Samples vs. Composition

I'm still working on my sampling, but I think just do whichever one you're better at. I don't have anything against sampling, but I'm always going to feel better about a beat that I composed without a sample cause I'll feel like it's all mine . Some people don't care either way. The upside to sampling is that it offers you sounds and grooves you wouldn't be able to recreate yourself. So yea, I think you should pursue whatever you're better at.

well Im from the south so while DJ premire and pete rock are cool.

My idols are organized noise. I dont like that 2 note synth bullshit either but i definaly respect music that is composed. Etiher way if its hot i will feel it but im definaly more into the musical stuff. I prefer creating from scartch, it gives me more stastifaction

Also like some said earler, i find alot of sample heads hate on composers becasue they are envious.

You can teach a good musican how to sample, but u cant neccsiarly teach a sampler how to compose. Musical abiltity(on the compostiton side) is a skill that you have to be born with. YOu either got it or u dont, no amount of pratice(or lessions etc..) can change that. You have to be born with that "ear"
Sampling on the otherhand is a skill that can be learned....



Composing abiltity has nothing to do with playin an instrament either. As most if you already know i am a classical pianst and saxaphone player.

THere were people in my music school who could play the most complicated composititons by bach and knew everything thing about music theory, but if u ask them to come up with an orginaly meleody....they were stuck. So everyone who is takin lessions be aware of this.....casue i see cats takin piano lessions thinking that its gonna be their salvatation....

My 2 cents

class....


And remember, the music that ur sampling was orginally composed so dont knock composing to much, somebody had to sit down at the keyboard and play it at one time. LOL

classic wrote:well Im from the south so while DJ premire and pete rock are cool.

My idols are organized noise. I dont like that 2 note synth **** either but i definaly respect music that is composed. Etiher way if its hot i will feel it but im definaly more into the musical stuff. I prefer creating from scartch, it gives me more stastifaction

Also like some said earler, i find alot of sample heads hate on composers becasue they are envious.

You can teach a good musican how to sample, but u cant neccsiarly teach a sampler how to compose. Musical abiltity(on the compostiton side) is a skill that you have to be born with. YOu either got it or u dont, no amount of pratice(or lessions etc..) can change that. You have to be born with that "ear"
Sampling on the otherhand is a skill that can be learned....


Composing abiltity has nothing to do with playin an instrament either. As most if you already know i am a classical pianst and saxaphone player.

THere were people in my music school who could play the most complicated composititons by bach and knew everything thing about music theory, but if u ask them to come up with an orginaly meleody....they were stuck. So everyone who is takin lessions be aware of this.....casue i see cats takin piano lessions thinking that its gonna be their salvatation....

If musical ability is a skill then it can be learned just like any other skill, if someone has the will to learn and they immerse themselves in it enuff they will be able to learn it.

I dont bleive u have to be born with it, obviously there are some people that have a natural talent for music but they still have to learn and practice to up they skills

jpeg wrote:I dont bleive u have to be born with it, obviously there are some people that have a natural talent for music but they still have to learn and practice to up they skills

Naw i disagree man

musicalbilitity is a god given talent just like athletic abilitity.
For example…
You can take an average guy and train him night and day and he will NEVER become a world class sprinter. Now if u take a different person with that natural talent and train him(and if he has the drive) he will reach that level.

Now the person who doesn’t have that ability can work his ass off and still get in shape(and get a little faster) etcc… But he will never really get to that level of the talented dude who trains

Composing(and musical talent) is the same exact way, some people are born with it, others aren’t. Now someone with no composition skills can practice there ass off and get to a decent level. But they will never get to the level of somebody who has been practicing with that natural ability

You have to understand there is a difference between learning how to play somebody else’s music and creating your own music. Piano lesions etc.. teach you how to play somebody elses music. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing the piano, but I am using a different skill when I playing bach or rachminioff, then when im creating music my OWN music.

Im not acting like I know everything, but I have a lot of experience with this. I have seen guys who know all the music theory in the world, can tell u all the catatonic/major/minor chourd progressions . Some go as far as even to learn Schoenberg’s 12 tone scale system. But at the end of the day they just aint got the ability in them.

U can learn all the theory and scales in the world, even learn how to play a couple of instruments but if u aint got it in you, it isent going to matter

Classs….

call me mr bent, im at where your sister went

peezie do you know what Bent means in the UK? you'd probably not have that up as your sig if ya did



greg

I think in order to be a good hip hop producer you have to be able to do both. I admire producers like Just Blaze, that’ll make you wonder if he used a sample or played it himself. I personally prefer to sample, to give my music a sound that I don’t feel can be accomplished without an actual horn or string section. A lot of the time I’ll start with a sample and by the time I finish adding the keys, the sample isn’t necessary, so I’d take it out. But anyway… I believe they are equally important.

stryke wrote:I know some cats on here are talented when it comes to composing but what do you guys and gals think is easier.To chop a sample or compose your own joint?Like today i'm sittin down tryin' to chop and i just can't get nothin' to sound right.I got so frustrated i just turned my joint off.

haha yea that happens to me. well, for me its easier to compose my own because thats me. but i think composing is easier TO ME because i find myself getting lazy sometimes. so it makes me not wanna sit and zone it and do all that. but thats just me...who am i?

