How To Prep Your K.O. II Samples for Lo-Fi Grit

[@electrosonicnebula]

Killer explainer video. That's exactly why those of us who discovered hip hop in the 90s were so enamored with those darker textures, drums in particular, instead of the high end sounds of that were used in other genres around that time. Also why a dull drum set or guitar can be preferred over treble-happy higher definition sounds.

[@lesduffield38]

You basically saved me from selling my KOii. Thanks for helping.

[@pongtrometer]

Multiple your tempo by 1.36363636363636 , and that will be the equivalent of sampling a record of 33 1/3 at 45 rpm , like sampling to vinyl on samplers with short samples time memory. We used to sample it in faster by hand to maximise limited sample time. Now it’s Lo-fi to taste. Gr8 overview video and research. Much thanks. 👾

[@LaidBackApophis]

that 4x is beautiful. great video, really well produced and really informative! Thanks bloom!

[@mistermotoki]

You’re B-Roll footage is through the roof 🎉

[@mrchairboy]

Thanks so much for this- what a great thorough explanation. Really appreciate the step-by-step in Ableton…easy to get lost without that. 👍

[@sierragold]

Excellent video. You deserve way more followers!

[@jjtaylor1073]

I run all of my samples through the SP-202 and then sample into the KOii. I’ll have to try your technique with sampling in at a fast tempo and lower the pitch. It’ll be pure sonic bliss I’m sure.

[@jazzroom]

Great Video ! Here is Another tip : Get the same or better " Grit" in Able-ton : 1) Go to settings -> Audio - Sample rate - set to 44100 - Default SR & Pitch Conversion change from High Quality to Normal . Step 2) sample your source 78rpm or 45 rpm + 8% or +16% pitched up on a turntable ( if your turntable allows that) , OR sample from whatever (Tubes, etc) NOTE : if sample normal speed -- Resample your normal speed sample in Ableton pitched up 2 octaves up ( experiment how high you need to pitch up) ) than pitch down back to regular pitch/speed or lower inside Able-ton --------------> 3) Listen and compare : you will be surprised how gritty and " lo-fi " Able-ton pitch rendering will sound ! just my 2 cents , keep on making music , Peace , Jazz. P.S. older versions of Able-ton like version 4 ( as i can remember) had option to render audio at 16bits 22050 Khz that produced very crunch sounding drums and breaks!

[@jazzroom]

Don't know about KO II ( don't have one) but OG OP-1 produces very nice grit and light ( pleasant) aliasing when sample pitched down it samples at 16bit 44.1 Khz. Anybody could complete the OP-1 yo KO II ?

[@daaveed1323]

Wow very informative, thank you! Originally I had been just converting to 16 bit mono in audacity and pitched up by half. Didn't think about pitching up a full octave or two to reduce the bit rate while exporting. I really appreciate it, gives some great noise and warmth to the sample.

[@johnfretz1938]

Wow, thanks. You made all that make complete sense to someone new to all of this. Much appreciated.

[@croay]

I was waiting for this video since that last KOII video you made, this is really cool, your presentation of bit rate/sample rate was really easy to catch up.

[@qlyde]

This technique isn't new to me but from your sound examples I realized for the first time that the reason I like this type of processing is because it sounds very similar to tape in a way. I've experimented with a lot of cheap 7.5ips 4 track, and some more pro 15ips half track tape machines - I'd send drums through cheap tape machines and back into the DAW for some character. The sample at 2x speed pitch down has similar tonal characteristics to that process. You can see a short on my channel called "Drum Samples on Tape". Great video Donald! Your quality is insane!

[@willnewsome4566]

Such a great video. Thank you for taking us through it. I ended up getting a ko2 after your last video (and helpful advice in the comments section) and the polyphonic chromatic playback has been a delight. Love the dirty lo fi sounds, so I'll be employing this trick too. ❤

[@NovakTheEnjoyer]

This is a perfect KZbin video! The synth tag at the beginning is so clutch!! Thank you for making this. Subbed for the gold!

[@sonicultura]

Love them videos man!! Thanks for following up on this!! Cheers! ✌🏾

[@electrosonicnebula]

Man I hope the KO II is a huge success to the point where TE makes a higher end version that has different sampling rate options to simplify the above process to get that sound but also a great deal more memory anyway so you can use it instead of a DAW for full compositions and 5-minute recordings if you want to, like vocal or guitar takes. That would be the definitive standalone machine. I hope some company makes something like this attached to a keyboard, like something right between the Korg Microsampler and MPC Keys. In a way that's OP-1 territory but I want that KO II interface. It's such a groundbreaking box despite all of its imperfections.

[@AeonGotBeats]

so well done.

[@dubioussource]

Thank you for this incredible content. I love the low-fi grime!

[@Rasul_BandY]

Appreciate the attention to detail in explaining…

[@leftovernoise]

While i have no particular interest in thr ko2, i always learn a lot in your videos. Great work!

