Poll: Music Sampling

[Lionsfan]

So I was listening to the Beastie Boy's today, and the album Paul's Boutique came on. Now I personally love this album for the way it jumps from one thing to another and I think it's one of the G.O.A.T but everyone's different.

My question though is regarding sampling. Now when critics say there will never be another album like this they actually mean it. Because Paul's Boutique is said to have over 400 cases of sampling on it (I think the official number is around 200) and nowadays you can't get that many without going through tons of legal hoops. So what are the Escapists feelings on Music Sampling? Should any be allowed? If so, then how much is considered a "sample"?

 

[DustyDrB]

flood of ignorance in 3, 2, 1...

 

[Noah Pinder]

WTF! NOOO, RAPE MY MUSICAL CHILDHOOD WILL YOU!!!!

but seriously, look what happened with vanilla ice using the baseline from queen under pressure

 

[discordance]

I dream of a world where artists are free to borrow and build on each others work, where nobody gets ripped off or robbed, and where puppies and ice cream vendors roam the streets freely, dispensing happiness and cleaning products. Unfortunately, real life keeps getting in the way of my dreams.

 

[Sporky111]

Sampling is perfectly fine. You can scarcely listen to a song now (especially in the pop, rap, and hip-hop genres) without hearing samples. Hell, it's rare to find a techno song that doesn't have a sample. And that's not a bad thing! I just wish labels would be less focused on 'owning' music and more on making and sharing it. Let the artists do their own thing.

I believe Renard Queenston said it best in his "This Place Will Grow" album:

dedicated to anybody that doesn't understand how sampling can be used to create something that is entirely one's own - the people that don't understand one's identity is gathered from their surroundings. scavengers are survivors.

 

[zen5887]

Fucking love sampling.

The remixers manifesto:
1. Culture always builds on the past.
2. The past always tries to control the future.
3. Our Future is becoming less free.
4. To build free societies, you must limit control of the past.

People have been "sampling" for years and years. The only difference now is we have a way to sample the audio, instead of just reusing riffs.

I'm an advocate for works going into the public domain after 14 years, like it used to. I feel that 14 years is enough time for someone to make money off a peice, and after that people should be able to expand and build on those ideas.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

As long as they credit the person I don't mind.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I'll opt for "don't greatly care". I don't need for everything in life to be controlled.

But, having said that...2 of my favourite songs have been molested over the last few years, namely "Bang Bang" and "Misirlou", and I can't help not liking it.

 

[SimuLord]

If the original artist gets paid the standard songwriter's fee, no harm no foul.

If a rapper uses a sample without acknowledging where it came from, (insert vicious dig at hip-hop that will cause someone to yell "THASS RAYCESS!" here.)

 

[Sacman]

as long as you don't get all Vanilla Ice about it and deny the fact with every fiber of your being...

 

[bassdrum]

It really depends on the sample. If you use the entire damn song, you're doing it wrong, and are trying to make up for your own lack of talent by plagiarizing. If you use a few bars of a song, or perhaps just a drum break or bass line, then that can create some awesome stuff (case in point, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing.... is an album constructed entirely of samples and it's badass, whereas 'Ice Ice Baby' is a terrible rip off of Queen).

The mark of a true wannabe = Sampling.

That's a string of two-note each samples, from which he's constructed an entire song that he plays live in real time. Don't make blanket statements about an artists skill just because you don't understand what they're doing.

Also, while I'm ranting, it takes a phenomenal amount of skill to choose samples. Finding samples with the same chord structure, key signature, beats per minute, etc. is really, really hard, and then making whatever you find into a cohesive piece of music is harder still--to be able to do this on the fly (such as when a DJ is pulling something out to play at a party) is pretty incredible. If you don't believe that this is actually really, really hard to do, go rent the documentary 'Scratch' and watch it. It's a fantastic film about the birth of turntablism that will make you appreciate just how skilled these artists are.

 

[unoleian]

Monome for the win.

Spoiler: The coolest device ever.

Spoiler: Remix time.

A fairly straight-up remix of STS9's Be Nice on Monome.

What makes these devices so cool is the ability to cut a sample into several pieces and then dynamically reconstruct them on the fly. They are amazing devices in their own way, no doubt about it, and it still takes a wicked good ear and timing to use one effectively.

Sampling is yet one more step or indeed yet another avenue of exploration in the evolution of music.