Organising a sample library can take time and needs patience. It is often a chore many people wish to avoid because of the difficulty in previewing samples and creating a new system that works consistently. For a list of free sources of samples, please visit http://www.dubstepforum.com/tutorial-fi ... 33155.html
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Advantages of an organised sample library include:
- 1> You will save time in the middle of a session by always knowing exactly where to find specific types of samples. This makes experimenting with sound a fun and quick process.
2> It becomes easier to find missing files for old projects. An example is finding drum samples. Once drum samples are catagorised accurately, you simply need to find the folder that contains the type of sample you are trying to relocate in the old project.
3> Archiving newly recorded or downloaded samples becomes easier. Each type of sound in an organised sample library already has its own dedicated folder, so you simply place new samples in the relevant folders.
4> You can back up your sample library quickly. Simply compare old and new folders by size and the amount of files contained within each folder. This tells you which folders contain new files and must be backed up.
How long does organising a sample library take?
This depends on how many samples you have, in how many folders those samples are stored on your hard drive, and how organised you want your library to become.
My sample library is currently 12.7gb and contains 36,845 samples. It took me two whole days to preview each sample and to organise them accurately! It is for this reason I recommend using a fast previewing and organisation method.
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Tools needed for organising your sample library
- 1> A sample preview program
2> A folder utility program
- 1> Reaper has a built in media browser called the 'media explorer' which allows you to play audio files simply by clicking on each file. This makes previewing samples very efficient and fast, saving you the time and hassle of opening the file in a program which can be slow. It also functions as a normal folder in your operating system, allowing you to copy and paste files, delete them, move them to other folders, create new folders etc.
2> It allows you to scroll through files with your keyboard cursor keys, previewing each sample as you scroll. Again, this allows you to preview samples quickly.
3> It gives you a visual representation of each file like a standard audio editor. This is useful for checking for spikes of clipped audio, and whether the file needs normalising or not.
4> Reapers media explorer can both loop and tempo sync your sample without the need to load it into a project. This allows you to hear samples in the context of a project should you wish.
5> You can perform file management tasks directly within Reapers media explorer. Tasks such as creating or deleting folders, and moving files between folders can be done quickly without having to use a separate application for the task.
6> You can drag and drop files to and from Reapers media explorer as you would for any normal folder on your hard drive.
An example of a logical library structure
1> I've started by placing all my files in one folder I call 'Storage' which sits on my desktop.
This way backing up all my files is easy, I simply copy the 'storage folder' onto my external HD.
2> Within the 'Storage' folder is my 'Samples' folder. The screenshots below show how I've organised the samples folder itself.
Share your sample organisation techniques below!futures_untold wrote: Here is a screenshot of my main samples folder.
Here is a screenshot of my drum hits folder.
Here is a screenshot of my instrument samples folder.
Here is a screenshot of my Piano's & Key's folder inside the instrument samples folder
Here is a screenshot of my media samples folder.
Here is a screenshot of the films folder inside the media samples folder.
Pat
