Techniques When Sampling....What's yours?

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MastaMnd

New member
Ok... Here's the deal... I can use my keyboard & my MPC 1000 to make beats.... Cool... No problem... Not everything sounds great or even good but that's the life of a beatmaker/producer. I learned how to make beats the classic way, by sampling, but I was so limited with what I could do b/c I was using (get this), a 4-track Tascam tape recorder & a Gemini DJ Mixer that had like 6 banks (two 2 second banks, two 4 second banks, one 8 second bank, and one 12 second bank. I had one CD w/ sounds (drum loops & all kinds of chopped up samples of stuff).. After I made a beat things sounded a little choppy but listenable. I wanted to do more back then but couldn't. The year was 1998. Now it's 2006 and I'm back with better equipment, I'm makin' beats, and performing alot of other tasks that I thought I'd never do or could do for myself and my team. I listen to beats everyday and hear beats using samples all the time. Some familiar and some not. I used to think that certain songs just couldn't be remixed or flipped. As I get more seasoned and I am fully convinced that pretty much any song can be remixed or flipped anyway your heart, mind, & tools you have at your disposal can flip it. I read that Just Blaze samples the whole song and just picks thru it until he has enough chops to make a complete song. I'm thinking of using that same approach. I think my problem is patience. Because when I hear something that sounds good, I use it (let's call it a chop) and build everything around that. No drum loops, to me that's corny. And I may only use one more part from the song. But I don't flip it that much. I guess I just have to sample the whole song and patiently go thru it. So instead of makin' a beat in hour or so using my MPC 1000 & my keyboard, be prepared to be there for hours, maybe days... To all my dedicated diggers and sample based producers out there... What's your technique? Better yet, how long does it take you to fully complete a sample based beat. Not a beat where you sample like 1 or 2 bars of something (like I do), assign it to a couple pads, change the MPC to "note on" tweak things hear and there and press away. Yall know what I'm talking about. Most hot *** sample beats have like 4 or 5 main chops and they fit together real well. I'm just curious as to how yall do it (maybe give us a tip or 2) and how long it takes. I hope this topic sparks alot of interest and responses.

Holla at ya boy,

MastaMnd
MastaMnd Productions, LLC
check me and my team out at....

www.myspace.com/mastamnd
www.myspace.com/mastamndproductions
www.myspace.com/jointaccountent
www.soundclick.com/prodavision
 
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i'm just getting into using the filters but primarily i find a record that's not popular....has a dirty old school recording and if i can catch a horn hit or a snare or a hi hat roll or anything isolated and open i'll grab it....

..also i'll take a phrases from the songs and chop 'em into 16 or 32 samples, pitch it or filter it or whatever and make something that sounds nothing like the original....the key is don't think too hard about where to slice the sample--that randomness gives it a grittier quality imo...

click the link below and listen to "All Off The Record"--that track is made from the first 8 seconds of a song--no filters, no added drums, just a little change in pitch and a bunch of chops...i'm banking on not having to clear the samples but if any crate diggers in here know what it is let me know...

anyway, these techniques are not new but that's what i do
 
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wise words for Pete Rock....listen to the whole song. what you hear in the first few seconds may blow your mind,but if you keep listening you might find something better. when i sample i use anywhere from 4 notes to 11 notes. just depends on what i'm tryin to do. and make sure your chops are spaced right so the beat will flow perfectly.
 
I'm finally getting into really chopping up records, but I like keeping the track recognizeable. I think that being a sample based beatmaker is a listening art. You really have to audition songs critically and dig deep into a song to find different elements.
 
Thanks fellas for the insight... I just did a beat using something from a fairly recent movie soundtrack.. I'll put it up on myspace page soon!
 