Mddl Fngr wrote:A lot of the time I’ll start with a sample and by the time I finish adding the keys, the sample isn’t necessary, so I’d take it out.

happens all the time

Not addin much to the post, but I have to agree with the heads that say doing both is best. Ride the balance of doing both. If you've primarily been doing sample stuff, cop a synth module and experiment with it. Samples are great for making core hip-hop boom bap joints, but if you'd like to expand as a producer/composer and secure more potential opportunities in the future, you should really get into composing at some point. I don't know the status of some of yall in terms of how you get down, so if you're doing both cool, if not expand and learn to make stuff that sounds like samples you use. Replays are always a good way to get some practice in and at the same time provide some great ideas. And to the cat that said Organized Noise was a great influence, that's real right there. Them cats been incorporating everything from samples and synths to turntables and live instruments since Outkast debuted way back. Oh, and don't knock Storch unless you are going to knock Dre...Storch is like the 5th or 6th consecutive 'apprentice producer' in a row that helped give Dre a 'new' sound to rock....'2001'=Storch music+Mel Man drums......

I don't think you can teach a musician how make a track with samples as easily as you think. It takes an ear, and a different way of thinking to really produce with samples. I'm not talking two loop kanye style, but to use nothing but samples and have it fit together takes a compositional skill that is different but no less important than when writing your own music.

That Said, I don't do much all sample music, but I think it takes a killer ear to do it well.

I think the points made here are valid. However, although natural talent does play a role in musical ability, I think that if somebody had a REALLY strong drive they could override natural talent and improve simply on that. In a way, they could create their own "natural talent" from wanting to improve so much. Some people just want it that badly and if they persist they get it eventually.

Mavurik wrote:I think the points made here are valid. However, although natural talent does play a role in musical ability, I think that if somebody had a REALLY strong drive they could override natural talent and improve simply on that. In a way, they could create their own "natural talent" from wanting to improve so much. Some people just want it that badly and if they persist they get it eventually.

thatstrue to a certain degree. I mean if u dont have the abilitity and study and work you ass off u can impove to a certain extent. But u will hit a wall. An no amount of pratice will help u over come that wall

I dont want yall to think im discrouging cats or anything its just that i have seen this plenty of times. Cats taking that piano lessions learing theory thinking its going to make them better producers. It really dosent work like that. U have to discover your ear first

I can tell you personally i know music theory out the ass, and i can play my scales inside and out.

But i rarely use any of that when im composing, when i am composing i just use my ear and follow my instinct, that is something i have had since i was a child.(before music school etc...)

AGain this is just my opionion

classs...

i been playing keyboards for along time, but I started sampling in my first beats way before I used synths, but that helped me out alot because I make synth beats they same way I would a sampled beat, everything else goes to audio and is chopped and manupilated.

classic wrote:

Mavurik wrote:I think the points made here are valid. However, although natural talent does play a role in musical ability, I think that if somebody had a REALLY strong drive they could override natural talent and improve simply on that. In a way, they could create their own "natural talent" from wanting to improve so much. Some people just want it that badly and if they persist they get it eventually.

thatstrue to a certain degree. I mean if u dont have the abilitity and study and work you ass off u can impove to a certain extent. But u will hit a wall. An no amount of pratice will help u over come that wall

I dont want yall to think im discrouging cats or anything its just that i have seen this plenty of times. Cats taking that piano lessions learing theory thinking its going to make them better producers. It really dosent work like that. U have to discover your ear first

I can tell you personally i know music theory out the ass, and i can play my scales inside and out.

But i rarely use any of that when im composing, when i am composing i just use my ear and follow my instinct, that is something i have had since i was a child.(before music school etc...)

AGain this is just my opionion

classs...

I was talking about practicing sampling. I think that when you hit the 'wall' as far as sampling, desire is what will push you over. Most people will just get discouraged and give up and turn off their machine. But some people will keep going on and on and eventually they will get it. That's if you're talking about a skill and as far as music, it's pretty much all practice. There's not some level of musical ability that we are born with that we are limited to, as there would be for maybe a sport where your level of skill may be determined by physical limitations. Music is not like that. It may be harder for some people to get skills in music for whatever reason, but for everyone it's possible. As far as the creativity side of music, that can't be forced but it can be developed. There will be a limit for those who limit themselves. For the people that quit after they figure they're just not naturally creative. I think all people have a level of creativity that they don't know they have, it just has to be tapped. I think desire through all the failures will help you tap that creativity. It's the people who learn everything they can, practice until they get it, and NEVER quit that will succeed. An ear is a good thing, but some people with an ear don't produce music from their souls. Listen to most of the stuff on the radio. The producers making these so-called hits may have an ear for music, but that's all it is. An ear doesn't show desire and passion.

I just don't think you can fail forever. That's my opinion.

^^^ yup what dude above said, in fact that was what i was trying to say in my orginal post, lol.