[@_reallyjustinlikeig]

awesome KO-ii vids ! i watched the “more than just a groovebox” one before i got mine and watching it again helped me a lot with developing a workflow. really looking forward to more whenever it comes. still not that much [interesting] KO-ii content out there 🤧

[@saschaanton3242]

🔥🔥🔥 we need more of these. please.

[@iShredStreets]

Crazy good information! And it’s free! Thank you so much.

[@dnicolau79]

Love these videos on the KO2. Would also love to see clips of performances/jams where you put it all together: chopped samples, loops, synths; in context. Or not…. Great videos tho. Thanks!

[@1barllama]

This is a fantastic explanation, thanks! I have to try this!

[@sliceoficeland9002]

Thank you for another great video👏👏 when can we expect next one? Really excited to see how you sample synths for that awesome grit ✌️ best from Iceland

[@brock1212]

You need more subs! Great vids

[@larsgustav.gudbrandsen]

For those who are competent with a command line interface, SoX can batch process both bit depth and speed for instant S950 vibes.

[@AmazonCrime]

Wow thx. Great video.

[@relative_vie]

Just gold

[@GunnarSt1]

wow thank you! Can't wait for the synth workflow 👈

[@willmcdono]

Thanks man!

[@HelicopterDown]

Fellow Studio One user! Don't see many others often.

[@Mothhole]

Wicked beats, synth tones and explanation --subbed! Curious where your beats are sampled from

[@jalocin]

Another really great video!

[@teacher-sean]

Man, I love everything about this video. I just wish Logic Pro was used. I don't have Ableton and I can't imagine starting to use it just for this process unless I can find a free version. If anyone sees this and can point me in the right direction for doing the same thing in Logic, pleassse! I would be so grateful! This is one of the most exciting things I've seen in awhile.

[@Bloom_Music]

You can use the “Speed” Flex type to do this in Logic. Check out this vid: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2W6nqyZhpiippIsi=sRkGAoJ_3t4zDQm9

[@RaskolnikovR]

great video

[@achook9474]

It’s crazy how I like the Normal sound until I hear the double time sound. It’s just got a vibe to it.

[@d1music_]

🔥🔥 gonna try this on some samples. thnx.

[@MitchWise86]

Great video!

[@Bilpokat]

Love peace & gr8 video

[@charleswerbick2154]

If you have a lot of samples this is much easier to do with SOX than in a DAW. I use powershell to script it so that I can have sped up versions of all my samples.

[@Tripwelleverday]

Awesome

[@petridishlife]

'Delightfully Old School' ~ @13:58 ❤@15:00

[@sarundayo]

Oh hell yeah!! 🫡 Could audio be prepped in Audacity I wonder...

[@Bloom_Music]

As long as Audacity lets you change the speed/tempo without timestretching, should work!

[@dannyferarra4729]

🎉

[@renektonmain9740]

Hey im having trouble finding looping sounds like in our KO 2 video. Im new to all this music stuff. Where can i get some good sounds and loops?

[@Bloom_Music]

All of the drum loops in my K.O. II vids are from rhythm-lab.com, three packs: Vintage Hip Hop Breaks Vol.1, Vintage Hip Hop Breaks Vol.2, and Trippy Beats.

[@blnksktch]

I mean... I kinda sorta want THAT beat now.

[@federicomondini205]

please you have to tell me what monitor is tath and how do you put on a visualizer

[@Bloom_Music]

So, the monitor is just an old busted surveillance monitor I found. But it's just a prop. The waveform is added in post using a screen recording of the plugin Signalizer.

[@dimitrijanssen9807]

Is there a way to purchase these Drum breaks from you? I'm using the ep-133 purely for hobby and don't have easy acces to a DAW. Also good way to commend the 2 great video's you did.

[@Bloom_Music]

I have no right to sell them, but all of the breaks in this vid are from rhythm-lab.com, three packs: Vintage Hip Hop Breaks Vol.1, Vintage Hip Hop Breaks Vol.2, and Trippy Beats. Audacity is a free audio editor you can use to do this same process. See the ‘Changing speed and pitch of a clip’ section of the manual: support.audacityteam.org/audio-editing/speeding-up-and-slowing-down-audio#

[@dimitrijanssen9807]

@@Bloom_Music Ah thank you!

[@Hidef84]

If you have the sk1 you can skip the daw settings part and then just sample directly to the sk1, then to the KO2?

[@Bloom_Music]

Absolutely. However, one of the benefits of exporting from the DAW is that you have perfect loops, which you’ll lose if you’re manually sampling.

[@bonedog343]

Great video, with the 64mb but your using wav's surely this would fill up the space in one sample slot?

[@Bilpokat]

It won’t It just the voice stealing that was a turn off for me Sending mine back 2day

[@Bloom_Music]

When you use the sample tool to load the files on the K.O. II, everything gets converted to a proprietary 16/46, so the original type and size of the file does not matter. The reason I use the highest quality file for the original is so the sample tool's conversion algorithm has as much information to work with as possible for the most accurate results. Regarding the voice stealing that @LeooPokat mentioned, file size has no bearing on voice stealing. You get 12 voices; mono samples count as one voice and stereo as two voices.

