Turning any sound into an instrument with Loop's sampler
Drop an audio file on a sampler track in Loop by Zaweba and play it as an instrument, with settings for root key, looping, attack and release.
A single recorded note can become a whole instrument. Sing one note into a microphone, record a bottle being tapped or a car horn, and with a sampler you can play that sound up and down a keyboard, as a melody or as chords. Loop by Zaweba has a sampler built in.
Add one with Track > Add sampler track, then drop any audio file onto it. From then on, playing notes on that track plays your sound at different pitches.
The settings
The sampler keeps to a few settings that matter.
Root key tells the sampler which note the recording already is. If you recorded a piano playing middle C, set the root key to C so that pressing C plays it back unchanged, and every other note is pitched correctly from there. If the root key is wrong, everything you play will be out of tune by the same amount.
Looping decides whether the sound repeats while a note is held. A pad or a sustained vocal "ahh" benefits from looping so it can last as long as you like. A drum hit or a pluck should usually not loop.
Attack and release shape how the sound starts and stops. A longer attack fades it in gently, which turns a sharp sound into something softer and more pad-like. A longer release lets it ring on after you let go. Short settings keep it tight and punchy.
Playing and writing parts
Once the sample is loaded, play it from the on-screen keyboard, from your computer keys or from a USB MIDI keyboard, and record what you play. Or open a clip in the piano roll in Studio mode and draw the notes in. Notes you write are in the song's scale if you use the piano roll's scale highlighting and snap to scale, so even an odd sound can play a melody that fits.
Ideas to try
A vocal chop: record a short sung syllable, load it, keep attack and release short, and play a rhythmic pattern of high and low notes. A home-made pad: record a sustained hum, turn looping on and lengthen the attack and release, then play slow chords. A found-sound percussion part: load a tap or knock and play it at a few pitches as a rhythm.
Sampler or audio loop?
Both use audio files, and they do different jobs. An audio loop added with File > Add an audio loop plays a whole phrase, stretched to the song's tempo. A sampler plays one sound as an instrument, at whatever pitch and rhythm you choose. If your file is a four-bar groove, add it as a loop. If it is a single note or hit, use the sampler.
Getting good results
Use a clean recording with no long silence at the start, or every note will feel late. Sounds played far from their root key change character, getting chipmunk-like when high and slow and murky when low, so keep parts within a sensible range or record a second sample for the other end.
Recordings and samples used in a song are stored inside the .zloop file, so the song keeps its sounds when you move it. Loop by Zaweba does all of this offline on your own computer.
