The Presets Page
The Presets Page displays information on available
Presets. A Preset (also referred as "Instrument") is a set of Virtual Sampler
splits. Each split has an associated sample that is played when playing a note inside the
split's keyboard range (see "Working with Splits").
The Presets page is also used to arrange, rename, create, delete and maintain Presets
(instruments) and to select the audio output method of the split.

Presets (instruments) are displayed in a grid (the green bars in the
picture above). You can scroll horizontally and vertically through the grid by using the
scrollbar on the right or the cursor keys. The currently selected Preset (instrument)
is displayed with a red outline. If you click onto the selected Preset once again,
the grid will switch into edit mode and you can change the name of the Preset (see "Working with Presets").
Below the Presets grid there's a set of buttons and controls that are used to
create, delete, maintain and arrange Presets.
The Action on drop controls
The "Action on drop" controls are used to define the action that
Virtual Sampler performs when you drag and drop a Preset. Dragging and Dropping a Preset
is done by
- Select the appropriate Preset with the left mouse button
- Press the right mouse button and keep it pressed
- Move (drag) the mouse to an empty or existing instrument (depending on the
settings in "Action on drop"). If dropping is possible onto the current mouse
position, Virtual Sampler will display an arrow with a rectangle, otherwise a stop symbol
is displayed
- Release the right mouse button
- Press the left mouse button and drop the Preset on the new location
You can cancel a drag&drop operation by moving the mouse until a stop
symbol is displayed, release the right mouse button and press the left mouse button.
The following options are available for "Action on drop":
- Copy - Virtual Sampler will make a copy of the dropped Preset and creates it at
the new Preset position. The original Preset remains unchanged. With this option you only
can drop a Preset onto an empty Preset
- Move - Virtual Sampler will move the dropped Preset from the old position to the
new position. That means the Preset is deleted from the old Preset position and created
again at the new position. With this option you only can drop a Preset onto an empty
Preset
- Copy Split - Virtual Sampler will make a copy the currently selected split of
the current Preset and creates a new split inside the target Preset. The original Preset
remains unchanged. With this option you only can drop a Preset onto an existing Preset.
The newly created split will be added to the existing splits for the target Preset.
- Insert - Virtual Sampler will make a copy of the dropped Preset and inserts it
at the new Preset position. The original Preset remains unchanged. With this option you
only can drop a Preset onto an empty Preset
For detailed information see the "Working
with Presets" section !
The Preset management buttons
The following buttons are available for working with Presets:
- New - This button is used to create a new Preset. The selected Preset position
must not contain a Preset. The newly created Preset will be named "Untitled". By
default the newly created Preset does not contain any splits and you must use the
"Load Sample" button or drag&drop or clipboard paste operations to add
splits to it.
- Delete - This button is used to delete an existing Preset. The selected Preset
position must contain a valid Preset. Deleting a Presets deletes all of its associated
splits and samples. If the samples are used elsewhere in other Presets, the samples are
not lost and will remain available for the other Presets. If the samples for that Preset
are not used in other Presets, these samples will be erased and will be lost.
- Import - This will import a Preset and all its associated splits from another
Virtual Sampler file. The "Import Instrument" dialog is displayed where you can
select the file an Preset to be imported. The selected Preset position must be empty and
will be used to hold the imported Preset.
- Load Sample - This button is used to load a new sample for the currently
selected Preset. A file open dialog is displayed where you can select the WAV file that
holds the sample data for the new split. A new split will be created for the sample and
added to the Preset's split list. If the selected Preset position does not contain a
Preset, a new Preset called "Untitled" is created automatically. If the selected
Preset position does already contain a Preset, the newly created split is added to that
Preset.
For detailed information see the "Working
with Presets" section !
The Preset controls
The Preset controls are used to define Virtual Sampler behaviour when loading
or playing Presets and splits. The available options are:
- Play selected split solo - If this option is activated, the currently selected
split will be played solo. That means sound output for all other splits is deactivated.
This can be used to make settings for a split when you stack splits (select the same key
range for two or more splits).
- Load Preset on selection - With this setting enabled, Virtual Sampler loads all
of the Preset's split (sample) data into memory when the Preset is selected. If this
settings is deactivated, sample data for a split will only be loaded when a note inside
the split's key range is played. Note that loading all splits of a Preset may take some
time depending on the split count and the amount of sample data. On the other hand once a
split is loaded into memory you will encounter no latency when playing notes for that
split. Once a split for a Preset is loaded into memory it will remain there until you
select another Preset. That means if you deactivate this option you only will notice a
short delay when you play any note in a split's key range for the first time. If you
activate this option you will encounter a (sometimes) longer delay when selecting the
Preset, but no delay when playing any splits...
- Recognize layered splits - With this setting enabled, Virtual Sampler will
recognize layered splits when you drag & drop splits with the "Copy Split"
option or when you copy and paste splits with the clipboard. This means if you copy or
move a split that has layers (other splits on the same key or with overlapping key
ranges), these splits will also be copied to the new location. The split range for the
layers is taken from the split that is copied. This is especially usefull for stereo
presets that contain one split for the left channel and one split for the right channel of
the stereo voice.
For detailed information see the "Working
with Presets" section !