Sampling Do's and Dont's

Discuss the various methods you use in music production, from compressor settings to equipment type.
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Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By Ill-Green Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:09 am
Particular Cat wrote:I'll share a couple that are important to me:

Don't sample from re-issued copies of records. It doesn't need to be the absolute first pressing, just not a full-blow reissue...

Also, don't sample from compilation/collection albums either. That's just tacky.

esoteric wrote:You're a herb, if you say you dig all the time
but can't find a sample from beats to the rhyme
A herb, if you claim your raps is official
But everything you sample is a f***ing re-issue


Music is music, and guess what, cassettes and cds are reissues as well. You're gonna pass up a rare gem on cd for $3 dollars and rather spend $50 for the original LP? Let me tell you Hip Hop is about using what you got and building something out of nothing. Before this sampling shit, James Brown records were going for $2 to $7 dollars at the record shop, but when Hip Hop blew up those records skyrocketed to $60 to $75 dollars each. Not everyone got the dough nor has the privilage to access dollar bins because vinyl is dead where I'm at and not a single store specializes in vinyl except for the antique shops, and once in a blue moon I'll find a gem there. Most times I shop vinyl through mail-order through various sites if the price is right.

So, don't judge a man's decision on sampling, as long it comes out dope, your head is nodding, whats to hate?
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Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By es-k Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:50 pm
Ill-Green wrote:So, don't judge a man's decision on sampling, as long it comes out dope, your head is nodding, whats to hate?


Ill-Green, Certified Hiphop Head
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Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By Particular Cat Wed Jul 04, 2012 7:22 pm
es-k wrote:Ill-Green, Certified Hiphop Head

I get what you're saying - there are no rules.
Either way, these are my personal preferences.
As I write this it's 2012 though so I guess anything goes...

Ill-Green wrote:You're gonna pass up a rare gem on cd for $3 dollars and rather spend $50 for the original LP?

I grab from vinyl - that's it.
It's definitely not anything unheard of.
No, I'd never spend $50 on any record.

Ill-Green wrote:Not everyone got the dough nor has the privilage to access dollar bins

Antique stores, Good Will, Yard Sales, Flea Markets - people who grew up in the era where vinyl was at it's peak usually just have the stuff laying around in attics and basements.
Go check grandma's closet.

Ill-Green wrote:where I'm at . . . not a single store specializes in vinyl except for the antique shops, and once in a blue moon I'll find a gem there.

My collection is primarily from the dollar bin.
These things take time and my digging has improved so much these past few years.
Gotta know when to grab and when to pass...
Not a lot of cats sampling from vinyl around me, so it's a matter of hitting up the antique stores and sorting through the Art Garfunkel and Mitch Miller.
My competition is usually old guys looking for Elvis, Beach Boys, Beatles, etc...
I do also have some pretty sweet record stores around me in Jersey and Philly - but I don't like paying $6 in Philly for a spare copy of something that I grabbed back home from the dollar bin.

Ill-Green wrote:as long it comes out dope, your head is nodding, whats to hate?

No hate.
It's about the aesthetic qualities of vinyl for me. That's why I gravitate in that direction.
I also enjoy the added challenge of digging for original releases rather than albums that were re-issued 10 or 20 years after-the-fact.
Frankly, I just enjoy a challenge and I think it's alright to be a little particular about your art.

To each his own.

Still <3 you. :smoker:

Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By thevalley Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:58 pm
thanks everyone for some good info. And to everyone saying not to ask people how to sample, that's not the point of this post. I'm not asking how I should do it, I'm asking what some of you have found as your personal do's and dont's. What ways do you like to do it, etc. I mean, I'm young. Vinyl has not been a part of my life. Heck, even cassettes weren't. I grew up with CDs and mp3s. Times change, and the reality is is that someday vinyl might not be an option. Although vinyl is unfamiliar to me, I am very aware that it is the best technique for sampling and it intrigues me to learn about it. That's why I am asking. I never asked for a set of rules. Rules are different than do's and dont's. I always looked at rules as a general guideline of how a large group of people are supposed to be. I think of do's and don'ts as advice from people who are trying to make things easier for people who are trying to learn. Thanks again, to all the people who understood the concept.

Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By thevalley Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:58 am
I should have put that I am very aware that it is my favorite technique, instead of the best. I have been sampling from mp3s since I started, and it lacks that rustic feel to it. All of my favorite producers (i.e. q-tip, dilla, and dj shadow) sample this way. Endtroducing has been one of my favorite albums, even since I was a kid. I'm 19 right now, and still listen to the album in its entirety on a weekly basis. It was when I found out about the process (digging for/sampling from vinyl) that made me interested in that technique. So that is why it is my favorite technique. In my opinion, it is the best technique. What do you think?
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Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By soul:jah Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:11 pm
what is really pissing me off nowadayz when everybody started using Reason, Ableton or NI for live/studio ish, everybody was using the same fukking drums and synth sound from library-files. Thats like everybody whos sampling vinyl uses the same Break-Complication from #98.

And again thats the big difference in my eyes: People who are fixed on digging and vinyl are much more about selecting and searching for fresh new sounds rather than using present-sounds. People nowadayz doesnt understand that a synth for example is ther to be programmed until it sound like u want, and not for using present and example settings in the own music...
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Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By Metatron72 Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:25 pm
Am I the only one who read all the posts written in the Do: / Dont: style and then heard them in my head to the tune of Dr. Knockboots ?

Yeah I probably was the only one. :lol:

Re: Sampling Do's and Dont's

By thevalley Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:03 pm
soul:jah wrote:what is really pissing me off nowadayz when everybody started using Reason, Ableton or NI for live/studio ish, everybody was using the same fukking drums and synth sound from library-files. Thats like everybody whos sampling vinyl uses the same Break-Complication from #98.

And again thats the big difference in my eyes: People who are fixed on digging and vinyl are much more about selecting and searching for fresh new sounds rather than using present-sounds. People nowadayz doesnt understand that a synth for example is ther to be programmed until it sound like u want, and not for using present and example settings in the own music...


exactly the type of answer I was looking for.
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