Contents
- Introduction
- About Samplifier
- About Sonosphere
- Feedback and technical support
- Acknowledgements
- License and Registration
- Installation and Configuration
- MIDI cabling
- Setting up OMS
- Select the OMS device to work with
- OMS MIDI Setup dialog
- SCSI
- Transferring Sound Files
- Sample Numbers
- MIDI Channel?
- Memory
- Loading a sound file from your sampler
- Sending sound files to your sampler
- Additional Roland S-760/DJ-70MkII Features
- Auto-create Partials for Samples option
- Creating partials from samples
- Creating patches from partials
Samplifier is a simple tool to transfer sound files between a Macintosh and a
MIDI sampler which supports the MIDI Sample Dump standard. With a Roland S-760
sampler, Samplifier can also transfer sound files over SCSI, and provides some
utilities to automate common tasks.
Samplifier runs on any Macintosh with a 68020 or better processor (this
includes just about all Macintoshes except the Plus, SE, Classic, and original
Portable). It requires Macintosh System 7, and
Open Music System, available
from Opcode Systems, Inc., for MIDI communication.
This manual is distributed in HTML form with the software, but it's also online at the Sonosphere web site. If you're reading a local copy of this file, you may wish to check the web pages to see if it's been revised.
Sonosphere is based on the ideas of Internet-based commerce and the shareware
principle. We intend to distribute small music software tools, other various
utilities, as well as recorded music. We hope you find Samplifier useful, and
encourage you to send us feedback about it, using any of the addresses below.
One thing we'd like to know is what kind of sampler you're using. Samplifier
has only been tested with a Roland S-760 so far, so we'd love to hear about
your experiences with different samplers. If you're having problems, it may be
important to know what version of the sampler's operating system you're running.
Samplifier was written by Doug Wyatt. Thanks to Aron Nelson, Jim Norman, Chris Halaby and Opcode Systems.
Samplifier is shareware. It may be freely distributed for non-commercial purposes, or by online services, as long as the originally distributed files are all redistributed without alteration. You may evaluate Samplifier for 30 days, but after that period of time, you must either register it, or delete all copies of it.
Unregistered versions put up messages reminding you to register, and are
restricted to two sample transfers each time you start the program.
This is to encourage you to register. Please support the further development
of shareware by registering.
A single-user license is US$ 20. A site license (any number of users working for a single organization within a 100 mile radius of each other) is $399.
The details of payment and registration are discussed in a separate HTML document.
All of Samplifier's operations require that the computer can send to the
sampler. Most operations require a cable from the sampler's MIDI Out back to
the computer, all except sending to the sampler via MIDI Sample Dump, and even
then, it's slower without that cable. If at all possible, connect the
sampler's MIDI In and Out to the computer via a MIDI interface.
If you don't already have OMS, you can get it from Opcode Systems's web site or by calling (+1) 415-856-3333. Samplifier requires OMS version 2.0 or higher.
Configuring OMS is fairly self-explanatory, but here's a brief summary.
- Run the OMS installer and reboot when installation is complete.
- Find the OMS Setup application in an "Open Music System" folder at the top level of the disk on which you installed, and open the application.
- You'll be guided through selecting serial ports, verifying the detection of your MIDI interface(s), and automatically identifying your MIDI devices.
- Name and save a studio setup document when prompted.
- Double-click on the device icons in the studio setup document to enter more specific information about each device.
- Use the balloon help if you have difficulty.
If your sampler is a Roland S-760 and you wish to use the S-760-specific
features of Samplifier, it's important that you enter "Roland S-760" as the
device's manufacturer and model, in the Device Info dialog which opens when you
double-click on a device in OMS Setup.
The Roland DJ-70MkII's MIDI and SCSI implementation is identical to the S-760. If you have a DJ-70MkII, tell OMS that it's an S-760.
The first thing you need to do after opening Samplifier is to select your
sampler in the Sampler menu. This menu contains a list of all the MIDI
devices defined in your current OMS studio setup.
From this dialog you have access to a button to launch OMS Setup if you wish to
modify your studio setup. If MIDI communication isn't working, open this dialog to make sure your interface's serial port is checked. Also, opening and closing this dialog is sometimes enough to reset a communication problem with an interface.
