Sampling books?

The Lounge General Discussion
#21

I started sampling loops 20 years ago with my first computer i bought. Today i use a lot of synths, but in almost every beat i still sample something. I find that it sparks my creativity like nothing else can. It takes me out of my confort zone… like what can i do with that!? Of course the way i sample now, has evolved a lot. Ive learned tons of tricks on the way. So the best way to learn it, is like with everything else - you just do it, do it and do it again. Learning your equipment and its possibilities thinking, how can i use this in my music. Challenge yourself!
Sometimes i blind pick 3-5 records from my collection and try to make a beat with only that.
Havent found almost any books on that subject thou…:confused:
More than a year ago i bought an OT mk1 and fell in love with sampling again :slight_smile:
A new world of possibilities of how to manipulate samples… wow!

An intresting video i stumbled on recently, not exactly the subject, but still gave me a lot to think about

Still nothing excites me more than finding something on an old record/cassette/movie that makes me hit the record button to examine it further :smiley:
When it gives me goosebumps i sample it!!!
When it begs to be looped i do loop it :stuck_out_tongue:
Listen to Bängbäng by SUREKOER on #SoundCloud

Sorry if im a bit offtopic, would love to read others thoughts on sampling myself…

#22

that’s crazy it still got detected!

1 Like
#23

Look up the author Amir Said.

1 Like
#24

Off the top of my head I can vouch for the ones by 9th Wonder, Large professor, and El-P are fantastic.

As for the sampling resources, I found videos helpful for explaining how some types of sampling is done. When I first started I had no idea how it worked conceptually at least as it pertains to make something musical. I remember way back in the day(early 90s) when seeing hiphop groups perform I thought that what the DJ did was how a hiphop song was made. I didn’t have any idea of what sampling was never mind how it was actually done! The amount of times I’d hear an original tune and think to myself “this is just a ripoff of that rap song!” :joy:

I will say one thing about YouTube tutorials which is great is for learning sample techniques which wouldn’t think of trying yourself. Elektronauts is also a great resource for this type of thing.

I do agree though that once the basic knowledge is acquired it is down to the artist to refine their own skills both technically and artistically.

That just involves lots of time in the lab and I don’t think there’s any substitute for that.

1 Like
#25

try adding another drum break from the same record, see if it catches then

#26

I’m sure there are tutorial vids

#27

I enjoyed this when I read it ten years ago.

#28

Thanks all. It seems there is a lot of knowlegeable people around here. If you could name a few of the best producers id be interested. What makes a good producer?

#29

honestly its subjective. people out there absolutely make great beats with loop packs and iphones. to me a great producer (in regards to sampling) has originality, a solid ear for mixing unexpected sounds and finding samples where no one else heard them. I think the best samplers can make something great by either grabbing a 4 bar loop and throwing drums on it, or completely chopping it into unrecognisable territory.

theres a reason a lot of the bigger names you’ve likely already heard of are iconic. some personal favourites, J dilla popularised sampling with off beat wonky drunken drums when noone else was doing that. MF DOOM clearly has deep personal influence in his beats sampling weird old samples with afro centric influence plus comic book samples and created a whole identity from it, he started in a semi succesful rap group KMD in the 90s but then he fell off the radar entirely due to his brothers death, went homeless and disappeared till he put the mask on and went fuckit and rolled with the whole identity. now he’s one of the most frequently mentioned and unique hip hop acts around. listen to doomsday album right through, or special herbs vol 1-10. pure instrumentals, some weird stuff in there but I love it, imo you can tell a lot about someone from their beats. it sounds like samples dug out from moms record crate in the 80s. further to DOOM, madlib is one of the GOATs at sampling. he’s been making thousands of beats for years and years. all range of obscure samples. listen to medicine show series, and madvillain. they call him the loop digga for a reason. His work under the alias lord quas is great too but not for everyone. raps with a high pitched vocal because he doesn’t like his own voice. makes for something strange and great. Exile from blu and exile is a must listen, does some amazing work, Give me my flowers while I can still smell them is one of my favourite albums, jaw dropping sample flips. Also samiyam, 404 heavy style beats and for a darker twist on that style check out earl sweatshirt. gets some flak for the mixes on his newer stuff but i’m sure its an artistic choice and he carries it well being one of the best rappers of this generation , but again its not for everyone.

might sound like ive dropped a bag of obvious names but they’re name dropped reg for a reason. sorry for the wall of text, I could go on and on

tl;dr
J Dilla
MF DOOM
Madlib
Blue and exile
Samiyam
Earl sweatshirt
special mention: DJ shadow

1 Like
#30

This needs to be in here:

1 Like
#31

It’s fun to go back in time a bit. Obviously all the tech emerged in the 80’s and 90’s, we just live in a more refined world today. But when electronic music and techno was emerging, it was kinda bound up in the birth of the internet and also new drugs like MDMA. There’s a lot of funny material from that era, and while it may not directly elicit sampling processes, honestly, all sampling is is re/recorded audio.

have a look here for some fun :slight_smile:

image
image1125×1653 375 KB
image
image1119×1692 302 KB

Otherwise check out early books by David Toop for more insights

1 Like