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10. Getting retro with TAL-Sampler

1 If you want a 90s, Akai-esque retro feel, there are few better bits of kit out there than Togu Audio Line’s TAL-Sampler. Start by importing the audio files beginning ‘Rave…’ into a blank 160bpm project, then load TAL-Sampler onto each of two new MIDI tracks. 2 First, let’s make a classic jungle-style timestretched vocal to fit before the drop. Add Rave Vocal.mid on the first track to trigger the sampler, then open TAL-Sampler and bring up the Layer A tab. Drag in Vocal.wav, then turn off the Loop feature so that the vocal snip plays in full when triggered. 3 TAL-Sampler offers two timestretch modes, modelled on the classic Akai sampler algorithm. Set mode to Cyclic, then adjust Stretch until the vocal fills the entire four-bar gap before the drop. Now, try Intelligent mode – the vocal sounds less obviously stretched, but the Cyclic mode is more authentic. 4 Next, we can make a cool layer for the riff that plays over the drop. Import Rave Riff.mid onto the second sampler track, then open TAL-Sampler. Drag Stab.wav onto Layer A with looping disabled, then adjust the Delay control to 0.01 seconds: this’ll push the sample back from the grid to give a less ‘perfect’ sound. 5 The Resampler offers a number of DAC types that have been lovingly recreated from classic sampling hardware. Choose the Emu II DAC Type. Reducing the sample rate to around 22kHz will take some of the stab’s natural shine away, giving a lo-fi feel. 6 Adjusting Bias to 0.5 changes how TAL-Sampler internally resamples the audio for a slightly duller sound. A splash of Jitter and Hiss recreates the tone of a noisy digital sampler circuit, while pulling back Level gradually decreases the signalto-noise ratio to emulate lower sample recording levels.