Sampling - Am I doing it wrong?

[Cell 2Dee]

How do y'all create your sampled beats? Do you just chop a sample, each chop being the same length and just play it randomly till you create something dope? Is there a process you go through?

Basically, I've chopped up this sample - http://www.zshare.net/audio/2002160148ea6055/


Into these chops - http://www.zshare.net/audio/2002169134748f4d/


And created this - http://www.zshare.net/audio/20021762b674aad6/


Am I chopping it in the wrong places, just not playing it with as much creativity as I could, or is it just a wack sample? I don't want it to sound exactly like the original either so I'm not looping it. What would y'all do with the sample?

Thanks fam, appreciate it.

 

[skidflow]

basically you got the idea of how it suppose to be done...of course you look for the ill samples, but its all in how you arrange your chops. now that you got the idea...see what else you can do with the chops as far as making a whole new beat...this forces you to creative and use your brain. most of the time, my chops are the same in length unless I wanna add a stab (sound) I've noticed in the song somewhere along the line. But yeah your getting on the right track.

 

[ForestGlenn]

Wassup Cell. The sample is HOTT, your chops were not bad at all, its pretty much boils down to how u put your chops togather. What you did was beyond expected with those chops. And those were good chops i heard. Its all on your creativity. I would chop that shyt a lot more, like 50-100 peices and then work from there , but b4 u even get there u need to use those chops properly

 

[Vice]

I usually don't sample, but from what i hear in your example I would say you just need to play around with it more. The chops you had weren't bad, but I think that the melody you came up with using them was a little dull..IMO. Kinda repetitive... The best sample flips I hear are the ones that can use the chops like you had, but make it into it's own catchy melody. The sample was dope though.. are you going through and finding these chops yourself or are you using auto slice?

 

[LDB]

Some samples are just dope "as is". With those you don't really have to do much to them. You can just take sections and loop them. There's nothing wrong with that...dopeness is dopeness ya dig?

Now on the other hand, I know dudes that can take chops from samples that some would just not fuck with and create a master piece. It all depends on the challenge you want to present yourself with. I like to do both! Depends on what mood I'm in. On some songs as soon as you drop the needle you get that potential "hit factor." On other "hidden gems" you have to have a creative mind set that says no matter how the original sounds I'm gonna get out my Ginsu Knives, chop that bitch surgically and "get 'er done"! Those are the ones that unless the producer told you, you'd never ever guess what song the chops came from.

 

[mono]

the sample is nice, if you didnt get it flipped the first time just leave it for a day or two.
sometimes, imo, it can be very helpful to first have a decent drumloop, when you dont know what you want to do with the sample. once you have that, pull out the sample again and just fuck around with it on that loop. play the chops in various orders, you might come up with a combination you didnt hear before.
if you get stuck with drums, pull out your favourite tracks and get inspiration from those drumrhythms, you can change the drumarrangement later on, but a good drumloop is everything. hope this helps

 

[Shonsteez]

Nice comment Drama, perfect advice dude.

 

[savage_g]

U definitely got the right idea there man. I'd probably chop the sound up even finer than that though, map it onto a sampler and just jam along on the keys to a stock drum loop from reason or logic, then once I'm happy with the melody, I program my own drum sounds in.
You should be able to make a beat out of pretty much any sample; obviously some samples are gonna be easier than others. I remember seeing an interview with Alchemist, he was saying Prodigy would come down to his place, grab any shitty record off the shelf and tell him to make a beat out of it. Maybe trying something like that could help hone your chops?

 

[booya_nang]

the samples hot bro and I can't front about what u did with it cuz it's sounding good so far! basically like others have said, get a bit more creative and make some more chops, use those chops to in different ways to create another sequence and maybe even add some of your own keys on top during a hook? if u do that kinda thing, but good start none the less

 

[LDB]

Basically, I've chopped up this sample - http://www.zshare.net/audio/2002160148ea6055/

#1 the sample is "bananas", you definitely got an ear for finding some heaters! Who is this anyway? #2 I gotta rob you homie, I'm flipin' this bitch up myself.

And as far as what you did, it's excellent for someone just starting out. I would highly recommend (like others have) that you play around with those chops over a nice drum pattern first. Even if you won't actually use that specific pattern, just to get the juices flowing "creatively". I personally would speed the original sample up so I could drop it over a drum pattern 90bpm's or better. I would then build my drum pattern around the sample, freehand (play off the sample so to speak). That way you won't have a generic drum pattern and definitely won't have a "stiff" pattern. Just go off the feel of the sample with NO QUANTIZATION, play to it like a live drummer would. I don't know if you're familiar with Addictive Drums, but I'd take the Funky Drummer set within it and beat my fingers until they bleed, bleeeeeddddd I tell ya! (pieces of finger nail and skin on my mpc ya heard? Drop some DNA on the track) lmao

 

[Cell 2Dee]

#1 the sample is "bananas", you definitely got an ear for finding some heaters! Who is this anyway? #2 I gotta rob you homie, I'm flipin' this bitch up myself.

