How to record samples of an organ/keyboard?

[theposterkid]

I did a search for this, but couldn't find anything. I've got a band that plans to bring in some sort of organ for me to record samples of each key being played. I'm not exactly sure what kind it is, but I assume it's a weird air organ, or farfisa type of thing. I'm almost positive they're not bring in a B3 and expecting me to make samples of that! Their goal is to trigger the samples from a midi keyboard at their live shows.

Anyway, I have very basic experience using Tracktion to trigger samples that are assigned to a specific key coming from a midi keyboard. However, I'm not exactly sure what my recorded samples of each key should be like in this case. I'm going to do mono 44.1/16 bit wavs since they specifically need this for live shows.

How long should each sample be? Should they include an "attack" as the key is struck? Do most samplers "play" the entire sample by default, or will the note be "muted" as soon as they let go of the key when they are triggering it? I assume that setting is adjusted within whatever software they are using to trigger the samples.

Has anyone tried this?

[Z-Plane]

Done it lots. Set the session up so you get the required sound from the organ as performed normally, then perhaps add a touch more gain for single notes. Record a nice long note of each key, becuase later on you will need to decide if the sampler will play a long note or a looped note. Yes, keep the attack and if you decide to loop notes, the loop point usually comes once the note has settled down after a second or two. There are several options available to build the sample kit depending on what format and sampler will be used, for something like the EXS, so long as you include the note (C3, C#3, D3) on the actual filename, it will import the file into an automapped keyzone.

[theposterkid]

Cool, thanks for the tips!

[Z-Plane]

Like Columbo, one more thing. Watch out for any low rumble or subs being recorded, use a HPF where possible. Once it gets into the sampler and you play a chord, suddenly this LF energy appears out of nowhere and really messes things up. This actually happened with many of the original M-Tron preset banks, great sounds but the vibes preset sent speakers into a visible wobble.

[Mystic Steamship Co.]

I recently made some samples of my restored fender rhodes and it was a monumental task. Something like an organ is easier because you don't need to deal with multilayered samples and differences in gain etc... Some things that I would recommend would be to keep your session very organized and keep all regions separate and labeled while you're recording. This will be a huge time saver. I would use destructive record so you don't end up with a million regions, and listen very very carefully for noise, hum, and tuning issues for each. If it is a vox continental or some kind of combo organ you can usually easily tune the oscillators which would be a great idea to do before you start. I actually used melodyne for a few keys of my rhodes and it was great for getting every note on the rhodes perfectly in tune (b/c rhodes are quite difficult to get PERFECTLY in tune).

For mapping it out I would really really recommend Logic's EXS24 sampler if you have logic pro because it is super easy to use and allows you to export into many different formats. Sampling is really fun and relatively easy to do, I plan on doing it with the rest of my keyboards. I know for me, my rhodes samples turned out better than any rhodes emulation I've heard.

Good luck!

[Mystic Steamship Co.]

Oh yeah, one more thing. I would recommend a labeling system for your regions that contain the number of the key first and then the note...i.e. (1 - E1, 2 - F1...) This will make everything MUCH easier for importing b/c everything is in alphabetic order when you import it into logic or whatever sampler you use.

Little things like that make a huge difference in the amount of time you spend. When you have hundreds and hundreds of files doing simple shit like edits, fades, and naming regions takes FOREVER.