PLEASE READ: A FEW QUESTIONS THAT CAN HOPEFULLY BE ANSWERED

I think i figured out my problem. The problem is, i got too many records at once. Like, before i was even digging, i fount a box full of records with artist such as "Elvis, Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Full Force, Alexander O' Neal" and many more. I think ima just go threw every record, ONE BY ONE. Does that sound like a good start?

The questions i have tho, is ..

1. What do you look for first? Just drums, snares. sounds, vocals, or the melodys? Do you just go threw the record to see what you like, and take it out, and then go to the next record? Or do you actually spend time goin threw the WHOLE RECORD?


2. And what happens when you find some drums/sound/melody you like? You TRIM it down, and SAVE IT to a pad. How do you be able to actually save that sound to like a ZIP or DISC? Is a computer needed?


3. What if you fount a melody you absolutelylike, but its too "poppy" or it just sounds EXTREMLY distorted, but youcan tell itll be abanger ... do you just look for the original song on the internet, and chop it from their so it sounds more clearer?


4. If i have a cd player, or IPOD with the song i wanna sample.. i cant actually speed up the sample threw the MPC can i?


5. Lets say you got a whole bunch of material that you sampled ... how do you actually keep track of what? Like, how do you keep track of where that drum came from, or where that melody came from, do you have a note book as a sort of "DATA BASE"?



And alot of my records are sort of damaged ... like, they've been in the sun ... so i DONT KNOW ... hopefully i can get a few answers, im really trying to learn..

Humble Producer wrote:I think i figured out my problem. The problem is, i got too many records at once. Like, before i was even digging, i fount a box full of records with artist such as "Elvis, Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Full Force, Alexander O' Neal" and many more. I think ima just go threw every record, ONE BY ONE. Does that sound like a good start?

The questions i have tho, is ..

1. What do you look for first? Just drums, snares. sounds, vocals, or the melodys? Do you just go threw the record to see what you like, and take it out, and then go to the next record? Or do you actually spend time goin threw the WHOLE RECORD?

Take what I like/ go through the whole record

2. And what happens when you find some drums/sound/melody you like? You TRIM it down, and SAVE IT to a pad. How do you be able to actually save that sound to like a ZIP or DISC? Is a computer needed?

If I find a sound I like I sample it

3. What if you fount a melody you absolutelylike, but its too "poppy" or it just sounds EXTREMLY distorted, but youcan tell itll be abanger ... do you just look for the original song on the internet, and chop it from their so it sounds more clearer?

LOL Yo are you like 12? Your questions are so Elementary. What do you think u would do if u wanna sample something but its distorted? LOL Find another source.

4. If i have a cd player, or IPOD with the song i wanna sample.. i cant actually speed up the sample threw the MPC can i?

You can speed it up in the mpc yes

5. Lets say you got a whole bunch of material that you sampled ... how do you actually keep track of what? Like, how do you keep track of where that drum came from, or where that melody came from, do you have a note book as a sort of "DATA BASE"?

Everyone works differently, I rely on memory


And alot of my records are sort of damaged ... like, they've been in the sun ... so i DONT KNOW ... hopefully i can get a few answers, im really trying to learn..

A lot of these questions are very general and you wont get a straight answer because everyone works differently

I think you think about sh!t too much. It's music. Do what you feel like doing.

There isn't a "proper" or "correct" way to make music. Everything including listening for sounds to sample is technic which you build on your own terms as you grow as a producer/artist/musician. There is no clear cut right or wrong about ANYTHING in this field.

Over-analysis causes paralysis, just jump into the music, and things will work out, and you will figure things out as you progress.

This is in response not just to this post but to the variety of posts I see you posting.

4. If i have a cd player, or IPOD with the song i wanna sample.. i cant actually speed up the sample threw the MPC can i?

You can speed it up in the mpc yes



im trying to do this now... i got a two way cord coming from the ipod into the "record in" LEFT on the mpc ... and i sample it, but i cant speed up the tempo of the sample..

when i get a bunch of record off craigslist, i run thru em fast as hell... maybe like 1 minute on each side. spend maybe 10 seconds on the intro, skip to the middle, then the end... i mostly look for drum breaks on records that i would pass up on in the dollar bin. if i hear somethin i wanna sample, ill chop it up right there, or just set the record aside and try to come back to it later.

