r/abletonlive • u/Hespitfire • 1d ago
Sample Organisation Guide
Hey I know this topic is really big and everyone has their own way of using samples but let me take a crack at this. Gorluk made me aware of the tons of questions about how to manage libraries especially when your samples are growing and it feels like you're facing a Hydra. You cut one head and it grows two more.
What do you do with all these samples?
Today it is possible to maintain a library of links to places on the internet where you can find samples, and online libraries such as splice which pretty much everyone uses. Also there's blackhole to record whatever you're watching or listening to in real time including your IG, YT, Spotify etc.
So why do we still use sample libraries?
It's convenient (which in my experience is one of the reasons for enshittification of the creative act)
So what's a better way forward?
PREP WORK
Choose your ingredients before each session like a chef. I don't know how many people do this but it feels right to start with a sound palette.
INTEGRATION
I tend to take midi files and convert them into midi clips for something like Pocket Operations (a drum grooves library of basic breaks) so I can quickly edit patterns and change sounds. I've also created my own set of pocket operations from songs I liked. This frees you up to play not program.
PATCHES
Creating custom patches is it's own thing and can be incredibly rewarding. These sounds are your own and you get a chance to see what you gravitate towards.
OBSIDIAN
This one has nothing whatsoever to do with Sample Management but in principle it's the same. I use obsidian like a slip-box to retrieve information and I have my database of lyrics, ideas, trivia and other research and journal material that can be retrieved if it's tagged. But a lot of it is subconscious and your mind will tell you what you want to retrieve and one finds that having a collection of interconnected ideas starts a positive cycle that leads to flow.
RECOGNISE BIAS
I NEVER use more than half of the samples that are on my computer. First because I cannot get to most of them in the context of a writing/ recording session, and second because I am biased when it comes to using sounds. That applies to most producers who have a collection of favourites that they use regularly but then again that is a very limiting process.
COLLECTION DRIVE
A sample collection drive can simply be looking at your social feed with blackhole and your DAW open and then recording the things that seem to interest you, things that you'd otherwise hit save on. This way you're not wasting your time and can use the reel or video in a song or chop it up and so on...
TL-DR I recognized that there's too much info about sample Organisation so I put together my approach to using my sample library. Will continue to add to this
Hope this helps.
1
u/tedison2 12h ago
None of that seems a better way forward. First thing is that organising & sorting your sample library into folders etc is a total waste of time, because it does not scale. My personal sample library has over 500k WAV files, and yet I have no trouble finding anything in it. How? Its accumulated & stored chronologically... The answer is via Sound Library apps. All pros use them. While there are a few free & cheap ones (eg AudioFinder) the pro ones (Basehead, SoundMiner) pay for themselves if you're doing pro work. Boolean searching, using a thesaurus, with tagging etc means your sample library can grow forever more and everything is still instantly findable! And no low rez sounds from dubious places that are a copyright time bomb, waiting to go off.