DIY Sampler

[ericcoleridge]

I know there is an abundance of samplers in all kinds of ranges and formats, and prices-- but I'm not aware of one that's all that close to what I'd like, at an affordable price.

It seems like this technology is old enough now that there ought to be some simple DIY solutions. Does anyone know of any Eprom/Pic chip/ arduino-type projects for a simple sampler that can be set up for keyboard playing? I want dedicated hardware that I can build into a keyboard instrument.

I want something very similar to the Emulator-- a polyphonic keyboard sampler with maybe 4 or 6 voices that I could route to analog VCFs and VCAs. This will get pretty expensive with at least 4 analog Env/VCF/VCAs-- but I think it's doable.

Why not buy an Emulator? They're really big, they're getting quite expensive again, and judging by the number of non-functioning Emulatores I've seen (I'd say the vast majority)they seem to pretty unreliable. But they sound really good-- if you've ever played one- I think you'd agree-- they really sound and feel like an instrument all their own, not just a collection of piano, organ, string samples. It's probably similar to the way a Mellotron has it's own sound, not just a collection of tapes.

[JingleJoe]

How about using a collection of tape loops?
Sounds like I'm joking but that would work!
You could get a bunch of old tape recorders and record your samples on to loops of tape in modified cassettes, then control pitch by control the speed via some sort of PWM control for the motor driving the player.

[ringroad]

For DIY samplers, there's the WTPA, but that's not really quite what you're after though.

Think you might struggle for four voices with an Arduino, but I'd imagine there will be enough power in the Raspberry Pi to do something like this.

[Dougster]

My first thought was the WTPA, but that is fairly limited. At the same time, the board is only fifteen bucks...

It might be more than you want to take on, but the Blackfin STAMP development board might be a good candidate for this project, especially if you aren't afraid of Linux. The Blackfin runs microcontroller Linux (uCLinux), so it's fairly easy to program. The downside is that it costs a bit more than $200. FWIW, the STAMP board is the basis of the first batch of Looperlative LP1 loopers...

Blackfin.uclinux.org

Blackfin STAMP development board at Digikey

I have a friend who owns a pick and place machine and an oven, so I may try to do a Blackfin layout at some point...

Regards,
Doug

[magneticstripper]

this is a 16 bit poly sample player that i built using a midibox32 core:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgCKO7A0IEs

[cloudscapes]

PIC32 maybe? I've been playing around with one and getting fairly good sonic results.

[revtor]

Talk to this guy..
http://www.nervoussquirrel.com/circuitbent.html
about halfway down there is a pic of "A batch of DIY Samplers".. he made a bunch. not much info but its enough to get you thinking or asking mroe questions..

its not a bad idea at all, and with todays parts shouldnt be that hard to get decent fidelity and hands on control!!!!

make it and they will come..

~Steve

[ericcoleridge]

Thanks, this guy does beautiful work, I've seen some of his creations before, they're very impressive. But I'm guessing that this sampler is made using re-purposed consumer audio devices, or perhaps using that technology.It' s cool, but I don't want something super low fi.

As far as this project would go, I think I'd be better off attempting a monophonic version, at least first. But, i have so much else before I could get to it.

I was expecting that there'd be a bunch of projects out there already fpr CV/Gate controlled Samplers, or Midi Poly Samplers.

When I have some time, I need to start investigating processor chips like the Arduino.

[piedwagtail]

........reversible hack a
http://www.alesis.com/samplepad



until a SD card CV sampler appears
then resell it

[Dan Lavin]

I like piedwagtail's thinking. Another option along those lines would be to buy an ipod, then the Apple camera connection kit to add USB, then the $5 USB to midi connector thing on ebay. So hardware-wise, we're looking at $228. Then download the sample player ap of your choice. i'm currently using Sampletank with my ipad to get Mellotron sounds.

$228 may seem a little much, but when you compare it to the Shruthi, Sammich SID and Sammich FM, WTPA and some of the other digital instruments that are coming out, an SD based sampler along those lines is probably going to be in that range or more regardless.....plus it's available NOW.

[tokyomatik]

if u would like to experiment the UM5100 from
Unicorn Microelectronics
looks interesting....
http://www.datasheetarchive.com/UM5100*-datasheet.html

[ericcoleridge]

True, that's an idea-- but an Ipod will never get you proper polyphonic sampling as I was imagining it.

Plus, for the cost of all of those separate hardware devices-- there's probably a dedicated monolithic MIDI keyboard sampler available, which would probably work better and easier.

What I was originally getting at though was a sample voice that could be triggered with a gate, and controlled w/ volt per octave CV. One step
further would be multiple voices.

I thought if there was an arduino-type MIDI sampler project-- without any DSP or voice processing as on any commercial product, the MIDI commands converted to CV/Gate, and then VCFs and VCAas used per channel. One could make a very interesting four voice without too much aggravation

[jnuaury]

http://little-scale.blogspot.com/search/label/eprom%20music

the concept is simple and you're free to mess around with the control logic
syncing a sampler to an external VCO is cool, it keeps the playback the same speed (kinda) and the external VCO influences the sample in a unique way without totally destroying the signal (if you want to destroy the signal, FMing the clock oscillator or dropping/swapping some bits on the address line should do the trick)