need recommendations for simple sample-and-hold sampler

"Choke"? ie Pad 1 stops playing if Pad 3 is hit (on an MPC or similar device), I think most samplers like that auto-choke per pad because they're monophonic

https://www.reddit.com/r/electribe/comments/anz6yr/sample_choke/

I don't know about self-choking but this describes it for separate pads

thanks, that was exactly the resource i'm looking for

a very basic and broad question - where do you like to look for sample packs? are there particularly good sites/producers i should be checking out?

I think everyone uses Splice these days, but I keep a strictly freegan approach to sample packs. There are lots of free packs of various drum machines if you search for them specifically, and https://www.reddit.com/r/drumkits is good to monitor for some occasional gems.

Legowelt has some cool free ones too for synths.

freesound.org occasionally has some field recording gems but there's so much there you have to wade through a lot

Oh yeah, definitely a lot of trash, but I've also found some gems on freesound (like the perfect air raid siren or whip sample).

I used to sample from Youtube, but the audio quality is just so low (although I guess better if you play back the video at the highest quality). Can be cool if it's just for dialogue or background texture, if that's the effect you're going for. Maybe vocals if they're heavily processed.

Thanks. I found Legowelt right after posting here. Definitely lots of cool sounds there.

I don’t really know what I’m going for yet. Everything I make right now sounds really flat and cheesy and derivative. Part of the “fun” of learning a new instrument.