DecentSampler: File Format Reference Guide

Document Version: 1.5.24

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The top-level <DecentSampler> element (required)
  • The <ui> element (optional)
    • The <tab> element
      • The <image> element
      • The <label> element
      • The <labeled-knob> and <control> elements
      • The <menu> element
        • The <option> element
    • The <keyboard> element
      • The <color> element
  • The <groups> element (required)
    • The <group> element
      • The <sample> element
  • The <effects> element
    • The <effect> element
      • Low-pass, Band pass, and Hi-pass filter
      • Gain effect
      • Reverb effect
      • Delay effect
      • Chorus effect
      • Phaser effect
  • The <midi> element
    • The <cc> element
    • The <note> element
  • The <modulators> element
    • The <lfo> element
    • The <envelope> element
  • The <tags> element
    • The <tag> element
• Appendix A: The Color Format
• Appendix B: The <binding> element
  • Controllable Parameters
  • Translation Modes
• Appendix C: Boilerplate .dspreset File
• Appendix D: How to Control Parameters Using Tags (Example: Mic-level Knobs)
• Appendix E: How to do voice-muting for drums
• Appendix F: How to implement true legato
• Appendix G: Advanced Topics

Introduction

At its core each DecentSampler sample library consists of two things: a folder containing a bunch of assets like audio files and pictures, and a single text file (called a dspreset file) which describes how the engine should use all of those files. This reference document is a guide to creating dspreset files.

dspreset files are just XML files. As such, each one begins with an XML declaration:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

The top-level <DecentSampler> element (required)

At the top level of every dspreset file is a <DecentSampler> element. Every file must have one. Here is a list of attributes:

• minVersion (optional): This is the minimum version on which this preset is known to run. If a user is running an old version of DS, and a developer has specified a minVersion for their instrument, a dialog box will show up telling users that their version is outdated and that they should upgrade in order to get the full effect. They can than choose to ignore this warning or hit download. The dialog box does not show up for iOS users as most of them have auto-updates turned on.

Example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DecentSampler minVersion="1.0.0">
    <!-- More tags go here. :) -->
</DecentSampler>

Underneath the top-level <DecentSampler> element you can put any number of other elements, which are described below:

The <ui> element (optional)

The <ui> element is how you specify a user interface for your instrument. Each dspreset should have at most one <ui> element. There are several important attributes:

• coverArt (optional): A relative or absolutely path to a cover art image to use. After the first time this library is opened, this will get displayed on the “My Libraries” tab.
• bgImage (optional): A relative or absolutely path to a background image to use.
• bgColor (required): An eight digit hex value indicating the background color to be used for the background of the UI. This color will be drawn underneath any background image specified by bgimage.
• width (required): The width of your user interface. Recommended value: 812.
• height (required): The height of your user interface. Recommended value: 375.

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <ui width="812" height="375">
    <tab name="main">
      <labeled-knob x="560" y="0" label="Tone" type="float" minValue="60" maxValue="22000"
                    textColor="FF000000" value="22000.0" uid="y8AA4uuURh3">
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="FX_FILTER_FREQUENCY"/>
      </labeled-knob>
      <label x="360" y="0" width="50" height="30" text="Reverb"/>
      <control x="360" y="30" parameterName="Reverb" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="1" textColor="FF000000" value="0.5">
      <!-- Your <binding /> elements should go here -->
      </control>
    </tab>
  </ui>
</DecentSampler>

The <tab> element

The <tab> element lives underneath the <ui> element. This architecture was chosen because we may, at some point, add support for multiple tabs. At present it is only possible to have a single tab within DecentSampler instruments. As such, every UI must have at most one <tab> element.

Attributes:

• name (optional): An optional name to be associated with this tab. This is currently not displayed anywhere.

The <image> element

The <image> element allows you to place a static image into your user interface. It lives underneath the <tab> element. Attributes:

• x (required): The x position of your image where (0,0) is the top-left corner
• y (required): The y position of your image where (0,0) is the top-left corner
• width (required): The width in pixels of the image component
• height (required): The height in pixels of the image component
• path (required): The relative path of the image file to show in this component
• aspectRatioMode (required): Whether or not the engine should preserve the aspect ratio of the image. Note: regardless of these settings, you still need to specify a width and height for your image element. Valid values: preserve, stretch. Default value is preserve.

