Is it worth digging in today's day and age?

clouthier

clouthier

New member
I want to produce old school 90's hip hop which obviously means I am going to be doing some sampling but my question to you guys is that in your opinion is it worth it to learn how to/ begin digging in today's day and age? I've really been debating on wether or not to purchase a USB turntable to sample vinyl but with access to tons of vinyl packs online and YouTube for samples is it worth it? Is the quality of vinyl that much better? Right now I'm using maschine only but I'm fiending to get my beats on the next level so if vinyl is the way to do it please tell me.
 
it's good to have but not a must.
I haven't sampled vinyl in 3 years to be real about it. all just mp3

but i'm planning to hook my turntables up again in the future.
 
It depends how you want it to sound. If you are satisfied with the quality of your beats from sampling youTube rips, then keep doing that. Just think about it logically. A well recorded and imported vinyl record will no doubt sound better than a low-res rip of something from youTube. If that sound/quality is what you want, then you may want to consider buying a turntable.

If you can find high quality samples online, then sample that. Perhaps some even like the low quality sound of something. Producers will even use Bit reduction/distortion effects/etc... to alter the sound. (and many find this particularly pleasing.)

There is no right or wrong answer regarding this question. The only right answer is to sit down and make beats/music. Learn what you can do, expand your knowledge base, incorporate new sounds, and most importantly make beats that represent your choices in music.

There are people who can make outstanding beats from a youTube rip. And there are people who can make horrible beats from the highest quality samples and equipment.
 
If you wanna find those obscure records that people like Primo & Pete sample, digging is the way to go. More original, untouched samples. But I know what you mean, most of my samples come form rips on youtube.
 
First off, there's nothing like vinyl. It's a different workflow and there's something about being able to touch a record and manipulate the sound in that way that's unique. That being said, I know plenty of beat makers who have turntables but who still suck. Practice your craft. Part of making beats in the 90s was using whatever means you had to get the sound you wanted. Would I choose to sample an MP3 over a record if I have access to one? NEVER. But having access to millions of songs on YouTube and services like Spotify get me to my end result faster. Purists might say that vinyl is better but I say that practice makes you the best. Practice your craft with the tools you have and if you REALLY want to get that vinyl sound, then find a record of whatever you've sampled to make it have that vinyl sound. Also, you can do some pretty creative things to the sound just by playing around with filters and such. Get creative, my friend.
 
rogergil said:
First off, there's nothing like vinyl. It's a different workflow and there's something about being able to touch a record and manipulate the sound in that way that's unique. That being said, I know plenty of beat makers who have turntables but who still suck. Practice your craft. Part of making beats in the 90s was using whatever means you had to get the sound you wanted. Would I choose to sample an MP3 over a record if I have access to one? NEVER. But having access to millions of songs on YouTube and services like Spotify get me to my end result faster. Purists might say that vinyl is better but I say that practice makes you the best. Practice your craft with the tools you have and if you REALLY want to get that vinyl sound, then find a record of whatever you've sampled to make it have that vinyl sound. Also, you can do some pretty creative things to the sound just by playing around with filters and such. Get creative, my friend.
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I think I have to agree with this. I mean, I'm just starting out sampling. And as I just posted in another thread, I've been e-digging. But I've always, always, always loved that authentic vinyl sound. And I can't wait to get my hands on some dusty old records. :-) My personal preference is definitely vinyl over MP3.
 
Digging is definitely worth it, however I think e-digging is more worth it just for the workflow factor. Your definitely going to get better sound from sampling a record yourself its always fun to play with the EQ and pre on a turntable mixer while recording your sample, you can tweak every part of the sample from the source. One day I looked at all my records and realized how much money I spent on them and slowly started selling them. Think about if Pete Rock had access to e-digging back in the 90's, would he take advantage? **** yea he would, you can spend 50 bucks on 10 records or you can download 10 fire ass records for free. I slowly moved to e-digging. On the RARE occasion if I find some crazy sample and the sound quality sucks, ill look to ebay to cop the actual vinyl. Ive only done that maybe about 10 times tho, usually vinyl mp3 rips online are pretty good. Physical digging gets addicting at first its so cool to have the record in your hand and read the sleeve and drop that needle on the vinyl while smoking a blunt and hearing some crazy song coming out of the speakers, but as time went on I just realized how much easier, cheaper, and quicker it was to get mp3 rips. In my opinion my quality of music hasnt changed that much from sampling mp3's, if not it got better but maybe thats just from me doing this music thing for a long time. if you asked me a few years ago i'd say get your ass to the record shop and dig, but right now I think its better to get your samples online. Don't really worry about "oh is someone gonna have this sample since its on the internet?" even if they do chances are they arnt gonna get famous and pretty much no ones gonna hear theyre beat
 
This is like our discussion on liking lightskinned or darkskinned girls more.