Haha thanks. Go ahead, be good to hear what you make of it. The sample is "Chapter Eight - Ready For Your Love" . So how would I go about speeding the sample up using Recycle and Reason? I've tried just changing the tempo on Recycle, but it always stays the same, am I doing something wrong there?

are you going through and finding these chops yourself or are you using auto slice?

Chopped it up myself in Recycle.


So the basic jist of what y'all are telling me is be more creative. Do you always play samples at say half a beat each, or do you do some 1/4, some 3/4 etc. etc.?

 

[LDB]

So how would I go about speeding the sample up using Recycle and Reason? I've tried just changing the tempo on Recycle, but it always stays the same, am I doing something wrong there?

If you align your markers right you can load the sample into a Dr. rex and it will sync to any tempo you set Reason to. I personally only use Reason in a rewire set up. I use Ableton Live 7, with it's warp feature as soon as a load a sample it damn near beat matches it to what ever tempo I set. If I speed up the tempo the sample keeps pace...if I slow it down it does the same. Ableton is just a beast when it comes to sampling PERIOND. There's nothing else out there like it.

So the basic jist of what y'all are telling me is be more creative. Do you always play samples at say half a beat each, or do you do some 1/4, some 3/4 etc. etc.?

You have to just feel it man......just let the sample take you somewhere ya dig!

 

[Kontents]

You sums a bitchs. I flipped this a while ago lol I hate samples and love them at the same time.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/20091365718398f9/

 

[Cell 2Dee]

If you align your markers right you can load the sample into a Dr. rex and it will sync to any tempo you set Reason to. I personally only use Reason in a rewire set up. I use Ableton Live 7, with it's warp feature as soon as a load a sample it damn near beat matches it to what ever tempo I set. If I speed up the tempo the sample keeps pace...if I slow it down it does the same. Ableton is just a beast when it comes to sampling PERIOND. There's nothing else out there like it.

I see. Like my other thread about not knowing anything about this, how does ReWire work?

 

[LDB]

Basically what Rewiring allows me to do is use Reason within another DAW. I can use the sound modules that are in Reason by way of routing Reason track outputs to the inputs of tracks in another DAW. It's done to a certain extent automatically. Propellerheads, the makers of Reason invented this technology by the way.

What you do is open the DAW that you want to rewire Reason to first then you open Reason next. (You close them in reverse order, Reason first then the DAW that you rewired to).


It sounds more complicated than it actually is.

Here's an example of how I use it with Ableton. It's basically the same in any other DAW.

 

[glassJAw]

Is Ableton Lite decent?
I like sampling but I'm having a hard time doing it with Reason. I use Recycle to chop a sample, import it into Apple Loops Utility to make a AIFF, then I import it into Garageband and set the tempo I want, then I export it out there and then I'm able to use it in Reason 4.0

 

[LDB]

Is Ableton Lite decent?
I like sampling but I'm having a hard time doing it with Reason. I use Recycle to chop a sample, import it into Apple Loops Utility to make a AIFF, then I import it into Garageband and set the tempo I want, then I export it out there and then I'm able to use it in Reason 4.0

I don't know what's up with Ableton Lite....I'm sure you're limited in what you can do with it. In the full version I can tell you that it'll be much easier to sample. Reads like you're using 3 diff't programs to get to where you want to go. With Ableton you can do all that and many more things without living your main DAW.

 

[Cell 2Dee]

I've got AL7, so I'll have a go with my sample chopping in that. Thanks for the video tut. aswell dude. Is it cool if I get at you if/when I get stuck?

 

[eldiablo]

a hint to working with samples better. try using a older drum machine or something with step recording, then apply that technique to the use of samples rather than programmed sounds. and another thing dont always depend on the quantization, sometimes you have to turn it off.

 

[LDB]

I've got AL7, so I'll have a go with my sample chopping in that. Thanks for the video tut. aswell dude. Is it cool if I get at you if/when I get stuck?

get at me.....drop me a line by way of pm's. I'm always happy to help when I can. A lot of people have helped me along the way....and I'm still a sponge when it comes to producing!