Is traditional digging dead?

@xaviton i completely get ur question, so lemme throw in my 2cents worth. I think it all depends on exposure. A lotta my peers(i'm 20) grew up on straight hip hop. so the only influence they have to begin with is hip hop. they hear their favourite producers sampling 70 soul with mellow strings and harpischords(*cough cough* RZA) and coz they only listen to hip hop, they emulate that. Truth be told, i got into hip hop when i was 17. But most of these dudes from my country(South Africa) grew up on house music, afropop and kwaito(google it)...so some kats are sampling kwaito this side of the world and it sounds MAD PROPER! Meth and Red caught on and sampled a kwaito track for the song "hey zulu"(they sampled a short zulu vocal chant "phezulu" which translates to "up" in english...)...so it all depends on exposure.i mostly sample american soul and r&b but im tryna shift from that and sample exclusively from movies coz i love film and it only makes sense to sample what u love.

---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:57 PM ----------

another thing is that hip hop is by far the least progressive genre i've ever known. cats still wanna bring the golden age sound back...smh. it's 2011 it's a new era...lets us younguns produce OUR interpretation of hip hop.Im not condoning the souljah boi's of the game, but i mean really, most people still produce the generic soul sampling stuff coz thats what "real" (a.k.a backward) headz wanna hear
 
Colin Maneta said:
@xaviton i completely get ur question, so lemme throw in my 2cents worth. I think it all depends on exposure. A lotta my peers(i'm 20) grew up on straight hip hop. so the only influence they have to begin with is hip hop. they hear their favourite producers sampling 70 soul with mellow strings and harpischords(*cough cough* RZA) and coz they only listen to hip hop, they emulate that. Truth be told, i got into hip hop when i was 17. But most of these dudes from my country(South Africa) grew up on house music, afropop and kwaito(google it)...so some kats are sampling kwaito this side of the world and it sounds MAD PROPER! Meth and Red caught on and sampled a kwaito track for the song "hey zulu"(they sampled a short zulu vocal chant "phezulu" which translates to "up" in english...)...so it all depends on exposure.i mostly sample american soul and r&b but im tryna shift from that and sample exclusively from movies coz i love film and it only makes sense to sample what u love.

---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:57 PM ----------

another thing is that hip hop is by far the least progressive genre i've ever known. cats still wanna bring the golden age sound back...smh. it's 2011 it's a new era...lets us younguns produce OUR interpretation of hip hop.Im not condoning the souljah boi's of the game, but i mean really, most people still produce the generic soul sampling stuff coz thats what "real" (a.k.a backward) headz wanna hear
Click to expand...
how is sampling soul any realer than sampling classical though is my question lol. Not saying you feel that way but Ive heard that before.
 
I gonna get to Al's for sure...thanks man. Yeah Buzzards is back in their old spot inside Stadium Video across from the high school. I don't really like those cats too much, but I did hit up their moving sale. It was fill a crate for 10 bucks and I got some good stuff. LOL..yes the guy from Drastic Plastics is straight western state hospital material and I think he just makes up prices off the top of his head most times. As far as Tacoma goes I would have to agree that House of Records is most likely the best, but they ain't cheap. The secret cheap spot used to be this dude that had a spot by Wrights park. He sold mainly comic books so he didn't price his records right or didn't know the worth I guess..lol, but when I moved back up here from Cali and checked for it..it was gone. Wish I could remember the name of it. Oh well..the best spot with decent prices I still think is Easy Street but they are only in Seattle.

Wow, you got a White Album, dang I wish I had one of those. So Golden Oldies is not by the B&I anymore? You gotta hook me up with the new location. Hey record store day is on the 16th this year, I'm try to hit all the spots..LOL..they got a list of who is doing it in Washington on their site right here I wasn't up here last year for it, but it looks like I'm hit up Rocket, Disc Connection and Easy Street for sure this year. I think the highest price record store in WA is gotta be Silver Platters..lol..way too high.
 
Xabiton said:
@mr.chris great post. I am not sure that everyone who e digs specifically though are flipping much more than what everyone else is. If its sitting in front of them then they take it and I am not even sure they respect the music itself but rather just sees it as a sample. People see my record collection and say oh shit you have a ton of samples i say I have a lot of good music to listen to.
Click to expand...

Same thing with E digging. I usually don't sample a song unless I like it and have listened to it for more than just a sample. The only difference is that your collection is on records in a crate while mine is wavs on a hard drive.
 
