Free Keyboard Samples

[Azucena Jewels]

Thisunofficial' Forum is dedicated to the Clavia Nord Keyboards, including the Nord Stage, Nord Electro and Nord Piano. Discuss any issues around Nord's keyboards, share your favorite patches, samples, and music. We are not affiliated with Clavia!

I have a very basic question (I think!): can I attach a midi keyboard to my Model:Samples and then play the keyboard directly on top of the patterns without connecting to a computer or other device? Or if I attach a keyboard does it just become a way to control the Model:Samples?

I use mine with a Keystep as well, it is perfect! Being able to quickly switch MIDI channels is huge, as you can switch between different synth sounds on the various tracks on the M:S, somewhat like controlling up to 6 monophonic synths from a single keyboard! Pairs especially well with single cycle waveforms, in my experience.

Hypothetically yes you could set all 6 tracks to receive on the same channel. But do you really want to trigger a sample on all 6 tracks with every key press? To be clear here, all tracks will be receiving the MIDI data you send not just the one you have selected for editing on the device.

Might be worth checking out something like MIDI-OX that lets you monitor all MIDI activity on a device (i.e. PC, audio interface). You might be able to get the command info you need from there. Here is an example of the output you see as MIDI commands are flowing:

Currently, I play the middle c key on my vintage keyboard (e.g. Virus TI) and sample that into the e5000. My e5000 transposes the sound across the keyboard I have connected to it via midi, but the only accurate sounding key to me, after the resulting sample, is the middle c. The other keys sound like the semitones are too high or too low (not natural).

I'm wondering is the correct way to sample a keyboard patch is to sample several different octave keys (c1, c2, c3, etc.), or do I just endure the tiresome task of sampling every key? It would be nice to know how those that make sample CDs do it. Any direction will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

There is no simple one size fits all answer to your question. Keep in mind the Emu e5000 ultra is a 20 bit sampler that has a bit of "tone" to it's converters. It is NOT transparent sounding. Personally I like it's tone, but that may be what you're hearing... With that in mind here are some pointers to get you moving in the right direction. Use your ears because your mileage may vary....

Generally speaking we play within a 6 octave range so I suggest a minimum of 5 samples evenly spaced across the main octave range (excluding the bottom, and or top octave depending on your particular sounds sweetest playable range). Certain sounds will require more samples to sound their best, and some will live happily with 5, or 6 samples... In fact some may be fine with only 2.

IF you have a mic preamp, and a DI box, try plugging your sample source into your DI box followed by your preamp and lastly into your emu e5000. Sometimes (not all) you will find an even more focused, and pleasing sound.

The e5000 has the ability to import .wav files. You may want to use something like Skylife Samplerobot to do the heavy lifting, and just export to your emu. Especially if you have a decent sound card in your computer!

The term you might be looking for is phrase sampling, which allow you to either sample unique samples for all individual keys, for a single octave (which then as a whole is sampled up/down like your single C key sample) or spreading each sample a few notes only.

I've heard that a keyboard with poor quality sound can be reprogrammed with a library of better quality MIDI sounds. Is this possible with all keyboards? If not, what determines whether a keyboard can be reprogrammed or not? If if there's a general method, how do you do it?

With regard to a digital piano, you are not talking about reprogramming synthesizer sounds, and MIDI does not enter into it either. What you are talking about is replacing the digital sample library on the digital piano with an alternate library of piano sounds. This has never been possible with any dedicated digital piano of which I've ever been aware. It is certainly not possible with any products made by Williams.

There are, however, more advanced and expensive multi-purpose keyboard instrument workstations that provide the user with the ability to purchase and install different sample libraries, including alternate piano sounds. For this you would want to look at products by Roland and Nord. However, I get the feeling this is beyond the scope of your interest.

You likely won't be able to change the samples of a cheap synthesizer. However, on some more expensive synthesizers you can. You MAY be able to edit the "presets" of a cheap-ish synth.editing a preset can sometimes change the sound dramatically without changing the samples it uses - it's changing things like envelope and low-frequency oscillation (LFO) settings, etc.If you don't yet know what an LFO or envelope is, you probably have MUCH reading to do :) But it's interesting stuff - go for it.

