YuStudio Launches a Sampler - and it’s AWESOME
YuStudio - an online digital audio workstation created by the team at Charanga (a sister company of MusicFirst) is a very powerful music creation tool, and the only one that allows students to incorporate video into their projects). They recently announced a new Sampler tool, and it is really cool. A Sampler is an instrument that allows you to record any audio, and then manipulate that audio to play it as an instrument. When I was a young synthesizer enthusiast, this was one of the dream features for any keyboard - like the legendary Casio SK-1 from the mid-1980s. There are SO many possibilities for students when utilizing a sampler - many are just a lot of fun (like recording your own voice and then playing a song with that sample). The sampler in YuStudio has three main modes: Pitched instrument, One-shot Kit and Sliced Loop Kit. The Pitched Instrument mode is when a single sound is loaded or recorded, and is pitched across the keyboard’s octaves. This allows you to play the sound like a traditional instrument. The One-shot mode allows the user to load or record up to 48 different sounds and then assign each of them to a pad or key on the keyboard. This allows you to build kits of sounds you like, creating drum kits, sets of sound effects, or anything you desire. Finally, the Sliced mode is when a single sound is loaded or recorded, and is automatically split into up to slices, each slice being assigned to a pad. What follows is an overview of each.
Before getting into each specific mode in the new YuStudio sampler, it is important to understand HOW to get sounds into it. There are three simple ways to add sounds: 1) Drag and drop from an existing folder; 2) Import from your computer or device; or 3) Record the sound. If you are using a device like a Chromebook, it will likely be the 3rd option that will work best for you. Once you have added sounds to the sampler they can be played using either your QWERTY computer keyboard or with an attached MIDI keyboard or MIDI pad controller.
Pitched Mode
Once you have loaded, imported or recorded a sound into the YuStudio Sampler, you can immediately start using either your QWERTY keyboard or MIDI interface to trigger the samples. In the image above, you’ll see that there are letters on each of the piano keys. The bottom letter is the name of the pitch, and the top letter is the corresponding QWERTY keyboard letter. For example, if you click the letter D on your QWERTY keyboard, you will hear your sound pitched to an E. Once you have your sample loaded, there are several things that you can do with it using the built-in editor:
Set the sample start, end, fade in, fade out, and volume via the handles on the waveform.
Reverse the sample.
Determine the tuning, playback options, and whether it is a mono or polyphonic sample
Set the root note of the sample, so that it maps to the piano keys correctly. For example, if the sound that you have chosen is playing the note E, you would set the root note to E.
Add filters and effects. The filter controls include:
Highpass – only allows through the higher frequencies of the sound, controlled by the Frequency value.
Lowpass – only allows through the lower frequencies of the sound, controlled by the Frequency value.
Resonance – causes the filter to resonate, exaggerating and emphasizing the frequency that has been set for the filter.
Filter Envelope – the filter has its own ADSR envelope, allowing you to shape how the filter sounds over time.
One Shot Mode
When you select the One Shot mode, you can:
Add a different sample to each of the pads (the squares at the bottom of the window). The pads with a dashed line are empty.
You can use up to 48 sounds in a kit. The kit is arranged into groups of 8 pads: a pad bank. The mini-grid on the right of the sampler, above the pads, is a pad bank overview. This allows navigation between pad banks, and highlights which bank is currently being displayed.
To make changes to the sound on a particular pad, click on the pad to display its waveform in the window above the pads.
Set sample start, end, fade in, fade out, and volume via the handles on the waveform.
Reverse the sample.
Slice Mode
Finally, using the Slice Mode you can:
Set sample start, end, fade in, fade out, and volume via the handles on the waveform.
Reverse the sample.
See the pad bank overview.
Choose the sample is sliced: either by musical division according to the project’s tempo, or by automatic detection.
There is also a terrific collection of preset samples across a wide variety of instruments and genres that can be used instead of or in combination with imported audio. Don’t forget to let your students experiment with this collection as there are LOTS of great samples in this library.
So how can you use this new Sampler in YuStudio with your students? Here are several ways that I think can be extremely useful (and fun):
Have your students record or upload sounds (their own musical instrument, environmental sounds, or vocal snippets) and manipulate them to create original compositions.
Help teach your students what waveforms, timbre, and digital sound processing is all about.
Students can sample iconic music pieces or even historic speeches and then cut them up to make new works.
Samplers are great for percussionists, electronic music ensembles, or modern band programs, where students can use drum pads or MIDI controllers to trigger sounds. You can create your own keyboard drumsets by recording each drum and cymbal and then triggering them with either your QWERTY or MIDI keyboard.
You can use this tool for sound effects or other audio in your school productions.
If you would like to try out this new Sampler with your students, just sign up for a FREE 30-day trial. YuStudio is actually included with every MusicFirst Elementary subscription (incredible), our amazing Modern Band Bundle, OR you can add it to a MusicFirst Classroom. At the moment, YuStudio is not available as a standalone application. Let me know what you think!