Simpler vs. Sampler - What's the Difference?

Hey friends! In this video we're going to be taking a look at the differences between Ableton Live's Simpler and Sampler devices. Two very similar devices with vastly different workflow approaches!
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Hey, my name's Matt, AKA Martiln, and I'm an electronic music producer, educator and Ableton Certified Trainer from Australia. I love making music and crazy sounds, and I love helping other people learn how to do both of those things too! I also am the creator of a crazy sci-fantasy world and musical storytelling universe call REALMS. If you like what I do, you can support me in all the usual ways or by shouting me a coffee over on my Buy Me A Coffee page.
Much love! 🥰
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⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:32 The Core Difference
1:20 Basics of Simpler
4:39 Basics of Sampler
8:27 Simpler Vs Sampler
10:30 Closing Thoughts
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[@Lex_Hausens]

Also important: you may find that simpler and sampler will sound different when pitching up , that's because the interpolation in simpler is set to a lower quality. Open sampler, change the interpolation to the highest quality, right-click sampler to simpler and now you have the simpler device with higher interpolation quality. DECAP has a two videos explaining it.

[@MartilnMusic]

Good call! I'd say this is pretty situational and depends on how much you're re-pitching the sample. If you're doing some significant re-pitching, then having a better interpolation quality will for sure sound "better", but it will also depend heavily on the original sample as well. Thanks! :)

[@Reggi_Sample]

@@MartilnMusic It’s not just about pitching it’s also transient response. It hits harder and sounds more detailed with the better interpolation. It’s also why other DAWs are reported to sound ‘better’ and why a large percentage of the Ableton community use arrangement view to sample and not simpler. The fact you have to subscribe to the Suite version just to access the setting in Sampler, is actually insane

[@MartilnMusic]

@Reggi_Sample I would say the reason a large number of people place audio clips directly on the arrangement is because of workflow, not because they can hear a significant enough difference between that and sampler. In fact, the default setting of having fades on clip edges arguably causes more issues with regards to how 'hard' a sound hits when using audio directly on the arrangement view if people don't know about it. Really the audio quality difference is negligible unless you're doing some wild stuff with the sample. If you can hear it, then awesome! Otherwise I can pretty much guarantee you that most people listening to the music won't be able to hear enough of a difference for it to matter, especially in the context of a whole mix. :)

[@napoleonhardridge7014]

Before you start buying plugins -- learn how to operate Ableton first to save money -- you will learn that, Ableton's stocked plugins can almost do, and if not, can do everything that store bought plugins can do when sound designing. PS. Martiln, your work is truly appreciated -- We thank you!

[@MartilnMusic]

Absolutely agreed! You can do SO much with just stock devices. Thank you for watching! :D

[@501Labs]

People will forever chase "better/paid" plugins because they need a substitute for talent. Ableton with max for live is all anybody needs to make the best music. The absolute very best effects plugins are only marginally better and thats conditional.

[@bitcoinspam4865]

Thanks , I’ve seen sooo many vids and urs it’s most calming and clear and educational

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! Really glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching. :)

[@kahlaarabbani2907]

From what I understand is with sampler you can manipulate/shape the sample, and with simpler you have more options such as one shots and slice. The difficult part for me is when Converting the audio to MIDI and choosing another sample because most just won't fit, if I'm not mistaken.

[@meinbherpieg4723]

Amazing work. You clearly know your stuff and it's appreciated how well you communicate your knowledge with good examples. Thanks dude

[@MartilnMusic]

Thanks for watching and commenting! :)

[@Spladoinkal]

You make such helpful content! Earned a sub!

[@MartilnMusic]

Thank you so much! Really glad you like the content. Plenty more coming! :)

[@ronknight2304]

Great explanation. Thanks!

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! Glad you found it useful! :)

[@stamp1603]

That's actually a great video! I've always used Simpler over Sampler because I find it way more user-friendly, though it's always nice to know what these two are used for. Thx :)

[@MartilnMusic]

Thanks for watching! I often use Simpler the most too, but Sampler is useful for very specific applications. Glad you found the video useful! :)

[@solnova7928]

Incredible tutorial! I only have simpler because I have live standard. Looking forward to playing with sampler when I upgrade

[@MartilnMusic]

Thanks so much!! Sampler is definitely fun to play around with. :D

[@BedlamAndBones]

Thanks for this video!