The <label> element

The <label> element allows you to place a static block of text into yoru user interface. It lives underneath the <tab> element. Attributes:

• x (required): The x position of your control where (0,0) is the top-left corner
• y (required): The y position of your control where (0,0) is the top-left corner
• text (required): The actual text that should be displayed as part of the label.
• textColor (optional): An 8 digit hex value indicating the text color to be used for the label. See Appendix A for an explanation on these hex values.
• textSize (optional): A font size for the text label. Default: 12
• width (required): The width in pixels of the label.
• height (required): The height in pixels of the label.
• vAlign (optional): The vertical alignment of the text within the box described by the width and height attributes. Valid values: top,bottom, center. Default is center.
• hAlign (optional): The horizontal alignment of the text within the box described by the width and height attributes. Valid values: left,right, center. Default is center.

A label’s text can also be set dynamically using bindings using the TEXT binding parameter name.

The <labeled-knob> and <control> elements

The <labeled-knob> and <control> elements live underneath the <tab> element. These tags correspond to user controls (usually round radial dials) that can be used as part of a UI. These two element types are the same except that <labeled-knob> elements contain built-in labels, where as <control> elements do not. Every tab can have many <control> or <labeled-knob> elements underneath it.

For precise UI creation, it may be advisable to use a combination of <control> & <label> elements rather than <labeled-knob>.

Attributes:

• x (required): The x position of your control where (0,0) is the top-left corner
• y (required): The y position of your control where (0,0) is the top-left corner
• width (required): The width in pixels of the knob + label.
• height (required): The height in pixels of the knob + label.
• parameterName (required): In a situation where the sampler does not have enough room to display the full UI, a shrunken down version of the UI will be used. In such situations, this control will be labeled using the parameterName. It is good practice to always include a parameterName. If not parameterName is specified and a value label is specified, then that will be used instead.
• style (optional): The specific kind of control that is created. The following values are supported: linear_bar, linear_bar_vertical, linear_horizontal, linear_vertical, rotary, rotary_horizontal_drag, rotary_horizontal_vertical_drag, rotary_vertical_drag. Default: rotary_vertical_drag.
• showLabel (optional): A true/false value dictating whether or not a built-in label should be displayed. Default: true for <labeled-knob> and false for <control> elements
• label (optional): If showLabel is true, the actual text that should be displayed above the control.
• parameterName (required): In a situation where the sampler does not have enough room to display the full UI, a shrunken down version of the UI will be used. In such situations, this control will be labeled using the parameterName. It is good practice to always include a parameterName.
• minValue (optional): The minimum value of your control. Default: 0
• maxValue (optional): The maximum value of your control. Default: 1
• value (optional): The initial value of your control. Default: 0
• textColor (optional): An 8 digit hex value indicating the text color to be used for the label. See Appendix A for an explanation on these hex values.
• textSize (optional): A font size for the text label. Default: 12
• trackForegroundColor (optional): An 8 digit hex value indicating the foreground color to use for the knob track. See Appendix A for an explanation on these hex values.
• trackBackgroundColor (optional): An 8 digit hex value indicating the background color to use for the knob track. See Appendix A for an explanation on these hex values.
• uid (optional): This is an internally generated value. This can be ignored.

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <ui>
    <tab>
      <labeled-knob x="560" y="0" label="Tone" type="float" minValue="60" maxValue="22000" textColor="FF000000" value="22000.0">
      <!-- Your <binding /> elements should go here -->
      </labeled-knob>
      <label x="360" y="0" width="50" height="30" text="Reverb"/>
      <control x="360" y="30" parameterName="Reverb" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="1" textColor="FF000000" value="0.5">
      <!-- Your <binding /> elements should go here -->
      </control>
    </tab>
  </ui>
</DecentSampler>

To learn how to make knobs actually control parameters of your instrument, see “Appendix B: Bindings” section below.

The <menu> element

The <menu> element allows you to create a drop-down menu within your UI.

Attributes:

Example:

<menu x="10" y="40"  width="120" height="30" value="2">
    <!-- Your menu options go here -->
</menu>

The <option> element

In order for your drop-down menu to have options, it must contain <option> elements.

Attributes:

That’s right. The <option> element has only one attribute. In order to have your <option> elements actually do something useful, you need to attach bindings to them. Here’s an example:

<menu x="10" y="40"  width="120" height="30" requireSelection="true" placeholderText="Choose..." value="2">
    <option name="Menu Option 1">
        <!-- Set the text of a label element -->
        <binding type="control" level="ui" position="2" parameter="TEXT" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="You chose the first option." />
        <!-- Turn on this group -->
        <binding type="general" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="true" />
        <!-- Turn off this group -->
        <binding type="general" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="false" />
    </option>
    <option name="Menu Option 2">
        <!-- Set the text of a label element -->
        <binding type="control" level="ui" position="2" parameter="TEXT" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="You chose the second option." />
        <!-- Turn off this group -->
        <binding type="general" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="false" />
        <!-- Turn on this group -->
        <binding type="general" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="true" />
    </option>
  </menu>

As you can see, this example uses a menu to switch between two groups. It also sets the text of a text label. You’ll note the liberal use of the new fixed_value translation mode above. This means that when any of these options are selected, a fixed predetermined value is used for the value of that binding.

