dropsicle sample player!
this little Flash-based sample player lets djs (or anyone, really) play your own drops, samples and effects. it also lets you switch between a single-hit and repeating trigger mode, and lets you adjust the volume of individual samples so your bomb drop doesn’t blow the speakers.
instructions (and Flash source code for nerds) after the jump.
HOW IT WORKS:
Dropsicle lets you trigger up to 12 of your own samples using either the mouse or keyboard. it’s inspired by flossyfx which is an awesome lightweight Flash sample player, but i wanted to be able to add my own sounds. in addition to adding and changing sounds, you can individually control the playback volumes of each one, and also switch between two playback modes (restarting the sample each time it’s triggered or being able to play it multiple times).
getting it running is pretty simple, really. first thing, you’ll want to get some mp3 samples or sound fx together that you want to trigger with the sampler (i put in a kind-of-low-quality airhorn sound to get things started, but i’d replace that first thing). there are two steps to getting your own sounds ready for the sampler to play.
PLACE YOUR MP3 FILES IN THE RIGHT FOLDER.
the folder called “mp3?” that’s where all of your mp3 files go. only mp3 files will work with this right now. no wav, no aiff, no like ogg vorbis or whatever.
PUT YOUR MP3 FILES ON THE “SAMPLE LIST”.
there’s a file called “samples.xml” which tells Dropsicle which sounds you want it to play. open this file up in almost any text editor (Notepad - cool. TextEdit - cool. don’t use MS Word if you can help it, since it adds all sorts of extra trash that’ll probably mess things up).
once the file is open, all you have to do is copy and paste the line that starts with “<samples …>” one time for each new sample you wish to add. keep in mind that Dropsicle can only play 12 samples, so don’t put more than that.
finally, change the file names between the quotes to match the file names of each of your samples. so the first one’s default filename is “airhorn.mp3″ but you’ll want to change that to “lionroar.mp3″ or whatever the first mp3 file you want to trigger is. do that for each of your 12 sound files, save the document, and close it.
for the less technically-inclined, congratulations: you just edited an XML file.
START DROPPING BOMBS
yeah dude. so now that you have your 12 (or less than 12. but not more than 12) mp3 samples ready to go and added to the list, you can open Dropsicle and start playing.
i’ve included Flash projector files for both Mac and PC, so you should be good either way. if you have problems opening the Flash projector (i have issues on my old g4 powerbook) try dragging “dropsicle.swf” onto the projector file (the one with the big “F” icon) and see what happens. it should launch as a standalone application, which you can run behind Serato or however you like.
then, i just run my powerbook’s line out into my mixer’s mic channel, and then hit command-tab to switch from Serato to Dropsicle when it’s airhorn time. and when is it NOT airhorn time, really.
SOURCE CODE AND IMPROVEMENTS:
here’s a link to the Flash source code for Dropsicle if there’s anyone out there who wants to take a look or to add to it or incorporate it into their own applications. it’s built using Actionscript 3 which i’m new to, so it might not be the most efficient, but i’m definitely thinking that it’s not bad, either.
Download Dropsicle with source code (6mb)
if you have any suggestions for improvements or other features to add, leave them in the comments section. i’d love to hear them and to hear if you find this little application useful!
21 comments October 15th, 2007