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@wozowski]

FML that was informative. Thanks.

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! :D

[@dabuck204]

Great recap!

[@MartilnMusic]

Thank you! :)

[@saylurrodriguez3315]

The pad sound tip 🔥🔥🔥

[@MartilnMusic]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@icu12cme]

Good stuff to know. Thanks

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@dmreturns6485]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@paulaeugeniaporzio2291]

Excelent Explanation!!! Thaks to you, i've anderstand the difference!

[@MartilnMusic]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed the video! :)

[@b.r.w.labsensation2221]

thank you so much nice video !

[@MartilnMusic]

You're so welcome! Glad you liked it. :)

[@aaronbones4290]

A simple video on simpler and sampler ❤

[@moi1161]

Thanks for this video I never had the courage to dive into sampler haha

[@MartilnMusic]

Definitely dive into it! It's very fun to play around with. :)

[@blackstacie_ibe]

Thanks for the info. 🥳 new subscriber

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@thelinguistshow]

Thank you dude

[@MartilnMusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@nathanlarabee]

Solid

[@heddshot87]

Mapping multiple samples by note is just as easily done in simpler, just use an instrument rack with multiple instances of simpler and change what plays on which keys in the instrument rack.

[@MartilnMusic]

Yup! Just that Sampler has this feature inbuilt, and it has a few more modulation sources and features than Simpler does. Both are very powerful tools!

[@license_________2________chill]

Very good, subscribed.

[@MartilnMusic]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed! :)

[@no_wrong_notes]

took a drink every time you mentioned simpler/sampler...

[@MartilnMusic]

Are you still standing? 😂

[@BedlamAndBones]

You must be floored by now… lol

[@BedlamAndBones]

Very intuitive stuff, though

[@xuanoysos]

thank u, i just found out that you can put piano samples note by note into one instance of the Sampler (rather than several copies in a instrument rack) to play microtonal things using MPE. In built-in Ableton synthesizers, MPE works most correctly

[@MartilnMusic]

Yes!! And this works even better in the upcoming Live 12 with the tuning systems. :)

[@afmangum]

The melody he plays on the guitar is the same one from Someone off his Midway album

[@crushdesign]

Yup! That made sense. They are quite different devices really. I always assumed simpler was a poor man sampler, but it doesn’t seem the case - they are just different.

[@MartilnMusic]

Glad it all made sense! They're both super useful in their own way, definitely different devices! :)

[@frattuncbas]

Is there any sampler like Vengeance Avenger Sequencer playable multi sample player with different octaves and notas together? For example i want to adress 5 different samples and i want to play them on the keyboard.

[@MartilnMusic]

If you want to use multiple samples in a different patch at different places on the keyboard something like Sampler works exactly this way. I haven't used Avenger so I can't really comment on its specifics.

[@DEADMOOSE23]

wish i could find a plug in to use in other daws that works similar

[@MartilnMusic]

Similar to Simpler? Yeah I haven't really found a good one. There are plenty of plugins that are more capable than Sampler when it comes to multi-sampling though!

[@jwillbassist]

Greetings...is it possible to add Sampler on to drum pad in Drum Rack?

[@MartilnMusic]

It sure is! In fact, I have a whole video about Drum Rack that you can check out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqXMhIqlfZKeirc

[@Reggi_Sample]

I have Live standard. Isn’t sampler effectively the same as an instrument / drum rack?

[@MartilnMusic]

Think of it more like an Instrument rack with lots and lots of Simpler devices. There are some unique features to it though such as the number of modulators and the AM/FM oscillator, but in essence yes, this is how it works

[@kisho2679]

which one is comparable with Electron Octatrack for live sample mangling?

[@MartilnMusic]

I'm not really familiar with the Octatrack's sample mangling workflow sorry, so I can't really comment on that sorry!

[@hoossembechiri6136]

Whats this upgrade puttom in the sampler how it in the effect ..and after the intro tis gone ????

[@MartilnMusic]

Good pick-up! The upgrade button appears on device presets that were created with an older version of that device. Clicking on the upgrade button simply converts that preset to the most updated version of that device to use in your session. It can sometimes have a very minor effect on the sound of the device, but often just changes the UI slightly and potentially adds some more features and options. :)

[@hoossembechiri6136]

@@MartilnMusic yah thnx bro u r the best ♥️

[@es__music]

How do you know if you’re playing in the right scale when you use simpler in classic mode? Your sample was in A# major, but you said you dropped it on middle C. That would throw me off seeing, I’m playing an A# on a C key. Can you tell simpler what key your sample is in?