The <keyboard> element

The <keyboard> element lives underneath the <ui> element. This is where you specify settings relating to the on-screen keyboard. There should be only one <keyboard> element in your preset file. At this point, the only settings are color ranges which are specified using <color> sub-elements.

The <color> element

You can use <color> elements to change the color of portions of the on-screen keyboard. You can have as many <color> elements as you like. Only white keys are affected. It’s worth noting that colors specified in the <color> elements are overlayed on top of the white keys using a 75% transparency, so choose your colors accordingly. This is done to preserve the readability of the key labels.

<DecentSampler>
    <ui>
        <!-- Other stuff here -->
        <keyboard>
            <color loNote="36" hiNote="50" color="FF2C365E" />
            <color loNote="51" hiNote="57" color="FF6D9DC5" />
            <color loNote="58" hiNote="67" color="FFCCF3F5" />
            <color loNote="68" hiNote="73" color="FFE8DA9B" />
            <color loNote="74" hiNote="84" color="FFD19D61" />
        </keyboard>
    </ui>
    <!-- Other stuff here -->
</DecentSampler>

The <groups> element (required)

Every dspreset file should have one and only one <groups> element. This is where you specify the samples that make up your sample library. This element lives right underneath the top-level <DecentSampler> element. The basic structure is this:

<DecentSampler>
    <groups>
        <group>
            <sample /> <!-- This is where -->
            <sample /> <!-- the samples   -->
            <sample /> <!-- get defined   -->
        </group>
    </groups>
</DecentSampler>

The <group> element

Samples live in groups. There can be many group elements under the <groups> element. It can be useful to sort your samples into groups in order to apply similar settings to them or to control them with a knob. The order of groups in a file matters insofar as bindings will often reference groups by using an index. The first group in a file is group 0, the second is group 1, etc.

The <sample> element

Underneath the <group> elements are <sample> elements. Each sample corresponds to a playable “zone” of your instrument. Attributes:

Looping

Amplitude Envelope

Each sample has its own ADSR amplitude envelope.

The curve shapes of the attack, decay, and release zones can be changed as well. All three of the of the following parameters use the same system: a value from -100 to 100 that determines the shape of the curve. -100 is a logarithmic curve, 0 is a linear curve, and 100 is an exponential curve.

Round Robins

Round robins allow different samples to be played each time a zone is triggered. This is especially useful with sounds that have short attacks (such as drums), and is a great way to keep your sample libraries from sounding fake. In order for round robins to work, you must specify both a seqMode and a seqPosition for all samples. If you have several different sets of round robins with different lengths, you’ll want to set the seqLength value as well. There are several round-robin modes:

• round_robin: This causes samples to be triggered sequentially according to their seqPosition values.
• random: This causes random samples to be chosen from within the group of samples. If there are more than two round robins, then the algorithm makes sure not to hit the same one twice in a row.
• true_random: This causes random samples to be chosen from within the group of samples.
• always: This just turns round robins off.

Voice-Muting / Legato

Looping

The <effects> element

Adding global, instrument-wide effects is easy: just add an <effects> element right below your top-level <DecentSampler> element.

It is also possible to have effects that only get added to a specific group. To adding effects that only apply to a specific group, all you need to do is create an <effects> group that lives underneath the <group> element for the group you want to affect.

Group level effects are initialized every time a note is started and destroyed every time a note is stopped. If you play two notes simultaneously, two instances of this effect will be created and these will be independent of eachother. As a result, they use more CPU than global effects.

NOTE: Only certain effects will work as group-level effects: lowpass filter, hipass filter, bandpass filter, gain, and chorus. Delay and reverb cannot work properly as they will be deleted before their tail peters out.

The <effect> element

Within the <effects> element, you can have any number of <effect> sub-elements. These specify parameters for each individual effect that you would like to have in your global effects chain. There are currently only a handful effects available although more could definitely be added on request:

Low-pass, Band pass, and Hi-pass filter

A 2-pole resonance filter that can be either a lowpass, bandpass, or highpass filter

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <effects>
    <effect type="lowpass_4pl" resonance="0.7" frequency="22000" />
  </effects>
</DecentSampler>

Attributes:

Gain effect

Applies a volume boost or cut to the output signal.