UPPER_CUTT said:
I think that being a sample based beatmaker is a listening art. You really have to audition songs critically and dig deep into a song to find different elements.
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^^what he said, plus why do you thinks loops are corny?? I mean, I know when you start sampling you have all these 'rules' in your head, but you said you been doing this since '98? You should have shed that rule by now. Loops are a guilty pleasure;) and some of the best beats ever are just straight loops.
 
Note i'm just gettin' started at makin' beats, but I'm usually familiar with a song/track I wanna sample... I chop up a particular phrase/stand alone instrument. I space them out on my sequncer/playlist and see how it fits.



It's hard as you wanna make it, but as easy, too.
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I listen to the song about three or four times that I want to sample, once I become familar with the song then all kinda of things will jump out at me to use most of the time. I suggest sampling music you enjoy listening to so if you don't find anything you may learn how to arrange certain parts an firgue out how they created that drum pattern or what not. I personally don't make beats in under a hour. But that's just me do what you do. It's hiphop

One,
JBm
 
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jizzer said:
^^what he said, plus why do you thinks loops are corny?? I mean, I know when you start sampling you have all these 'rules' in your head, but you said you been doing this since '98? You should have shed that rule by now. Loops are a guilty pleasure;) and some of the best beats ever are just straight loops.
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Like Troy... The Hook on Troy is a straight loop.
 
precutting & listening when you chop the sample up first then mess around with the arrangement/trim/crop/cut/paste/copy/speed up/pitch up or down ..mix samples together from 5 or more other samples it;s all relevant...b/c you can fickle with the sample after laying and layering instruments like letting the step sequencer loop the entire drum pattern.... as you start to play(for composers) or bangout(for fl studio or MPC HEADS) USING up all the mpc pads to see what other parts of the sample...cuz you want them to fit(meaning at which points you want to hear the sample "pieces" - "bleed" or playout while tapping to the metronome or going by ear.
 
MastaMnd said:
What's your technique? Better yet, how long does it take you to fully complete a sample based beat.
Holla at ya boy,

MastaMnd
MastaMnd Productions, LLC
check me and my team out at....

www.myspace.com/mastamnd
www.myspace.com/mastamndproductions
www.myspace.com/jointaccountent
www.soundclick.com/prodavision
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Everyone has their own technique. Thats a given. Ive found that the best way to make any sampled beat is by trying things and listening. See if it works.

One thing Ive found that works well in some cases is to sample the same loop lets say four bars. Cut the four bars up into 16ths and pitch say the 3rd one. Then, copy the original and pitch the 4th one or 1st one (up or down, whatever sounds best obviously). Thats a technique I accidentally used once and worked quite well.

Time? However long it takes.

Good Luck bro.

$
 
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I love to chop things to bits. It's not a pride thing, or that it can't sound like the original, i just like to make atleast somewhat mine. I just can't deal with loops, I don't enjoy it, i really never have done it. So my main thing, don't chop straight. No straight bars or 1/4 notes. That sort of thing. So to smooth it out, i layer a simpler track with delay, or delay between transitions. Things like that.
 
i try to let the bass tell me where to chop. all the other instruments tend to follow what the bass is doing (at least melodically), so it generally works out in the end.
 
it seems weneva i chop anything up and attempt to flip it it sounds like it hs very small gaps in like its not very smooth, im still new to recycle so maybe it could be my chopping techinque? any help guyz?
 
djharris said:
it seems weneva i chop anything up and attempt to flip it it sounds like it hs very small gaps in like its not very smooth, im still new to recycle so maybe it could be my chopping techinque? any help guyz?
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that usually happens of the sample's inital cut (start and end points) are off.

I use even barred loops (2 or 4 bars) and cut into 16th's. If you play the chops to the songs tempo, the transition from chop to chop should be smooth...
 
djharris said:
it seems weneva i chop anything up and attempt to flip it it sounds like it hs very small gaps in like its not very smooth, im still new to recycle so maybe it could be my chopping techinque? any help guyz?
Click to expand...

Add slight reverb/delay to the end of the chops.
 
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