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English SampleRobot Pro Operation Manual

English SampleRobot Montage Operation Manual

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FAQ

SampleRobot is fully compatible with Apple M1, M2 and M3 systems. Although not a native compile it runs under the system’s internal Rosetta 2 architecture. This is all done automatically. You don’t have to worry about switching modes etc. A native compile is in the making.

Sometimes the email containing a SampleRobot download link is caught by a spam filter. If you don't find it in your spam folder please reach out to support.

SampleRobot can be installed on 2 different computers, of which you can use one at a time with SampleRobot. If you need more licenses please let us know and we'll send you a dedicated upgrade offer. If you cannot activate SampleRobot on your system even if you are activating for the first time, probably there is no internet connection on your system. In this case just use the manual activation link from the SampleRobot activation window.

If the download link is broken just add an https:// to the link starting with activation.samplerobot.com and copy both to the address bar of your browser.

A download link to the included Premium Instruments is prodived when selecting the dedicated entry in the Help menu in SampleRobot. The multisamples are captured from the following instruments: Andromeda, CS01, JD-800, Jupiter-8, K5000S, Microwave XT, MS-20, Neuron, Prophet-5, Prophet VS, SH-101, Sigma, VX600 and Xpander.

You can sample a lot of things with SampleRobot (e.g. acoustic or electro-acoustic instruments, your voice, nature sounds you recorded etc.) without having to worry about copyright issues. When it comes to sampling an electronic instrument (hardware or software) it depends. If you sample your own patches (created by you) you can e.g. create soundsets and sell them via your channels. If you sample presets you probably need the approval of the company that owns the copyright. For example there was a plugin released in the past that could emulate the Roland D-50 but they sampled the original wave files from the sound memory which are copyright-protected by Roland. The plugin manufacturer had to stop selling this instrument immediately. If you are unsure about what might be legal please consult a lawyer in this field.

In SampleRobot Pro there is a VST2 host included which can load VST2 plugins in 64 bit. So if you have a 64 bit VST2 version of your plugin you should be able to load it in SampleRobot Pro. One big advantage is the offline sampling speed which is up to 80% faster than real-time recording. If you would like to sample VST3is or other-type plugins or if you would like to sample virtual instruments with SampleRobot Korg+Wave or SampleRobot Multi-X there are other options as well. One is working with 2 computers, the first one running SampleRobot and recording and the second one just playing your plugin in your desired host application. Of course, Midi and audio connections between both computers must be established, preferably keeping audio in the digital domain. There is also an option to install virtual cables for Midi and audio on your system to interconnect 2 audio applications. In this case a virtual Midi port can be used as output from SampleRobot sending Midi to your host with the VSTi. Then the virtual audio port needs to be used as the main studio output and as an input in SampleRobot. It's a little tricky to set this up but it's possible.

VST Plugin Locations

On Windows
On MacOS

Video Tutorials

VST2i Sampling With SampleRobot
Sampling VSTis / Loading Into Stage Piano (use English captions)
Sampling VSTis / Export For Quantum

It might be that the software access to the audio hardware was not granted by the system. You can check in Privacy and Security settings. You also need to allow access to your hard drive for the recording process. This can be granted via the 'Files and Folders' access in Privacy & Security.

Another important thing to know is that SampleRobot does not allow hot-swapping (nor powering-on) of Midi or audio devices while SampleRobot is running. Please close SampleRobot and connect and power-on all interfaces first before starting SampleRobot. If you do automated recording it might be that the Midi connection is not correctly addressed in SampleRobot. Here's a short how-to checklist:
1. Select the correct interface for Audio Output and Midi Input in the upper left corner of the graphical user interface.
2. Create a project with the Project Wizard with one velocity layer but do not record it.
 3. Close the wizard and select the multisample of the created project. 
4. Now when you click on the virtual keyboard and the Midi button above is active you should hear your external instrument (e.g. via headphones). If you can't hear it, the Midi connection does not work. If you can hear it, great, go on with the next step. 
5. When the system's and SampleRobot's settings are correct, audio should be visible via the Peak Meter when you click on the virtual keys. If not, then the audio input or port is not correct.

SampleRobot uses the system drivers to access your audio interface. It will only capture what comes in and normally there is no possibility that the sound is recorded with distortions or artefacts except the sound contains those already. First of all you could check with your headphones if the sound that is generated by your instrument is clean. Please check if the level is Ok and that you are not overdriving the maximum input level of your audio card. Also check the main stereo outs and the cables. A defective cable could cause those issues or e.g. a defective digital analog converter in your instrument. Given the fact that this is all Ok, do you use a sub mixer? This could also be a noise source. Different wordclock signals can also cause clicks or distortions, e.g. if you sync your audio card to an external clock.

