Replacing wav files

Hi, I have a question about replacing wav files in a patch with my own sounds. I’m aware that this can be done, but my question is this: Can I replace ANY wav file that comes with a patch, or is it only certain patches?
Also, Can I add sounds of varying lengths? My music is more like collage, less in the way of syncopated sounds, and more free if you like…
I know that the sounds I add have to be 44.1 and 16bit, but if anyone has any advice regarding these questions I’d be really grateful.
Cheers!

Just do it. Most patches will have some information on length of samples if it’s important but worst thing that could happen is that the patch won’t work anymore in which case you just download a new one. (@shreeswifty told me that once). I love Jeraphy patch for swapping samples.

You should be able to replace any .wav files with another. So long as they meet the conditions.

Yes it depends on the patch. They sometimes have a limit on how long samples can be. Sometimes information on this can be found by opening the main.pd file in a patch and looking at the comments.
But yeah, just trial and error will probably see you right.
Also: If the samples have names that follow an order e.g. 1.wav, 2.wav / C1.wav,Db.wav then the samples you replace them with must also follow this naming order. An example of this is polybeats.

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Forgot about that!

Thanks for this folks. Useful info!

Oh , meant to say, when I replaced the wav in Wepa! I get nothing,…which is what got me thinking that maybe capacity to replace wavs is not available for all patches…Any ideas about Wepa!?
Sorry if this is a dumb question.

is it a similar length to the original sample? does it have the same name?

Same name but not similar length - I was attempting to use a longer sample. You think something that’s a similar length should work?

Try with a shorter one, it must work.
Don’t be afraid to try, you won’t break something :slight_smile:

Cool - will try shorter sample and report back!

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@ampism
if patches are loading the sample into memory, the total length of all samples will be around 60 seconds (see other posts on ‘sampling limitations’
if they are read and played directly from usb/sdcard then this should not be the case.

how to know? ideally you check the patch, and look to see if its reading the wav file into a table.
but a general rule is:
simple playback with no manipulation, can be done without reading into memory,
if there is any manipulation e.g. playing backwards, playing fordwards fast than ‘real time’, it likely its reading into memory first.

if you look at wepa you will see the first message is:

(read -resize wepa.wav array4)->[soundfiler]

this says, its getting soundfiler to read the file into memory (table array4)
but note, its resizing the table, so should handle different size files, within the limitations already mentioned.

you can also see its has to be a mono file…

generally, a good idea if you are trying to replace the file, is to look at the wav file your trying to replace, and check its properties in an audio editor (like Audacity (=free) ) , then make sure your replacements are the same format.
(and yeah, try similar length files first, to check the format without having to work about possible length issues)

if your doing a lot of this,
learning a little bit of Pure Data is recommended, in the long run its easier to find the issues by looking at the patch (and the only definitive way to know) , and as a bonus you’ll be able to alter it to be better suited to your needs.
(the help files within PD are really good, so even a quick check of the help on an object like soundfiler can get you a long way!)

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Also if you look in my patches i have built a file replacer that lets you use buttons to scroll through all the wavs in a /sf drectory

HtH