All I have is a Yamaha TX81Z sound module to create sounds with FM synthesis and it's pretty difficult to program, especially for a non-tech guy like me, and a Digitech Looper pedal to trigger samples. I think the digitech is going to work great in a lot of instances but I need to get some good Rush samples that are isolated.

For certain sounds I lift them from the albums: 2112 intro and synth tone after the first "bum bum!", jack hammer from force ten, Hemispheres opening swell and middle section, open and close of Natural Science (I created a loop in the opening so after a certain point it loops seamlessly until I turn it off), Cygnus X-1 opening (also looped), I cut up pieces of the By-Tor "growl" from the Necromancer for that as well as By-Tor (I pitch shifted and matched to the FBN version of By-Tor), Camera Eye intro up to the synth. Other things I created from scratch like the part you mention in Science. As for Vital Signs I created a sequence myself then sampled and looped the main synth phrase then triggered the sample rather than a sequencer. Where as for Spirit I created a sequence for "Invisible airwaves" and simply triggered the sequencer.

Let me predicate this by stating that my day gig is doing sound for games and picture so editing audio and creating synth patches is kind of what I do. Also when you lift things from an album they don't need to be as clean as you think they do because theoretically if you are playing along and in tune the extra stuff will be covered by the band. That's one of the reasons I created a lot from scratch was for cleanliness, but because of my job my editing is pretty clean so things I can't reproduce from scratch I lift from the recording, which also adds authenticity. Plus because I understand how things go together I know where things need to be loose or tight.

For certain sounds I lift them from the albums: 2112 intro and synth tone after the first "bum bum!", jack hammer from force ten, Hemispheres opening swell and middle section, open and close of Natural Science (I created a loop in the opening so after a certain point it loops seamlessly until I turn it off), Cygnus X-1 opening (also looped), I cut up pieces of the By-Tor "growl" from the Necromancer for that as well as By-Tor (I pitch shifted and matched to the FBN version of By-Tor). Other things I created from scratch like the part you mention in Science. As for Vital Signs I created a sequence myself then sampled and looped the main synth phrase then triggered the sample rather than a sequencer. Where as for Spirit I created a sequence for "Invisible airwaves" and simply triggered the sequencer.

Well said. :goodone:I agree. You can lift things that are "dirty" and blend it in with live performances. Some of the keyboard stuff is extremely difficult to replicate (unless you have a moog or PPG wave station). For example, my band is toying around with Grand Designs. I'll definitely be lifting that intro into a sample.

The sampler worked great at the last show by the way. Most went off without a hitch. Keeping track of all my patch changes in between songs is getting overwhelming though (patch change on Yamaha, patch change on TX81Z, next sample, octave change on PK-5) OK let's play.

My unwritten rule is that I can sample non-musical sounds off the albums if there's no other instruments playing. Like everyone else, I sampled the intro to 2112, Hemispheres, Distant Early Warning, etc... I did a few loops, like 1 second of the waterfall in 2112, the beginning of Natural Science or a bell cycle in Cygnus X-1 before the bass comes in. I use an SPD-S on stage as a sampler, tons of memory, so I created a loop just the right length for Natural Science so I don't need to turn it off. I sampled the intro to Camera Eye same as Rush did, from the Superman soundtrack.

Couldn't get Hyperspace, so I programmed it on the D-50. Used a bass sound with amplitude modulation set at the same speed as the album and a resonant filter from low to high and no decay - we use it to count time and it cuts off as soon as I release the pedal. I originally did Vital Signs on a D20. I did only one 8-note sequence, normalized it, then I slowed it down and re-sequenced it while manually modulating the volume in real time (basically, it's like a sine wave modulating the amplitude twice every note). Then I used a different sequencer on my multi-timbral D550 but it wouldn't take the volume change messages, so I setup a patch where the TVA plays 2 notes for every one from the sequencer. Sequencer loops one full bar of 8 notes and stops at the end of the bar, so it's easy to trigger.

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