Ableton/Live/UG/31 Instrument Reference/10 Sampler
- Sampler is Live's multisampling instrument. It handles libraries of several gigabytes, imports common library formats, and has a modulation system that reaches nearly every part of its sound.
- Pick a preset from the folders under Sampler in the browser; imported third-party libraries appear in its Imports folder. Arm the track so you can hear what you play, then play.
- Multisampling records an instrument at many pitches and dynamics instead of transposing one sample, so the timbre changes the way the real instrument's does. A piano, for example, might have three or more samples per key for soft to very loud playing.
- Sampler works with multisample presets, imported third-party multisamples, your own multisamples, or a single sample run through its modulation.
- Title bar context menu entries beyond the usual Cut, Copy, Rename, Edit Info Text and Delete:
- Group — wraps Sampler in a new Instrument Rack.
- Fold — shows only the title bar; double-click to unfold.
- Show Preset Name — off titles the device "Sampler" instead of the top sample's name.
- Lock to Control Surface — keeps Sampler on a control surface set in Link, Tempo & MIDI, wherever focus goes; happens automatically when the track is armed. A hand icon marks it.
- Save as Default Preset.
- Use Constant Power Fade for Loops — on by default; off uses linear loop crossfades.
- Sampler -> Simpler — converts the preset, for sharing with Live editions that lack Sampler.
- Tabs in the title bar: Zone, Sample, Pitch/Osc, Filter/Global, Modulation and MIDI. Each tab except Zone shows its controls below; LEDs on a tab show it holds modulation.
- The Zone tab opens the Zone Editor above the Device View, for mapping samples across key, velocity and sample-select ranges.
- The sample layer list on the left holds every sample, or layer, of the multisample. Buttons above it:
- Auto — selects the layers that play each incoming note while it sounds.
- Lin/Pow — linear or constant-power zone fades.
- RR — Round Robin on or off.
- Key/Vel/Sel — which zone editor to show. Right-click an editor to zoom Small, Medium or Large.
31.10.5.1 Round Robin Sample Playback
- Plays a different sample on each note, cycling through layers that share a key zone; good for natural variation in repeated drums or notes, or for deliberate surprises.
- Round Robin Mode — Forward (top to bottom), Backward, Other (random, never the same twice running), Random (repeats allowed).
- Reset Interval — restarts the cycle at a set interval, such as each bar, from the first sample of the mode.
31.10.5.2 The Sample Layer List
- Layers can be named, for example by root key; hovering shows details in the Status Bar, and selecting one opens it in the Sample tab.
- Context menu: Delete, Duplicate, Rename; Distribute Ranges Equally (C-2 to G8) and Distribute Ranges Around Root Key; zoom; Show in Browser; Manage Sample; Normalize Volume (peaks to full headroom); Normalize Pan (an even stereo spread, not necessarily center); Select All With Same Range; and sorting by name, key, velocity or selector, ascending or descending.
31.10.5.3 Key Zones
- The note range, up to all 127, that triggers each sample. A sample stays accurate a few semitones around its root key, and other samples cover the rest.
- New samples span the full range. Move and resize zones like Arrangement clips; drag a top corner to fade across semitones and crossfade neighbors, linear or exponential per Lin/Pow.
31.10.5.4 Velocity Zones
- The note-on velocities, 1–127, each sample answers, so different dynamics can use different recordings. Edited like key zones.
31.10.5.5 Sample Select Zones
- A 0–127 filter not tied to any MIDI input, like a Rack's Chain Select zones. Only samples whose zone overlaps the sample selector can play.
- Moving the selector doesn't switch a sample already playing.
- Playback settings for the selected sample, around its waveform. Most values apply to that sample only; the Sample chooser switches layers.
Cmd-scroll (Mac) / Ctrl-scroll (Win) zooms. - Reverse — global and modulatable; plays from Sample End back through the Sustain Loop to Sample Start without writing a new file.
- Snap — snaps start and end points to zero crossings of the left channel to avoid clicks; a small Crossfade may still help. Right-click a loop brace for Snap Marker.
- RootKey, Detune (±50 cents), Volume (up to +24 dB), Pan.
31.10.6.1 Sample Playback
- These work with the global volume envelope. Envelopes here use Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release with A., D. and R. Slope; Initial, Peak and End levels; Time < Vel; Loop modes (Loop, Beat, Sync, Trigger); Repeat; and Loop Time, as in Operator.
- Times show in samples or min:sec:ms, switched from any value's context menu.
- Sample Start and Sample End — where playback starts and stops. A slow attack can delay the audible start.