The automatic function should give you good results in most cases. If you record samples with background noise or long release tails (see record pause setting) it can sometimes happen that the Note-In marker is set to a wrong position. SampleRobot records a little bit of silence before the actual recording for its transient detection. Sometimes there are peaks in the background noise that are erroneously detected as a start point of a sample. In this case just drag the Silence-Out marker right next to the point of the false detection and start the Auto Note process from the Note tab on the 'Sample Info and Settings' section for this sample again. Then SampleRobot detects the next peak that is higher than the noise threshold. During export all silence before Note-In will be truncated.

You can also initiate the function 'Auto-note for all' (Edit menu) with the option to process all Note-In markers at the same time. If your sound has a long release tail you should adjust the record pause setting accordingly to avoid an overlap of sound. There is also a parameter in SampleRobot that you can adjust before recording. If you select a multisample you will find it on the right side of the graphical user interface on the XPert tab. It's called Threshold Precision In. If you lower this value (a little bit) SampleRobot will be more tolerant in respect of background noise. You can experiment with different values to see if that makes the recognition more accurate.

SampleRobot records a little bit of silence before the actual sample starts. This is needed because of the transient detection. In the full version of SampleRobot (not available in the trial version) you need to export the project after the recording process. During export the silence parts in the beginnings will be chopped off (all samples before the Note-In marker). You can't test this in the trial but you'll see that the Note-In markers are set after the silence parts before the first transient of the samples.

See also bullet point 'Note Recognition'.

This message means that Note-In and Note-Out markers are placed at the same location making the sample's length 0. This can happen during export when you either forgot to save your previously recorded project and reloaded it (always save your projects after sampling) or you did an automatic recording session but there was no audio input or a wrongly assigned audio input, so you basically recorded silence. When that happens SampleRobot does not know where to place markers since the transient recognition does not work with silence. If you see audio coming in on the Peak Meter while you play the virtual keyboard in SampleRobot the Midi and audio connections are good. Other than that, if you record samples with a lot of background noise or with very long release tails it can also happen that note recognition is faulty. In the latter case you can adjust the recording pause accordingly to avoid this. If your samples have been recorded properly and you see the correct waveform but you still get the "Note's length equals zero" message just drag the Note-In and Note-Out markers for that note to the correct positions.

You can either drag wav or aiff files to the keyboard or use the Import Audio Files dialog from the Import/Export menu. You need to have a multisample (empty) selected in a project. Just drag a sample from a library to an empty key on the virtual keyboard in a multisample. If you don't like it there just hold backspace on your keyboard and click on that virtual key again (or delete the sample from the list on the left side). That deletes the sample from the key. There is also a naming convention as an option to import samples to specific keys. It can happen that the import is canceled if SampleRobot cannot find root-keys or cannot extract the note information from the file names (if that option is selected). With the last option in the import dialog 'Copy starting at key ... in no special order' you should be able to import all your Waves/Aiffs regardless of any missing root-key information. If you would like to add note information to the file names, this is the scheme: _C1  _C#1  _D1  _D#1  ...  _A1  _A#1  _H1 (not B1)  _H#1 (not B#1)  _C2 ... With option 'Copy to filename's root-key' you should be able to import all files correctly. SampleRobot cannot automatically map different velocities during import. Say you would like to import a 4 layer instrument where you have all the samples prepared as wave recordings including root key information. First you need to create a new project in SampleRobot and inside of it create 4 multisample layers with the dedicated Midi velocities. Then use the Auto-Range All function to adjust the mapping for each layer automatically based on the Midi velocity value. After that select the first layer and drag your bunch of wave files to the keyboard, then 2nd, 3rd and 4th. After that you can export the whole instrument in various formats.

Some applications (e.g. Logic) seem to use a wave header that is different from the official convention SampleRobot is using. In this case please batch-convert the samples you would like to import to Aiff first. These can be imported without problems. We have some test samples here and we'll investigate this for the next version of SampleRobot.

Use the I/O field in SampleRobot to select a Midi input device. If you see little circles on the virtual keys in SampleRobot when playing on your Midi keyboard the Midi connection is established and you can use it to trigger recorded samples and/or Midi notes on an external instrument (or even a tuning oscillator). Using the keyboard to trigger VST2 instruments in the instrument host is not yet supported. Make sure you select the right option 'MIDI' or 'Wav' directly above the virtual keyboard. You also need to have a project with a multisample in it that either has recorded samples in it or is connected to an external instrument via Midi and audio.

The overall keyrange of a multisample can be set with the 2 number entry fields above the virtual keyboard right next to the 'Inv' button. You can freely select the key-sample (after import or recording) you would like to edit (on Mac CMD+left click on a key). If you would like to change the key range of that sample click on that sample in the sample list on the lower left part above the virtual keyboard. There you see on the right the 'Key Range' tab. Click on 'Custom Left/Right Range' to modify it. Make sure that no other key left or right next to it blocks the key range. You might need to reduce the other's key range first before extending the momentary sample's range. So you can have keys that only 'pitch down or up' in your exported instrument. Everything is customizable. The only thing to notice: You can't have overlapping keyranges in one multisample.

