Records you should've sampled by now

[DJ Rock Well]

Does anybody else have a pile (at least mentally) of records they really should've sampled by now? I mean those ones that as soon as you heard them jumped out at you, ones either stuffed full of good sample fodder, with an obvious killer sample or just music you really rate and therefore should flip.

 

I've had some things for years and still not gone there. Some because I don't know how to go about it. Maybe the odd thing I think's so good I don't want to mess it up and others I guess i just didn't get round to. The Matata album I've put up for this month's beat battle is definitely one such album... I've had it ten years and it was only chance that meant it's getting chopped even now.

 

Anyway, if anybody else suffers from this, share with the group

 

I've got few I'll post up as I remember them, starting with this...

 

 

(I've got this Johnny Gegory LP with a different cut of the same theme too, which could help too)

 

[Guest petesasqwax]

Most of the stuff I put to one side to sample is spoken word shit. I went all out for collecting that stuff for a while and assembled a fair catalogue, but I've barely scraped the surface of it. Also I'm a sucker for semi-obscure/random drum records... like this one:

[Jam Burglar]

I have crates of stuff. My problem is no time to put trackstogether. I usually get back from digging, go through a record, take notes on what's good then I don't have any time to record and chop. But I have tons and tons of stuff on deck.

[danswift]

im well known for my love of breaks and beats but when it comes to sampling im a totally different type of animal because i only ever use single phrases from records and im very rarely inclined and even reluctant to take something from a track and make say a 4 bar loop for instance

 

A good example of how i record my own stuff is probably the 'Strange Green Cheese' tune i made for the James Brown sample challenge because every sound that makes up that track is pulled from entirely separate records

 

I like what Rock Well said regarding records that you really rate,as what id really like to do at some stage is sample some really obvious stuff like 'Apache' and 'Its Just Begun' or 'Blow Your Head' by Fred Wesley

& The JBs

the sort of records everyone knows and loves and basically pay a bit of a homage to the funky pioneers who've been a major influence on me for so many years..ive never used the so called classics not even for things like a simple snare hit because ive always shied away from them and looked a bit further afield to other sources like Prog Rock and obscure Jazz recordings for inspiration..

 

So even though they've been done to death and theres probably not much more that can be said with them id still really like to give them a try one day for sure, even if it was just for something simple that people could have a bit of a dance too

[Guest petesasqwax]

I have 2 ways that I look at this stuff, basically:

Unless it's a remix competition, I more-or-less never sample and haven't done for years and years. There probably are some samples on the album I did as waxfactor, but the vast majority of stuff consisted of me taking multi-samples that I got on cover disks and shit like that, and then pitching them down to make other things (violins to make cellos, acoustic guitars to make basses etc.).

On the rare occasions that I DO sample, I tend to avoid sampling things I like because it feels wrong to me. That shit is golden already - why fuck with it. I remember when I heard Cut Chemist sample Can for an Ugly Duckling remix he did. "Aw shit, why'd you do that, Cut? All the records in the world and you sample "I'm So Green" for fuck's sake? That said, there are instances when sampling a record everyone knows is the only way people realise what you did with it - so I've done that on occasions too.

Fuck, I did this, let's not forget:

http://waxfactoryrecords.bandcamp.com/track/working-on-my-mullet-faster-than-a-speeding-mullet-mix

[DJ Rock Well]

I have crates of stuff. My problem is no time to put trackstogether. I usually get back from digging, go through a record, take notes on what's good then I don't have any time to record and chop. But I have tons and tons of stuff on deck.

 

To a certain degree that's me too. I record new samples into my computer every couple of weeks, so that I've always got a good selection on hand to play with. But there's always a couple of thousand records just over my shoulder that could also do with recording.

 

What has helped a bit with that in recent times has been sharing LPs for the beat battles here and finding samples for the students and other tutors where I teach a little bit - they're always looking for 'so and so sample' with X instrument, etc. If I'm quick enough to steer them away from You tube, I've usually got something better languishing on my hard drive.

 

Sometimes it comes down to how easy a track will be to sample, so some records I like are very busy and would be harder to chop up. But then on the flipside, I go through slumps where I feel like I'm only sampling stuff thats got samples that are easy to get to and use in many different ways. Sometimes in practice, those 'maybe' samples work out well but other times you end up feeling like you've put in a lot of work on something the was flawed from the off. When it works out this way I get mad at myself for wasting time on weak sounds when I've got stacks of favourites I should be hitting up.

 

Other times, it worth soldiering on - two weeks back I made myself take a random sample I had no ideas for and make a beat with it... predictably the result was ok but nothing more, so I then made another beat from the first one and it was different but also quite weird and was starting to make me think I was wasting my time. Finally I went in again and made a third beat from the second and finally got to a pretty cool loop. Probably just destined to be a scratch beat loop and it only featured quite small elements of the original sample, but i wouldn't of got there without the process. There's definitely more to sampling than just hearing a dope sampling, knowing what you'll do with it and rushing home to get it done.