- Sustain Mode — no loop; a forward loop between Loop Start and Loop End; or a back-and-forth loop, each while the note sustains. Link sets Sample Start to Loop Start.
- Release Mode, with a Sustain Loop active:
- Off — the release happens inside the sustain loop.
- Release — playback runs on toward Sample End.
- Release Loop — runs to Sample End, then loops from Release Loop to Sample End.
- Back-and-Forth Release Loop — the same, bouncing back and forth.
- Crossfade — smooths loop joins, constant-power unless turned off in the title bar menu.
- Detune — corrects the pitch shift that short loops can cause.
- Interpol — transposition quality; Good and Best cost a lot of CPU.
- RAM — loads the whole multisample into memory, which helps when modulating start and end points but eats RAM.
- The waveform's context menu repeats the layer list's file and normalize options and zooms to playing or loop regions. On the right, Vertical Zoom and B/M/L/R choose display height and channels.
31.10.7.1 The Modulation Oscillator (Osc)
- One modulation oscillator per voice performs FM or AM on the samples; it is never heard directly. Subsonic AM varies volume; audible AM creates composite waves.
- 21 waveforms in Type, a loopable amplitude envelope with the usual levels, and:
- Volume — modulation depth; Vol < Vel scales it with velocity.
- Fixed with Freq × Multi — a constant frequency.
- Coarse (0.125–48) and Fine (0–1000) — tuning when not fixed.
31.10.7.2 The Pitch Envelope
- A multi-stage envelope on the sample's pitch, and the modulation oscillator's; drag breakpoints or use sliders. Amount sets its range in semitones.
- Global controls on the right:
- Spread — two detuned voices per note; doubles CPU.
- Transp (semitones) and Detune (cents).
- Zn Shft — shifts which key zone plays without changing pitch, for interesting multisample artifacts.
- Glide — Glide is monophonic, Portamento polyphonic; Time sets duration.
31.10.8.1 The Filter
- A polyphonic filter with the same types and Cytomic circuits as Operator: low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, notch and Morph at 12 or 24 dB, with Clean, OSR, MS2, SMP and PRD circuits. See Ableton/Live/UG/31 Instrument Reference/09 Operator/05 Filter Section.
- Frequency, Resonance, Drive on non-Clean low-, high- and band-pass, and Morph for the Morph type.
- F. Env — a filter envelope with levels, ADSR, loop and slopes; its Amount must be non-zero to act.
- Shaper — Soft, Hard, Sine or 4bit, with Amount. An arrow sets whether it comes before or after the filter.
31.10.8.2 The Volume Envelope and Global Controls
- The global ADSR volume envelope. Loop and Trigger restart from Initial if a note outlasts Decay, taking Time to return; Beat and Sync restart after Repeat.
- Pan and Pan < Rnd; Time scales every envelope; Time < Key scales them by pitch.
- Voices up to 32. R retriggers playing notes instead of adding voices, saving CPU with long releases played quickly.
- One loopable Aux envelope and three LFOs, each able to modulate many parameters, including each other. LFOs can run free or sync, and LFOs 2 and 3 can modulate in stereo.
31.10.9.1 The Auxiliary Envelope
- Same design as the other envelopes, routed to two of 29 destinations through the A and B choosers, each with an amount.
31.10.9.2 LFOs 1, 2 and 3
- Type — Sine, Square, Triangle, Saw Down, Saw Up, Sample and Hold.
- Rate — Hz with Freq (0.01–30 Hz), or beat sync with Beats (64th notes to 8 bars).
- Attack — fade-in time, for delayed vibrato. Retrig and Offset — reset and starting phase. Key — rate follows pitch.
- LFO 1 has direct depths for Vol, Pan, Filter (0–24) and Pitch.
- LFOs 2 and 3 have A and B destinations and a Stereo mode: Phase offsets the right channel; Spin runs it up to 50% faster.
- Key, Velocity, Release Velocity, Aftertouch, Mod Wheel, Foot Controller and Pitch Bend each map to two destinations with Amount A and Amount B. Example: Velocity to Loop Length at 100 gives longer loops for harder notes.
- Pitch Bend Range — up to 24 semitones.
- Clicking the Sampler picture scrolls its credits.
- Formats: REX files (Live Standard and Suite only), ACID Loops and Soundtrack Loops. Their tags aren't available in Live.
- Drag a file from the browser into a Set to import it into the User Library; presets appear under User Library/Sampler/Imports. Some become Instrument Racks holding several Samplers to match the original.
