Instrumental Hip Hop Naive Questions

[Deathmental]

Hello there, I'm new around here.

I'm looking for ways to express myself. I don't know exactly what I want to do, since there are so many different things that I like.

Anyway, I have a love for instrumental hip hop. I'm no connoisseur, but I really like it.

Now here comes the dumb question: I read that records like "Donuts" and "Endtroducing...." were made with a minimal setup, a sampler/sequencer and a turntable.

Is it really that easy? I mean, of course it takes a great deal of talent and ability to make such records, but could I really try to do something in that vein just with those two pieces of equipment? Wouldn't I need something else, perhaps a drum machine?


Don't bash too hard


Thanks for your kind answers

 

[krushing]

Yup, that simple. Of course, those unsurpassed landmarks of sampling are there for a reason But gear-wise, you don't need much. Modern DAWs are about a hundred times more advanced than what was needed for these albums.

 

[Deathmental]

Thanks for you answer!

Time for silly ignorant question n° 2:

if I wanted to try my hand at this, and if I wanted to do it without a computer, what would I need?

I know everybody says that sampling is a million times easier and faster with software, but I just don't like the idea. It takes away all the "magic". I know it sounds stupid, but that's the way I feel. Doing it at my laptop, I would get bored in no time, I'm sure. Is there a sampler a good hardware sampler that also works with digital files (wav, flac,...) and that doesn't require obsolete technology (floppy disks and stuff)? I have a huge collection of digital files and I would use those for making samples.

I checked out a lot of samplers, but - being really ignorant - I wouldn't know which one would do the trick. Roland SP-404, maybe?

 

[krushing]

All samplers are digital at heart (the only things that could be said to be sort of analog samplers are tape-based things like the Mellotron and such), and pretty much all of them import at least .wav (unless they exclusively use their own proprietary format). There are all sorts of conversion utilities to get your samples to the right format, so it shouldn't be a problem. However, there are surprisingly few modern hardware samplers that aren't horribly limited (of course, limitations can be inspiring as is the case with, say, Donuts); the older MPCs before the current crop of software/hardware hybrids (all the current MPC hardware units are just controllers for software, not standalone), the Korg Electribes, the Roland SP series and the new Pioneer/Dave Smith Toraiz SP-16, which is probably the only really exciting hardware sampler in years. The Korg MicroSampler also gets a honourable mention for accessibility and being the only keyboard sampler around these days.

 

[Deathmental]

Excuse me if I keep on taking advantage of your patience.

A few limitations is just what I need, I guess. The thousand of options of software are a bit... scary? dispersive? for someone who's just starting

So, most of them work with SD cards? I just load the songs I want to use on the SD card and then chop the samples on the machine? Are SD cards reader expensive?

I have checked out the the Roland SP-404 and the Electribes. The Toraiz is too expensive for poor ol' me. The cool thing about the electribes is that they're also grooveboxes, if I got it right. What would you suggest for starting? The MicroSampler?

 

[krushing]

Yeah, I totally understand the fear of endless choices that modern DAWs can elicit.

The SP's seem to use CF (CompactFlash) cards, the Electribes uses SD cards...some samplers just have analog audio inputs or an USB connection to the computer and one curious case (the Korg Volca Sample) relies on an iPhone app for sample import. So I'm not sure if it's safe to say "most" Anyway, multi-format card reader cost next to nothing (like, $10 cheapest).

I'm of the now old-school rack sampler generation, so I'm not sure if I am to suggest anything particular. The SPs seem uncomplicated enough; the MicroSampler might not be that great for working with loops; the MPC1000 is still a great workhorse drum/phrase sampler without being overtly complicated.

 

[KonKossKang]

Started out with and stuck to digital.
I think the benefits of digital are they can be as simple or complex as you want them to be.


I associate daws with emulation.

 

[krushing]

Started out with and stuck to digital.
I think the benefits of digital are they can be as simple or complex as you want them to be.

You're apparently using "digital" analogous to DAWs here, which is kind of confusing, given the context; there are lots of digital things outside the computer environment - like each and every sampler.

I associate daws with emulation.

I don't. I guess a lot of modern DAWs have bits and pieces that emulate certain hardware counterparts, but DAWs themselves rarely emulate anything (unless you're extremely liberal with the definition of "emulation").