HIMbeats said:
I gonna get to Al's for sure...thanks man. Yeah Buzzards is back in their old spot inside Stadium Video across from the high school. I don't really like those cats too much, but I did hit up their moving sale. It was fill a crate for 10 bucks and I got some good stuff. LOL..yes the guy from Drastic Plastics is straight western state hospital material and I think he just makes up prices off the top of his head most times. As far as Tacoma goes I would have to agree that House of Records is most likely the best, but they ain't cheap. The secret cheap spot used to be this dude that had a spot by Wrights park. He sold mainly comic books so he didn't price his records right or didn't know the worth I guess..lol, but when I moved back up here from Cali and checked for it..it was gone. Wish I could remember the name of it. Oh well..the best spot with decent prices I still think is Easy Street but they are only in Seattle.

Wow, you got a White Album, dang I wish I had one of those. So Golden Oldies is not by the B&I anymore? You gotta hook me up with the new location. Hey record store day is on the 16th this year, I'm try to hit all the spots..LOL..they got a list of who is doing it in Washington on their site right here I wasn't up here last year for it, but it looks like I'm hit up Rocket, Disc Connection and Easy Street for sure this year. I think the highest price record store in WA is gotta be Silver Platters..lol..way too high.
Click to expand...
Never heard of Silver Platters probably for good reason. Where is Buzzards old spot? I GPS'd it from the address they gave me and couldn't find it. I even tried 411 and they weren't listed. I only know of the spot they have had for the past 3-4 years as thats how long I've been going there. Its funny I think dude at House Of Records may be one of the few sellers in town who knows what most of his records are actually worth. Dude from Golden Oldies knows his rock really well though but if you want jazz or soul you can generally get it for dumb cheap. I like Buzzards for rock records actually because its the only place in Tacoma at least where you can get it for cheap. Shit I just paid $10 for the Billy Squier album with Big Beat on it last time I went to Rocket a few days ago. Also paid $10 for the Queen record with We Will Rock You on it. I just like those breaks. Do you know where the Block Buster video is on 6th ave? Golden Oldies is literally like 3-4 blocks from Rocket and the old Hells Kitchen. On the main street on the corner across the street from the oven pizza spot. I don't know the exact address but I have the phone number if you want it. And yeah Golden Oldies moved from by the B&I in 2006 and had a spot right across the street from Drastic Plastic and moved again this past summer. I always thought the South Tacoma Way spot was the best one but this one they are at now is definately the worst. And I have the white album on cd now as I sold my last copy because the record got damaged and someone wanted to buy it still lol.

---------- Post added at 10:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 AM ----------
KelevraOne said:
Same thing with E digging. I usually don't sample a song unless I like it and have listened to it for more than just a sample. The only difference is that your collection is on records in a crate while mine is wavs on a hard drive.
Click to expand...

The bigger difference is the recorded sound. Just because its a wav doesn't guarantee that it will sound good just like just because its a mp3 means it will sound bad. I simply do not trust other people's recordings because a lot of people do not know how to record things properly and then producers tend to get it online say "oh well I can hear sound and its not distorted or the clipping isn't super loud ill just turn it down and rock with it" this aint a knock on E diggers at one point I recorded all of my vinyl to the computer saved them as mp3s and e digged but the sound was just never right so 2 years later I decided that I need to get back to vinyl.
 
Yeah Buzzards used to be Stadium Video ran by Marty, Matt and some other people (can't remember all their names), so Marty took the music part out of Stadium Video, called it Buzzards and opened up shop down by rock pizza. So all Marty did was move back into Stadium Video. Yeah they are kinda hard to find. Stadium Video is underneath the Harvester Restaurant across from Stadium High School. It's pretty easy once you been there. Just take 6th ave down like your going to the waterfront, right by Wright's Park the road will split, stay to the left, next light there is a Tullys on your right and The Harvester across the street. They are right below the Harvester (same building)

Heres a google street view map. Scroll to the left and you will see it on the right....HERES THE LINK

Stadium Video
29 N Tacoma Ave

Yeah Big Beat is dope and a classic. I love getting breaks from rock records. I have tons and a lot of dups too. I was going to take them to Half Price, but I know they wont pay me what I want..LOL. I don't have a ton of dups, but I got some Fleetwood Mac, Rush, Iron Butterfly, Aerosmith, Billy Squier, Zeppelin,etc that you can have cuz I know they are going to a good home..lol..but yeah next time I am down that way, we can meet at the mall or something and I will give them to you. I owe you for hook me up with all the address of where stuff is now. I moved down to California for about 6 years and alot has changed..lol. I am gonna have to check out Golden Oldies new spot for sure...good look..thanks man.
 