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <effects>
    <effect type="gain" level="0.5" />
  </effects>
</DecentSampler>

Attributes:

Reverb effect

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <effects>
    <effect type="reverb" roomSize="" damping="" wetLevel="" />
  </effects>
</DecentSampler>

Attributes:

Delay effect

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <effects>
    <effect type="delay" delayTime="0.5" stereoOffset="0.01" feedback="0.2" wetLevel="0.5" />
  </effects>
</DecentSampler>

Attributes:

Chorus effect

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <effects>
    <effect type="chorus" mix="0.5" modDepth="0.2" modRate="0.2"/>
  </effects>
</DecentSampler>

Attributes:

Phaser effect

Example:

<DecentSampler>
  <effects>
    <effect type="phaser" mix="0.5" modDepth="0.2" modRate="0.2" centerFrequency="400" feedback="0.7" />
  </effects>
</DecentSampler>

Attributes:

The <midi> element

MIDI mappings can be added to your instrument by adding a <midi> element right below your top-level <DecentSampler> element.

The <cc> element

Within the <midi> element, you can have any number of <cc> elements. These allow you to map changes in incoming continuous controller messages to specific parameters of your instrument. To use this functionality, you’ll want to add a separate <cc> element for each CC number you would like to respond to. The <cc> element has a single required attribute number="" which specifies the number (from 0 to 127) of the continuous controller you would like to listen on. Beneath the <cc> element, you can have any number of bindings.

<midi>
  <cc number="11">
    <binding level="ui" type="control" position="0" parameter="VALUE" translation="linear" 
             translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1"/>
  </cc>
  <cc number="1">
    <binding level="ui" type="control" position="1" parameter="VALUE" translation="linear" 
             translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1"/>
  </cc>
</midi>

The <note> element

Within the <midi> element, you can have any number of <note> elements. These allow you to map specific notes to specific parameters of your instrument. To use this functionality, you’ll want to add a separate <note> element for each MIDI note you would like to respond to. The <note> element has a single required attribute note="" which specifies the number (from 0 to 127) of the MIDI note you would like to listen on. Beneath the <note> element, you can have any number of bindings. Here is an example of how keyswitches could be set up:

<midi>
  <note note="11">
    <binding type="general" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="true" />
    <binding type="general" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="false" />
  </note>
  <note note="12">
    <binding type="general" level="group" position="0" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="false" />
    <binding type="general" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="true" />
  </note>
</midi>

In the above keyswitch example, MIDI note 11 turns on group 0 and turns off group 1, whereas MIDI note 12 does the opposite. Note the use of the fixed_value translation type.

Bindings within the <midi> section

The bindings that the <cc> and <note> element listens on are the same as those used by the UI controls. See Appendix B for a complete description of these.

If you have a UI control mapped to the same internal parameter as a MIDI mapping, you’ll want to have your MIDI mapping control the UI control instead of the parameter directly. The benefit of doing this is that, as the MIDI CC input is received, the UI control will be updated as well as the desired internal parameter.

The way to accomplish this is to make use of the labeled_knob or control binding types (control was introduced in version 1.1.7) as follows:

<binding level="ui" type="control" position="0" parameter="VALUE" translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1"/>

You’ll notice that the control type has a level value of ui and a parameter value of VALUE. Another thing to notice is the position="" parameter. This contains the 0-based index of the control to be modified. NOTE: The indexes of the parameter list includes all UI controls, including <label> and menu controls, so you’ll want to account for that when calculating your positions.

An example of changing a menu option based on a MIDI note (keyswitch) would look like this:

<midi>
  <note note="11">
    <binding type="control" level="ui" position="1" parameter="VALUE" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="1" />
  </note>
  <note note="12">
    <binding type="control" level="ui" position="1" parameter="VALUE" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="2" />
  </note>
</midi>

The <modulators> element

Version 1.6.0 of Decent Sampler officially introduces the new <modulators> section into the .dspreset format. This section lives below the top-level <DecentSampler> element and it is where all modulators for the entire sample library live.