Humble Producer wrote:I think i figured out my problem. The problem is, i got too many records at once. Like, before i was even digging, i fount a box full of records with artist such as "Elvis, Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Full Force, Alexander O' Neal" and many more. I think ima just go threw every record, ONE BY ONE. Does that sound like a good start?

yes, one by one, if you cant find anything to sample on it and you dont like listening to it you night want to consider sending it back to a charity/record shop, if you know its a good record, hold on to it and add it to a pile for trades.
hoarders might disagree but i find it uninspiring to look at a shelf full of records im not interested in, there will always be more of those kind of sounds waiting for you in the dollar bin. remember, BINGE AND PURGE!!!

Humble Producer wrote:
What do you look for first? Just drums, snares. sounds, vocals, or the melodys? Do you just go threw the record to see what you like, and take it out, and then go to the next record? Or do you actually spend time goin threw the WHOLE RECORD?

always go through the whole record, but skipping often, checking intros, look at the record you will see lighter and darker rings showing a change in rhythm, check them all and the transitions between sections. sometimes you just know from a song that its a no go, and you might want to skip it. if you find anything you want, sample and save it to a folder - eg drums FOLDER snares FOLDER sounds FOLDER etc.

I wont answer question 2. sorry.

Humble Producer wrote:
3. What if you fount a melody you absolutelylike, but its too "poppy" or it just sounds EXTREMLY distorted, but youcan tell itll be abanger ... do you just look for the original song on the internet, and chop it from their so it sounds more clearer?

personally... id just let it go and look or a better copy of the record, there are plenty more samples outthere to keep you busy until you find that one again.

Humble Producer wrote:4. If i have a cd player, or IPOD with the song i wanna sample.. i cant actually speed up the sample threw the MPC can i?

depends on your model of mpc ... timestrech is possible, but not the best algorithm apparently. if youre going to do it in software, make sure you get a good firewire I/O

Humble Producer wrote:5. Lets say you got a whole bunch of material that you sampled ... how do you actually keep track of what? Like, how do you keep track of where that drum came from, or where that melody came from, do you have a note book as a sort of "DATA BASE"?

as stated elsewhere, a good filename structure is needed (and stick to it!!)
i do the following - make a folder for the genre im sampling - (i have a seperate subfolder for drums so things dont get messy and i can find drums easier)
heres an example filename: rl_jade_e_ which means ramsey lewis - jade east
knowing what genre the sample was taken from and having the artists initials is half the battle won.

Humble Producer wrote:I think i figured out my problem. The problem is, i got too many records at once. Like, before i was even digging, i fount a box full of records with artist such as "Elvis, Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Full Force, Alexander O' Neal" and many more. I think ima just go threw every record, ONE BY ONE. Does that sound like a good start?

yes, one by one, if you cant find anything to sample on it and you dont like listening to it you night want to consider sending it back to a charity/record shop, if you know its a good record, hold on to it and add it to a pile for trades.
hoarders might disagree but i find it uninspiring to look at a shelf full of records im not interested in, there will always be more of those kind of sounds waiting for you in the dollar bin. remember, BINGE AND PURGE!!!

Humble Producer wrote:
What do you look for first? Just drums, snares. sounds, vocals, or the melodys? Do you just go threw the record to see what you like, and take it out, and then go to the next record? Or do you actually spend time goin threw the WHOLE RECORD?

always go through the whole record, but skipping often, checking intros, look at the record you will see lighter and darker rings showing a change in rhythm, check them all and the transitions between sections. sometimes you just know from a song that its a no go, and you might want to skip it. if you find anything you want, sample and save it to a folder - eg drums FOLDER snares FOLDER sounds FOLDER etc.

I wont answer question 2. sorry.

Humble Producer wrote:
3. What if you fount a melody you absolutelylike, but its too "poppy" or it just sounds EXTREMLY distorted, but youcan tell itll be abanger ... do you just look for the original song on the internet, and chop it from their so it sounds more clearer?

personally... id just let it go and look or a better copy of the record, there are plenty more samples outthere to keep you busy until you find that one again.