Interesting fact. If you rip from a youtube vid that was made from vinyl, it's not gonna be any more low res than a sampler from the 90s that same vinyl woulda been running into. Even on my MPC 2000XL I used to resample at like 22hz mono 8bit or something close to those settings to have enough space.

A youtube vid ripped from vinyl will have waaaaaayyyyyy better quality than that and still capture the "vinyl quality".

Definitive FACT. There's nothing beneficial to overall quality in sampling from vinyl as opposed to sampling from a source(mp3, wav, youtube, ect)that was uploaded from vinyl in the first place beyond human error on behalf of the person doing the uploading. And that variant is just as likely to happen if you sample from vinyl yourself if you don't know what you're doing. For all you know the uploader has better pres, cleaner(or dirtier if that's what you favor)vinyl in better condition than you have.

IT'S ALL JUST PREFERENCE. MAKES NO DIFFERENCE IN A FINALIZED SONG.

And yes, I've found youtube vids of common vinyls that I haven't ran across in stores. But you know what else youtube has? Vids of vinyls that only 20 copies of were pressed(these usually only have 10-40 views meaning only people looking hard for the song have found it(most of these guys are most likely not looking to sample, but to hear an old song again). Alot of which are FREE DOMAIN(you don't have to pay for using the sample)!
 
its not a 100 percent needed but i guarentee the person that digs will have the samples no one else has..for every guy ripping that youtube, there are a shitload of others doing the same....not knocking it though i do it sometimes too.


what cratedigging does give you is the ability to control your sample source easier..i just turn on the tables, play a record and finger drum while listenening...gives me a better work flow...but thats my opinion...my saying is sample everything and anything.

plus i love records...its hard to explain but listening to a dusty/gritty record on a friday night is way more rewarding then youtube for me..lol
 
I love the feeling of walking into a dusty ass record store and fingering through records for an hour. I love the sound of vinyl. yeahh i can just chop up the mp3 version of certain songs but that doesn't make me feel as alive as a record store and listening to records does.
 
Undoubtedly YES!, learn the process, you will appreciate samples a lot more if you do. And you will always have something to do when exploring new cities and towns. If your in a hurry to make a hit beat than do what you gotta, but there is something about hitting the town with some fellow diggers and getting amongst crates, it's entertaining enough just to laugh at the old album covers and artwork.
 
Whatever you prefer bro! Having a turntable isnt necessary but something people like the fresh original sound better,
 
e-digging is much quicker and easier. The quality is worse than vinyl but I think it is worth is for the quick workflow.
 
i've been e-digging, only have a couple crates of vinyls due to apartment size. i'm gonna get serious about digging when i get my new place in a couple months.
 
If you only want records to look for samples then I'd just use the internet. Your going to waste a lot of your time and money on records.

If you're just looking for samples you will end up with a bunch of weird ass records, with shitty music, that HOPEFULLY have a sample on them, that are taking up a lot of space.

You buy records because you fiend for the hunt and discovering new music you dig. You want to physically own and treasure the records. Then check it for samples :monkey:

My $.02
 
It's not a must that you have to use vinyl. If your shit sound good, it sounds good. I strictly e-dig. I got a turntable, but I rarely use it. And know what you're looking for. All that shit piles up if you just buying records or downloading them. I'm a perfectionist, so when I download an album I keep it. I rarely get rid of it, because I always find something I missed earlier. I guess I need to practice what I preach.
 
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Find the sample u want to use on YouTube very obscure songs are on there aswell as hard to get hold of stuff , remixes VIPs etc . . Find what u want to sample then go on eBay , disk cogs , hard to find records , and buy the vinyl
 
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