[Jam Burglar]

Personally, I have no scruples about sampling a 4-bar loop or even longer if it works. Sometimes the creativity in a track is what you combine with that loop or where you make the loop point. Sometimes it just sounds really dope to me so fuck it. I've never really felt ashamed of sampling, or like its inferior to traditional music making in some way. When I think about it, most of my favorite tracks in hip hop are really simple loops with drums. It doesn't have to be obscure or anything like that. Sometimes the most popular shit comes off the best.

 

I'm not saying that other methods are inferior to sampling either though. I try not to place value on one thing or another and just go with my gut. If it sounds good then it sounds good. Basically, I don't give fuck because I love hip hop.

 

https://youtu.be/JLvkEMUPdRk

 

https://youtu.be/uhOhMPjo74Q

[Guest petesasqwax]

I want to reply to all of that, but then you dropped "You Know What I'm About" and I lost my shit completely. Like he said on "Return of the Funky Man" - Lord Finesse is the man, believe that!

[danswift]

I've never really felt ashamed of sampling, or like its inferior to traditional music making in some way

Good point..

 

From my own experience i actually think that its much harder to create something that can hold a listeners attention and stand as a piece of music on its own merits using a sampler as opposed to using traditional instruments

 

I've played the guitar ( and other instruments ) for such a long time now for example that i find i can come up with chord progressions ,melodys and basslines etc with very little effort because its almost like second nature to me now after so many years of doing it but when im working with a sampler I have to totally immerse myself in the process and really concentrate on what im doing to get the results im happy with and its doubly hard for me because 99% of what i do record uses no sequencing or computer multi tracking whatsoever because i like to do it all 'live' on the sampler pads and record it all to mini disc or tape which probably sounds like a primitive way of doing things to most people but i personally get much more satisfaction from working that way as I feel it gives me more control over the music im making somehow

 

I guess some musicians might not agree with me on my opinion but then again ive known plenty of very talented ones who probably wouldnt be able to use a sampler to save their lives because the concept of it is so alien to what and most importantly how they have been 'taught' in the first place (especially classically trained ones who have little or no understanding in the art of improvisation) and a sampler obviously gives you that freedom to bend and manipulate things sonically in a way that a traditional musician could only ever hope to achieve on their chosen instrument without the assistance of some type of heavy processing or some form of multiple fx

[Jam Burglar]

I want to reply to all of that, but then you dropped "You Know What I'm About" and I lost my shit completely. Like he said on "Return of the Funky Man" - Lord Finesse is the man, believe that!

 

I know, how can you fuck with the Scooby Doo sample?

[Guest Psychedelic Schizophrenic]

I can relate to this very well, I got a stack of physical and an even bigger stack of stuff mentally I want to sample, chop and flip into oblivion. Unfortunately like JB I just don't have the time to work on anything at the moment (Even the fantastic DV Sample Challenge has to shelved some months due to lack of time )

 

Here something I picked up blindly a while ago in a charity shop for 50p (probably complete gash for beat sampling, but I fought it maybe cool for a turntablism style composition track)

 

 

Found a snippet of the album on Youtube

 

 

Oh boy

[joeClockwork]

I like what Rock Well said regarding records that you really rate,as what id really like to do at some stage is sample some really obvious stuff like 'Apache' and 'Its Just Begun' or 'Blow Your Head' by Fred Wesley & The JBs

 

Funny you should say that, I've just flipped Apache on an EP I'm working on...

[danswift]

 

I like what Rock Well said regarding records that you really rate,as what id really like to do at some stage is sample some really obvious stuff like 'Apache' and 'Its Just Begun' or 'Blow Your Head' by Fred Wesley & The JBs

 

Funny you should say that, I've just flipped Apache on an EP I'm working on...

 

Good stuff Joe..

 

I look forward to hearing it and im definitely going to be sampling some of those early breaks in the near future myself to make a track with some nice old school flavours to it..

 

whistles and bongo's FTW !..

[joeClockwork]

 

 

I like what Rock Well said regarding records that you really rate,as what id really like to do at some stage is sample some really obvious stuff like 'Apache' and 'Its Just Begun' or 'Blow Your Head' by Fred Wesley & The JBs

 

Funny you should say that, I've just flipped Apache on an EP I'm working on...

 

Good stuff Joe..

 

I look forward to hearing it and im definitely going to be sampling some of those early breaks in the near future myself to make a track with some nice old school flavours to it..

 

whistles and bongo's FTW !..

 

 

Actually, it was the stabs and guitar that I used, not the drums. I put a slightly different twist on it.

 

It should be ready 'soon'...