Searching
Once you have built your project, we need to start searching for things.
Searching for samples is done on the Search page using the search toolbar which you can see below.
Using the search toolbar you can perform many kinds of searches. You can simply free-type searches into the box, use the built-in preset searches or you can use the pop-up to help build up a query.
Preset Searches
The fastest way to get started with searches is to experiment with the built-in searches.
You can access this pop-up using the little down arrow to the far right of the search widget. Click on any of the buttons to add the search to the toolbar. If you have the auto-execute searches setting enabled the search will also be run and the results displayed.
Once you have seen some examples using these presets you can start using the query builder pop-up to create even more complex searches.
Query Builder Pop-Up
The query builder pop-up is shown below.
Across the top you can see a range of red coloured operators, such as equals, greater than etc. Below that, you have a list of green names representing the fields of information you can search on.
Executing the search will load all the samples that match the criteria.
The buttons to the far right of the toolbar control various aspects of the searches. You can execute the search (or Press Enter) using the magnifying glass, save it for use later using the star button or reset it completely and start a new search with the bin button.
The button to the left of the magnifying glass controls how the results are displayed. When this button is toggled off the results are displayed in the natural order of the results, with this button toggled on, each time the results are displayed they will first be randomised in order to vary results and aid in discovering samples, even within the same search results set.
When searches are saved they are saved to the currently open project.
Advanced Searches
It is also possible to build up more complex searches by using multiple criteria. For instance, the following search will return all drum samples with a sample rate higher than 44.1Khz and bit depth greater than 16.
Category = drums Rate > 44100 Depth > 16
The Like Operator
The like operator facilitates a criteria that is a bit “fuzzy”. For instance, if you use a search such as:
Name like drm
What this is saying is can you search for all the samples where the name value contains “drm”. Given that criteria, all of the following items would be included in the results:
- 06-17drm120
- drm_dh_78
- DrmnBs01
Since they all contain “drm” in various cases (both Drm & drm) they will all be included in the returned list of samples.
The Or Operator
The Or operator allows multiple values to be provided for a single field such as:
Filename Like test or ones
This would then include the following samples within the results list, such as:
- test13
- flintstones_yabba
- PhoneStutterDial
Category = perc Or Sub-Category like perc Or Name like perc Ext = wav
This makes the search feature much more powerful, flexible and inclusive. What this search is now saying is any sample where the category or sub-category is perc, include it in the search results. It then also says if the string “perc” appears anywhere in the file name, include those in the results as well.
The final clause then says but only include files that match those criteria if the file is also an audio .wav file.
Catalog Searches
In addition to these search methods detailed above, it is also possible to limit searches to one or more catalogs.
Using the check boxes on the right allows you to select which catalogs to include in the searches. Selecting multiple catalogs will include results from all selected catalogs that match the search criteria.
Now that we have gotten to grips with the fundamentals of performing searches we can look at the RanDrum Workflow to start building semi-randomised drum kits.
Or we can have a look at sanitising our file system by looking at any duplicated data in the Duplicates Dialog.
It’s also a good idea to look at the various configuration options available in the Project Settings and General Settings views.
