Samples Vs. Loops: Both Recordings Of Real Instruments??

[Mike Freze]

Hey, guys! Need a quick clarification about the difference between recorded "samples" to use on your tracks vs. pre-recorded "loops" for the same purpose.

My understanding is that samples are real instruments recorded in segments (samples) to use in your recordings: probably done in commercial studios, all set to go. Yet I have also read that loops are recordings of "real" instruments too, ready to use. The only difference I see is they are the same except a loop just repeats the sample fror however many times you want.

Am I right? Or are loops and samples completely different in terms of real instruments being used for either one? What about my external electric keyboard (Yamaha PSR-290)?? It has hundreds of built-in sounds of all kinds of instruments. Are these built-in sounds "samples" as well? They seem to sound like real instruments but maybe they are digital.

Mike Freze

 

[Chibi Nappa]

A loop can be one instrument or an entire drum beat or an entire mix. Say you've got a bass guitar and full drum kit groovin' along for exactly one measure and you can loop it seamlessly. That's a loop. It can come from a real instrument. It can come from a synthesizer. The point is that it is a recording that loops without a hitch in the rhythm.

Samples... Well that is just a part of a recording. So...a loop is also a sample. But you seem to be interested in samples used for wavetable synthesis as found in musical keyboards and such. In this case, yes it can still be a recording of a real instrument. It is different from regular loops in how it is implemented. Here is a very simplified description:

*An instrument is recorded playing a single note.
*That recording is cut into three sections: The front (attack), middle (sustain), and end (release).
*The sustain section of the recording is cut seamlessly so it can repeat without a hitch. It is exactly like the loops I described earlier.
*When the musician plays the note, the synthesizer plays the attack recording. Then as long as the musician keeps holding the key down, the synthesizer loops the sustain recording. When the musician releases the key, the synthesizer plays the release recording.

It can get more complicated than that. You could program a sound to not allow for infinite sustain and automatically jump to the release sound even if the key is still held. You can record layers of different recordings of the same note at different volumes and play them depending on how hard the key was hit. You can record layers of different recordings at the same volume and play them randomly so each note is not roboticly identical.

Anyway, that's a simplified explanation.

 

[Mike Freze]

Chibi Nappa:

Thanks, man, for the great explanation! Hey, just one more thing. You mentioned a sample (or loop) can be from real instruments or synthesized instruments sounds. I guess you make your own "samples" by playing real instruments (I do guitar) for recording or copy a segment from another recording.

Why ever use synthesized samples if the "real thing" is always available? Won't the real deal always sound more true? There must be a reason people use synthesized samples but I can't think of a logical reason to do so.

Mike Freze

 

[Bristol Posse]

Why ever use synthesized samples if the "real thing" is always available? Won't the real deal always sound more true? There must be a reason people use synthesized samples but I can't think of a logical reason to do so.

Mike Freze

If your doing electronica/dance where real instruments may not be what you want and the sort of robotic performance that you get from stringing a bunch of loops and samples together may be what you want to hear.

If you are looking for a particular sound that cannot be made by real instruments. A lot of 80's rock and pop snare drums for example sound nothing like a snare because they are often a real or electronic snare hit blended with some white noise underneath to make the snare sound impossibly "snarey". Listen closely next time you hear an 80's song

things like that would be a reason.

It's horses for courses, I think for a lot of simple rock stuff where you are looking for a unique performance in each verse there is little call for loops at all unless of course it fits well with the song in which case it's exactly what you need.

If you are using an electronic/vsti drum kit or virtual vsti bass etc then you are using samples whether you know it or not.
Generally these are OK but pale compared to the real thing. As Chibi mentioned the better ones are often recorded with multiple samples and velocity levels per note so you can get variation in the performance to make them a little more life like.

If you are primarily a guitar player but want to record more full band sounding songs then samples and maybe loops are certainly a lot easier than having to have bass and drums in your Bedroom space or to try and learn the violin as well as everything else etc and you can get some nice sounds from them in a pinch if you're prepared to do a lot of tweaking and humanizing.

 

[AbuseTheMuses]

You play a riff on a drum set.
You sample a guy playing a riff on a drum set.
You loop the sample of a guy playing a riff on a drum set.

Anything that makes a sound when you play it is a real instrument.

 

[chris in indy]

You play a riff on a drum set.
You sample a guy playing a riff on a drum set.
You loop the sample of a guy playing a riff on a drum set.

Anything that makes a sound when you play it is a real instrument.

Great analogy .................

 

[diggy_dude]

A lot of 80's rock and pop snare drums for example sound nothing like a snare because they are often a real or electronic snare hit blended with some white noise underneath to make the snare sound impossibly "snarey".

I once ruined a snare trying to tune it to the snare sound in a Curve song.

 

[mcmetal]

A lot of 80's rock and pop snare drums for example sound nothing like a snare because they are often a real or electronic snare hit blended with some white noise underneath to make the snare sound impossibly "snarey". Listen closely next time you hear an 80's song

QUOTE]

Maybe that white noise came from all the glitter they always put on the drum heads in those Mtv videos. Posers!!