you'll spend more than getting a dedicated unit like an SPD-S.....
 
I can tell you from experience, stay away from using a lap top.

"OK Folks the shows about to start,
..........OH Whats this, Windows wants to do an update,
..........new wireless network found,
..........you have unused icons on your desk top,
..........your virus software is out of date,
..........errrr sorry folks the show will start when I clear the screen of all the icons so I can see the sample I want to trigger!"

Yes the range of drum pad samplers is a good idea, I was thinking of the no overkill, cheapish part of the question.

Alan.
 
sampler for live use is kind of an oxymoron if you are looking at traditional samplers. You can find an akai S3000 for about a $100 as well as Emus and Yamaha's for about $100-200 but one common aspect of all these machines is VERY slow load times from disk to memory so using them in a live environment can be tedious since you cannot quickly switch between programs. If you can live with that, then any of those device will work well and are dirt cheap.

Otherwise, you will want to look at high end workstations with sampling built in (V synth is excellent) or one shot type deals like the SP-202
 
witzendoz said:
I can tell you from experience, stay away from using a lap top.

"OK Folks the shows about to start,
..........OH Whats this, Windows wants to do an update,
..........new wireless network found,
..........you have unused icons on your desk top,
..........your virus software is out of date,
..........errrr sorry folks the show will start when I clear the screen of all the icons so I can see the sample I want to trigger!"

Yes the range of drum pad samplers is a good idea, I was thinking of the no overkill, cheapish part of the question.

Alan.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a poorly configured laptop, especially for live use.

You should've disabled:
  • Windows Update
  • All network adapters (both LAN/Ethernet as well as wireless)
Also:
  • You should NOT have an antivirus software installed.
  • You should NOT have any software that runs in the background that is not audio related, including stuff that changes menu items, such as WinZip.
  • You should turn off SystemRestore
  • You should have cleaned up your laptop before live use.

All of the issues that you've listed are easily preventable.
 
noisewreck said:
Sounds like a poorly configured laptop, especially for live use.

You should've disabled:
  • Windows Update
  • All network adapters (both LAN/Ethernet as well as wireless)
Also:
  • You should NOT have an antivirus software installed.
  • You should NOT have any software that runs in the background that is not audio related, including stuff that changes menu items, such as WinZip.
  • You should turn off SystemRestore
  • You should have cleaned up your laptop before live use.

All of the issues that you've listed are easily preventable.
Click to expand...

Actually I was having a laugh, what happened on that tour was that one of our main sound modules died that night before the tour, we were running the this module the sampler and drum module from a file player back then. I had a back up of samples and sequencing in the laptop that was the tour emailing, contact, mobile office laptop. To keep the show on the road I quickly set up to run the show from the laptop using ableton lite (free) edition and a midi usb interface and a usb sound card (remember this is at 9pm at night and we were flying out (26 hour 2 stop flight) at 6am. So quickly set it all up, tested it dummy ran the whole 2 hour show and corrected problems and basically drove to the airport.

The problems listed happened at the first show, I fixed it from then on as you suggested, by turning everything in windows off, like I run my studio computers.

Seriously I still think having a laptop on stage anywhere near a drummer is a bad idea. Actually if you can afford it buy a Akai MPC500 or even a MPC1000 which is what we now use to run everything. A second-hand MP500 or MPC1000 may be just the ticket.

Cheers
Alan.
 
I actually use a laptop live. Yeah, you want to configure it ahead of time so that as little extra stuff is going on when you're playing as possible; though even all the stuff you listed can work. (Disabling all those features is also somewhat dependent on disabling the network. If you leave the network enabled, you should have AV, and you MUST keep windows update on.)

I've also found that the onboard sound isn't too bad if I connect it right to a DI with the shortest patch cable I can find to cut down on interference before it gets to a reasonably good interface.
 
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