I know it’s best to do everything yourself. From using the recorded sound of a basketball you smashed against a tin roof for a hat, and hitting a door for another thing.
But what do people honestly think about these sample packs and the like?
I’m finding more and more that… people just don’t care as long as the end result is good? When I first got, and still to some degree, into production, I thought each artist was doing /everything/ basically themselves. And I’ve known about these packs for awhile, and I’ve bought a couple for different drum samples and such in the past.
But where do you consider the cutoff line for using them? Some of them do have some awesome bits that I don’t know how to make. I should probably learn how to make those sounds. But is it entirely taboo to use these things?
I also realized when chilling with another local DJ, that he was almost using exclusively sample packs and the like for some of his “self” production stuff. Which, in a sense, is cheating. But on another level, it’s composition using sounds, and wouldn’t exist unless he was putting things the way they were.
I’m kind of at an impasse right now with myself. I want to just purchase a couple hundred bucks worth of sample packs, have some fun with it. I’ll probably do some, but not a ton of synth work myself. But is that acceptable today? I’m really lost as to where these sample packs use and not use, are the line of what is acceptable and what is not.
Really? Try saying that to any and all hip hop producer, or house music producer. Sampling is part of producing, and is an art in and of itself.
It’s one thing to just take a loop, slap it in and leave at that. But it’s something else entirely to get inspired by a two bar groove, build a whole track around it and really make it your own. Being able to match tone and timbre, making sure everything is in key, and being able to pitch it into key if needed.
Everyone samples to some degree, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Those don’t are the exception, not the norm.
You are incredibly ignorant. OP said using entirely samples from a sample pack. You start off by disagreeing with me then go into exactly my point. U take the loop or sample and add a bunch of your own stuff to the song..
I’ve heard more and more tracks on let’s say Beatport which are mediocre loop collections using Ableton with no creativity or interesting musical content, just a long pile of cliche samples tied together. Anyway, samples are quite useable and OK but you need to work a little bit to raise above such average and boring music.
Without sampling, dance music and hip hop wouldn’t exist.
To people who say it’s cheating, go fuck yourself. Then listen to any good hip hop. Then listen to classic house. Then realize that basically all of drum & bass is based off a 6-second clip from a soul record, that Lupe Fiasco’s last album has several tracks where he just rapped over songs by Nero, Bassnectar, and John Coltrane. Then see if you can spot the one beat that Kanye took out of Fire by Jimmy Hendrix to put on My Beautiful….
There’s nothing uncreative about sampling. If you think there is, then you’re doing it wrong.
I see no problem using sample packs……I just haven’t had much luck with finding sounds I liked in them……but I also haven’t really tried. I do have a pile of records and CDs that I bought just to sample off of whenever inspiration strikes.
I’d agree that how much sampling is acceptable does depend on the genre, hip hop is like 90% sampling and rearranging that material in some interesting way, this is true, but if you make a house track thats 90% samples, i dunno if anyone would take that seriously. Basically samples are ok, but there comes a point where it’ll probably stop being creative or interesting, and starts becoming cliche.
I agree that there is a point where you need to “make them your own” really, but I think I’m going to invest into some, and go from there a bit. I’ve needed a kick in the pants about production, and if I can find a couple sounds I really like that inspires me to actually get a tune finished?
Well, that’s more priceless than spending hours tweaking knobs on synths to make random noises I don’t care for.
I think what it comes down to, and what people generally seem to be saying, is that it’s not a bad idea for a foundation. But you don’t want to craft the whole thing with them. And that, makes sense. If I’m interpreting this correctly.
You’re making it sound like some is “less” of a producer if they use samples vs some one who doesn’t, and that in and of itself is as ignorant as they come.
Also, you know, most of the other guys “on top of the world”……doing that might be taking it a bit too far, but putting a synth stab into a sampler and playing your own melody…cutting up a drum loop…screwing with a bass line……………no problem.
Sampling is more in line with producing than hot cues and loops are at all a form of “live remixing”.
Your taking what im saying and warping it to your liking. All I said is that you should be making your own sounds. This guy was talking about sample packs. Not taking a sample and changing the hell out of it for your own production and making it your own LOL.
