Advice on sampling apps - iOS or Mac

TimRussell

My 14yr old son is getting heavily into rap and hip hop and wants to start creating his own.
He’s messed around with GarageBand on a Mac (ripping samples from YouTube then importing them into the sampler and adding his own beats and recording vocals on top) but I’m sure there must be a better way of doing this.
Can anyone recommend what software might create the simplest workflow either Mac or on iOS/iPadOS?
He’ll not be publishing anything at this stage so not worried about copyright etc.
Thanks

jwmmakerofmusic

On iOS/iPadOS, I highly recommend Koala Sampler and all its IAPs (which, if memory serves proper, is $15 or so). You can even screen record videos from Youtube, import the video in Koala Sampler, and Koala will rip the audio.

PapaBPoppin

@jwmmakerofmusic said:
On iOS/iPadOS, I highly recommend Koala Sampler and all its IAPs (which, if memory serves proper, is $15 or so). You can even screen record videos from Youtube, import the video in Koala Sampler, and Koala will rip the audio.

@TimRussell jwm speaks truth

Koala is a superb stand-alone sampler

There are a plethora of tutorials out there

And once the basics of Koala are learned, many SP-404 tutorials can be utilized for sampling techniques and little tips n tricks (not a direct 1:1, but close enough for concept/abilities/approaches)

jwmmakerofmusic

@PapaBPoppin said:

@jwmmakerofmusic said:
On iOS/iPadOS, I highly recommend Koala Sampler and all its IAPs (which, if memory serves proper, is $15 or so). You can even screen record videos from Youtube, import the video in Koala Sampler, and Koala will rip the audio.

@TimRussell jwm speaks truth

Koala is a superb stand-alone sampler

There are a plethora of tutorials out there

And once the basics of Koala are learned, many SP-404 tutorials can be utilized for sampling techniques and little tips n tricks (not a direct 1:1, but close enough for concept/abilities/approaches)

And even better, Koala is compatible with the SP-404. Just in case someday your son wants to join the hardware game. (But, then again, hardware can be a deep rabbit hole. Just make sure he doesn't discover Eurorack. 🤣 Buying modules for that is more addictive than crack.)

TimRussell

Thanks. I have Koala but have only ever just messed around with it. Is it easy enough to export projects or samples from Koala into a DAW?

jwmmakerofmusic

@TimRussell said:
Thanks. I have Koala but have only ever just messed around with it. Is it easy enough to export projects or samples from Koala into a DAW?

I'm not sure since I never exported stems from it. No quick export as far as I'm aware, only recording the "performance" (I usually do sequences one after the other). Someone more knowledgeable will likely come along and educate both of us.

senhorlampada

it is possible

7.7. Export Options
CURRENT SAMPLE: export currently selected pad as a WAV file.
ALL SAMPLES: export a zipped file with all samples from the song.
CURRENT SEQUENCE: export currently selected sequence. Stems option exports a zipped file with WAV file for every sample in the sequence. Mixed option exports a single WAV file.
ALL SEQUENCES: export all sequences from your song. Stems exports a zipped version with every pad in every sequence. Files are named numerically, with the first number being the number of the sequence. Mixed exports a mixdown WAV per sequence.
SHARE KOALA SONG: export .koala file and share with your other devices and friends. File can be opened in any other version of Koala.
ABLETON DRUM RACK: export an ableton drum rack .adg file with all pads in your project. File can be opened in any recent version of Ableton.
ABLETON LIVE SET: export either mixed down loops for Ableton Live Lite or individual stems of sequences for paid versions of Ableton Live. This option is ideal if you want to continue working on your song in arrangement mode of Ableton.
GET ABLETON LIVE LITE: opens a prompt to enter your email address to get a free version of Ableton Live Lite.

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telecharge

Most hip-hop producers use FL Studio, MPC, Maschine, Logic, or Live.

I suggest presenting him with the entry-level options, and see what interests him. He likely already has some ideas.

• FL Studio has a mobile app which integrates with their desktop app
• Ableton Live Lite is included with a number of apps and MIDI controllers
• There are iMPC apps and MPC Beats is free on desktop
• Logic is a subscription app and $200 for the macOS app 😛
• Not well known, but you can buy the Maschine desktop software and use it without having any NI hardware. There's no longer a Maschine app.

Also, to all my sampling friends here, consider this advice from Rich the TweakMeister (lightly edited by yours truly for clarity/readability)...

Rather than sample direct into a sampler, it is far more efficient to sample into a waveform editor on the computer. Why? In an editor, you can record several variations of the sound you want all at once. There's no starting and stopping or putting down the instrument to press a button on the sampler. For example, let's say you want to sample a flute. Rather than record each single note in the sampler, simply record yourself playing the chromatic scale on the flute 3 or 4 times. This gives you a large source file. In the waveform editor, look at the notes and find the best ones. Perhaps your G3 note was bad, but the F# was great. Grab the F# and all the other choice notes and cut/paste them into their own individual files.
Using an audio editor lets you see a number of samples at one time. You can move your better ones off to the side as you delete the ones you don't want. You can also see which ones have the best gain characteristics -- something not always obvious by just listening and hitting the audition button on a sampler. Audio editors save time and often process audio faster, giving you a chance to add EQ and other processing that make for better samples.

eross

Koala all day!

The Krazy Wabbit

While it's not a big deal to those who've done it, be sure to understand the workflow of getting a sample into Koala by screen recording and importing the video is ok if doing it on iOS. If he's been ripping on the computer, might like that option better with Koala.

1ktone

This might be a good series to begin with. Covers all the fundamentals in small sections. Clear and concise.

PapaBPoppin

@Mountain_Hamlet said:
This might be a good series to begin with. Covers all the fundamentals in small sections. Clear and concise.

+1 to anything NervousCook$ related

Dude is a wealth of knowledge, easily digestible, and is a main go-to of mine for both Koala help/ideas and afformentioned transferrable SP-404 concepts

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oscillotus

+1 for Koala It's what initially brought me back to making music. Such immediacy, so much fun. A MIDI controller might be a good idea for Koala as well, it's more fun imo to have physical knobs to twist, faders to push and pads/keys to play.

AudioGus

@telecharge said:

• Not well known, but you can buy the Maschine desktop software and use it without having any NI hardware. There's no longer a Maschine app.

Yah Maschine desktop software would be a great jumping off point. The latest has good stem separation built in too. Plus there is tons of amazing free desktop stuff.

raindro

try serato studio. it’s pretty cool. the basics are easy in it. subscription unfortunately so i’ll probably move on after the trial.