Could I use a sampler to perform my material live

[D. Lundy]

I want to start performing my music live, but the only friends that I have that play musical instruments play guitar, which is unfortunate since my music is generally based around keyboards, percussion, and ambient sounds. In order to promote my 2nd LP (which I am in the process of recording) I'd like to perform my material live, though there's the obvious difficulty of finding supporting musicians. Therefore, I need a means of replicating my sound without having to rely on other musicians. Could I possibly use a sampler to play my prerecorded drum beats, bass parts, and sound effects behind my live singing and keyboard playing? I'm not exactly sure how a sampler functions or what it does, but I suspect that it could be a useful ally.

I'm a college freshman so most of my gigs would be limited to open mic nights or small gigs in one of my college's coffee houses or performance spaces.

Thanks,

D. Lundy

 

[guitarplayr82]

Here's a few options:

1. Have a laptop on stage with you that's plugged into the P.A. system and play recordings of all the other instruments (probably the easiest solution.)

2. Use MIDI footpedals and other buttons to trigger sounds.

3. Post an ad on your local music store's bulletin board looking for musicians.

I'm not very knowledgable about the functions of a sampler, but if I were in your situation those would be my top three options. Maybe you could even do a combination of all of them.

 

[VESSEL2020]

A sampler will help, only if you know how to loop your phrases,
and if not,..it's pretty hard to find a cheap one that carries alot of sampling time, at 44.1 c.d. quality for a whole song.
Unless you are willing to put out for a high end sampler,..The laptop is the way to go.
I record my backing tracks to MD DATA discs, via Tascam 564 and then perform live instruments over it. (synths, electronic drums, samplers)

There are many ways to do what you are looking to do.
Depends on your budget and / or resources.

You can also look into a Korg Electribe ES-1 sampler w/ sd card.
They're not too much, and have a very good quality sound for backing tracks.
But once again, ..sampling time is limited to how much memory you have on your card.

 

[oretez]

sure

one of the Akai MPCs could be quite helpful. some of the old school Emu, Roland, et al samplers are getting a bit long in the tooth had frustrating UIs but conversely tend to be inexpensive (except where they have achieved magical icon status)


While all the digital sampler/rompler/synths are essentially specialized computers in a box they, roughly speaking, tend to be slightly more robust then you average laptop. Additionally the useful hardware boxes had devices for 'remote' control which can be more then merely helpful in live situations

but a laptop can certainly get you started, help with figuring out what you don't know and what you need to efficiently get the job done

there will be a learning curve that will be as steep and convoluted as you want to make. It can be as simple as a tape recorder emulation for play back of an off site finished track to something generating multiple voices (threads) with which you interact live . . .

then somehow you have to figure out how to get it all working effectively through the PA . . . it's lots of hats

but dealing with personalities of musicians can be just as frustrating (but continuing the search for at least one partner can be a great idea . . . I've found bass players to be particularly advantageous)

good luck

 

[VESSEL2020]

While all the digital sampler/rompler/synths are essentially specialized computers in a box they, roughly speaking, tend to be slightly more robust then you average laptop. Additionally the useful hardware boxes had devices for 'remote' control which can be more then merely helpful in live situations

Yes they do! ...I have (3) old school Roland MS-1's for this reason.
Also, They have a built-in sequencer, wher it makes it easy to create "big phrases"...But, once again,...You have to buy memory cards to expand sampling time.
The remote feature is definitely an added plus,..because I can tigger samples with my feet as well as my hands.

 

[el bajo]

Boss Loop Station (RC-50 is the goodie for live work) and Digitech Jam Man products are probably the top choice (at the moment) for cost-effective live looping and sample triggering.

Only need the laptop to load samples into their memory, then it's all standalone.

One of the old Roland Groove Samplers would be a good choice also, when mated to a foot controller.

Or, use a midi foot controller or drum pad connected to a laptop (with appropriate software) via a midi-to-usb adapter. Only real problem with anything computer-based is that, well, it could crap out mid-performance.