Swedish Beat-->Balls..
When i was 18 i spent a countless amount of time chopping beats in my room in the basement. Sometimes my father would enter unannounced, and even though i had headphones on i could feel his presence towering behind me. He would tap me on the shoulder and ask me "Boy what are you really doing with my records?' to which i would reply 'you know...Just making beats Dad... sampling.' Of course he would laugh, start shaking his head and say.. 'Sampling--->is Stealing? if you change a couple letters around in those 2 words it means the same thing to me!' Needless to say my father was and still remains to be a very funny man. No matter how scathing his comment was back then over the years i started to wonder if the guy had a point? Artists like Diamond D, Premier and Tribe called Quest just to name few had such a unique way of converting a bassline, vocal, or even just a horn loop into a HIP HOP form. However, with the music world making it more difficult and expensive to sample and the record company musicologist standing in the wings ready and eager to blow the whistle on artists it seemed tht sampling was becoming a bit of lost art. I was in Mexico when i saw the video for Through the Wire by Kanye West and i got excited not only because the song had a personal message, but because there was that HUGE Chaka Kahn sample in the chorus. Until then i felt like most of the music i was hearing sounded barrnen and anorexic to me. There was no low end theory 'frequencies' no off beat maddness or busted loops. Just stock sounds MPC's and plastic club hits. I just dealt with the whole mess by having live players around to inspire me .. this no doubt was a result of taking a que from the Roots Crew.
and so..
When i started to record this record i wantied to sample a song by Frida from the Swedish group Abba - a songcalled 'I Know that Something's Going On' from a solo record she had recorded in 1982. The version we came up with 'Eye Know Something' is prolly the most illustrated 'dance' track on this record and it really threw me for a loop when we were denied sample clearance about 2 weeks ago. Still I continued to push hard and kept digging- only to find out that people have been trying to sample Frida for the last 5 years and that every single one of those attempts were denied. Even crazier was the story that Madonna had all four members of ABBA 'sign off' and allow her to sample one of their tunes for her song "Hung Up. Clearly we were at a dead end and so we went back to the lab to see what we could manage.
At this point,i am excited to say that current end result i think is even stronger than our original attempt!
Trying
to capture the same energy and electricity with a background
vocal--> of a sample of a song was tricKy frustrating and
challenging no doubt. However, that is actually besides the point and
not the reason i subjected you all to this story. I once asked
producer Daniel Lanois if he ever sampled music. He told me that once
for a Bob Dylan session he looped up an old blues record and had the
band play along to it. When he removed the loop/sample the vibe that
remained with the band was what he described as solid and inspiring.
After our whole sampling fiasco I really started to have a feeling
that sampling can bring an artist closer to their heroes and in a weird
hologram-like way put them in the room with that greatness! The lesson
for us last week was that we could make our song just as amazing as
Frida's original recording but in the end we just needed her 'help' ha
ha ..
I think for my next record i am going to sample Everyone from the Beatles.. to Hendrix to like ... N' Sync
and then i am going get a live band to play along to their music... remove the loop- and see what magical results occur!
and i then
i think i will call that album------> 'Steel sharpens Steal.'
k.
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Wednesday February 11, 2009 at 02:44 PM
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Tuesday November 18, 2008 at 09:39 AM
So not true :D
Sampling is recycling.
Kool herc sampled, in fact sampling was a strong foundation for hip hop. I find it hurtful though that I had to remove my entire song from the contest and start over on the vote process, because of the small three second sample from looney tunes at the beginning of my track. ("Genius that's what it is sheer genius!") I think sometimes we need a little bit of both. Jazz musicians sampled through live instruments nowadays we sample or "loop" through computers. It's a tough argument.
Personally Timothy, I completely agree with you. Hopefully you understand that the prohibition against sampling is a legal provision to ensure that no one's legal rights are being violated. Personally, I think many more musicians should utilize Creative Commons licenses to enable people to legally sample and remix their work, but as most don't, we unfortunately have to prevent sampling altogether in the contest. It's tough, especially since, as you pointed out, sampling is so central to the evolution of many musical genres.
K-os.... Maybe I'm wrong, but just recently I have listening to each of the leader board submissions for every song and I strongly believe they're distorting your songs and what you meant your songs to be realized as. Honestly, so far the current leaders are making your songs sound like a plastic radio tune. I am extremely glad you have allowed people to mix your tracks because that does give a person the power to set the ambiance for the message of your song. I hope someone is reading this and agrees with me in that the leading submissions need to be as unique a sound as K-os intended and not some other song that is flipped through the radio; this is how I've come to know K-os as a musician. K-os remembered the fans with this whole operation, now lets remember him when it comes to coming through even if it means spending many hours for one song.
Yo Alex,
I wouldn't worry about some creative submissions coming in. Like you said, they should take a while...