SampleRobot follows the German naming scheme which is H instead of B when exporting pitch information in the file names of wave and aiff files. But you can name your samples with a custom name in the sample list and use the '<#kn#>' key name placeholder for the correct naming during export. If you only enter B1 ... B2 ... etc. as names for the dedicated notes and add the placeholder on the export dialog the naming should be correct for other programs to import your files. For a future version we plan to have the B vs. H naming as an optional flag.

Round robins are on our list for one of the next updates. This will be implemented with multisample-layers that have the same velocity. Even now you can use the copy multisample layer feature in SampleRobot and name the new layer RR followed by the round robin number and the velocity. So when you export this layer you have all the round robins named RR-rrnumber-velocity and you can map them manually in applications like HALion or Kontakt.

First off, the autoloop feature in SampleRobot is quite complex. The wizard only offers basic settings. If you would like to have more control you can create a project with the wizard, then click on the multisample(s) included and then go to the Loop tab on the right side of the waveform display. It's important to know that you can enter percentage values there. So your settings will work with different sample lengths. If the standard loop settings do not give optimum results for your recordings you can e.g. change the crossfade length. Sometimes it's helpful to have just a tiny crossfade, with other samples you need longer crossfades. You can also try switching the Automatic Gain Crossfade option off. If you have samples with almost no headroom this can be a better option. Even after the recording process you can always select a single sample and apply new autoloop settings to it. This is done with the option "Find Loop-Out" when a sample is selected. If you like the results you can apply the settings to all samples of a project (File menu->Edit Auto-Note/Auto-Loop for all). You have a loop overlay for visual control of loops and alternative loop search results to toggle. I know, these features can be overwhelming in the beginning but it's worth getting used to. If you have any questions please let us know.

Loop Tutorial Video

The best way to transfer one loop setting to all other samples is using the 'Auto-Note/Auto-Loop for all' dialog found in the Edit menu. First select your perfectly-looped sample and show all loop markers (also LS) in the WaveRobot waveform editor with the dedicated buttons above the virtual keyboard. Make sure that the Loop-Search-In and Loop-Search-Out markers are set properly for a long-enough loop. SampleRobot will search in between those markers for the best Loop-Out. With the Auto-Loop for all option 'use loaded key sample's markers...' you can apply the current setting to all other samples in a project/multisample. This is an 'intelligent' process since SampleRobot will do a best-match for each sample respecting your master sample loop. So the auto-loop process will use all of your original settings to get very similar results, approx. same length, same x-fade etc.

First of all you should turn loop on and place the Loop-In marker manually to the first beat position. Then use the Loop-Search-In and Loop-Search-Out markers on the drum loop to roughly define the area where the Loop-Out marker should be placed. Now you can push 'Find Loop-Out' to place the Loop-Out marker automatically to the right position. If it does not give you optimum results you can also click on the LSR button above the virtual keyboard to show the alternative Loop-Search-Results. Use the shortcut CMD+Shift+L (Mac) to toggle between the different results. Probably one of them will give you the right result. If you are still not finding the correct Loop-Out you should increase the Loop Search Length (LoopS Length marker) and do another search process. This increases the pattern matching accuracy. Of course you can also start by placing the Loop-In to an off-beat or to another position to get a different feel of the groove.

Unfortunately Native Instruments stopped the support for importing 3rd party sample formats with Kontakt 6 on upwards. Nevertherless there is a workaround if you also have Kontakt 4 or 5 installed. In Kontakt 4/5 you can use the import function (not load) to load an SXT file created by SampleRobot (see dedicated export option). Then save the program as *.nki and reopen (load) it in Kontakt 6/7. This way you can benefit from the automatic mapping etc. We are working on a solution that involves the new Lua scripting language of Kontakt 7. NI was so kind to provide us with a comprehensive documentation for all Kontakt processes. The new export will be part of the next SampleRobot update.

On one of the export screens you need to enter the map name which is also used for the folder creation. This can be easily overseen. If you don't enter a name the map file won't be created. Please follow the instructions on the export screen where to browse. You also need to import the samples into Quantum first before loading the map file because it references the samples in internal memory.

The best way to combine projects is exporting one project as wave or aiff and then creating a new layer in the destination project with the desired velocity value. Now import the previouly exported wave files from the desired multisample layer of the first project to the new layer. After that you need to do an 'Auto-Range All' operation to map the velocity layer accordingly. Please make sure that all multisample layers in the destination project have different velocities assigned, otherwise you might run into issues when importing them back in a software or hardware sampler.

If you unintentionally loaded a VST3i or another incompatible instrument into the VST2 host it is recommended to do a clean reboot. Close SampleRobot if open and remove the following files: SampleRobot.ini and SampleRobot.prefs found in Documents\SKYLIFE\SampleRobot6. Those files will be recreated during the next startup. This procedure will give you a clean reboot. After that please open SampleRobot and specify your correct Audio Out Device in the upper left corner of the graphical user interface.