I use more samples than synths, and the frequently used sets are all on HD, for faster loads and to avoid lots of CD switching. Still collecting, and my folders for sample storage are starting to get a bit unwieldy, what with different programmes and different wavs and all.
Of course it'll depend on what you have and how you work. But, has anyone developed a sensible folder organisation system for managing this which they'd like to share?
Organising a Sample Collection on HD
I have several GB of samples, too. I save the programs to one folder, and the samples themselves stay in their folders which I have basically set up as
"words" for spoken text samples,
"loops" for cut loops (with some subfolders)
"FX" for specialFXs and atmos,
"acoustic" for recorded natural instruments,
"drums" with subfolders "Kicks", "Snares", "Cymbals" and "additional" (for all the other percussionsounds),
"sampletemp" for samples that I´ve not yet finished cutting and editing,
"websamples" for samples I downloaded somewhere,
"remixstuff" for samples that belong to remixproductions and are not of my own origin.
...and then I have a folder "recTracks" for longer audiotracks of music that I´m still working on.
In addition I have just a few sampleCDs copied completely to my HDs as they were and kept up their original organisation (with folders for different BPM, styles, sorted by type of sounds, whatever)
But about 95% of my music is pure MIDI without any samples at all, maybe using two or three in a track and mostly not even from a sampler but rather as a short audiotrack in the arrangement. The problem is that I´m not the greatest friend of samplers. On the other hand I must admit that I´m getting used to samples more and more and start seeing the advantages, too. Also the samplers have become much better, more versatile and easier to handle, so I guess I´ll put more weight on the use of samples than I used to do so far... But: I don´t have a hardware sampler, which makes it impossible to use any sampled material for livegigs, that´s still a problem for me. I´d like to get the new MPC4000 as soon as I can afford it, then my setup´s definitely complete
Ok now, I guess this was some more information than you asked for!
"words" for spoken text samples,
"loops" for cut loops (with some subfolders)
"FX" for specialFXs and atmos,
"acoustic" for recorded natural instruments,
"drums" with subfolders "Kicks", "Snares", "Cymbals" and "additional" (for all the other percussionsounds),
"sampletemp" for samples that I´ve not yet finished cutting and editing,
"websamples" for samples I downloaded somewhere,
"remixstuff" for samples that belong to remixproductions and are not of my own origin.
...and then I have a folder "recTracks" for longer audiotracks of music that I´m still working on.
In addition I have just a few sampleCDs copied completely to my HDs as they were and kept up their original organisation (with folders for different BPM, styles, sorted by type of sounds, whatever)
But about 95% of my music is pure MIDI without any samples at all, maybe using two or three in a track and mostly not even from a sampler but rather as a short audiotrack in the arrangement. The problem is that I´m not the greatest friend of samplers. On the other hand I must admit that I´m getting used to samples more and more and start seeing the advantages, too. Also the samplers have become much better, more versatile and easier to handle, so I guess I´ll put more weight on the use of samples than I used to do so far... But: I don´t have a hardware sampler, which makes it impossible to use any sampled material for livegigs, that´s still a problem for me. I´d like to get the new MPC4000 as soon as I can afford it, then my setup´s definitely complete
Ok now, I guess this was some more information than you asked for!
My samples are mostly acoustic instruments sounds, so every instrument has its own folder, with all corresponding stuff in there. I might create sub-folders (like in percussions) to be more specific(like tuned or un-tuned percs...). It's kind of up to you set-up your library so you feel at home and know where things are...
Ciao!...
Ciao!...