When I first stated making beats I couldn't figure out how to record my guitar and didn't have a keyboard so it was all loops and samples. I fell in love. I have been taking these instrument tracks of yours from Yes! and sampling them. It has been fun!! I've been into and keys and guitar riffs lately. I have a lot of sampled beats and finished songs stashed away for a rainy day. When I do my own stuff its been hard to get to use them, so I've been avoiding it for a minute. I will get it all out of me someday!! Thanks for making great music to sample, I missed it "soul" . I agree with the hologram stuff too, but its too late to put my own spin on it :) How about...Recycling is good for your environment!
Alex, this is a perfect opportunity to showcase your work just the way K-OS meant "his songs to be realized as". Youll have a leg up on the competition.
Yo, this album is incredible based on the stems alone, nice work K-OS!
the turntable and the sampler were the first postmodern musical instruments. not enough people my age respect the architects. to me, james brown is the father of modern music, but kool herc is father of postmodern music. just my opinion.
PS - big ups to k-os for coming from my home town (whitby) and going to my highschool (anderson cvi). do you remember a gym teacher named Mr. Hamilton? That's my dad. I know you remember Mr. Scott, I went golfing with him once...and I'm not a golfer. I just went because Mr. Scott is my man.
Hey Siegel It's cool, I mean honestly I am more grateful of the opportunity, then i'm dissapointed with the inconveniences. Thanks for agreeing though.
Also --> Alex you know but that's the point of the competition is to try a new sound, Of course you'll get some radio based songs, but honestly maybe instead of the radio inspiring this competition on the flip maybe this competition can make K-OS's album inspire the radio! Plus who cares about place; the beat is judged by K himself. Personally I would like to just be on the leader boards for all the tracks I submit. Just to make sure i'm heard.
I agree with you Timothy. and richard and jalyn, you guys too. The only reason I stated the last message was because certain songs, not all, had a beat and/or rhythm that didn't coincide with K-os's voice or message. I really don't want to offend anyone, so sorry if I did. I mean, to tell you the truth, it's also taking me much time to find a certain mix to make the song the best. But in the end, this is awesome because we have the chance to work with K-os and I know, he is the final judge. So I'm going to take advantage.
Very cool blog post. The art of sampling is a dying form because of costs and the rights associated with. I understand them and agree with them. I just wish the artists being sampled saw it as a compliment and a way for their music to reach more fans in newer generations but I think there are too many "people" in the chain.
I think the art of sampling is misunderstood.
Like your Father and many others say, it is stealing. But to me is is just starting from a reference and then recreating the version you want. Like drawing a picture. Many great artists set they canvas up in an area that gives them a great view. Does that mean they are "stealing" the view? I don't see anything wrong with painting from what you see and I don't see anything wrong with sampling. Especially when you follow the ethics and pay the artists their due.
Some people can draw from scratch with an image right from their mind and some people like to be inspired from a view.
I honestly think sampling is a win-win situation. It helps keep older music alive. It exposes more people the older, classic music. And it is lucrative for most everyone involved. I would have never been able to appreciate artists like Billy Paul, Bobby Byrd, Candi Stanton, etc. if it were not for sampling.
My father's records have found new live and my musical taste has grown.
I find this outlook on sampling somewhat ironic - quit a bit of current pop music (mostly hip-hop, but my opinion may be distorted as I only listen to hip-hop on the radio...) sounds more sampled than ever currently. Although that may also be because it's the folks who have a foot in the door (cough... Kanye West... cough) that get their hands on the original mixes. So apparently I have no idea what to think of the situation...
One thing I do know, however, is that if a track of mine was ever worthy of sampling I would be more than honored to hear the result of someone breathing new life into an already-completed piece (along the lines of Red's remark above).
Negativland.
I'm not a big fan of sampling, even though alot of hip hop was founded on sampling and record skratch tehnique, I don't really prefer it. I like to think that if the great masters of music can make something from the ground up, why can't I? Our children are going to want something to sample and if the sample alot of people today the are going to have to pay like three different entities before they get paid. I like to take a blank canvas, mix my own colors, and paint my own picture; instead of cutting out magazine pictures, gluing them to the canvas, and (in some cases) paint of them so you only see a hint of them.
isnt it only a problem if you sell the song with samples in it. what about the underground. just make music and give it away. and burn babylon down. raaww
We're having this sampling debate again. What about being offended by the wack music being produce by this generation. At least Hip Hop was more creative when samples were being utilized. The problem is a lot of younger guys never heard a record where samples were used in a creative way. You're used to Puffy spinning Cashmere or Every Breath You Take and dropping a rhyme over it. Dilla just move on to the other world; you ever listen to one of his record. What about Madvillian or an obscure group like New Kingdom.
Oh boy, I see copiers vs.creators here. Samples are from others original works that they depend on to feed theirselves. They put the time in to learn the instrument(s), pay for the instrument(s) and for what? So someone else can take their work and make a profit from it? Why not do like others have done. Pay for the rights to use the song from the artist that originally made it. Then do your part to it.
Amen, Kenneth. Amen. 'Nuff said...
i think k-os is got a good idea and great promotional presence. i would like to be part of the album to bring a grimmy east coast flow to album every M>C needs at least one
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