How Do I Tweak Samples?

[hobscrk777]

This is a basic question, and I'm sorry to insult your intelligence by asking it, but I am truly a beginner.

How do I tweak samples? I have a few .wav files I downloaded, but I'd like to modify them slightly to get a little bit of a harsher sound.

I have Noteworthy, ModPlug, and Audacity, but I don't think any of these have the capabilities I need. I've read some of the other threads and I've seen this technique mentioned, but it's always very casually and without further explanation.

Any suggestions here?

[Rozovian]

You're insulting your own intelligence, not ours

Basically, anything you do to it to create a new sample of it counts as "tweaking". In other words, you can:

- apply some distortion, or normalize, or do something else in audacity

- blend it with another sample by playing two samples simultaneously (at either's root note) in modplug, and export

- use a vst on top of a sample (root note) in modplug and export

- and probably a lot more using the tools you have at your disposal... and you can always find more.

NOTE THAT anything you do to a sample actually reduces the amount of original information in it, meaning the quality will go down. Take a backup of the sound before tweaking anything.

Or use a vst on top of a track instead of worrying about the samples. If you're as beginner as you sound, that might be what you mean with "modify them slightly to get a little bit of a harsher sound". According to google, modplug has vst support, so get yourself a couple of nice distortion vsts (look up kvraudio, search for free stuff), or look up our very own effects thread, zircon's "multiple budgets" thread, or grab something from the good guitar tone for free thread. There's good stuff for free out there.

[hobscrk777]

Thanks for the reply. Can you explain how to implement a VST within ModPlug? I downloaded Synth1 and added it to my "Plugins" folder in my ModPlug directory (per the Synth1 instructions), but I can't get farther than this. I can bring up Synth1 within Modplug, play around with the knobs, but there's no difference in the sound of the simple test pattern I wrote in ModPlug.

[Yoozer]

I have a few .wav files I downloaded, but I'd like to modify them slightly to get a little bit of a harsher sound.

You can do this in two ways:

- destructive: e.g. you open the original file in Audacity, put a distortion effect over it, save the sample under another name

- non-destructive: you load the sample in a software sampler of sorts and put a distortion effect over it.

In the first case, it's impossible to get the original back from what you've done to it, which is why the second is preferable when making music. For a software sampler, check out ShortCircuit. However, since a lot of sequencers support audio tracks, you might not need this in specific cases; all you have to do is drag the audio file in the track and put a distortion effect over it. You use samplers when you want to smear the sample out over the keyboard - e.g. you've recorded someone burping and you want to play Mary Had A Little Lamb with it. See

- the principle hasn't changed that much .

http://lpchip.com/modplug/viewtopic.php?t=1486 has instructions but good god, using VSTs is a horrible chore in this thing and it looks like it's been tacked on later instead of designed for it from the start.

If you're starting out, it probably makes sense to pick something that's got a lot more up-to-date tutorials or a more user-friendly interface.

[hobscrk777]

Yoozer, thank you for the quick reply. Those links were very helpful. You suggested using something more up-to-date - since I'm just starting out, I'm not married to any software yet. What would you recommend?

I checked out the Gear Guide for Multiple Budgets thread http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11586&page=2

where Reaper was pretty highly reviewed. Is that a good one for beginners?

[Zephyr]

Pretty highly removed? Yes it's good for beginners, because it has a fully functional demo and can do anything a good DAW needs too. And seeing as how you sounded confused, Not all VST's are effects, they can be instruments or effects.

[hobscrk777]

By "highly removed" I meant "highly reviewed." I don't know how I switched those two words, honestly. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for clearing that up. I think I'm making the distinction between VSTs (effects) and VSTis (instruments).