<DecentSampler>
    <modulators>
        <!-- Your modulators go here. -->
    </modulators>
</DecentSampler>

The <lfo> element

Underneath the <modulators> section, you can have any number of different LFOs, which are defined using an <lfo> element, for example:

<modulators>1
  <lfo shape="sine" frequency="2" modAmount="1.0"></lfo>
</modulators>

This element has the following attributes:

• shape: controls the oscillator shape. Possible values are sine, square, saw.
• frequency: The speed of the LFO in cycles per second. For example, a value of 10 would mean that the waveform repeats ten times per second.
• modAmount: This value between 0 and 1 controls how much the modulation affects the things it is targeting. In conventional terms, this is like the modulation depth. Default value: 1.0.
• scope: Whether or not this LFO exists for all notes or whether each keypress gets its own LFO. Possible values are global (default for LFOs) and voice. If voice is chosen, a new LFO is started each time a new note is pressed.

The <envelope> element

In addition to LFOs, you can also have additional ADSR envelopes. These can be useful for controlling group-level effects, such as low-pass filters. If this is what you wish to achieve, make sure you check out the section on group-level effects below.

To create an envelope, use an <envelope> element:

This element has the following attributes: - attack: The length in seconds of the attack portion of the ADSR envelope - decay: The length in seconds of the decay portion of the ADSR envelope - sustain: The height of the sustain portion of the ADSR envelope. This is expressed as a value between 0 and 1. - release: The length in seconds of the release portion of the ADSR envelope - modAmount: This value between 0 and 1 controls how much the modulation affects the things it is targeting. In conventional terms, this is like the modulation depth. Default value: 1.0. - scope: Whether or not this LFO exists for all notes or whether each keypress gets its own LFO. Possible values are global and voice (default for envelopes). If voice is chosen, a new LFO is started each time a new note is pressed.

How to use <binding>s in conjunction with modulators

In order to actually have your LFOs and envelopes do anything, you need to have bindings under them. If you are not familiar with the concept of bindings, you may want to read this section then return here. Bindings tell the engine which parameters the LFO should be affecting and how. Here is an example:

<modulators>
    <lfo shape="sine" frequency="2" modAmount="1.0">
        <!-- This binding modifies the frequency of a low-pass filter  -->
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" effectIndex="0" parameter="FX_FILTER_FREQUENCY" modBehavior="add" translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="2000.0"  />
    </lfo>
</modulators>

There are a few differences between bindings as they are used by knobs and the ones used by modulators. Specifically, when you move a UI control that has a binding attached, the engine actually goes out and changes the value of the parameter that is targeted by that binding. For example, if you have a knob that controls a lowpass filter’s cutoff frequency, moving that knob will cause that actual frequency of that filter to change. In other words, the changes that the knob is making on the underlying sample library are permanent. The same is also true for bindings associated with MIDI continuous controllers.

Modulators, on the other hand, do not work this way. If a modulator (such as an LFO) changes its value, the engine looks at the bindings associated with that LFO and then makes a list of temporary changes to the underlying data. When it comes time to render out the effect, it consults both the permanent value and the temporary modulation values. As a result of this difference in the way bindings are handled, only some parameters are “modulatable.” At time of press, the following parameters are modulatable:

• All gain effect parameters
• All delay effect parameters
• All phaser effect parameters
• All filter effect parameters
• All reverb effect parameters
• All chorus effect parameters
• Group Volume
• Global Volume
• Group Pan
• Global Pan
• Group Tuning
• Global Tuning

Modulator scope: global or voice-level

By default, all modulators will be created at the global level. This means that there will be exactly one modulator that is shared by all voices. In many situations, such as an LFO modulating a single low-pass filter which is shared by all of voices, this is often what we want.

But there are other situations where we don’t want our modulator to be global. In such cases we

<modulators>
    <envelope attack="2" decay="0" sustain="1" release="0.5" modAmount="1.0">
        <binding type="effect" level="group" groupIndex="0" effectIndex="0" parameter="FX_FILTER_FREQUENCY" translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="4000.0" modBehavior="add" />
    </envelope>
</modulators>

Note that this voice-level modulator is now targeting a group level effect.

The <tags> element

The <tags> element lives right below your top-level <DecentSampler> element. It allows you to specify details about the tags you use throughout your instrument. It is however not actually necessary to include a <tags> element for every tag you use. You only need to create this if you want to specify additional details about your tags.

The <tag> element

Underneath the <tags> element, you can have any number of <tag> elements. These specify details for each individual tag that you use throughout your sample mapping. Attributes:

Appendix A: The Color Format

Colors are represented throughout the dspreset files using an 8-digit ARGB color format. These are identical to web color hex codes except with an additional 2-digit hex number in front of them. The first two digits are a hexadecimal representation of alpha level with 00 being fully transparent, 80 being 50% transparent, and FF being fully opaque.