[@Nothingspeshalwaysfresh]

@@Bloom_Musica great work around for this is using midi and ensuring a sample is not on the pad or it will steal a voice. Hook it up to Koala =Profit

[@zoned7609]

Someone just needs to make a little app to batch action everything. Would be nice to sum to mono with a radio box option

[@croay]

you could probably made such script on reaper

[@celticdr]

Just out of curiosity can Audacity be used for this process?

[@celticdr]

I read the rest of the comments and you've already answered my question, apologies, it was my attempt at "spamming the comments" 😂

[@Bloom_Music]

All good, thanks for the comment!

[@bonedog343]

Any chance of a copy of the breaks?🙏

[@Bloom_Music]

All of the breaks in this vid are from rhythm-lab.com, three packs: Vintage Hip Hop Breaks Vol.1, Vintage Hip Hop Breaks Vol.2, and Trippy Beats.

[@mickjones7308]

Can the MPC one do the same thing or does it not sound the same?

[@Bloom_Music]

The MPC can do chromatic playback, but it's more hi-fi. The MPC has "vintage" modes that are meant to emulate the behavior of old samplers, but it's really just a tacked on effect and doesn't sound very good or anything like the classics. The best vintage emulation of all of the current hardware samplers in my opinion is in Maschine, but $1,000+ is way more than the $300 K.O. II, so not really an even comparison.

[@mickjones7308]

thanks for the insight appreciate it!@@Bloom_Music

[@NealCaen]

would this work for op1-f? 😅

[@Bloom_Music]

I'm not sure, I don't have any experience with the OP-1! I'm pretty sure it has the ability to slow down samples though, so I would think so.

[@erkenungarov1771]

Nyquist-Shennon-Kotelnikov theory

[@Bloom_Music]

I knew the implications of this theory, but didn’t know what it was actually called. Good info!

[@BlackAera]

Has the build quality improved?

[@Bloom_Music]

The build quality was never a concern. See my other K.O. II video for full details.

[@BlackAera]

@@Bloom_Music Not trying to be rude but the build quality issues were ALL over the internet. Maybe you were just lucky and your unit was in great shape.

[@Bloom_Music]

Fadergate was all over the internet, as was the resolution. Other than that, I saw a bunch of opportunists posting TE hate rage bait for clicks and likes. As someone who has used the device extensively for the last month with zero issues, I'm done listening to people who have never touched one telling me how bad the build quality is.

[@BlackAera]

@@Bloom_Music I wasn't trying to hate. I am interested in the KO II but the fader issues kept me from investing. How did TE resolve the situation?

[@Bloom_Music]

The issue was due to poorly designed packaging. There was nothing protecting the fader, and the fader stem would take the full weight of anything stacked on top of it. Early adopters were basically rolling the dice on whether they got a non-working unit from the bottom of the stack. TE fixed the situation by adding a protective piece around the fader to redistribute the weight load. Not a perfect solution, but it was something they could implement immediately. A packaging re-design and production run would take many months. Fortunately, I got a fully working unit from the first batch and haven’t had any issues. The build quality is good and exactly what I would expect from a $300 device. If you are interested in one, I would recommend trying it yourself, rather than trusting rage bait “hot takes” from the internet.

[@haatock]

ISLA S2400

[@zoned7609]

A KZbin ad just played.... And the skip timer never moved even tho the ad went on for like 10 seconds. I am homicidally angry.

[@croay]

come to the adblock side of the force brother

[@zoned7609]

@@croay i have adblock on my desktop but idk how do to it for droid

[@croay]

​@@zoned7609the easiest way would be to download either Brave or Edge, they already come with adblock, just gotta be sure its activated in the settings

[@panacea.palace]

I believe it's called KZbin vanced

[@devine999]

Hey man, you disappeared. You okay?

[@Bloom_Music]

Lol, yes, all good. Been pretty busy and nothing new has come out that has really piqued my interest lately. However, there was a new synth announced at Knobcon that I’m super excited about and trying to get my hands on for a review, so hopefully some new content will be coming in the next month or so!

[@maikvanrossum]

A real classic production tip, very well explained for this new age 👍🏻 Not just monkey see monkey do, but also enough theory to grasp the whole concept 👌🏻 As I don’t own a K.O. II (yet), I want to give this Ableton workflow a try with Maschine+ (I don’t use the software equivalent). On the Maschine hardware the process is quite cumbersome and the results differ. I also use the Digitakt and Play OG, both use mono samples as their source, but that also goes for most of the classics. So thanks again, got myself some pleasant homework here 😉

[@stuntmanmadeit]

Ya. Speed up the sample then pitch down after recorded. This is something we have been doing for 30+ years. Standard practice in rap/hip-hop production. Not that difficult!!