How do you organize your samples?

Krispy

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I've been out of the production scene for a little while and decided to start a new track today. Wow, my samples were just a mess and I couldn't find anything related to what I was looking for without sifting through loads of crap.
So many folders and so unorganized.

How do you guys organize your samples?

It would be nice to have everything laid out in specific categories with nice root folders and so on
 
I really need to re-org mine as well. Some of the folders are ok.
When i remember i put them into folders like this:
[drums] - {kick}- {snare} - {hats - open closed} - {Cymbals} - {Breaks}
[BASS]
[Leads]
[Pads]
[Atmospheres]
[FX]
[Voice] - {movie clips} {recorded}
[Loops] {all flavors}
Course there is loads of crap that doesnt fall into any of those... meh
 
I make a map for the drum samples i use the most.

Other soundz i make from scratch so i don't really need other samples.

Most vocals i get from trailers and so on i put them in a seperate map.

Other samplepacks i download, i delete everything i don't need at the first moment.
 
i dont really. i have some basic directories like breaks, synths, one shots, fx and shit like that but whatever i generate during the making of the tune is saved down in the directory of the tune and and and thats about the size of it. its a complete mess.
 
Well i only recently got round to organising my shite, i have folders for drums (hits, breaks etc) acapellas, fx samples, remix parts, sample packs (in 1 folder) and so on. One i use the most is a folder where i chuck anything ive made into e.g. combined kicks/snares, bass stabs, pads, presets, basically stuff made from mucking around :)

So yeah, if your samples library is a mess i would defs recommend tidying it up, makes it alot less stressful to find the sample youre after when producing. Oh and also deleting any samples you never use is a good idea too.
 
I have folders for Bass, Breaks, Drum Hits, Drum Loops, Game SFX, Melodies, Misc and Sample Packs

I've split up most sample packs between the above folders accordingly.

And then I have a SAMPLES folder for stuff I've directly sampled myself.

And if when browsing I find a sample I like, I'll usually rename it with something like 'snare272 nice' so it's easier for me to find the ones I like.
 
What i did recently was spent some time sifting through all my samples and copying all the best ones into a 'custom' samples folder, and have each set of sounds in sub folders within that. It was pretty boring to do but worth it cos now i can just go straight to that and save heaps of time.
 
All vinyl rips are in one folder. All field recordings in another. All tv recordings in a third.
I have my projects sorted by year and track name. I'll pull all the source material I think I'll use into the new project folder and work away.
 
Drums
/hi hats open
/hi hats closed
/cymbals
/kicks
/snares
/bongos
/tambourines
/shakers
/breaks
/Roland sample kits
/construction kits


Vocals
/random
/acappella
/raps
/packs
/youtube

Freesound packs

All other sounds like basslines, leads, strings etc I use standalone VSTs, as it's just drums and vocals that I use samples for. The only other exception is for things like saxophone and flute samples for jazzy riffs.
 
I keep mine in order of what pack they came from. Then anything I personally sampled goes in another folder and I organize it by what it is, drums, sound fx, etc.
 
I'm doing an entire video series very soon about sample organizing very soon on my website, have been working at it for a week or so.
 
Jokes. I've got like 100GB (prob more i dread to think) completely disorganized. I stick all my stuff I make in one folder. Everything else just gets thrown fucking anywhere. Its surprising how well i manage to remember where everything is, to be honest i'd like to organise it but it hasn't been that much of a problem yet.

Maybe one day :)
 
I reckon you should only sort out your samples in a way that helps you with your workflow. Putting them in folders and sub folders that you will find easiest to navigate.
 
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