This is gonna take a while. Had old drum kit noises. Then went through a few hundred drum kit sf2 soundfont files. One of those could have several instruments. An instrument could have several dozen wav files. Exported those samples as wav files. Wind up with 4000 wav files. None of them are loops. Sorted by file size, then you can determine if some are copies.
I have a couple sets of folders, one that are good, the other bad. So things like kicks, snares, high hats, toms, cymbals and rides, then percussion. Those are odd. Now you get into bongos which are just a bit above range from toms, throwing those in the toms for now. This is like high hats, you get open and closed. Just putting all high hats in the high hats folders for now. Want to preliminarily sort them in these main folders first. Later on I'll go through all of it, clean up the files. Then the bad ones, see if I can fix those.
Later on once they're all cleaned and the bad ones are out, then I can "sort" each type. Things like kicks, you want mild gradually increasing to harsher ones. Same thing for snares, mild to harsh. Things like closed high hats, more calm ones then harsher as the files continue. Cymbals.. lower pitch to higher. Now it gets tricky because some are hitting it less hard but the pitch may be lower. So you'd have to somehow keep it with the pitch, quieter ones first, then increase the velocity, so to speak, even though it's wav files. Then you get the cymbal swell folder. Then the rides. Those have the middle and then the outer. I'll later add folders.
I use this bulk rename utility program to rename files. That program is great. You can move things to different areas of the filename. Sequentially add numbers. Can maybe add space here between each numbers.
This is what I'm thinking about now, was trying to get to bed. Then I'm like, how the hell are you gonna sort them by increasing harshness for things like the kicks. I'll probably have several hundred of the kicks. You can think, ok this is the most mild.. that'll be first. I gotta leave room between each in case later, oh this one here has to go between those. How much of an increment amount would you leave. Because now you got a problem, you'd have to change all the rest that come later if one has to squeeze in. Leave what, 100 between each? At least with this bulk rename utility if I want to change the rest can easily do that.
Real pain in the ass here though. For images I have this little program "faststone image viewer". Let's say you want to sort several hundred images in whatever order you want, by viewing the thumbnail. Well with this program you grab it move it there between those. Later on, you export them in whatever filename sequence.
You'd want something like this but for audio files. Where I go, ok I want this file here between these others. I don't wanna deal with renaming them just yet until it's all sorted. Maybe you guys heard of some type of little program. It sucks though with audio because I have to play each one at a time to know what's going on. The visual photo program you just look at the damn thumbnails.
I guess I could start with some kind of ballpark range of soft mid harsh. Then try to figure out some numbering leeway between whatever range. I gotta go to bed right now can't analyze this. It'll be a good month yet until I'm done cleaning up these damn files. Then I'll have to figure out sorting them by mild to harsh. I got a hunch it's gonna be a pain in the ass. You go, oh, this on here is lower pitch it has to go between them. Just the cymbals I have several hundred from the Sabian site. All kinds of different sizes with various pitches. Then cymbal swell roll types too. At least those they have some kind of number.
These old drum ones though, wow. It's like whatever type of filename. Then I still have to go through these GM general midi instruments with all kinds of drums ones and various percussion types. Export those. I'll have a good who knows 5k files to deal with here. And none are loops either. This is just your typical drum kit components but they all vary when you play them. I got a hunch I'll be getting to the bottom of it with damn drum kit component wav files after this. I'll let you guys know when things are cleaned up and sorted.
Gonna be a pain in the ass too with high hat closed and open with the exclusive class so they cancel the other. I'll have wav files but later going to assign them to sf2 soundfont files. Thought of a way to be able to have those cancel each other even though they're in different instruments. Normally they'd have to be in the same instrument for the exclusive class to shut the other one off. Thought of a way. Have a silent note as the first note that's on the same exclusive class as the rest of the instrument. Then you shut it off with the silent note. For your other high hat open or closed, then you use those same notes to shut the other one off.
Exhausting all this. Sorted a good couple thousand earlier today.. have like 1300 to deal with yet. Back to work so gonna drag on till I get a couple days off in a row. This damn drum crap is gonna drag on a couple months I bet. Just the cleaning them up is gonna be a pain in the ass because you have to work a "day job" in the meantime.
Submitted November 09, 2017 at 07:51PM by OhNothingGoingOnHere https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/7bx0z7/trying_to_figure_out_a_file_sorting_method_for_a/?utm_source=ifttt