SCSI sample exchange is currently supported for the Roland S-760 only. Once
you have selected a Roland S-760 from the Sampler menu, you may choose the
sampler's SCSI ID from the SCSI menu. This will enable SCSI sample
transfer. If you choose Off from the SCSI menu, sample transfers will
be done over MIDI, which is far slower than SCSI.
If the SCSI menu items are disabled, then the selected sampler is not defined
as a Roland S-760 in OMS. Run OMS Setup and double-click on the device icon to open a dialog where you may select the manufacturer and model.
Be sure that your sampler's SCSI ID is not 7 (which is the computer's ID) and is not
the same as any of your other SCSI peripherals, such as a hard disk or CD ROM drive. Macintosh internal hard disks usually have a SCSI ID of 0. An internal CD ROM's SCSI ID is usually 3. Be sure to use high-quality SCSI cables.
CAUTION: In our experience SCSI is rather robust and tolerant of
mistakes. But remember that your precious data files reside on your SCSI
storage media and that corruption is always a possibility. Please carefully
read the manuals for your computer, sampler, and other SCSI peripherals for
instructions and cautionary notes about connecting SCSI devices.
The process of transferring sound files between your computer and sampler is
straightforward once your connections are made and a few things are clarified.
The MIDI Sample Dump standard uses sample numbers starting with 0. Your
sampler may number its samples starting with 1. The S-760 starts with 1.
Samplifier's user interface always shows 1-based sample numbers. If your
sampler uses 0-based sample numbers, you'll need to remember that the user
interface is off by 1.
The MIDI Sample Dump standard uses a MIDI channel identifier in the messages.
Currently Samplifier always uses channel 1, though this could be changed if
it's a limitation for anyone. The S-760 appears to ignore the channel number.
Samplifier is currently completely RAM-based. This means that sound files need to be able to fit entirely in memory. Samplifier uses MacOS "temporary memory", so there's no reason to make Samplifier's memory partition larger to work with large sound files. If you need more memory, quit other applications.
To do this, choose Load... from the File menu, and the
dialog at the right opens.
Enter the number of the sample you wish to load.
A dialog will open and illustrate the progress of the transfer. When it's
complete, you'll be asked to save the file.
The sound file is saved in AIFF format, mono, at the same sample rate and size
(e.g. 16 bit) as the sampler used.
If you're doing MIDI Sample Dump with an S-760 (why aren't you using SCSI?),
you may notice that there's a System parameter to control which sample is
transmitted in response to a sample dump request from a computer. As of S-760
software version 2.23, this parameter appears to be obsolete; the S-760 returns
the sample number you enter in the dialog.
To send a single file, choose Open and Send... from the File
menu, and a standard Open dialog appears. You may choose AIFF files and
Macintosh system sound files ('snd' resources).
Or you may send all of the files in a folder by choosing Send All Files in
Folder... from the File menu. In this case a standard Open dialog
also appears, and you need to choose any sound file in the folder to be sent.
In either case, this dialog opens.
The "Send to empty slots" option is for the S-760 only and will be hidden when
working with a different sampler. If you check it, Samplifier will interrogate
the S-760 to locate empty sample slots. This conveniently guards against
inadvertent overwriting of samples.
One thing to note about sending samples via MIDI Sample Dump is that to save
transfer time, 16-bit sound files can be truncated to 14-bit format. This will
make transfer of 16-bit files 50% faster with only a minor loss of sound
quality. This is an option, accessible via the Preferences dialog in the
Edit menu.
This section describes features only available when working with a Roland S-760 or DJ-70MkII.
When this option in the S-760 menu is checked, then Samplifier will
automatically create an S-760 Partial for every sample it sends. The partial
will be named identically to the sample, and be set up to play that sample.
This command opens the dialog at the right.
This allows you to easily create a series of Partials, named identically and
set up to play a series of samples you specify.
This command opens the dialog at the right.
What this does is allow you to take a series of partials and assign them to a
series of keys within a single newly-created patch. You enter the range of partial numbers
to be assigned to the patch, and the MIDI note number which will play the first
partial. You can have the partials assigned to only the white keys of a
keyboard controller, or to all MIDI notes.
This will alter the transpositions of all of the partials so that every sample
will play at its base pitch ("original key") in the new patch.
Copyright ©1996 Sonosphere / Doug Wyatt.
MacOS is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
S-760 and DJ-70MkII are trademarks of Roland Corporation.
Samplifier is a trademark of Sonosphere / Doug Wyatt.