Examples:

• Black (solid): FF000000
• Black (90% transparency): E6000000
• Red (solid): FFFF0000
• Red (50% transparency): 80FF0000
• Blue (solid): FF0000FF

Appendix B: The <binding> element

Adding a binding to a UI control, MIDI handler, or modulator tells the DecentSampler engine that it should take input from a source and use it to change values in another part of the engine. An example of this would be a knob which controls the volume of a group, a CC controller that changes an effect parameter, or an LFO that modulates an effect parameter.

In order to set up a binding for a specific source, create a <binding> element within the source element.

In this example, a labeled knob is controlling the volume of the first group of samples (group 0):

<DecentSampler>
  <ui>
    <tab>
      <labeled-knob x="420" y="100" label="RT" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="1" value="0.3" textSize="20">
        <binding type="amp" level="group" position="0" parameter="AMP_VOLUME" translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1.0"  />
      </labeled-knob>
    </tab>
  </ui>
</DecentSampler>

Here’s a full list of parameters for the <binding> element:

Controllable Parameters

This is a list of parameters that can be used in conjunction with the <binding> element above.

1. NOTE: The indexes of the parameter list also include UI controls that are not editable, such as <label> UI controls, so you’ll want to account for that when calculating your positions.

   Here’s a quick example:

   If your UI’s <tab> section has the following elements under it: <label>, <control>,<label>,<control>. The position indexes of the four elements will be 0, 1, 2, 3. Therefore, the indexes of the two <control> elements will be 1 and 3, respectively.

Translation Modes

There are currently three binding translation modes: linear, table, fixed_value

Mode #1: linear

linear mode allows values that come in to be scaled up or down before they get passed along to the binding’s target. If you set your translation mode to linear you should also translationOutputMin and translationOutputMax.

Example usage:

<binding level="ui" type="control" position="0" parameter="value" translation="linear" 
               translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1"/>

Mode #2: table

table mode allows you to transform the binding’s input in a more complex fashion before it gets passed along to the binding’s target. If you set your translation mode to table you must define the translationTable parameter as well. This consists of a series of input-output pairs, separated by semi-colons.

Mode #3: fixed_value

fixed_value mode allows you to completely disregard the input of a binding and instead always use a supplied value. In order to use this translation mode, you must also specify a translationValue. This can be very useful when trying to have menu options enable and disable groups. An example usage:

<binding type="general" level="group" position="1" parameter="ENABLED" translation="fixed_value" translationValue="true" />

Appendix C: Boilerplate .dspreset File

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DecentSampler minVersion="1.0.0">
  <ui width="812" height="375" layoutMode="relative"
      bgMode="top_left">
    <tab name="main">
      <labeled-knob x="445" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" 
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" 
                    label="Attack" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="4.0" value="0.01" >
        <binding type="amp" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="ENV_ATTACK" />
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="515" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" 
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" 
                    label="Release" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="20.0" value="1" >
        <binding type="amp" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="ENV_RELEASE" />
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="585" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" 
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" 
                    label="Chorus" type="float" minValue="0.0" maxValue="1" value="0" >
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="1" parameter="FX_MIX" />
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="655" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="FF000000"
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999"
                    label="Tone" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="1" value="1">
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="0" parameter="FX_FILTER_FREQUENCY"
                 translation="table" 
                 translationTable="0,33;0.3,150;0.4,450;0.5,1100;0.7,4100;0.9,11000;1.0001,22000"/>
      </labeled-knob>
      <labeled-knob x="725" y="75" width="90" textSize="16" textColor="AA000000" 
                    trackForegroundColor="CC000000" trackBackgroundColor="66999999" 
                    label="Reverb" type="percent" minValue="0" maxValue="100" 
                    textColor="FF000000" value="50">
        <binding type="effect" level="instrument" position="2" 
                 parameter="FX_REVERB_WET_LEVEL" translation="linear" 
                 translationOutputMin="0" translationOutputMax="1" />
      </labeled-knob>
    </tab>
  </ui>
  <groups attack="0.000" decay="25" sustain="1.0" release="0.430" volume="-3dB">
    <group>
      <sample loNote="21" hiNote="21" rootNote="21" path="DefaultPiano-21.aif"
              length="805888"/>
      <sample loNote="22" hiNote="33" rootNote="33" path="DefaultPiano-33.aif"
              length="807552"/>
      <sample loNote="34" hiNote="45" rootNote="45" path="DefaultPiano-45.aif"
              length="759168"/>
      <sample loNote="46" hiNote="57" rootNote="57" path="DefaultPiano-57.aif"
              length="756480"/>
      <sample loNote="58" hiNote="69" rootNote="69" path="DefaultPiano-69.aif"
              length="758656"/>
      <sample loNote="70" hiNote="77" rootNote="77" path="DefaultPiano-77.aif"
              length="595328"/>
      <sample loNote="78" hiNote="89" rootNote="89" path="DefaultPiano-89.aif"
              length="457600"/>
      <sample loNote="90" hiNote="96" rootNote="96" path="DefaultPiano-96.aif"
              length="469888"/>
      <sample loNote="94" hiNote="108" rootNote="108" path="DefaultPiano-108.aif"
              length="75264"/>
    </group>
  </groups>
  <effects>
    <effect type="lowpass" frequency="22000.0"/>
    <effect type="chorus"  mix="0.0" modDepth="0.2" modRate="0.2" />
    <effect type="reverb" wetLevel="0.5"/>
  </effects>
  <midi>
    <!-- This causes MIDI CC 1 to control the 4th knob (cutoff) -->
    <cc number="1">
      <binding level="ui" type="control" parameter="VALUE" position="3" 
               translation="linear" translationOutputMin="0" 
               translationOutputMax="1" />
    </cc>
  </midi>
</DecentSampler>