People Dont Really Dig For Breaks its been A While Since i Heard Some New TRacks With Breaks other than Kanye
 
bereal said:
People Dont Really Dig For Breaks its been A While Since i Heard Some New TRacks With Breaks other than Kanye
Click to expand...

Whats funny is i was just saying to my girl who digs that new fabolous joint "killin em'" how i was surprised that they used the substitution break.
 
Man you guys out west are paying way too much for your records!! something like BIG BEAT I always buy i believe i paid 35 cents for my last copy and the ladie wanted to charge me tax..hahaha Dont be suprised by the Fabolous track because folks like to hear familiar music...thats why so many songs sre re made.. or turned into Club/World beat etc.. To my man with the cousin in Africa realize one thing player we are one world there are no more secrets as far as music is concerned!! Un heard of artists YES records that werent released to the masses YES some guy with a record shop /garage or basement full of joints YES (those old records had to end up somewhere) but as for musicial styles NO NO NO NO NO!! HIPHOP is World Wide as has been for some time..We incorporate so many different sounds to create this music which despite what some might think or say takes an extreme amount of talent to do especially if your not just looping the beat.. Then again some loops are good enough to do that.. As far as Young Guys making beats the only thing thats changed in the last 35 or so years of HIPHOP as we know it is the technology!! The joints most people are using are at least 40 years old and better depending of your source of material...So what are you doing so Different cause I cant hear it!! The Classic HIPHOP is The ones that were never recorded on record!!( see my man troy smith for those ) or what some consider the Golden Age... Then you had the Sugar Hill/Sponnin rap/King Tim the 3rd/late 70s early 80s..Followed by your Crash crews/Funky Four/Treacherous 3/etc..Which led to the Whodini/Fat Boys/RunDMC/mid 80s(shouts to The Cold Crush) LL's etc... So what im saying is there was a lot of songs recorded during this period and i didnt even get to the 90's yet which some people again consider to be the OLD SCHOOL(maybe to them which is quite funny) Know your history dont say it didnt exist because you didn know about it or wasnt born during that time...All of these atrists and the people who produced them not only deserve mention but your RESPECT as well because without them and the folks they sampled from there would be no HIPHOP as we know it.. Special shout out to the memory of RUDY RAY MOORE/ PIG MEAT MARKHAM/JAMES BROWN/BARRY WHITE/CURTIS MAYFIELD/ISSAC HAYES/ LOU DONALDSON/GRANT GREEN/JOE SIMON and the many more SOUL and JAZZ Artists that some of you guys think are tired(whatever that means) remeber its not what you use its how you use it!! if some folks took a better listen to that early hip hop they might learn something!!!! like we used all type of stuff ....Man i didnt even get to the ROCK/COMEDY RECORDS/CARTOON JOINTS/FUNK? or any thing....
 
Last edited:
Definitely not. It all depends on your musical background though. Personally, my musical background is not hip hop, but a lot of other genres.

My dad has a lot of jazz records I sample, I'm cuban so there's a lot of zon influence, I listen to reggae, ska, punk, alternative, prog, and most importantly psychedelic.

I go to the thrift store and buy 5 records and just listen to them. I buy em for a dollar each.

That's all traditional digging. I'm 18. Even with the younger generation it's still not dead, as long as all you listened to growing up wasn't hip hop.

The kids who only listen to hip hop tend to make some generic ass beats. No substance, no style. Just soul rhodes and boom bap.
 
I have a few thousand records and still sample from them quite often. I will admit I dig much less frequently than I use to, but this is only because the availability of samples with the rhythm you want or the stabs you need is already out there. I think these days it is becoming more about how you process a sample once you have it, rather than finding a sample no one has used. Or it is how creatively you can chop, rearrange, flip a sample.

Getting to caught up in finding something no one has ever used before is very double edged since 30 years of sampling has already gone by. This is because the amount of time you use finding that gem sometimes out weigh the end product you develop. Not saying digging is bad or that you shouldn't do it, just that focusing too much on that, or any other aspect, blinds you to other things that are equally important.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top