>Step by step

Analogue multisampling with Arturia MicroBrute and NI Kontakt

1 Here’s Arturia’s MicroBrute: a oneknob-per-function analogue monosynth. Despite the instrument’s raw simplicity and sonic quirkiness, it’s pretty limited in functionality compared to more powerful hardware or software synths. To start, I’ll record basic waveforms from the synth at a healthy input level – around -12 to -9dB on my DAW’s channel meter. 2 I’m going to sample the MicroBrute’s Square wave. When sampling, I like to record C notes across multiple octaves – C2, C3, C4, etc – all the way up to C8, making sure that I record each note for at least 15 seconds. Name these recordings and save them to a folder – my standard naming convention here is Microbrute_ Pulse_Basic_C3. 3 If you want to be super-precise, sample every single note up to the highest note possible, though doing this will take more time to organise, and eat up hard drive space. I’ve found that recording octaves of C is a nice compromise. Plus, the artefacts introduced by sampler transposition will give my sampled patch a certain character that we can embrace. 4 Now I have my basic square waves, it’s time to think about recording variations. This way, when we play notes at varying velocities, different versions of that sample will be triggered. The MicroBrute features beefy Brute Factor feedback – I’ll dial some of that in, record a collection of new waveforms, then name these with new file names. 5 Let’s dig deeper and introduce some effects pedals. I’ll be using The Electro Harmonix Hot Wax: a mono guitar pedal with two distortion and overdrive circuits that can be used separately or blended together. I use this to introduce more grit and aggression, record another round of C notes, then name the files accordingly. 6 I now have three variations: Basic, Driven and Distorted. For an FX version, I’ll use the DigiTech Polara Reverb, a stereo reverb pedal that can create soft, small spaces and huge shimmering atmospheres. I’ll choose a Hall setting (with a short tail and low mix amount), record octaves of C again, and name them.

7 Next, it’s time to go nuts! I go hard on the Hot Wax and change the Polara reverb to the Halo setting – a shimmerstyle reverb – with a slightly longer tail and higher mix value. I dial in my desired tones and record my final pass of octaves, naming them accordingly. That’s the analogue side of things done, then… 8 It’s time to import our recorded samples into a sampler to create our multisampled instrument. There are many samplers out there that will do this – for this tutorial, I’m going to use Native Instruments’ popular Kontakt 5. Open a new instance of Kontakt and double-click in the blank area to create a new sampler. 9 Click the spanner on the top left of the new instrument, then pop open the

Mapping Editor tab. Here’s where you can drag and drop your recorded samples, map them to particular notes/octaves across the keyboard across the horizontal axis, and set velocity across the vertical axis. Let’s do just that… 10 Here, my Basic and Driven samples take up the lower velocity ranges, from 0 up to around 80 (127 being the maximum). Your choice of range is entirely up to you, depending on the style of samples you originally recorded. Now, when I play notes at varying velocities, different samples are triggered. Watch my video to see and hear this in action. 11 Now my multisamples are set up for playback, I’ll utilise the sampler’s functions to enhance the sound. I add filters, modulation and effects – again, check these out in the accompanying video tutorial. We now have a polyphonic instrument created using sound sources from a monophonic source – a great way to get the most out of a basic monosynth. 12 By saving my newly designed instrument in Kontakt’s Monolith format on my computer or external drive, my patch is saved with the audio samples ‘baked in’. This avoids the dreaded ‘cannot find samples’ error message when you load a patch and the original samples have been moved. Job done!