Selecting Samples

I agree with Mindcontrol on this, I just listen to records until I hear something that jumps out at me and somehow I know I gotta sample it.
I'll hear it and know straight away how I could flip it, although someone else might hear it and see no potential in it because they work differently.
Your style is your own so sample as many different things until you find what you like.

Stinktank - I think certain artists/songs get sampled again and again because they have potential and have already been used so your guaranteed to get a good beat out of it..........
Although I don't think this is a good thing as its not original and sucks the fun out of finding samples if you can just google it and see a list of tracks all using the same sample your about to.

Genres get sampled again and again because of the instrumentation, you knows what instruments you like using and which genres use them.

I personally don't sample things if other people have, I've found some perfect samples only to google them and see someone else has used it on something, so I don't want to use them anymore

Coz wrote:

rookie wrote:what do you mean by layers?

Keys, strings, brass, guitar, synth etc. Layers.

I thought you were talking about Frequencie-Layers. Which i think is wiser because it#s not really possible to isolate instruments from a sample if they're sharing a lot of frequencies with other istruments, but it IS possible to use filters and EQs creativley. As in

Low End of this sample, High end of that sample.

Sumtimes u'd have some strange ass music where you can't even tell what instrument is playing "that sound" because you perhaps might not have ever even heard of such an instrument
Or maybe it's not even a **** instrument but a jet turbine. Don't laugh I know of a group that actually does that kinda shit. And I've sampled it
IMO it makes more sence to listen to the sounds of the frequencies rather than trying to isolate a particular instrument, especially when sampling from records, otherwise u'll end up like so:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=142753

-niN wrote:I thought you were talking about Frequencie-Layers.

I was, but instruments also occupy specific frequencies. A search for an instrument sample can also potentially fill a gap in the frequencies. It's all one and the same to me anyway.

compressed thought wrote:something unique to the production or engineering of whatever youre sampling. like why sample couple piano notes or guitar chords if they have no character or if theroetically you could reproduce the exact same sound with that instrument and a mic? sometimes not even sampling instruments being played, but the ambience of the room in breaks of the songs, quiet parts where things are fading out. stuff that you dont instantly catch when you add it in a beat or a song but notice if you were to take it out

ambience and random sound scape +10

Also, I side with Mind Control on this one too. Part of the samples you gravitate towards play a big part in your sound as an artist. Let that come natural.

defo listen for unique sounds also play with the pitch on ur turntable cos that will give u more ideas on how u can use the sample

Most of the time when I'm digging samples I listen for chord progressions that I like. Then I just take those, chop them up and mess around with em. I also look for specific moods and often distort the samples to a point where you don't recognize the original anymore cause it gives me the sound I'm looking for. It's not about originality... I don't think in those terms. It's about finding your sound.

Some peepz tend to use loops and not mess around with pitch and stretch a lot. That's cool as long as it gets them where they want. Others (like me) tend to take something and pitch it up or down by like 15 tones and completely screw up the sample.

It takes never ending practice. There's nights where I'll go through hundreds of samples messing around making like 15 different beats. I'll trash some of em, others I keep and listen to em again with fresh ears next day. I do it to practice and work on that specific sound I'm looking for. I'll probably never find it, but it's about the journey, right?

So as far as selection goes... to me everything is fair game.

Man ive been practicing so fu$#ing much
and still im not feelin my chops
i try and try and try WTF!

im not sure if some of you guys have seen this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73rmxWKY ... re=related

It takes time homie. You been posting for a couple months or so now....I dont think I "got it" for a serious number of man hours on the mp. It will take time, but the key is to stay hungry and **** with your mp EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Yo try this out.

1) take a 2 bar drum break and loop it perfectly, (zero crossing, etc) and truncate. In the waveform edit screen, the start and end of the loop should have a very similar or identical wave image.

2) Go to the Zone screen and hit EDIT--->SLICE SOUND---> DO IT

3) Your 1,5,9, and 13 pads SHOULD have kicks. your 3,7,11,15 pads SHOULD have snares. Everything else depends on the loop.

4) You can set the tempo to the same as what the original loop you chopped was. Sequence away, with quantise ON. Each pad is=to an 1/8th note.

5) Now you have your basic drum sequence. If you need to, you can step edit to correct anything and then start playing with attack/decay, filters and velocity to add some realism.

All other samples are just like icing, the drums are the cake....Make a good enough cake, and you dont even need to **** with the icing. If you keep at it, shit will fall into place.

Also, if you are using this place for info, use the search function HARD. The forums havent had too many good threads for about a year and a half. All the knowledge I got from the forums was pre-2008...After that, the only good section has been OT, and even that is as dry as the the Gobi desert lately.

rraderbeats wrote:Man ive been practicing so fu$#ing much
and still im not feelin my chops
i try and try and try WTF!

I feel ya!

Come to realize that it's really about the journey and you gotta have the patience. If you don't have it, you need to get it.

Took me ages till I got to a point where I was "happy" with my choppin game. Am I satisfied? No. And I never will be. But I feel that's a good thing cause it keeps me hungry and working.

It's important that you don't just "randomly" sample stuff. You gotta be methodical with it. Whatever sound it is you're tryin to create, you have to research into what type of sample you need and how you gotta edit what you sample to get the sound you're looking for. Once you get to that point it's about refining your methods.

Point is that noone can really tell you what those methods are, you gotta develop your own. Sure there's basics everyone sticks to, but beyond those its really only about yourself and the way you treat the sample.

Of course there's surefire ways to get good beats, for example like jonestown described. And taking some of those methods to incorporate them in your work is cool. But if all you ever do is copy someone else's methods you'll prolly create some good stuff, but it won't be your good stuff.

ya i see what you guys are talkin about.
ill be usin the search button from now on.
this might take me a while ...
so i will just sit back
and do the daily beat grind

rraderbeats wrote:Man ive been practicing so fu$#ing much
and still im not feelin my chops
i try and try and try WTF!

this is where the other topic comes 'you either have it or you dont' and like the late great guru said ' if u aint got it you aint got it motherfuca'

or it could be u tryna chop like premo but it aint ur style so dont worry about over chopping shit some peeps wanna chop every sample into 32 pirces even if its a 1 bar sample only chop whne needed, if it needs a loop just loop.

@jpeg- ahah GURU!
I guess i just have a high standard for my shit . Other people that hear me making beat say that my beats are dope . i just dont think they are. I guess over time ill figure out my style and then ill start liking them.

I also think out of the small collection of wax that i have.
i have about 1 gem .
so i need to go diggin more

@rraderbeats i hear dat i have had the same issue where peeps rate shit ive done but im tryna do some other shit and where I fall short peeps like the sound.

ive defo improved and my consistency is up but i aint where i wanna be but workflow i have now is prolly the best ive had in my 10 years of production.

but yea having dope sounds that inspire is key for getting in the zone and making some bangers and expressing ur sound.

i d say to u look into some sound packs cos u can get some good bread and butter sounds that u can use in different ways.

also check some on-line record blogs u will find tons of shit that is rare and that even if u found it in a shop it would cost 100.