I'm experimenting with this by editing the .artipreset file(s) to point to custom samples. I'm still learning how this works but it could be quite sophisticated since it also supports velocity thresholds :) This will definitely be possible as long as Artiphon puts the effort into it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny9TQ-hYHyE
@subskybox that is incredible and exactly what I was hoping could be done! Thank you for sharing the example video, so cool. I also hope Artiphon takes note of this and implements a structured way to do this that integrates with their apps - particularly the desktop app, though I imagine they'd probably do both if/when they did.
I have a super rudimentary understanding of Python, but would totally be interested in looking at what you did if you're interested in sharing. Or even the code with the most important sections commented out/explained a bit.
@ChrisH, There is no need to code, you just need to be a bit handy editing audio files (e.g. Audacity) and modifying some info in the .artipreset file (this is just xml/text). I will share the process once I fine tune it. The video I shared above didn't come out exactly how I expected so I still have some research to do. Once I figure it out, I may add that functionality to my Orba tool https://github.com/subskybox/Orba
The latest Orba 2 app update includes four new presets from the BPM Create library. All four are excellent. The drum preset uses samples! The other sample based presets wrap the individual samples in a "sampleset" file with an inaccessible internal structure, but the BPM Create samples are exposed in a different directory, so it should be easy to decode the "artipreset" file for the drum preset.
User created presets and samples are in the "Documents >> Artiphon >> Common >> Presets" and "Documents >> Artiphon >> Common >> SamplePools" folders.
The apps built-in stuff is in "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Artiphon\Common\Presets" and "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Artiphon\Common\SamplePools".
The new BPM samples are in "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Artiphon\Common\SamplePools\ArtiphonExt2\HorrorDrums" and they are referenced in the "HorrorDrums_08eafcfdafd7430890e9d961c5054948.artipreset" preset file, so this should make it easy to figure out where to put our custom drum samples and how to reference them in a preset.
Sounds promising, cheers...
@GabrielVelasco
Here is a kit I made from Garageband sounds. If you add these to the correct places it should work?
@BJG145 Would you mind giving it a try? It works for me if I add to the MSC folder but hoping that adding it to the Preset folder will allow you to select "Send to Orba".
Also you should be able to drag the Common folder from the zip to the Documents/Artiphon folder and Windows should give you the option to merge. This can be done on Mac as well by holding the <Option> key when dragging/dropping.
I got in a bit of a tangle with this initially, probably by adding it to the pubic folder instead of the user one. But I ended up changing all the references to "SubSkyKit", made a fresh start with this in the user folder, and it all worked fine. The samples synced automatically. Nice one.
Nice. I've been struggling to get it to push the samples to the device unless I copy them to MSC manually. I think my machines are unreliable for serial file transfer. Also I realized I zipped in a bunch of .DSStore files by accident. They can all be deleted. Editing the factory and readOnly properties in the .artipreset file controls whether you can DELETE the Preset from the UI.
To confirm, you did not have to copy samples into MSC manually and the app synchronized on its own? I've had issues similar to "SubSkyKit". I've come to realize that it seems the app builds a cache of required files in "C:\Users\<USER>\Documents\Artiphon\Orba\app.properties" and it helps to remove it from there. I'm trying to figure out the process of distributing custom Presets but it seems my machines are not reliable :(
@BJG145 I'm guessing its because I did not add UUIDs to the wav files.. Did your app happen to append UUIDs to the .wav filenames?
I think it put the folder on the Orba itself, but if you can put together another preset file I'd like to test the process again because I muddled things up a bit this time.
Maybe you could include a stereo sample file like the one attached; I'm interested in seeing if it can handle those. I also noticed that most of the samples are 48KHz but the test ones were 44KHz; I think this might have caused a pitch shift.
(Eg stereo sample example)
I'm not sure whether there was an original Technokit, which you edited, or whether Technokit was a new name...?
I made the name and used ThomKit as the base. In retrospect, I should have used TaetroKit which is a cleaner template to start from. I haven't tried with Stereo samples yet. From the Orba1 teardown does the Orba have stereo speakers? Or would it only be from the headphone jack? I have some tweaks I need to do and will upload another Preset.
One thing I found out is that you can change the subfolder property and pick and choose. This is great because you can make your own collection of Drum sounds from all the samples on the device. Pick the best of the best to make your own kit. That only requires a new .artipreset file. Start with TaetroKit and then pick your favorite .wav references. Many drum kits have more than 9 sounds. Sometimes 16 or 17 sounds. This suggests that Artiphon will allow you to customize in the future.
Chris Hernandez
Hi Artiphon,
Any updates on whether/when there will be added functionality to the Orba 2 app allowing for user-customizable drum presets? I realize there are only 2gb of space available, but would love even just 2-4 customizable preset slots on the desktop app where I could assign all 9 keys. I primarily use my Orba 2 for on-the-go songwriting, and having a drum kit that matches the sound(s) I'm going for would be huge.
I realize that in order for the functionality to fully transfer on iOS, the user would probably need to send the drum sample files with unmodified file names to the associated preset folder on their phone. I've already done this with custom bass presets from OrbaSynth and I don't think it would be a problem for anyone with mid-level technical prowess. I think this feature would exponentially boost the value of the Orba 2 for anyone interested in quick, on-the-go production.
I'm about to write another request/problem I'm having with OrbaSynth, which is otherwise incredibly useful from a production standpoint. Planning on making a youtube review video as well. Thanks for keeping the updates coming, super excited for what's to come!
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