BURNT HOUSE / SOUND DESIGN / RESAMPLING
Resampling is one of the simplest ways to escape a preset. You take a sound you have already created, print it to audio and treat the recording as raw material for a second instrument.
Why resampling works
A synth patch can contain movement that is difficult to reproduce with one MIDI note: filter sweeps, wavetable changes, distortion, modulation, pitch movement and effects tails. Printing the sound captures those decisions as audio. Once printed, you can cut the waveform, reverse it, stretch it, pitch it or trigger it as a new sample.
This creates a useful separation between sound design and arrangement. You can experiment freely with the patch, print several versions and then work with the strongest audio fragments in a way that is fast and precise.
Step 1: make a patch with movement
Start with a sound that changes over time. It could be a Serum 2 wavetable bass, a pad with filter modulation, a pluck with a changing envelope or a noise texture processed through delay and reverb. Do not make the patch so complicated that you cannot hear what is changing. Automate one or two parameters with a clear musical purpose.
Step 2: print more than one version
Record the sound at different pitches, velocities and envelope settings. Print a dry version and a processed version. Capture a long note, a short note and a phrase that includes modulation or automation. Keep the original MIDI and patch saved so you can return to the source if the resampled file needs to change.
Step 3: chop the audio into musical pieces
Transient cuts
Find the attack of the sound and create a one-shot. This works well for bass hits, plucks, impacts and percussive synths. Use fades to avoid clicks, but keep the transient sharp enough to retain its character.
Phrase cuts
Cut a longer section into a two- or four-bar phrase. Try shifting the start point, reversing the phrase or changing its pitch. A short piece of audio can become a rhythmic hook when the start and end points are chosen musically.
Texture cuts
Find a moment where the patch has an interesting sustain or effect tail. Freeze, stretch or reverse it into a pad or transition. Add filtering or granular processing if the audio needs to evolve further.
Step 4: turn the audio into a new instrument
Load a chosen fragment into a sampler or Cubase Sampler Track. Map it across the keyboard, set the root note and choose whether it should play one-shot, gate or looped. Adjust the envelope and pitch range so the sample stays musical over the notes you intend to use. A short bass hit can become a playable instrument; a sustained texture can become a pad.
Step 5: resample the resampling
Once the chopped audio is arranged, print it again through a new processing chain. This second pass might include distortion, filtering, chorus, reverb, pitch shifting or granular effects. Each resampling pass should have a clear role. Keep versions so you can move backwards if the sound loses definition.
Common mistakes
- Printing too quietly: leave headroom but make sure the source is not buried in noise.
- Cutting without fades: clicks can appear at zero-crossing mismatches; use short fades and listen.
- Pitching too far: extreme pitch shifts can remove the transient or make the sample lose its identity.
- Keeping every variation: save the best few fragments and delete the rest from the active project.
- Forgetting the source: archive the original patch and MIDI so future edits remain possible.
A resampling challenge
- Choose one synth patch and automate a filter, wavetable or effect over four bars.
- Print a dry and wet version at three pitches.
- Make one one-shot, one loop and one sustained texture from the audio.
- Load the best fragments into a sampler and write a new eight-bar section.
- Print that section again, then use it as the starting point for a contrasting arrangement.
The objective is not to create more files. It is to turn one sound into a small, coherent palette that feels like it belongs to your track.