THE ART OF SAMPLINGAndrew Chando Yu
@aychando
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion (sample) of one sound
recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a
different song or piece.
WHAT IS SAMPLING?
"Sampling is lacking in creativity"
vs
"Sampling has been innovative and revolutionary"
1960s – experimental musicians and musique
concrete, electroacoustic
1970s – Hip Hop and scratch DJs
Mid-1970s – Electronic music and disco
HISTORY
Tchaikovsky
1812 Overture (1880)
La Marseillaise 1792God Save the Tsar! 1833At the Gate, at My Gate - Traditional Folk 1854O Lord, Save Thy People (Hymn) 1863
Loops Variety of short samples of beats strung together;
a repeating section of sound material
Musical instrument Sampling of a sound
TYPES
6 second drum solo 1969 by "G. C." Colemann
"Amen, Brother” The Winstons
Used in:Hip hop, breakbeat hardcore, hardcore techno and breakcore, jungle, D&B, TV
advertisement.
“AMEN BREAK”
No royalties
Plagiarism
Flattering
An area of contention from a legal perspective
LEGAL ISSUES
1956 “The Flying Saucer” by Buchanan and Goodman
Sampled 18 chart hits from 1955-56
Sampled Orwelle’s “War of the Worlds” broadcast
Agreement reached to share royalties from records sold
Campbell vs. Acuff-Rose, 1994(Roy Orbison v. 2 Live Crew)
SUPREME COURT CASE
The court ruled that any financial gain 2 Live Crew received from their version did not infringe upon Acuff-Rose because the two songs were targeted
at very different audiences.
2 Live Crew's use of copyrighted material was protected under the fair use doctrine, as parody,
even though it was released commercially
Samples are fair use (a legal doctrine in the USA)
International sampling is governed by agreements such as the Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works and the WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms
Treaties Implementation Act
REGULATION
BLURRED LINES CASE
Marvin Gaye “Got to Give It Up” (1977)Robin Thicke “Blurred Lines” (2013)
Creative
Homage
Tribute
Respect
Flattery
Unoriginal
Theft
Infringement
IllegalPlagiarism
allusion
git checkout -b
"The highest form of flattery is imitation”
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal”
Let’s hear some examples!
Edwin Birdsong “Coca cola bottle baby” (1975)
Daft Punk “Harder Better Faster”(2001)
Kanye West “Stronger” (2007)
Delegation “You and I” (1979)Triple X (XXX) “Feel The Same” (1999)
Maya Jane Coles “What They Say” (2010)Drake, Nicki, Tunechi “Truffle Butter” (2015)
Blind Faith (1969) Traffic
Stevie Winwood “Valerie” (1982)DJ Falcon “Call On Me” (2004) Eric Prydz “Call on Me” (2004)
A PERSONAL FAVORITE
Whitney Houston “I Have Nothing” (1992)
chopped, sped-up, and reversed three different ways
Drake “Tuscan Leather” (2013)
Questions? Comments?
Avicii “Levels” (2010)
Pretty Lights “Finally Moving” (2008)
Etta James “Something’s got a hold of me” (1962)
Avicii “Levels” (2010)
Pretty Lights “Finally Moving” (2008)
Etta James “Something’s got a hold of me” (1962)
Brenda Russell “Piano In the Dark” (1988) Bingo Players “Cry” (2011)
Flo Rida “Cry” (2013)