Sample libraries are both a blessing and a curse. They’re the lifeblood of modern production—massive collections of meticulously recorded instruments at your fingertips. But when those libraries start eating up terabytes of drive space, clogging file paths, and slowing down your workflow, they quickly become a headache. In this episode of Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody tackle the practical (and sometimes painful) subject of managing and storing sample libraries.
This isn’t a “here are our favorite sample packs” kind of chat. Instead, the duo breaks down best practices for keeping your libraries tidy, clean, and future-proofed. You’ll hear about external vs internal drives, SSD vs HDD for different use cases, and strategies for spreading libraries across multiple disks without breaking your DAW’s ability to find them.
Chris and Jody also share tips on folder structures, naming conventions, and why simply dumping everything into “Samples” is a recipe for chaos. They’ll cover backup strategies, how to prepare for inevitable drive failures, and ways to migrate your collection if you upgrade your computer system.
And because this is Inside the Recording Studio, you’ll also get humor, war stories, and some playful jabs at the sheer absurdity of libraries so big they could rival NASA’s data servers. It’s practical, relatable, and entertaining—perfect for anyone whose home studio gear is groaning under the weight of too many gigabytes.
By the end, you’ll have actionable recording setup tips to make your sample libraries faster to access, safer from disaster, and easier to navigate—so you can spend less time scrolling through endless folders and more time making music.
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Gear we used:
Jody’s Mic & Voice Chain: Telefunken C12 – Groove Tubes Vipre – Apollo – UA Neve 1073 – UA LA2A – UA Studer A800
Jody’s Channel Strip: iZotope RX Spectral DeNoise – iZotope RX Mouth DeClick – UA Neve 1073 – UA LA2A – UA 1176E
Chris’ Mic & Voice Chain: Slate ML1 – Apollo – UA – Slate VMR (FG12, FG73, API Eq, SSL 4kE) – iZotope RX Voice – DeNoise
Chris’ Channel Strip: Eventide Precision Time Align – iZotope RX Spectral DeNoise – iZotope RX Mouth DeClick – UA Neve 1073 – UA LA2A – UA 1176E
Master: Oek Sound Soothe 2 – iZotope Ozone Imager – iZotope Ozone Maximize.
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If you want to collaborate, sponsor a podcast, donate, or want us to review your product – contact us at: collaborate@insidetherecordingstudio.com