Clearly the only way to be pure is to make a drum from your own skin. Everything else is cheating.
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Stealing is the correct term, not cheating
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Sequencing doesn’t count as cheating for sure. Mozart was sequencing an orchestra instead of playing every part into a 4 track tape recorder.
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I could be “cheating” if you sample entire bars worth and then do little else other than some basic layering. But at the same time, even this could be genius if obscure (or even famous) samples were recontextualized in a way that was musically captivating.
I think the fear is this: the fear of making low effort music.
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I like it!
(I was joking too/tongue in cheek, btw…)
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I’ve always had a bit of imposter syndrome with samples, that it’s sorta cheating. though I have zero issue with anyone else’s use of em. really have to eradicate that self emposed limitation from our minds, it’s a load of bolix. 
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This is what happened to me as well. 
For me it was Nujabes, but still, hip hop/boom bap. I think for a guitarist with an interest in hip hop, it’s inevitable.
Using your own samples is definitely not cheating. Do you think Radiohead recorded all their songs in one take? Hell no, recorded music is created by comping - hundreds of takes are spliced together to come up with the best overall performance. As soon as something is recorded, it’s no longer spontaneous. Wholly sampled music is an extension of that - each element is pre-recorded prior to being arranged, but what’s the difference, really? There may be imperceptible recognition in the listener that the chords you’re using are the same each time, but it’s not going to make the music less authentic as a result. Not everyone can play multiple instruments, or any instruments, but it shouldn’t be a barrier for creativity, and sampling allows for a great deal of creative processing beyond simply playing an instrument.
One of my favourite albums is The Cold Nose by Department of Eagles. Daniel Rossen is a genius - multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. A lot of the album is performed by him, but there are loads of samples throughout. The way they’re incorporated into the music leads to a playful and quirky tone, and the entire record strikes a chord in my heart that I do not believe could be achieved without sampling.
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First off, thanks for naming my next album.
Secondly, I’d like to thank the bull god’s nuts for allowing me to make music however I damn well please, with whatever the hell I want, in any way that pleases me.
Everyone else and everyone’s opinion on how I do things can eat a big ol’ bag of bull nuts.
To the OP, I have no answers for you, sorry and bull god’s speed. (Or maybe seed)
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As much as I love sample wizards like Hank Shocklee or DJ Shadow, I have never been interested in chopping up beats or creating loops myself. But that’s just me, I prefer programming drums.
On the other hand, a folder full of sounds from coils springing or different kinds of electrical motors or just creaking doors makes me happy, because I can do stuff with those sounds on the Octatrack. When me and a mate made an album some time back (it’s coming out this year) we went into my tool shed and recorded different noises which we then based most of the music on, using the Octatrack.
You should totally start sampling stuff off your modular and make beats with that. Short snippets, odd clicks and LPG thuds.
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The whole creative process is about “cheating” and “stealing” here and there and making something “new” out of that. Naturally, it’s what you do with the input that matters and there should be a creative process, not just blunt copying. Copyrights are obviously more complex.
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This thread somehow reminds me to this video:
And also to the Hip Hop Evolution documentary on Netflix. If I remember right there was one guy (I can‘t remember the name) saying, that they mixed records together to create a new record. They were basically looping the records by scratching.
In my opinion one should do whatever keeps one creating and if it‘s working with samples, then go for it if you use it as a tool.
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I love listening to sample based music, I love making sample based music.
I admire guys like shadow or amon tobin for what they did in the 90s.
I still think it’s stealing unfortunately
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Consider sampling a starting point for inspiration rather than a finished part of your song. Or think of sampling like “granular songwriting”.
First of all, you need to control a few hard parameters: the sampling source, the sample window and direction, the number of slices, the slice’s length and replay speed, the random seed and the current position of the granular playhead.
Then there are also a few personal parameters: the music you have heard until here, the skills you’ve acquired, your life experience, your current mood and feelings, and last but not least your drive to accomplish and create.
Combine all these parameters and the outcome will be, behold, your own music. The ultimate stretch goal is to sample your own music and create something new out of it. Hmm, wait, would this be cheating?
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I meant sampling other people’s material. Sorry if this wasn’t obvious
It’s a stretch goal, which suggests that until there you’ve sampled quite a lot from others’ music.
ok
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I think you should record these sample based sequences that you’re making, and then I think you should listen to them on your headphones around the city you live in, and then report back here with anything you discover.
Maybe it will give you some new perspective towards your own work and your relationship with sampling.
Anyone who got into sampling via DJ Shadow is probably in a good place with the subject already. He blew my mind when I was a 15 year old Pennywise fan in the late 90’s. Him and DJ Krush together.
So the second reason I think you should record your music is so you can share it with us, because I’m always intrigued by people who reference Endtroducing.
It sounds to me like you don’t really have any issues with sampling, just more getting over your own ‘hump’.
Do it. Record your sample-stuff. Get on with it. Share it here. You’ll change because of it.
Then you can start getting over the hump of resampling yourself.
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When it comes to copying, one should keep in mind that, whether one directly samples a part or learns and then records it, the end result is a copy. Luckily, copyright only protects melodies (which are subject to interpretation) and lyrics in music, otherwise it would be very difficult to come up with original chops, chord progressions, drum patterns, etc.
Sampling is one of, if not the most creative things in music making. Provided that you mangle/chop/resample it to make it unique and original.
I have nothing but utmost respect for artist like Liam Howlett, DJ Premier, DJ Muggs and countless others, no matter the genre, who really made sampling an art and took it to another level.
But even if you just straight up use sounds from sample packs, you still need to make music with them, which is no different than using synth presets. That’s certainly no cheating.
Now. using loops though… 
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It was obvious you were joking, but some people do actually think like that.
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