Question: I guess my question now is what's the best way to actually sample the individual instruments? Take a sample from every couple of keys or so? Another problem that I think I might have is that I don't know how to tweak with the sounds good enough. You know, like all those envelopes, layers, and LFO's or whatever... any tips?

Answer: Here's a couple I've gleaned from doing it a lot:

• Remove any effects, LFO, and envelopes on the sound.
• Look into the structure of the sound, and separate the separated waves or sounds if possible. You might want to combine similar textures. It's a good idea to sample different waves/textures separately, and put them on different layers within the EPS, but at the same time you don't want too many layers operating at the same time - you lose polyphony that way.
• Sample note D5 first, and assign it as root key to D5 on the EPS/ASR. Check it out above and below D5, and add multisamples if you don't like the transposition. The reason we sample D5 is because a) the frequency D matches the common samples rates of the EPS/ASR, which are 29.8K and 44.6/1K. As far as sample rates, if the sound has a lot of high-frequency information, sample at 44.6/1. Otherwise, sample at 29.8. We sample at the 5th octave because lower transpositions are usually more effective than higher ones, but the 5th octave is not too high as to not get an adequate sample.
• Sample the sound until the wave becomes static, wait a second or 2 longer, and stop sampling. Sample-playback synths (which is pretty much all of them these days) have generally small waveforms to fit into the limited ROM space, and they are looped (not counting drum sounds, of course). You want to get that loop sampled, so you can loop it yourself in the EPS/ASR.
• For different textures, sample them into their own layer. Note the samples which are triggered by velocity, in case of velocity-switching setups (which are quite common). Another note: most synthesizers, for example the O1/W, have "Performance" programs, and "Single" programs. The "Performance" programs are simply combinations of "Single" programs in one playable patch. Go for the "Single" programs to sample - on the EPS/ASR you can combine them yourself using a Preset or external means.
• Once you've sampled everything in, start looping and reprogramming the envelopes and LFO's. Judge for yourself if you want to "short-loop" (using just a single cycle of the waveform) or "long-loop" (using a short segment) the wave. With long loops don't be afraid to use the CROSSFADE LOOP functions; in fact, the BI-DIRECTIONAL LOOP algorithm is especially effective.

Contributed by Garth Hjelte

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