Using wav. and other non-VST samples

[Starving-Gecko]

Heyo' folks, much as I hate havin' to be back in the troubleshooting department again since having to deal with VST issues (and later dealing with the transparent piano-roll glitch personally), this has been something that has been irking me since the first time I started using this program since about the start of this spring.

I've got a boatload of wav. files and such that I've been gathering to use, whether it's good samples from Freesounds or something far more specific like the Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra pack, and by now I've got what amounts to a decent sized orchestra and such under my belt. However, the implementation of them into LMMS has been a little...iffy. Obviously when the entire sample is inserted into the role, it plays fine, but cutting down the sample creates a sort of annoying pop or crackle at the end of the shortened/edited note. Frankly I can sorta' understand why it does it, but it drives me nothing short of insane. The most I can think is utilizing the Automation tracks to fade-out the notes, but looking at how that works, that would likely be incredibly irksome, meticulous, and annoying. Is there some way that I can lessen this sorta' effect when I work with these sort of samples?

Now admittedly in spite of having used audio software to various degrees (like Audacity for some FX-editing, and using the midi-composition software Anvil Studios for a couple tracks), my audio knowledge, while having increased over the years, I still think is rather primitive. As such I'm hoping you guys might help provide some answers or at the very least some advice.

[slapkev]

Are you loading the .wavs into sample tracks or Audio File Processor?

[Starving-Gecko]

Demonstrating what I said in the above, you slightly lost me a bit. Though diggin' into LMMS I think I see what you are asking now.

Basically all of my wav. files are in My Samples filed under their separate...well, files, and then I just drag them into the Song Editor, and then they open up in the Audio File Processor plugin(?), complete with the menu of course. I've never really touched the Sample Track I don't believe - heck, I might not even be sure what that does to be honest, so that might warrant me looking at too.

I'm going to guess that the answers lie in the AFP, but if it does, than I'm completely unsure how to go about it. But then of course I might be a shnook and have been doin' the wrong-arsed thing the whole time.

[slapkev]

So let me get this straight: You are loading samples in AFP then using the End Point knob to make them shorter?

[Starving-Gecko]

Sorry, I wanted to post yesterday, but the forum for some reason didn't want to cooperate.

In any case, I think I've all but managed to figure out a number of these problems on my own (possibly from a combination of impatience and an injection of new found knowledge) - using the AFP's various things like amplitude and envelope editing to a much more understood degree that helps reduce the static and the snap,crackle, and pops that used to plague me before.

And in response to your question StakeoutPunch: naw, when I was using this before I was merely attempting to shorten the notes on just the piano roll themselves using the untouched instrument note. An ignorant decision looking back, but I'm not an audio genius now, and I certainly wasn't one a week or more ago.

But with this aside, a new sorta' thought pesters me somewhat - finding the ability to assign these swatches of single instrument note samples into one singular Piano Roll/channel - especially as I prefer the much more natural sounds of the various samples themselves, but without having to assign seperate layers for each seperate instrument sample. I was messing with that yesterday and lordy, it can be done that way, but admittedly it's quite tiring. My guitar, violin, percussion, etc etc samples could benefit from something like this.

[slapkev]

Have you looked into compiling your samples into a .sf2 file? Then the native .sf2 can treat them as a singular instrument.

[Starving-Gecko]

I did indeed notice the .sf2 player in the plugins available on LMMS; sometime in the past I attempted to use a soundfont for another program - though that ended in a whole lot of nothing since I had not idea how to utilize it. That being said, now that I'm posing questions to people who obviously seem to know what they are doing, how does one go about compiling samples into a .sf2 file proper?

[slapkev]

There are several programs available for free that can package different samples into a .sf2, but alas I am not the person you'd need to ask about that

Tresf would know, send him a PM!

[musikbear]

More general in respect to clicks in sound files:
Look at this
red represent a wave -Its how it looks in audiofileprocessor (AFP)
There are 2 selection the green, and the orange
The green 'cuts' the wave at the silence mid-line, both in start pos, and in end-posistion.
A wave is silent in the center-line.
You will have close to no click from the green selection! So i call that one perfect
The orange cuts thorugh the wave far away from the silence, and the orange selection will click madly. I therefore call the orange selection Bad
The closer your 'cuts' gets to the MAX posistions, the louder the clicks!
Your job is to make your selection-'cuts', as close to the silence mid-line as possible!
Here the AFP aids you, because you can magnyfy the wave and find the perfect place for the cut. Sometimes you will have to 'exclude' a click. If the annoying click is in the start, you change the attack, often a few msekd is enough. A click in the 'end' can be dampend with a sligthly longer release -Dampend, but not eliminated, and that is often where real annoyence occour

[tresf]

The envelope tab can squash this issue as well. We don't have a default envelope turned on for our samples (we should since we allow the shortening of a wav). Mess with that envelope until it sounds right. It takes a bunch of tweaking, but you can save the preset on your computer too which will have the envelope and cutoff data memorized.