INTRODUCTION TO SAMPLING 1.1 What is sampling? 1 This book is an introduction to the creation of virtual instru- ments through sampling. Sampling is the process of record- ing a sound source one part at a time, each part of which is then imported into a sampler. Typical parts include each note recorded from a musical instrument or singer. However, a sampler can be used with any recorded audio files. You could record yourself talking and each word could be a part of the sampled instrument. The sampler is used to organize the files into a playable instrument. A sampled instrument can be played using any MIDI controller (Figure 1.1), such as a MIDI keyboard.