Playing samples live

    Just wondering, does anyone play samples as intros or along with songs and if so, what do you use?


    I've been using my phone but worried about a call coming in during playback :)...joke, I put in flight mode, but its a bit messy.


    We have about 3 or 4 intros to songs that I use but I'd like something more robust than my phone, ideally with an XLR output to avoid having to use a DI box.


    Watched an Ozzy tribute band and the singer triggered intros ( Perry Mason and No More Tears) using a digitech Jamman...which is m ore of a loop pedal.

    I was using a Boss RC3 for triggering samples live, but after combining a Helix along with the Kemper so I can incorporate my JTV59 I found out how easy it would be to add an iPad into the equation (like a single USB cable between the Helix and the iPad easy). I found an ios app called SAMPL. Works great, can be triggered via midi CCs assigned to footswitches on the Helix. I'm finding the JTV/Helix/iPad/Kemper rig to be pretty mindblowing...

    Quote from 120dBRockNRoll

    For my bands we have an "Akai MPX8" sample player. Programming and installing samples is a bit complicated, but once this is done it's very handy.
    http://www.akaipro.com/products/pad-controllers/mpx-8

    The "Akai MPX16" is almost the same, the main difference is that it has 16 pads instead of 8.
    http://www.akaipro.com/products/pad-controllers/mpx-16

    Just bought the MPX8 to try but was worried that it had limited memory hence wondering about other options.

    Quote from chopsfromhell

    I was using a Boss RC3 for triggering samples live, but after combining a Helix along with the Kemper so I can incorporate my JTV59 I found out how easy it would be to add an iPad into the equation (like a single USB cable between the Helix and the iPad easy). I found an ios app called SAMPL. Works great, can be triggered via midi CCs assigned to footswitches on the Helix. I'm finding the JTV/Helix/iPad/Kemper rig to be pretty mindblowing...

    As I don't have a Helix, is this possible through the Kemper ? Did you run the Boss direct into the pa or through you Kemper?


    I'm already using an app called Samply and it works well, its just I'm currently using my phone and requires a DI box, so set up is a bit messy.

    Quote from V8guitar

    Just bought the MPX8 to try but was worried that it had limited memory hence wondering about other options.

    When using the MPX8 for the first time I had some problems with the limited memory. In the end I only use mono samples, for our bands it's sufficiant for live use and easier to handle (only one cable and one channel on the mixer).

    When using the MPX8 you should keep these pitfalls and limitations in mind:


    - the samples have to be in WAV format 44.1kHz/16Bit

    - the file names of the samples can be max. 8 characters long (8.3), with longer names there is an error message and the sample is not played back

    - the files must not contain any meta data, otherwise there will be an error message and the sample will not be played back (converting the samples into the correct format works reliable with the export option of Audacity)

    - the max. size of all simultaneously loaded samples (8 samples per set/kit) is 30MB. If this size is exceeded, the last samples of the set are will be ignored/not loaded.

    - the sample size per pad is always rounded up to the next MB. So if 7 samples of 100kB each are already loaded in the set, the 8th sample has to be less than 23 MB to be loaded.

    - loading from the SD card is very slow, when using the full 30MB it can take about 30 to 60 seconds until the full set is loaded


    For more convenience on stage we use a USB power bank instead of the original power supply.

    I have used the digitech jamman, with an sd- card I could store 16hrs of playback. But you can’t sync to midi. So good for intros or effects


    If you want something more robust, maybe an Akai MPC Live or MPC Studio.


    (I hate auto-correction)

    Edited 2 times, last by drog ().

    Like 1
    Quote from drog

    I have used the digitech jamman, with an sd- card I could store 16hrs of playback. But you can sync to midi. So good for intros or effects


    If you want something more robust, maybe an Ajax MPC Live or MPC Studio.

    If you sync to midi does that mean you can trigger the jamman from the kemper by setting up a specific patch?

    Quote from V8guitar

    If you sync to midi does that mean you can trigger the jamman from the kemper by setting up a specific patch?

    Sorry , the Jamman does not midi sync or any midi, that was a typo. If you want to use midi you would need something like the MPC unit.

    Thanks all...the MPX8 arrived today....after messing aroound with it for hours ( its taken ages to get the WAV files loaded - why on earth they have made it so restrictive is beyond me!!) but the sound is awful. For some reason the signal is so poor.. plus the velocity sesitive pads are a pain as I don't want it on but seems to be no choice...


    120dBRockNRoll yeah realised that BUT it didn't xome with the lead ( second hand) so can't try this..


    drog yeah looked up the jaman and realised no midi.


    So I have one device that should do it all but is a nightmare to use and I can;t get good sound or buy the jamman. In the end I've decide it use an old phone with no sim which I'll just use for this using samplyDJ app and forgo midi.


    Real gap in the market for a reasonable device to do this....

    Hm, I'm surprised you have problems with a poor signal of the MPX8. Mine has a lot of power, when I checked it the first time with headphones it almost blew me away;) The playback quality of my MPX8 is ok... maybe not perfect, but anyway good enough for an intro etc.

    As I am also not 100% pleased about the pads and prefer a device with foot switches I'll start building my own sample player based on an Arduino with an YX5300 MP3 module, just ordered the parts for very little money at eBay. Total price incl. switches, housing, rechargable batteries etc. will be about 70-80 EUR.


    Raspberry Pi with SamplerBox would also be an option, but Arduino is cheaper and IMHO a bit easier to build.

    Quote from 120dBRockNRoll

    Hm, I'm surprised you have problems with a poor signal of the MPX8. Mine has a lot of power, when I checked it the first time with headphones it almost blew me away;) The playback quality of my MPX8 is ok... maybe not perfect, but anyway good enough for an intro etc.

    I think it must either be faulty or a set up issue but I couldn't see why. Through headphones is OK ( not great), but from the output the volume through the Kemper is really low ( wrong level output?). I got so fed up with the time I put into it I think I'm gonna give up.


    Set up my old Samsung S4 and apart from midi, works a treat. Gonna test and rehearsal and if I can;t balance the volumes ( the only issue I can see) , I'll revert to a DI box.

    Quote from V8guitar

    ...

    Set up my old Samsung S4 and apart from midi, works a treat. Gonna test and rehearsal and if I can;t balance the volumes ( the only issue I can see) , I'll revert to a DI box.

    That's a nice and easy solution. You just should make sure mum doesn't call you on this phone while you're performing on stage 8o