Futuristic Synths | Masterclass
Sampling was one of those key technologies in the history of music. So much became possible when instruments like the Fairlight CMI, the Akai MPC and the E-mu SP-1200 were unleashed on the world, leaving new genres in their wake; many that are still around today.
Like any technology, sampling improved in its early years – there was a huge amount of variation even between those early instruments we just mentioned – but as time moved on, developments in samplers were often parallel with the same developments in other instruments.
Plugin samplers like Kontakt moved sampling forward with the possiblities of software, but perhaps what they changed most was the distribution model. People could work on their tracks on the computer, and keep their cherished collection of samples there too. At the same time, third-party creators of sample packs and instruments gained a new way to make a living, selling their creations around the world to anyone who had the same software they’d used to build it.
WITH THIS INSTRUMENT, YOU CAN ACCESS A HUGE RANGE OF SAMPLES RIGHT INSIDE THE PLUGIN
Today, the internet and cloud storage let us grab samples even more quickly and easily, and for Plugin Alliance’s new Mega Sampler instrument, browsing for new musical fodder doesn’t even mean you have to leave your DAW!
With this instrument – free to anyone with a Plugin Alliance subscription – you can access a huge range of samples right inside the plugin, and only download those that you actually want to use.
And of course, there are the sampler functions you’d expect from today’s software samplers: playback controls and looping options; filters, envelopes and LFOs; tuning, stereo modification, and even a suite of effects thanks to Plugin Alliance’s hard-earned DSP heritage.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can use Mega Sampler to browse for samples, load them up, and start processing them in ways that would make an early-’80s music producer drop to their knees an
