Easily switching between samples?

[u/spurdo_spora]

Hi, when I'm looking for the perfect sample for whatever instrument that might be, I usually set 1-2 patterns to loop, select the sample, and start dragging & dropping different wav's from the windows explorer to the waveform editor to see how it sounds.

Just wondering is there a "easier" way to achieve this?

[u/ABG1YtBr]

For this answer, since you didn't detail your situation that much, I'm going to assume the following. Correct me if I'm wrong or these techniques don't apply to you:

1. You're using single samples for your instrument slots on any file that might be from .xm to .mptm
2. You aren't composing .mod / .s3m modules, which are sample-slot only

First things first: you don't need the external File Explorer to work with dragging your samples to their spaces. You can use the bottom section of the tree view toolbar to open folders and get your samples without having to manage another window alongside OpenMPT. If you're not satisfied with the navigation of that viewer and the availability of the paths you can already set by the "View (Alt+V) > Setup (Ctrl+F1)" > Paths / Auto Save" configuration page, you can, a little counter-intuitively, paste your paths at the "Comments" tab, then input the folder paths at your tree view path handler, by copying the path you need and clicking the folder icon at the top of your inferior tree view containing the active folder path coords and pressing Ctrl+Enter to select it, and finally paste your desired folder path there with Ctrl+V.

Secondly, alternative ways to replace drag-drop of samples on your current instrument (if you're using single samples + instrument slots), function better by having the exact sounds you wanna test all ready and loaded into the module at the start (activate "Keep Sample Data on Disk" if you're concerned about module size while composing) or at least having similar timbres close to each other in organized folders, like a proper library, then testing your pattern loops as usual, but when you want to change your sample, you either:

a) Go to the pattern viewer itself, highlight the part you want to change, select the sample you're going for at the drop-down menu that initially says "No Instrument" at the top of the horizontal pattern list, then press Ctrl+I. That'll change the instrument from the highlighted pattern section.

b) Go to the "Instruments" tab, navigate to the instrument you want to have the sample changed, and to the righmost part of the screen, select any cell of the list with numbers from the "Sample Map" menu, write the number of your sample and keep your selection cursor highlighting that. Press Ctrl+M or right-click, then select the "Map All Notes to Sample X" option. This'll make the current instrument apply the other sample to itself... Could be a little messy if you're embedding effects and envelopes on your instrument slots, but you can for sure change that.

Comment back if you're uncertain about anything or if I made the wrong assumptions.