[@MartilnMusic]

You can't tell it what key your sample is in, but you can put a tuner device after the simpler and then use the transpose controls until the note you're playing matches the note you're seeing on the tuner. :)

[@es__music]

@@MartilnMusic Thank you for the reply! I actually asked too soon because I realized if I would just finished watching your video, I wouldn’t gotten the answer lol.

[@ZooDinghy]

Oh boy! How can they hide such a fundamental feature such as the transpose setting? Why can't I simply define what note I am playing when I know it?

[@MartilnMusic]

You can define it in Sampler! I don't think having to use a tuner is a bad thing and it doesn't cause too much hassle, but yeah a 'root note' feature would be cool to see in Simpler too.

[@SlayingDisc]

Why are you using THAT microphone when the one behind you in the second shot of the video can fix the harsh “S” sound?

[@MartilnMusic]

3. main reasons: 1. It's easier for me to set up because the stand I have for the condenser mic is really finicky to set up (it's super old) and it's too heavy for the mic arm I have on the desk 2. I have a pretty reflective room and I can get closer to the dynamic mic 3. The dynamic mic picks up a bit less background noise because I can get closer to it, meaning that I can record videos with my main speakers running rather than using headphones. Also, the condenser will actually make sibilance more pronounced, I clearly just failed at de-essing and processing my voice for this video. 😂

[@ThePapabull]

nice vid man but I don't think you need anymore coffee!!!

[@MartilnMusic]

But coffee is life 😂

[@chiaki8965]

I think simpler is amazing not really seeing the hype of sampler

[@MartilnMusic]

They're both different beasts! If you were to try and create a sampler instrument (such as a realistic representation of a piano) using _just_ Simpler, then you'd have to do a lot of crazy stuff with instrument racks which can get confusing, vs. just having a single instance of Sampler to do it all for you. They might be similar, but really are quite different and it depends on what you're trying to do with them! :)

[@dkc7394]

Simpler is just a basic sampler whereas Sampler is a full fledged sampler. That doesn't mean Simpler is bad but Sampler does more. However, Simpler is great because of the Slice feature. I use it alot. But you can't tune each slice independently of the others, meaning if you transpose or detune lets say, Slice 3, it will transpose or detune all of the other slices. To do that you have to make it a Drum Rack. Sampler has are what are basically "keygroups" like in the Akai system of samplers. As mentioned in this video you can have several samples all on the same "channel" for lack of a better term right now, but you can program those different samples to play on different parts of the keyboard or pads. With each sound on its own keygroup or pad, you can now independently tune each sample to your liking. Its not the Sampler is hyped, its that you seem to have never really used a full fledged sampler to know its capabilities. Sampler really does alot more things and thats why Simpler is called Simpler, because its a simple sampler.

[@danielolg1509]

The a

[@MartilnMusic]

Or is it the 'i'? 🤔

[@danielolg1509]

@@MartilnMusic 🤯

[@danielolg1509]

Jokes aside, very helpful video, now that I'm retaking producing in Ableton, it comes super handy. Keep it up (:

[@JayVucci]

Good job, was fast! That piano sounds awful.

[@MartilnMusic]

Thanks! Definitely wasn't aiming for a good piano sound, just a proof of concept. 😂

[@JayVucci]

I don’t think anyone’s expecting amazing sounds from a concept. But pleasant sounds are expected because you’re dealing with audio. You wouldn’t go to a stylist who is dressed in shitty clothes. @@MartilnMusic

[@MartilnMusic]

@@JayVucci I appreciate the criticism. I honestly don't think I could have made the piano sound better and still be able to demonstrate how Sampler works in an easy way as I would have had to get into velocity layering, etc. I think for a raw, single velocity piano note, the sounds actually sound pretty decent and I haven't had anyone else complain about them! Creating a perfectly realistic piano sound is waaaaay outside the scope of this video.:)

[@user-tj5nk7lb8l]

try sampler yourself. you get more of your message out if you cut every other word out for the same vid length - otherwise i have to cut YT playback speed 50% to follow you garbling