The Digging Advice Thread (great for beginner diggers)

[Xabiton]

Asking about YouTube sampling is a shit storm waiting to happen lol. Many love it many don't. I personally am not a fan of it.

[Matkennedy]

You never know what to find sometimes. Soul, jazz, or 80s records are usually golden to me. Time to time though I do go on a limb and get odd records. I bought a Spanish folk compilation which Im going to pull from. Gotta keep in mind how you want to sample things though

[AceOfClubs]

Thanks for posting this )

[Newfangled]

Thanks. Plan to increase my collection!

[SenseiMRK]

Great advice

[RighteousRob]

My second piece of advice is be picky about samples. When you are making beats you are creating part of your legacy. The sound of your records is the sound that people will remember you for when you die if you are fortunate enough to have a large fanbase. Think if J Dilla just sampled every open 2 bar loop he could find rather than finding dope ones to chop up.

That is a great point, I think that skill comes with more and more practice. Learning what records to sample, and being able to recognize whether that sample worth chopping vs looping (or even sampling at all) takes a long time to figure out. Shit, I still haven't figured it out.

The piece of advice I wish I could have given myself when I started: dedicate time each and every day (not just when the inspiration strikes) to the fundamentals. Listen old records in your spare time, learn what music inspires you to create.

[a_jacquaz]

My advice is to be open to every style of music. Everythin can be chopped and flipped you just have to train your ears

[DyyYTwo]

Do your homework. Some starting points for the very beginner: What labels generally put out the music you like? Artists you like? How many records/what records have been released by them? There are plenty of resources online that can help figuring things out a bit.

I'd personally advice starting by getting a few solid listenable joints to avoid possible frustration. Sure, it is fun to pick up cheap random records and it can be fruitful regarding sampling, but in the beginning of your digging career, you might simply end up with stuff you don't feel (and stuff you wouldn't want to sample too). Picking up cheap records you haven't heard of before will get easier as you build up your knowledge. And hey, if you bought something you don't feel, at least you got those solid listenable joints you got earlier.

Some useful links:
Discogs - Database and Marketplace for Music on Vinyl, CD, Cassette, MP3 and More
www.the-breaks.com, AKA The (Rap) Sample FAQ
AllMusic
eBay | Electronics, Cars, Clothing, Collectibles, and More Online Shopping

Soulman's World of Beats articles are a nice read too.

Thanks for the links it helps.

[Twilite Mic Prod.]

Very true, I have a huge collection I've built up over the years, and I always end up going back to listen to something again... You never know what you'll find!

[raɛnɪˌgeɪd]

I live in a little town with no record shops, so i utilize the local thrift shops that are available. Other than that i dig on the internet, you can really find some good websites or music blogs that have a lot of the classic soul/funk/disco records for download, i also use a russian website that recommends me downlaods, causing a snowball effect of record downloads