I heard on the dubstep production forum that some dubstep and dnb producers sample their basses to conserve cpu usage and also to add extra tweaking capabilities to their sound. What are some rules of thumb when it comes to doing this? Should I sample full measures or do each bar and put them together within a single instrument slot? What do you guys do?
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There’s no right way to do it.
I like to keep samples in separate instruments, so I can write melodies with them. I’d prefer to keep them in a single instrument, but Renoise instruments are currently too limited for that.
However…
I was fairly certain that Redux lets you do this more easily, with its “direct sample reference” feature – it’s just another column where you can enter the sample index.
So that’s awesome, it’s exactly what I want.
In any case, samples are samples, so just chuck some samples in and figure out a way that works for you 
As pat says, resampling is totally at your discretion, it’s art after all. But there are some things to be aware of when resampling. With every act of resampling comes a decision to make your composition or sounds more static. I’d reckon (personal opinion) there’s really four major places in production where resampling comes in handy (but it’s an incredibly versatile manuever so there’s probably an insane amount of applications I am overlooking):
a) resampling an instrument, to either save on CPU usage when using a VSTi, or to commit to a sound you like when CPU is not a concern
b ) resampling a sequence, to create more complex sample mangling options (helps when wanting to use pattern effect commands on a VSTi sound)
c) resampling an effected signal, to free up resources when using VST effects that are CPU intensive
d) resampling as a form of project management, to track decision points in the writing process, and to tidy up unwieldy automation/modulation
I imply the distinction between VST instruments/VST fx, and native devices because Renoise is insanely CPU efficient, but you can find yourself in deep with native devices across a large number of tracks in which case resampling native devices is equally beneficial. When resampling an instrument, either manually rendering a single note as a sample (automatically creates a new instrument) or using the Plug-in Grabber feature, you are losing all of the flexibility and control that an instrument offers. So there are some measures you can take prior to resampling that will maximize the amount of sonic flexibility you get after resampling. Among these measures are opening filters on oscillators, reducing drastic envelope usage, and bypassing effects that are housed within the VSTi. This helps maintain flexibility because these are all features you can implement after the resampling stage through Renoise’s instrument and effect options. It should be made clear that not all filtering, envelope, and effect algorithms are equal (cause what fun would that be), so if you like the way a filter in your VST sounds, or if you find it hard to recreate a particularly snappy analog-modelled envelope in the native options, or if you really enjoy the reverb that comes with a particular synth for instance, then resample those aspects of the sound. Just be aware that there’s no going back without getting into auto suspend, track-freezing, and patch saving and management. In the case of resampling sequences, just know that if you decide you want to change a melody or the key of your track, then you’ll have hold on to the sequence (in a dummy track perhaps) as well as the original sounds (be it an active instrument or a saved instrument patch) you used. This is what makes resampling instruments a good alternative to resampling your sequences, because you can maintain compositional flexibility while committing to sound design. In the case of effects, I personally turn effects that I’m about to resample fully wet, and then record, so that I can maintain a wet/dry blend without needing to keep the effect on hand, again for freeing up CPU. just keep in mind that, generally speaking, you have to maintain the signal that is going through the effect otherwise your wet won’t match the dry, but you can also come up with some awesome sounds by doing just the opposite. Finally, resampling makes for a great way to maintain your projects, not only to keep them clean from too much going on in terms of modulation or automation (with too much of it, you’ll have no clue what control corresponds to the change your hearing, or visa versa), but also to give you a bit more piece of mind in the writing process. Can’t decide between melody A or B? No problem, resample both! Just keep in mind the caveats described above about choices that result in a more static composition. One of my favorite and most common applications of resampling in my own production is to take a simple perc, sequence it to taste, and then place a crazy amount of effects and modulate 5-10 parameters across the effect chain with their own LFOs, set to cycle every 10+ bars, and offset from each other. Then, once you’ve rendered the pattern to a sample, you end up with either a long evolving sequence, or a crazy amount of unqiue one-shots to chop and re-sequence. For me, a few of my main interests in using Renoise as my main DAW to begin with is its focus on lossless resampling, its CPU efficiency, and it’s self-containment. Another great benefit of using resampling for project management is that if you resample as you write, sound design, mix, etc., you end up with a self-contained XRNS that doesn’t rely on all of the finnicky dependecies of VST instruments and effects. I bounce all my mixes to stems so that I have a copy of the track as a project, and then a copy that just provides for easy synced stem playback. Also makes for great sample fodder down the road, if I can ever remember to go back and revisit them, ha. So maintaining some flexibility with the measures described above helps ensure that years down the road you can go back to the other melody, or change the amount of reverb on an aux send, etc… You’ll have to keep track of the order in which you want to do things for a while, but eventually it sorta gets built into your workflow. Resampling is an inherent tradeoff, but an incredibly useful one.
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Yeah resampling could mean a few different things indeed. In Renoise the greatest benefit for me is being able to chop up, reverse, glide and re-sequence your riff or oneshot reese sample using pattern commands (0Sxx, 0Bxx, 0Dxx, 0Uxx etc). Just love it!
Here’s a bass tutorial of mine that does some resampling: http://vorpalsound.com/vs/redux-bass-part-1/
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