Muxer is an electronic musician from that hive of dirty liberalism known to you long-haired-types as Amsterdam. There's a serious enabler-mindset going on in that country; the government has a tendency to "help artists" by giving them "free real estate" in order to "be creative." Just take a gander at NDSM -- an abandoned shipyard turned theater space /art studio /nightclub /skate park run by a bunch of squatters who were given a government grant to develop it...psychos.

This rampant socialism seems to have rubbed off on Muxer, who's decided to make his InstatSampler AU plug-in available as a download for everyone, for free [get it here]. So what's so special about this plug-in that would make you want to use something that YOU DIDN'T EVEN PAY FOR?

In a nutshell: if you use Apple Logic or Abelton Live in performance, you can use InstantSampler to capture on-the-fly samples of individual instrument channels, as opposed to sampling an entire mix [as you'd be forced to do with an outboard sampler]. Plus, since InstantSampler is MIDI controllable, you'll have easy control over the playback of your instant samples.

InstantSampler features a number of playback parameters: Velocity [aka, playback volume], fully configurable Attack and Release, Floor [playback level of the input channel when a sample is not being played], Playback Speed [pitch control with configurable range assignable to your controller's pitch wheel], Reverse Playback [another fully configurable parameter], and Clear Memory [which allows you to assign a specific MIDI note as a dedicated memory-wipe].

InstantSampler currently has a recording buffer of 30 seconds. Muxer warns, "you cannot sample more than 30 seconds, or silence will be the result." What he means, of course, is that if attempt to record a sample that is more than 30 seconds long, InstantSampler will render you permanently mute. Muxer is working on this bug.