Appendix D: How to Control Parameters Using Tags (Example: Mic-level Knobs)

As of version 1.0.2, the best way to implement mic-level knobs is using the new sample tagging feature. It is possible to assign tags to specific samples. In this way, you can specify which type of sound they are:

<sample volume="0.0dB" tags="note,mic1" />
<sample volume="0.0dB" tags="rt,mic1" />
<sample volume="0.0dB" tags="note,mic2" />
<sample volume="0.0dB" tags="rt,mic2" />

You can also assign tags at the group level. You can also mix and match, and the tags specified at the group level will be added to the list of tags already specified at the sample level:

<group tags="note">
  <sample volume="0.0dB" tags="mic1" />
  <sample volume="0.0dB" tags="mic2" />
</group>
<group tags="rt">
  <sample volume="0.0dB" tags="mic1" />
  <sample volume="0.0dB" tags="mic2" />
</group>

Then you can make controls with bindings that reference those tags:

<control x="246" y="115" parameterName="MIC 1" style="linear_bar_vertical" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="100" value="60" width="20" height="70" trackForegroundColor="FFFFFFFF" trackBackgroundColor="FF888888">
    <binding type="amp" level="tag" identifier="mic1" parameter="AMP_VOLUME" />
</control>

<control x="346" y="115" parameterName="MIC 2" style="linear_bar_vertical" type="float" minValue="0" maxValue="100" value="60" width="20" height="70" trackForegroundColor="FFFFFFFF" trackBackgroundColor="FF888888">
    <binding type="amp" level="tag" identifier="mic2" parameter="AMP_VOLUME" />
</control>

Appendix E: How to do voice-muting for drums

Voice muting makes use of the tags functionality, these are text labels that you can use to identify samples or groups of samples. You start by adding tags to all of your groups (you can also add them to individual samples if you’d like). Next, you add a silencedByTags attribute to groups or sample elements that you want to be silenced by other samples. When a sample with a tag matching one of the tags in the silencedByTags is played, it will silence the current sample (or group).

Here’s an example:

<DecentSampler>
    <groups>
        <group tags="hihat" silencedByTags="hihat" silencingMode="fast">
            <!-- Your samples go here. -->
        </group>
    </groups>
</DecentSampler>

Note the use of the silencingMode attribute as well (a value of “fast” means we immediately silence, whereas “normal” means we trigger the ADSR release phase).

Appendix F: How to implement true legato

Let’s walk through how to build a basic true legato instrument. Legato instruments generally consist of either two or three groups:

1. First, there’s the initial looping sustain sample that will get played when the note is first pressed down.
2. Then there is the legato transition sample that will get played when a second note gets pressed
3. (optional) Depending on the implementation, there may be a third looping sustain group that gets played after the legato transition sample plays. In such cases, this third group usually contains the same samples as were used in group 1.

Step 1: Voice muting

Before we get into legato, let’s talk about voice muting. This is the behavior wherein one set of samples causes another set of samples to stop playing. This can be desirable in situations such as legato instruments where two samples should not be sounding at the same time.

