M-Audio Torq 1.5 SAMPLER

CHAPTER

English

English

CHAPTER

SAMPLER

When talking about music, a sam pler is not a plate of hors d’oeuvres. A sampler is a

device that will digitally record a sound that you c an then replay at various pitches. If

you’re into any kind of electronic dance music or hip- hop, you’ve undoubtedly heard

samplers in use.

But what good is a sampler for a DJ? In recent year s, DJs have used samplers to add

sound effects to their mix. Suc h effects range from simple sounds like la ser guns and

bombs to more complex passages, such a s a radio station’s identiﬁcation or the DJ’s

name. Torq’s Sampler will let you do the same—and d ue to its tight integration with the

Decks, you’ll also be able to record loops that wi ll stay synchronized to your mix. This

will give you the ability to record and layer a song back on to p of itself, or to play other

loops in sync with your music. This can be es pecially effective when using the S ampler

with various drum and percussion loops —you can create your own drum patterns to

layer with your mix for added emphasis, or to kee p the beat ﬂowing during a breakdown

in the music.

Torq has 16 individual Sample Slots, each capable of re cording and playing back a single

audio sample. Below, you’ll learn the how to use the va rious controls in the Sampler

along with techniques for capturing p erfect loops.

Before you can record a sample, you must choose an aud io source for the sample. When

using Torq, this is as simple as engaging the PFL (he adphone icon) on a Mixer channel.

When you do this, you’ll hear that channel in your h eadphones and it will also be routed

to the Sampler. This means that the Headpho ne Volume slider also acts as the Record

Level adjustment for the Sampler.

This routing scheme has two beneﬁt s. First, you can record a sample from an audio

source that your audience cannot hear. For example, you could reco rd a vocal break

from your next song and play it to hint at the track you’re about to pl ay. Secondly, this

routing scheme allows you to record from more than one source at a ti me. If you enable

the PFL on multiple Mixer channels, t heir signals will be mixed together for samp ling as a

whole.

The idea when making any type of digit al recording is to record the sound as loud as

possible, but not so loud that it causes dis tortion. Like “The Price Is Right ,” you want to

get as close to the maximum without go ing over. Torq includes a limiter on the PFL, so

you won’t have to worry if the sound you’re recording has a few loud peaks— they won’t

cause distortion.