Decent Sampler

uncledave

@lasselu said:
The first instance of DS always crashes for me if I have opened a project containing DS previously in AUM. The only way to stop this is to quit AUM and re-open it.
I alerted the dev about this a couple of weeks ago but haven't heard anything from him...

I have experienced this for AUM sessions saved with an older version of the app. But when a session is saved with the current app version, it reloads gracefully. A change to the layout of the saved state data may cause this. Certainly, the update history indicates that new features have been added.

Gavinski

Have run into this problem many times in my less than 1 day of using this 😂. Latest version.

@uncledave said:

@lasselu said:
The first instance of DS always crashes for me if I have opened a project containing DS previously in AUM. The only way to stop this is to quit AUM and re-open it.
I alerted the dev about this a couple of weeks ago but haven't heard anything from him...

I have experienced this for AUM sessions saved with an older version of the app. But when a session is saved with the current app version, it reloads gracefully. A change to the layout of the saved state data may cause this. Certainly, the update history indicates that new features have been added.

lasselu

@Gavinski said:
I also had problems just now with a free DS pack I downloaded from piano book (that very popular venus theory one, forget the name). DS shows as a destination to share the zip to but I get an error message when I try this. I tried unzipping and sharing the main DS file, also no banana. Anyone have a solution? This is really a pretty pretty bad user experience, jesus

Yeah, I've had that problem too and reported it. It can sometimes be fixed by opening the xml files and making sure that the path to the samples is correct, it seems to be case dependent.
However, the latest Pianobook release by VT has the correct path but won't load anyway. I've asked the dev if he can add more info to the error message to show what's wrong...

lasselu

@uncledave said:
I have experienced this for AUM sessions saved with an older version of the app. But when a session is saved with the current app version, it reloads gracefully. A change to the layout of the saved state data may cause this. Certainly, the update history indicates that new features have been added.

Aha, I have to test this...

enkaytee

@lasselu said:

@Gavinski said:
I also had problems just now with a free DS pack I downloaded from piano book (that very popular venus theory one, forget the name). DS shows as a destination to share the zip to but I get an error message when I try this. I tried unzipping and sharing the main DS file, also no banana. Anyone have a solution? This is really a pretty pretty bad user experience, jesus

Yeah, I've had that problem too and reported it. It can sometimes be fixed by opening the xml files and making sure that the path to the samples is correct, it seems to be case dependent.
However, the latest Pianobook release by VT has the correct path but won't load anyway. I've asked the dev if he can add more info to the error message to show what's wrong.

I've always unzipped the downloaded file, opened DS, then loaded the .dslibrary file from the File... Load... menu item which also allows you to add the library to your 'My Libraries' tab - though that is getting very hit and miss - the most reliable method to access a library on the iPad seems to be using the File Browser tab

The dev's been posting about what's happening in the Sample Libraries window: https://www.decentsamples.com/2022/12/24/whats-the-deal-with-the-file-browser-tab-in-decent-sampler/

Gavinski

The convolutedness of all this boggles the mind.

ervin

@Gavinski said:
The convolutedness of all this boggles the mind.

I tried this app back when, the experience was like what you’re describing in your latest comments, it felt like a rather refined trolling exercise😳, so I let it go. Now I saw this thread, came in to check the state of decency, read the last page, I’m on my way out. Short and sweet.☺️

lasselu

Yes, DS is a bit of a nightmare when it comes to user experience but I think that many libraries on offer at Pianobook makes it worth using anyway...

Gavinski

@lasselu said:
Yes, DS is a bit of a nightmare when it comes to user experience but I think that many libraries on offer at Pianobook makes it worth using anyway...

Yes, the sounds are so good. But really, they need a more skilled app developer.

Gavinski

Renaming the zips so the extension ends in dslibrary sometimes helps with ones where you can't get it to load. All a bit hit and miss tho.

enkaytee

@Gavinski has reminded me that the DS zip files can be directly loaded if you change the extension to .dslibrary and then simply opening it in DS... it's been a while since I added new stuff to DS on the iPad and had completely forgotten this simple trick...

rheslip

I gave up on decent sampler after trying it a year or so ago - really flakey. Tried the latest version recently and while it’s not exactly bulletproof it’s much better. The main attraction is the amazing sample libraries available at pianobook.co.uk

If you just want to use the Pianobook samples many of them are available in EXS24 format which can be loaded into AudioLayer. That process is not always successful either but much more reliable than Decent Sampler. The downside is not all libraries are available in that format and you don’t see the sample creator’s UI in AudioLayer.

