Streamline your Drumset! Mapping a Single Sample Instance to Multiple Drum Pitches

This handy short-cut can be used to avoid layering the same sample repeatedly in your drum set.

You have a Single Sample.
You want to pitch it to different drums, such as across the toms, or even including the kick.

You do not have to use a separate Instance of the same sample layered into every drum with different pitch settings.

Step 1:
Drag your Sample onto it’s own separate top layer of your drumset Build.

Step 2:
Click the Filter button on top of your Sample. Select “All Toms”.
(Optionally, Click the + button to add another filter, such as “All Kicks”)
These Filters will prevent unwanted Drums, such as snare, from triggering the Top Layer Sample.

Step 3:
Decide Interval/Pitch Spacing.
(Can you determine the Root Note of the sample?
Sometimes it is listed in the file itself or the title of the sample.
Listing it in the Info Tab of the Sample can be helpful, but not always necessary.)

Interval/Pitch Spacing can be whatever you want.

A good rule of thumb is perfect Fourths, which is 5 semi-tones/steps between notes, starting from the lowest desired pitch (kick or floor tom) and moving the pitch up 5 semi-tones for each higher tom.

Step 4:
Click the “Step” Icon (looks like stairs) next to “transp” on Sampler.
Right-Click the number listed next to the Step Icon.
Select “New Assignment” from the dropdown menu,
then select a “Virtual Input” from the next dropdown menu, such as Kick or Tom from the Hardware (to keep it simple).

Step 5:
You will see the yellow bordered Assignment Window.
On the far left of the window will be an Assignment listed (probably transp 1), with arrows and plus/minus icons above it.

You can click on the Assignment name and change it to Kick Pitch if you want to avoid confusion.

Click the + icon above the assignment button. It will add another button!
Name it Floor Tom Pitch.

Click the + icon again.
Name that button Mid Tom Pitch.

Click the + icon again.
Name that button High Tom Pitch.

Repeat as needed for as many pitches as desired.

Step 6:
Click Kick Pitch button.

To the Right, you will see an option to select Source.
You can choose the Virtual Input, such as Kick.

Further Right, you can choose the Zone, such as “open”, “closed” (Kick) or “Center”, “Edge”(Toms)

Below, you will see Parameter Control.

There is a slider for values, but just ignore it.
We will be setting a single value for the desired pitch.
Below, Click on the Min. setting and type in the desired value.
If you are using the default root note of the Sample type in Zero.
Click on the Max. setting and type in the same number.

Now every time you hit the Kick, the Sample Pitch will set itself to Zero (Root Note).

Step 7:
Repeat Step 6 for every Pitch you have listed.
Set the Source and Zones.
For Parameter Min./Max. change the desired pitch value.
+5 transposes up 5 semi-tones for Floor Tom.
+10 transposes up 5 more semi-tones for Mid-tom.
+15 transposes up 5 more semi-tones for High-Tom.
Repeat for each desired Pitch Assignment button created.

Remember, the pitches can be whatever you want. You just have to count semi-tones up or down -/+ from original pitch (root note).

Step 8:
Close the Assignments Yellow window.

On the Top Right of the Sample Window, you will see a setting for “voices”.
Make sure you have as many voices selected as desired drum pitches, so that multiple drums/pitches hit at the same time can still play layered on top of each other. there is a max of 16 voices, but no one should be hitting sixteen pitches at once, I’d assume.

Below, you should see a “retrig” section. Choose the overlapping lines so multiple voices/drums can be heard at the same time when hit simultaneously.

Finally, there is a section called “voice control”.
Click the straight overlapping lines so that overlapping drum hits will not pitchbend to each other.

SUCCESS!

You now have a SINGLE SAMPLE INSTANCE on the top layer of your drumset, that will trigger multiple pitches as mapped to individual drums!

(Instead of multiple drum layers with multiple instances of the same sample each needing their settings tweaked individually.)

LET ME KNOW IF ANY OF THIS IS INACCURATE OR OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.
I thought simultaneous drum hits would not trigger multiple pitches at first, but the Voices feature makes it possible.

I was able to recreate the Assignment Mapping to a Group Module by clicking the Panel list, selecting Pitch & Scale panel and then adding Assignments (as before) to the Transpose Knob with Step icon toggled on, and the same Voice Control setting. Leave Retrig OFF on Group to layer sounds as before.

So far this allows me to add any Sample to the Group list and have the same Assignments applied to pitch.

I don’t see a voices setting for the Group Module, but I assume as long as the Samplers have at least 4 voices running, they should behave the same.

@SacredBlasphemy

Nice!

Sounds like a really useful building block!

Feel free to drop us a .sp2 with a blank sampler so we can check it out.

It sounds like you could also do this with a group module (or even a sequencer) so that you could swap the sample/s easily, or even drag/drop fully mapped drum map controllers into the group module to repitch entire drum maps using this technique.

Pitch Transpose Assignment Templates.sp2 (4.0 KB)
My first attempt uploading a file to this forum…

@SacredBlasphemy

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

After some more building blocks have been posted, I’m hoping to amalgamate them into a single set, and organize it in a way that encourages/eases drag & drop-ability. Do you mind if I include these? I’ll add “by @SacredBlasphemy” to the end of the module titles (or whatever you’'d like to be credited as).