User Manual

CHAPTER 23. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 409
23.10 Sampler
The Sampler Instrument.
Sampler is a sleek yet formidable multisampling instrument that takes full advantage of Live's
agile audio engine. It has been designed from the start to handle multi-gigabyte instrument
libraries with ease, and it imports most common library formats. But with Sampler, playback
is only the beginning; its extensive internal modulation system, which addresses nearly every
aspect of its sound, makes it the natural extension of Live's sound-shaping techniques.
The full version of Sampler is not included with the standard version of Live, but is a special
feature available for purchase separately. Sampler users who want to share their presets
with all Live users can convert their work to Simpler presets. To do this, (PC) /
Ctrl
(Mac) on Sampler's title bar and choose the Sampler -> Simpler command.
Getting started with Sampler is as easy as choosing a preset from the Device Browser. Like
all of Live's devices, Sampler's presets are located in folders listed beneath its name. Presets
imported from third-party sample libraries are listed here, too, in the Imports folder.
Once you have loaded a Sampler preset into a track, remember to arm the track for recording
(which also enables you to hear any MIDI notes you might want to play), and then start
playing!
23.10.1 Multisampling
Before going on, let's introduce the concept of multisampling. This technique is used to
accurately capture the complexity of instruments that produce dynamic timbral changes.
Rather than rely on the simple transposition of a single recorded sample, multisampling