In Decent Sampler, voice-muting makes use of tags. These are text labels that you can use to identify samples or groups of samples. You can add a silencedByTags attribute to groups or sample elements. This consists of a comma-separated list of tags that specify which samples should silence the current samples. When a sample with a tag matching one of the tags in the silencedByTags is played, it will silence the current sample (or group). Here’s an example:

<DecentSampler>
    <groups>
        <group tags="sustain" silencedByTags="legato" silencingMode="normal" release="1.0">
            <!-- Your sustain samples go here. -->
        </group>
        <group tags="legato" silencedByTags="legato" silencingMode="normal" release="1.0">
            <!-- Your legato samples go here. -->
        </group>
    </groups>
</DecentSampler>

In the above scenario, if a legato sample is matched, any sample that might be playing from the “sustain” group will be stopped.

It’s also worth mention the silencingMode attribute as well (a value of fast means we immediately silence that sample, whereas normal means we trigger the ADSR release phase).

Step 2: Legato

In order to specify which samples should be triggered first, we use the trigger attribute. This can that can be added to the <group> or individual <sample> tags. The default value is attack, but there are two useful new values:

• first: This value means that this sample will only trigger if no other notes are playing
• legato: This value means that this sample will only trigger if other notes are already playing

Here is an example of how this might look in cunjunction with our example from above:

<DecentSampler>
    <groups>
        <group trigger="first" tags="sustain" silencedByTags="legato" silencingMode="normal" release="1.0">
            <!-- Your sustain samples go here. -->
        </group>
        <group trigger="legato" tags="legato" silencedByTags="legato" silencingMode="normal" release="1.0">
            <!-- Your legato samples go here. -->
        </group>
    </groups>
</DecentSampler>

Step 3: Specifying previous notes

When creating a legato instrument, it is often essential to limit which legato transition gets played based on which note we are transition from. This can be achieved using either the previousNote or the legatoInterval attributes. The previousNote attribute causes the engine to only play this sample if the previously triggered note matches the specified note. Example usage:

<sample path="Samples/LV_Legato_F2_G2.wav" rootNote="G2" loNote="G2" hiNote="G2" previousNote="F2" start="43000" />
<sample path="Samples/LV_Legato_G2_A2.wav" rootNote="A2" loNote="A2" hiNote="A2" previousNote="G2" start="43000" />

The legatoInterval attribute causes the engine to only play the sample if distance between the current note and the previously triggered note is exactly this semitone distance. For example, if the note for which this sample is being triggered is a C3 and the legatoInterval is set to -2, then the sample will only play if the previous note was a D3 because D3 minus two semitones equals C3.

Step 4: Polyphony

In legato instruments, it is sometimes useful to limit polyphony for a specific sample or set of samples. This is achieve using tags. At the top-level of your file, you can specify a element as follows:

<DecentSampler>
    <groups>
        <group tags="some-tag" >
            <!-- ... -->
        </group>
    </groups>
    <tags>
        <tag name="some-tag" polyphony="1" />
    </tags>
</DecentSampler>

Putting it all together

Here is a full example of a legato instrument:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<DecentSampler pluginVersion="1">
  <groups>
    <group tags="sustain" silencedByTags="legato" trigger="first"
           silencingMode="normal" release="0.3">
      <sample path="Samples/LV_Sustain_D3.wav" rootNote="D3" loNote="C3" hiNote="D3"/>
      <sample path="Samples/LV_Sustain_E3.wav" rootNote="E3" loNote="D#3" hiNote="E3"/>
      <!-- More samples go here -->
    </group>
    <group tags="legato" silencedByTags="legato" trigger="legato"
           silencingMode="normal" attack="0.1" decay="0.2" sustain="0" release="1">
              previousNote="C#3"/>
      <sample path="Samples/LV_Legato_D3_E3.wav" rootNote="E3" loNote="E3"
              hiNote="E3" start="43000" previousNote="D3"/>
      <sample path="Samples/LV_Legato_E3_F3.wav" rootNote="F3" loNote="F3"
              hiNote="F3" start="43000" previousNote="E3"/>
      <!-- More samples go here -->
    </group>
    <group tags="legato-tails" silencedByTags="legato-tails" trigger="legato"
           attack="0.3" silencingMode="normal" release="0.3" start="5000">
      <sample path="Samples/LV_Sustain_D3.wav" rootNote="D3" loNote="C3" hiNote="D3"/>
      <sample path="Samples/LV_Sustain_E3.wav" rootNote="E3" loNote="D#3" hiNote="E3"/>
      <!-- More samples go here -->
    </group>
  </groups>
</DecentSampler>

Appendix G: Useful Tutorials and Resources

• How to add LFOs and Envelopes
• How to add Dropdown Menus, Colored Keys, and Keyswitches
• How to use Legato in Decent Sampler [Video]