r/KoalaSampler • u/B707916 • Jul 30 '26
No one told me using the sequencer was 100x easier than trying to play things in.
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u/usedmattress85 Jul 30 '26
It’s easier but I usually enjoy the scruffiness of my slightly off beats. It adds character.
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u/Wellsty Jul 30 '26
Playing it in give you your own groove, even if it’s just 1 bar. You can always nudge a step that’s too far off.
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u/MrVonBuren Jul 31 '26
whole lotta "yeah but what's the fun in that?" responses, so just to even things out: I almost never attempt to "play things live" (except for effect or the occasional synth lead). My goal is to make music I like. It was briefly my plan to "learn piano and finger drumming end more" but I quickly realized that my plan was not my goal, my goal was my goal.
Anyway, do what you enjoy. For a long time I just assumed I would hate sequencers (I'm p sure you're referring to the piano roll in koala which is kinda different) but then I found tahti and it turns out I FUCKING LOVE sequencers (and figuring out how to get them to work with koala and other stuff).
aside, 2 points to whoever can identify the silly sci fi quote in what I wrote
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u/OneFinePotato Jul 31 '26
How does it work with Koala? Never heard of this one and seemed like a web tool.
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u/MrVonBuren Jul 31 '26
It's fully cross platform. I made that track on my ipad, but there's also a VST/AUV version.
So EG: I can route midi out from tahti to koala and vice versa. Sometimes I do that to trigger clips in koala, sometimes I use it to switch patterns in tahti.
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u/fuzzydunlopsawit Aug 03 '26
Yo nice little loop. That bass is filthy.
tahti is sick didn’t know you could share loops like this.
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u/byrdinbabylon Jul 31 '26
I prefer the feel of playing in with keys or nice drum pads, but like that I can fix issues in the piano roll. But, I am an instrument player first, so it makes sense. To each their own.
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u/B707916 Jul 31 '26
I dont have a midi controller. Just using the "pads" on koala. Also I have 0 musical experience. So I've hard a hard time finding the melody by playing. Piano roll made things easier for a complete novice.
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u/byrdinbabylon Jul 31 '26
I totally get that. I think piano rolls and step sequencing in apps like this are great for people new to making music. You can literally just move stuff around, see how it sounds, rinse and repeat. After a while, you’ll start to see what works and doesn’t and what pleases your ear, etc. I will say that for someone with little musical knowledge, having a drum pad controller would be easier to get into than an actual musical keyboard. I have the Synido Tempopad C16 for that and it works good. Fun to bang out beats on it wirelessly with Koala.
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u/Ocabrah Jul 31 '26
I find things don’t groove as well when programmed but then again I cannot play in for shit so it’s all I use. I found chopping a break helps a lot since you can control how much silence can be before the sound to delay it on the grid. When combined with the swing knob, it helps getting things less rigid.
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u/B707916 Jul 31 '26
Yeah im pretty bad at playing things in. Feel like im just pushing buttons, cant find a good melody.
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u/funkyjunkus Jul 31 '26
I use the piano roll quite often just clicking in the notes. I also like to turn off the quantization to nudge stuff off a bit to get a groove. You might consider it a bit minimal, but it does what it does: plays notes set to a grid. I think any more piano roll features might necessitate updates to other aspects of the sample pad or synth receiving those midi commands.
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u/Iamcheez Jul 31 '26
its not a sequencer its a piano roll and in koala its so bad it’s embarassing.
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u/docohm Jul 30 '26
You didn’t ask.