# Organizing samples, libraries and patches.



## fustrun (Nov 25, 2019)

Hey all! I have been wondering how you all categorize or catalog your samples in order to find them quicker? I use an excel sheet but there has to be a better way .. especially for synth patches from various synths. Would love to hear your thoughts.


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## rrichard63 (Nov 25, 2019)

Have you looked at RY Sample Librarian?



RYAudio Sample Librarian - Manage your audio samples and sample CDs



It's extremely flexible and -- as far as I know -- robust. But it's aimed mainly at producers of music based on loop libraries and is somewhat less helpful to composers using multi-sampled instruments and synths. But for synths that store each patch in a separate file (e.g. *.fxp) you could train it to catalog all the *.fxp files it can find. In fact, you can train it to catalog any filename extension you want.

The problem that I encountered with this approach is granularity. Using VIs as an example, do I want a list of all my instruments -- including collections of instruments as one entry in the list -- or of all the instruments within each collection, or of all the articulations/patches for each instrument? Once you start trying to implement something like this, it gets hard to define exactly what the entries in the database should be.

I'm very interested in this topic, since my own spreadsheet has become a nightmare to maintain and to search in.


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## premjj (Nov 26, 2019)

Wouldn't Akai VIP work for this? I don't own it myself but have read up briefly on it.


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## rrichard63 (Nov 26, 2019)

premjj said:


> Wouldn't Akai VIP work for this? I don't own it myself but have read up briefly on it.


I forgot about Akai VIP. If it goes into enough detail about patches for each synth, it might be what the OP is looking for. I installed it once but then never used it much.


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## premjj (Nov 26, 2019)

rrichard63 said:


> I forgot about Akai VIP. If it goes into enough detail about patches for each synth, it might be what the OP is looking for. I installed it once but then never used it much.



It's on sale for $19.99 right now. I've been wondering if it's worth picking up. I have so much VI content that I really get bogged down by the thousands and thousands of presets they offer.


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## rrichard63 (Nov 26, 2019)

We haven't mentioned Komplete Kontrol yet. I don't use that either, so I don't know whether it offers any support (for example, enter all the preset names by hand) for instruments that are not KPS compatible.

EDIT: whoops, I meant "NKS".


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## Aphanasis (Nov 26, 2019)

Komplete Kontrol is great for NKS ready stuff, but not so much for libraries that aren't. There's a lot of folder browsing involved to access VSTs that aren't added via Native Access. 

I mean, it's no worse than folder browsing in Kontakt, but there's an awful lot of clicking involved just to be able to open your Kontakt Quickload menu because you can't access it with the default settings. In fairness, you may be able to change the default behaviour, but I've never had the inclination to look into it.

You can also add folders as favourites, but the space that holds the favourites list is limited, and it's not possible to resize the gui. This means a tiny scrollbar nightmare that's more frustrating than convenient. 

Having said all that, I reiterate, it's really great for stuff that's added via Native Access.


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## premjj (Nov 26, 2019)

rrichard63 said:


> We haven't mentioned Komplete Kontrol yet. I don't use that either, so I don't know whether it offers any support (for example, enter all the preset names by hand) for instruments that are not KPS compatible.



Thanks. I was about to mention the same. But no experience using it so wasn't sure how effective it is.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Nov 26, 2019)

I use Komplete Kontrol and Quickload. 

A company called *Freelance Soundlabs* offers NKS templates for things like Omnisphere and Falcon so I've bought a lot of them. They are constantly adding more instruments and expansions. Tremendously useful to be able to audition presets without loading them, and to be able to search by category and have the parameters preset up to knobs.

I like Quickload because you can put libraries in multiple categories. So many libraries have different kinds of things within them. I have a Quickload folder called "Rhythmic" so something like Signal can be there and also in a "Synth" category. I also have categories for "pads" and "soundscapes," etc. It takes time to set up Quickload, but after you do it, it is great. It's particularly useful for finding little freebies you've forgotten about. But... it's Kontakt only, and there are getting to be a lot of players. 

I prefer to load instruments within KK because the light guides work with most of them there, including instruments from other players than Kontakt. And if I use a library a lot, I make a MIDI template for it.


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## rrichard63 (Nov 26, 2019)

@fustrun, to what extent did your original question have to do specifically with the Kontakt ecosystem? This discussion is rapidly becoming Kontakt-specific and I'm not sure that's what you need. 

I admit, I started this by being the one to bring up Komplete Kontrol. Apologies if I sent us off on a tangent.


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## gsilbers (Nov 26, 2019)

fustrun said:


> Hey all! I have been wondering how you all categorize or catalog your samples in order to find them quicker? I use an excel sheet but there has to be a better way .. especially for synth patches from various synths. Would love to hear your thoughts.




I have anything loops and individual samples into one folder and subcategorized per genre. 

then a folder for orchestral libraries and another for other type of sample libraries. but im afraid that in there its just by companyname or library name. i do use kontakt quickload and use the most useful ones. 


for soundsets i use the synths i normally use and they pop up in the meny. U-he has its preset system so right click and put all the ones you like in there. for omni is the same and you do the dropdown menu user files and youll see the ones you want. similar for other synths but i do have one folder with all presets and in there divided per synth. 


i also have a software called Metadigger for SFX (post sfx) and it has a tag browswer so i can type robot and a bunc of files come up even if the file name is hyrdralic movement1.wav since the metadata was added to say robot. but not sure if its usefull for music or loops. 

i tried a few apps that where targeting this sort of find prests and sounds and libraries but didnt work as i thought or where too usefull... since the search was by name of the file so if i need violin sfx... a lot of patches woudnt come up.


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## Aphanasis (Nov 26, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> I use Komplete Kontrol and Quickload.



Firstly, thanks so much for your BF sales list - it's helped me enormously.

Secondly, I must be doing something wrong! 

Quickload doesn't function for me unless I put it into Edit View first. The same goes for loading multiple instruments into one instance of Kontakt. Absolutely love the full NKS browser though. It's very useful indeed. 

I think I'll have to RTFM and see if I can set the default view to be Edit, rather than Default.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Nov 26, 2019)

If anybody's looking for a way to organize samples, this *free Sample Manager* from ADSR is surprisingly good. 

​


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## rrichard63 (Nov 26, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> If anybody's looking for a way to organize samples, this *free Sample Manager* from ADSR is surprisingly good.
> 
> ​



Loopsmasters has a similar product called Loopcloud. I haven't mentioned either of them here because I haven't had a chance to play with them at all. The OP specifically mentioned synth presets (and I suspect VI articulations/patches pose the same issues). I'm not sure these tools would help with that.


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## Auddict (Nov 26, 2019)

Might be only a little relevant but, I’m wondering if Cubase 10.5’s ability to import tracks from other projects will change the way templates are used, as you could easily load groups of libraries in at a time in any categorisation method you choose


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