Gavinski

Yeah, having the creator's UI is quite a useful plus point for sure, in some cases maybe even essential to really get the most from the instrument, it seems

uncledave

@lasselu said:

@Gavinski said:
I also had problems just now with a free DS pack I downloaded from piano book (that very popular venus theory one, forget the name). DS shows as a destination to share the zip to but I get an error message when I try this. I tried unzipping and sharing the main DS file, also no banana. Anyone have a solution? This is really a pretty pretty bad user experience, jesus

Yeah, I've had that problem too and reported it. It can sometimes be fixed by opening the xml files and making sure that the path to the samples is correct, it seems to be case dependent.
However, the latest Pianobook release by VT has the correct path but won't load anyway. I've asked the dev if he can add more info to the error message to show what's wrong...

Not sure if this is the one you're referring to, but I could not load the Tuned Gongs from PianoBook. Looking at the log showed that it stopped at a certain wav file. The files are relatively large, so I assume it just ran out of memory on my iPad 6 (2 GB processor memory).

One thing I've realized is that some posters zip a dslibrary. Decent Sampler cannot handle this double zip file, giving an unhelpful error. You need to unzip the wrapper and share the actual dslibrary file.

Gavinski

.

Gavinski

Many of these instruments have noticeable distortion when playing chords - the free reel to reel tape piano, for example, or the paid ukelin (release preset).

Gavinski

Damn….if only some of these packs weren’t so bloody good!

Venus Theory volitions. Free version is excellent, the paid one even better

https://youtube.com/shorts/LD3q8QKkFKs
As this is a #short it is best viewed in portrait mode

belldu

I haven't tried this yet but here's a link to a format converter:
https://mossgrabers.de/Software/ConvertWithMoss/ConvertWithMoss.html

If all else fails, perhaps it can be used to convert DecentSample format to a Soundfont etc...

Gavinski

@belldu said:
I haven't tried this yet but here's a link to a format converter:
https://mossgrabers.de/Software/ConvertWithMoss/ConvertWithMoss.html

If all else fails, perhaps it can be used to convert DecentSample format to a Soundfont etc...

Yes....Also,as mentioned in another thread, some of the problems with clipping sounds on iOS in certain preset packs may be related to the way they have been sampled - using the 'monolithic' method. So perhaps such presets need to be resample but only taking a couple of notes per octave.

Eg, watching Venus Theory's vid on his process, he is only using 2 notes per octave and his packs sound to me, at least so far, like they handle polyphony fine. Dave Hilowitz's Reel to Reel Tape Piano, on the other hand, often sounds massively distorted when you play chords. Would be curious if someone who has this on a powerful desktop or laptop would compare. There are other packs that clip on iOS but this is one of the worst and most noticeable offenders. I wonder if Dave Hilovitz, the dev, could maybe make a video recommending avoiding monolithic sampling for pack creators, if this is indeed the problem.

Still running into ram problems fairly regularly on my 3rd gen ipad Pro quite regularly with some packs despite playing with the engine settings. Still often getting first instance loading dead when opening aum sessions containing Decent Sampler Really hope the dev fixes this app, or maybe at this point, it's somehow not fixable, like the Audiokit 909 kick.

Gavinski

Found this little nugget

the dslibrary presets are actually just .zip files. If you change the extension from .dslibrary to .zip, you can get access to the actual underlying WAV files that are used for the library.

So should be easy to use these to make your own instruments that may be more stable

enkaytee

@Gavinski said:
Found this little nugget

the dslibrary presets are actually just .zip files. If you change the extension from .dslibrary to .zip, you can get access to the actual underlying WAV files that are used for the library.

So should be easy to use these to make your own instruments that may be more stable

On desktop, the samples are all exposed in an accessible folder after installation. On ios they're subject to sandboxing and only available via apps like imazing.

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uncledave

@JMmusic said:
Just sharing my Pianobook experience...

• When I try to load an instrument over 1GB, it doesn't work. Under that seems to be fine every time, so I tend to stay away from the large sample libraries.
• My process is to:

1. download the Pianobook library
2. Go to the downloads folder and select the zip file to unzip it
3. Check for any non-Decent Sampler stuff, such as Kontact instrument files
4. Compress the file into a zip
5. Delete the original download and folder used to make the zip
6. Still in the Files app, rename the zip file, changing the extension from .zip to .dslibrary. I think this may be unnecessary, as Decent Sampler will use zip files to install). I like to do this step anyway for the nice icon
7. Move the .dslibrary to teh Decent Sampler folder on the iPhone/iPad
8. Select the dslibrary file to open it in Decent Sampler app
9. Select YES to import it into Decent Sampler

I made a folder in the Decent Sampler folder named "Installed" so I know which ones I have imported.

