Managing sample library via microSD

[chrisroland]

Took the plunge on a Blackbox 1010 this week and still in the setting it up phase. I don't intend for it to be my main percussion unit, other than looping sampled drum beats, e.g., Amen breaks. So a lot of the factory samples on the provided microSD card (Individual drum sounds) are unlikely to get much use. But many of the other sounds/loops are interesting and would be useful in my overall library to add to presets as needed.

But since I anticipate building my own library of loops etc. more or less from scratch on a second (much larger) card, not sure how to incorporate any of the factory sounds i want to use on the provided card, or at least without a lot of swapping cards in and out. Can you load samples from one card onto a pad, but then save them to a second card, i.e., does the sample stay in BB memory even if you're switching out cards to save it on a different one?

Or should I just download the factory files to the new card from the Forum at the outset and work with them all that way from the start?

[Steve]

You can use your own and you don't need to use or keep the factory content. It is normal to use multiple cards but loading from one and saving to the other is not a good strategy. The box streams audio to ram (buffers). So if you have a really short file it is likely it will all get loaded. If you use longer files, the box will fill the buffer as you empty it. The better strategy for moving between cards is to Pack the preset, then transfer via computer.

Check out our YouTube channel for tutorials and other info.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEX4Zo2qD5XLPZshzJtDnWQ

[insektgod]

I got my blackbox used and it did not have the factory content... I loaded it and found that even though it did not reflect my own exotic and refined tastes the material was very instructional toward creating my own presets. Once you've spent time with the factory content you definitely start to get ideas for how the blackbox can help you shape your own sound.

You need to use a computer and file browser (finder) to reliably move files and patches between MicroSD cards conveniently though... a PC makes backing up your samples and presets easier once you've connected the Micro-SD to the computer.

The only possible weirdness you'll find is that your blackbox recorded samples will live in the Presets folder under their own preset name with the .ALS and .XML files that the blackbox uses to know how your preset is built and what sample content lives where that it is using.

Some of the Factory Preset content is built accessing pre-installed sample sets which are merely referenced where they live and not duplicated into the Presets actual folder... this will likely happen when you add your own Sample Libraries and incorporate them into Presets as well.

The downside for this is that if the Sample Library folder is ever deleted, moved, or renamed, the Presets that use those libraries will be told to "Go Fish" when they're loaded subsequently.

The upside is that you don't have piles of duplicated sample files clogging up your storage (ask any Akai MPC Stand Alone User).

[Steve]

this is why we added PACK to the preset File menu.

[jgartner]

I copied the factory content to a 512GB and then copied another 40GB of samples from my library and have plenty of room to spare (435GB). I left the factory content on to help with the learning process, but will remove it at some point. You will want to keep the factory directory structure in place though, otherwise you'll need to update the content paths in the XML files.

With the low cost of storage, this is the best way to go for me. I used my computer to copy the samples onto the card and then do some cleaning and organizing before putting it back into the blackbox. The cards are hot-swappable too so I don't even need to power down the blackbox if I need to pop the card out.