Humble Producer wrote:4. If i have a cd player, or IPOD with the song i wanna sample.. i cant actually speed up the sample threw the MPC can i?

depends on your model of mpc ... timestrech is possible, but not the best algorithm apparently. if youre going to do it in software, make sure you get a good firewire I/O

Humble Producer wrote:And alot of my records are sort of damaged ... like, they've been in the sun ... so i DONT KNOW ... hopefully i can get a few answers, im really trying to learn..

its sounds like your records are pretty common, dont get hung up about it, keep digging.

Humble Producer wrote:4. If i have a cd player, or IPOD with the song i wanna sample.. i cant actually speed up the sample threw the MPC can i?

You can speed it up in the mpc yes



im trying to do this now... i got a two way cord coming from the ipod into the "record in" LEFT on the mpc ... and i sample it, but i cant speed up the tempo of the sample..

you should get a cord with a 1/8th stereo to a 3/4th dual mono ends so you can record from your ipod into your mpc in stereo. they are fairly cheap and you can get em at guitar center or wherever.

and yes you can speed up or slow down the sample by adjusting the sound parameter where it says tuning in program mode or in the parameters in trim mode.

as far as everything else you're asking its pretty general. just do what feels right for you. just listen to your records. set aside the ones you find interesting or start chopping off of em right away its up to you. i tend to make a routine of listening and skimming through any new batch of records before i sit and work on anything, unless i find something that gives me a sick idea and i gotta work on right away. its a learning process. it's hard to tell you what routine to follow. you'll find your own way eventually.

Always remember, all records are just sounds. Needle dropping can create new sounds, and manipulating these samples can create stuff you never even knew you had. Never take a record at face value ( don't listen for loops or things you can easily make a beat from), there is SO much good schyt on every record once you learn to really manipulate your setup.
I'm getting rid of some records myself, but it's mainly the classical stuff. After a while, they all sound the same, but I can't say the same for any other genre of music.

Four Eyes you described a 1/8th stereo to a 3/4th dual mono cable for sampling from an ipod to the mpc... Is this one cable? or do I have to find the components (adapters and all that)? I am about to recieve my mpc soon and my ipod is the most viable sampling option I have right now, and I really want to find this kind of cable you mentioned so I can get crackin. If you could just clarify the name components, and places I can find this cable or what I need to sample from an Ipod. I have tried asking radioshack for help and they are absolutely clueless. (ABSOLUTELY)

Scratch that found this HOSA CMP159 Stereo Mini Male to Phone Y-Cable -10 Feet looks like what I need... Any Idea where to find a shorter version? Can only seem to find the length at 10 feet. The smaller the better for portability sake.

actually spend time goin threw the WHOLE RECORDyou answered your own question with that

My dude....being honest....you need to just slow down, take your time with it and stop over thinking it. Imma answer your questions tho,

1. I play the whole record! Many times there will be a lame intro, a lame outro and overall a sh*tty song..but the bridge might be DOPE!!! Spend time with the record and listen. Even if you dont find a dope sample you may get a nice drum pattern you can emulate. Or a melody you can replay

2. Depends on what I find, normally if I find a nice sample I'll spend a few minutes listening to it, trying to determine what approach to take with it. Will I use a break beat or lay my own drums, will I use synth bass or use the low end of the sample. Saving is later in the process for me.

3. You have to use your options, in some cases you can play it out, in other cases some tweaking and eqing may help. If I really want the sample but the version I have is bad I hit the record spot. Personally DLing the sample is a last resort for me. Its actually pretty rare that I download it.

4. Yes you can, that you need to search around for whether it be thru the forums or your manual.

5. I keep a log of EVERYTHING. I have a book with the source of the sample, the beat number (because its easier to catalog beats by number rather than name) and any other info I might need. In the MPC I make sure I name each track. So if I use the "Grand Piano" from my Motif I will name the track so if I need to come back to it in the future its not a ridiculous amount of work.

If your records are damaged you may want to still keep them, nothing wrong with just listening. Not every record needs to be sampled. Also keeping your records clean, having your needle adjusted properly and using a good needle will help.


Bottom line tho, dont read into it too much....take your time. You new producers have WAY more resources than cats of the late 80's and early 90's. Use them.