Just a couple of addenda to this:

• You don't need to move the dslibrary to the Decent Sampler folder, but it's a good place to keep it.
• After importing the dslibrary, Decent Sampler stores the uncompressed data internally, and also saves a copy of the original dslibrary file. If you care about Storage, you can delete that extra copy of the dslibrary from Decent Sampler under iPad Storage in Settings.
• Watch out for a downloaded zip that contains a dslibrary (zip in zip). Decent Sampler will not accept that; you need to import only the dslibrary.
• You can share the dslibrary directly from Files, instread of importing it using the app.

So as @Gavinski was saying, at step #3, you could edit the WAV files and the dspreset files to make your own custom edits. You would need to change the dspreset file to a txt file in order to use a text editor to modify.

I use FE File Explorer to manage these files. It lets you edit a dspreset file without changing the extension. I've used this to change a few control defaults, and change some filter frequency knobs to logarithmic. You can find the Decent Sampler format on the web.

Gavinski

If only this thing didn’t have so many beautiful free packs available!

Woven Strings is a collaboration between Jon Meyer and violinist Avery Bright. They sampled his violin, viola and octave viola in 2 separate articulations, drones and phrases. The drones are quiet and intimate, while the phrases are both beautiful and haunting. The UI allows you to control the level of the drone vs the phrases, as well as a few other parameters. Generally you will play the drones with your left hand, the phrases with the right.

Here I set up a buss send in AUM, my favourite iOS AUv3 host, and used the trick Hainbach talked about in a recent video to invert the input to the reverb. You can see in the video how this is done using the invert node in the stereo processing tools in AUM - it adds an otherworldly and richer sound to the reverb, here provided by Klevgrand Rum. I am using Fugue Machine to create a midi fugue pattern to play Woven Strings.

This library, one of the highest-rated on the piano book site, can be downloaded here for free (though you can always tip!), in Decent Sampler & Kontakt formats:

🔗 https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/woven-strings/

The zip file contains duplicate samples, one in the Kontakt folder, one in the DS folder, so delete whatever you don’t want if you are short on space. Decent Sampler is a free desktop plugin and iOS app, a bit buggy on iOS, so I hope these bugs get ironed out.

https://youtube.com/shorts/42gKrS-m7VM

lasselu

@Gavinski said:

Here I set up a buss send in AUM, my favourite iOS AUv3 host, and used the trick Hainbach talked about in a recent video to invert the input to the reverb. You can see in the video how this is done using the invert node in the stereo processing tools in AUM - it adds an otherworldly and richer sound to the reverb, here provided by Klevgrand Rum.

Hmm...didn't quite get that...can you elaborate?

Gavinski

@lasselu said:

@Gavinski said:

Here I set up a buss send in AUM, my favourite iOS AUv3 host, and used the trick Hainbach talked about in a recent video to invert the input to the reverb. You can see in the video how this is done using the invert node in the stereo processing tools in AUM - it adds an otherworldly and richer sound to the reverb, here provided by Klevgrand Rum.

Hmm...didn't quite get that...can you elaborate?

Which part exactly?

Gavinski

@lasselu said:

@Gavinski said:

Here I set up a buss send in AUM, my favourite iOS AUv3 host, and used the trick Hainbach talked about in a recent video to invert the input to the reverb. You can see in the video how this is done using the invert node in the stereo processing tools in AUM - it adds an otherworldly and richer sound to the reverb, here provided by Klevgrand Rum.

Hmm...didn't quite get that...can you elaborate?

I've added a more elaborate description to the pinned YT comment. Please comment there if anything is still not clear, will be more useful for any other viewers who are confused, a lot of ppl don't know how to use fx sends, nor the aum internal fx / tool nodes . 👍

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lasselu

@Gavinski said:

@lasselu said:

@Gavinski said:

Here I set up a buss send in AUM, my favourite iOS AUv3 host, and used the trick Hainbach talked about in a recent video to invert the input to the reverb. You can see in the video how this is done using the invert node in the stereo processing tools in AUM - it adds an otherworldly and richer sound to the reverb, here provided by Klevgrand Rum.

Hmm...didn't quite get that...can you elaborate?

I've added a more elaborate description to the pinned YT comment. Please comment there if anything is still not clear, will be more useful for any other viewers who are confused, a lot of ppl don't know how to use fx sends, nor the aum internal fx / tool nodes . 👍

Thank you, that was the part I was wondering about, how to use the Invert node...