Hip Hop sampling is easy and fun.
Hip Hop producers from as far back as the early 1980's were doing it from their bedrooms with nothing more than a drum machine and a vinyl player.
Even today, some 20 years later, A-list Hip Hop producers are still using the same sampling techniques to create chart topping tracks.
What Is A Sample? A sample is a segment, or portion, of audio taken from a song or instrument.
The portion could be a drum break, a vocal, or a 20 second segment from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.
Samples are usually taken from vinyl, but can be take from CDs, tapes and other sources of audio.
Sampling To sample into your computer you will need an audio manipulation tool.
If you're new to audio editing I recommend using Audacity.
Audacity is free, and allows you to record and edit audio on your computer.
You can record from external audio sources such as vinyl, or load songs from CDs and MP3.
Pete Rock, 9th Wonder and other early Hip Hop producers used the Akai MPC 60, SP1200 or an external sampler such as the S950.
The older hardware samplers and drum machines use 12bit audio and produce a dirty sound.
Chopping A Sample When you've found a sample you like you can manipulate it by chopping, or cutting, various parts of the sound and rearranging the parts to create new and interesting sounds.
If you record from vinyl you may notice samples will sound raw, and contain background static from the vinyl.
This is a good thing as it gives Hip Hop beats their raw, dirty sound.
The majority of Hip Hop producers use this technique.
There's also an online database called "Who Sampled" that allows you to check what tracks your favorite artist have sampled from, and will provide audio for both the artists track and the track they've sampled.
Here is Jay-Z's page: http://www.
whosampled.
com/artist/Jay-Z/ Sample CDs Although sampling is fun most people don't have the time, knowledge or patience to sample their own drums and instruments.
Even if you do manage to find a sample, you then have the task of tweaking the sample to make it usable.
Instead you could use sample CDs.
Sample CDs are compilations that contain hundreds, or thousands, of ready made, pre-mastered, samples that are ready to use in your tracks.
Sample CDs are very popular in Hip Hop and will increase the quality of your productions and allow you to cut your production time in half.