Tech Sessions #13
To Sample or Not 2 Sample?
Almost every day, hip hop production continues to grow outside of the boundaries that skeptics have placed on it since day one. From the outset, the culture was viewed as a fad that was no different than sea monkeys and the hula hoop.
Now a quarter of a century and billions of dollars later, it's safe to say that hip hop is not going anywhere. We've seen plenty of sub-trends come and go but the heartbeat goes on.
One thing musically that tends to remain true is the art of sampling. A new generation of producers are coming up who don't go that route and that works for them. Their sounds tend to be crisp as hell because the original bit rates of their sound sources are higher and obviously they get paid more.
Then you have cats who swear by building their tracks off of samples. Some they pay to clear (i.e. the obvious ones) and some they don't (i.e. the kick drum that is pretty unrecognizable on its own).
Whether you do or you don't is seriously subjective. My opinion is that sampling is important. Why? Because it's a mainstay of our musical history. As the Audio Assassins, we don't use a whole lot of samples and when we do they tend to be for spice.
But it was important for us to learn what it feels like to sift through old Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye, Commodores, Brass Construction and way obscure records to get a track going.
Like killing it on two turntables and a mixer, sampling is a musical fundamental of the game. A lot of times, I feel like our compositions that don't have samples feel like they do, just because we took the time to understand the dynamics behind it.
Yeah, sampling gives you that classic dirty sound but it also forces your hand to be more creative with your influences. I don't think it's a coincidence that cats who flip vinyl tend to have broader taste in music than a lot of the cats who get into it by fucking with stock rack/key/drum sounds.
Why? Because crate-diggers don't care about too much besides finding the right hot kick, guitar lick, horn blast, vocal pad or whatever. It's like finding gold every time you catch a hot sound that you know is not on another record somewhere else. Matter of fact, I think the world at large would be surprised to find out the home-base of a lot of their favorite sounds. Some of ya'll are bluegrass, metal and world music fans and you don't even know it.
Anyway, back to the script, even if you move away from sampling you take that diverse taste with you and that dynamic is what hip hop was founded on and continues to live by to this day.
Glover is one half of the Atlanta, GA based production squad The Audio Assassins which are founding members of The Elements. You can find them both at Audioassassins.com and theelementsinc.com
Message Glover and share your sampling insight.
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The 2-Way
Replies: 3
posted by: Mepho Brown @ 08/24/04: 12:12 PM EST
True....
These days I try not to sample as much as possible...usually when I do sample it's used as an effect...or if I just come across a loop that I can't resist. But sampling has added a whole new dimention in music production...even when I don't sample..I find myself doing tracks with a "sampling mentality". The best compliment I could get on a track is if I did it without sampling anything but when listening to it, someone would say "where'd you get that sample?" But I think it's important for Hip-Hop producers to step outside the boundaries of sampling...but still keep that sampling mentality...
posted by: big family @ 08/24/04: 06:06 PM EST
I sample, because that's my entree' into production. I can barely play, but even if I was a virtuoso I'd still use samples. I probably won't make money Jam & Lewis , but I'll be satisfied with the contributions I make to the artist I work with.
posted by: Audio Assassin @ 08/27/04: 10:10 AM EST
Mepho... I agree w/ you 100% Big... I would say work it out on instrument at a time until you get comfortable. You don't have to be Jimi Hendrix but having the freedom to flip a few chords or a riff on something can do nothing but help. It really can be a happy medium...
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