How do you guys chop up a sample and make something hot?

Hey fellas, I have gotten pretty familiar with finding a loop and creating a song out of it but now I want to take it to that next level and chop a sample and make something ill out of it. I'm having a tough time getting started. Can you give me tips/advice on how you chop your samples? Thanks in advance.

if there are 16 or less notes in the melody i've sampled, it goes 1 per pad.
then i make a copy of each one and put it at the next pad layer at a lower level setting so i can qlink reverse it whenever i want.

if there are more than 16 notes, then i just qlink small phrases into the qlinks and qlink slide while programming.

Antonym wrote:if there are 16 or less notes in the melody i've sampled, it goes 1 per pad.
then i make a copy of each one and put it at the next pad layer at a lower level setting so i can qlink reverse it whenever i want.

if there are more than 16 notes, then i just qlink small phrases into the qlinks and qlink slide while programming.

I have no idea what you just said. When you say 16 notes, can you explain what you mean by that? You don't mean sixteen beats (4 bars) do you? What are the advantages of making a copy of each pad and putting it next to the original pad with the sample? Also, what do you mean by qlinking small phrases? Just want to make sure I understand what you are doing. Chopping samples has been real frustrating for me. Everyone tell me to chop on beat but I'm not sure if this is the best way to get results.

first, don't sample stuff with a lot going on. look for open samples that have nothing else underneath it. no drums, etc

look at the wavform and chop every note - seriously, every note that you hear in the sample. put one note on each pad. ignore chopping bars or beats or whatever - chop the notes themselves. this way you can make your own melody with the sample you previously had - even if the original one doesn't loop at all or whatever, you can reprogram the sample and make your own melody using the original key sig. done well enough, this still sounds live since you can shift time and play with off setting certain bits and pieces.

this is the most creative and boundary defying type of sampling i've encountered so far.

as for qlinking chopped samples - i went a little fast. i meant this:

you can set the qlink to make different pad layers play w/out the others being heard.

say i set the top layer, a normal note, to level 60-127. the next layer, the same sample just reversed, i set from 0 to 59. then i go to qlink, note on, layer and either select the pad i'm working on at the time or the whole program w/ TRACK.

i don't make a copy of each pad, i make a copy of each SAMPLE and then reverse it.

now, as you tap the pad, slide the qlink. result - when the qlink is low, sound is reversed. when it's not, sound is normal. great for saving space/adding variants in your chops.

most important thing here: sample open and chop notes. treat melodies like drum loops and reprogram them to play what YOU want em to play.

when i chop samples i usually find relatively slowwww joints to use, makes it easier to make a track without it sounding too busy.

example of somethin im working on...

http://www.psychoholiday.com/uploader/f ... chopex.mp3

the illest beats are the ones you modify the least.

all about the source material. man.... so many of the top hip hop tunes if you heard the drums dry you'd think they were wack. but with layers upon layers the whole sound spectrum is filled and it sounds dope.

usually the best samples write the song for you. things just flow from the sample.

usually the best samples write the song for you.

way to kill sampling's credibility...

Antonym wrote:

usually the best samples write the song for you.

way to kill sampling's credibility...

No shyt.

I meant that usually good samples are so tonally full that they force the direction of your song.

?? thanks for the benefit of the doubt. jeez

haha what's funny is that that WAS the benefit of the doubt - the other option is a straight out bigoted screamfest

i think that comes down to preference, though - if you're looking for something to chop, the odds are you're not looking for something tonally full because that implies a lot of stuff going on. if this is the case it's more difficult to chop it and make it sound convincing. on the other hand, something with very little to no other stuff in the background is much easier to resequence, giving you more leeway to play with song progression. looped samples are much harder to use in a song that progresses from one beat into another.

open_fource wrote:the illest beats are the ones you modify the least.

ahem...

sorry i'm new around here.

trust me I am not endorsing making hooks around 6 second samples lifted from a beatnuts "here's who we sampled" CD ordered online.

!!!

i am just saying sometimes the hottest stuff is made with very few tracks or choppage. you just shouldn't expect that when you chop anything into 16+ pieces there's gonna be hot fiah at the end... no.

ty for taking it easy on me Antonym

allergic2life wrote:when i chop samples i usually find relatively slowwww joints to use, makes it easier to make a track without it sounding too busy.

example of somethin im working on...

http://www.psychoholiday.com/uploader/f ... chopex.mp3

damn ! lol i heard the same sample last week and i was goin to make somthin outta it ! its al good man , it sounds better than what i was goin to make it , i guess im not goin to use this hot sample !

Antonym wrote:first, don't sample stuff with a lot going on. look for open samples that have nothing else underneath it. no drums, etc

look at the wavform and chop every note - seriously, every note that you hear in the sample. put one note on each pad. ignore chopping bars or beats or whatever - chop the notes themselves. this way you can make your own melody with the sample you previously had - even if the original one doesn't loop at all or whatever, you can reprogram the sample and make your own melody using the original key sig. done well enough, this still sounds live since you can shift time and play with off setting certain bits and pieces.

this is the most creative and boundary defying type of sampling i've encountered so far.

as for qlinking chopped samples - i went a little fast. i meant this:

you can set the qlink to make different pad layers play w/out the others being heard.

say i set the top layer, a normal note, to level 60-127. the next layer, the same sample just reversed, i set from 0 to 59. then i go to qlink, note on, layer and either select the pad i'm working on at the time or the whole program w/ TRACK.

i don't make a copy of each pad, i make a copy of each SAMPLE and then reverse it.

now, as you tap the pad, slide the qlink. result - when the qlink is low, sound is reversed. when it's not, sound is normal. great for saving space/adding variants in your chops.

most important thing here: sample open and chop notes. treat melodies like drum loops and reprogram them to play what YOU want em to play.

thanks for the help too man , much props !

seatown350 wrote:

allergic2life wrote:when i chop samples i usually find relatively slowwww joints to use, makes it easier to make a track without it sounding too busy.

example of somethin im working on...

http://www.psychoholiday.com/uploader/f ... chopex.mp3

damn ! lol i heard the same sample last week and i was goin to make somthin outta it ! its al good man , it sounds better than what i was goin to make it , i guess im not goin to use this hot sample !

haha, hey, use the sample... just do somethin diff with it and make it sound fresh!

ive been so lazy to finish that beat right now, gotta redo the chorus