how to sample old songs

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grapeboi510

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hey im an up-and-comming producer and i need to know a good way to sample short vocals from songs lyk kanye west does
 
grapeboi510 said:
hey im an up-and-comming producer and i need to know a good way to sample short vocals from songs lyk kanye west does

The short version is: Sample from a turntable with the speed turned up....

The long version is, well... More complicated than I can describe...

I have questions about this also... I'm thinking that he chooses a sample that is either percussionless, or one that "interlocks" with his song... Then again, he probably just builds the song around the vocal sample.. Puttng it in on top would be hard.. But... then again-again.. He IS a pro...

I know that 45 King does the sample last (i.e. "Hard Knock Life".. )

"When he opened LOGIC there was a previously recorded drum sequence he did ready to go. All he had to do was find the sample he wanted to use and lay it down. "

http://www.onestopbeats.com/45king2.html

Hope this helps.... I'm still learning, myself....
 
definitely build around the sample, as you can vary the tempo of the song you're creating vs. tempo of the sample. Well you CAN, but you kind of cheat the original characteristics. A lot of it really is just paying attention to what's going on with the sample vs. music and seeing how it fits.

As far as just taking the vocals from a piece of pre-mixed music... not possible unless you have the master tracks. E.G. if you wanted to take the vocals from the middle of a heavy metal song and put them into something... wouldn't work, unless that part was just vocals and no guitar, drums, etc. You can't just cut out the vocals alone.


sorry if that was confusing.
 
Good work brevity again. WOW!!!! Well done. As for you mister up and comming producer. You make me sick :mad:
 
grapeboi510 said:
so do i need to buy acapella tracks?


You could. What I'm saying is you can take any song you want... but what you're going to be able to put in a song of your own is what you hear when you play the old song. You can't just take one instrument out of the old one, just have to take a clip of the whole thing.
 
good! you need to grow a dick. HAHA. that's a funny notion.


anyway, as for samples, brevity sort of got it, but there are ways to sample from existing songs. For instance, if there is a vocal part on a track, you can use eq to cut out frequencies around the vocals to reduce (not eliminate) the other instrumentation. Listen closely to some samples of vocals and you'll hear some extra stuff in there. Granted the cleaner the better.

But you also need to consider that licensing laws are sort of strict on this stuff. If you use a vocal sample without permission, even if you don't intend to sell it, yet you distribute it, you may be asking for trouble.

That being said, why not create your own? Maybe this is a genre specific thing here and i don't get it, but it's cool to create your own samples.

Kayne west's label & distribution team clears and pays for samples of copyrighted material so that they can use it in their original work. Build your own samples first, work up to it, and if you still can't make it sound the way you want without sampling someone else, try re-recording the part yourself as sort of a cover. You'll learn more.
 
brendandwyer said:
as for samples, brevity sort of got it, but there are ways to sample from existing songs. For instance, if there is a vocal part on a track, you can use eq to cut out frequencies around the vocals to reduce (not eliminate) the other instrumentation. Listen closely to some samples of vocals and you'll hear some extra stuff in there. Granted the cleaner the better.

This is what we do, but I will also build certain parts of the song where the sample shows up around the sample, to make it blend better. Ive used some Mr.Rodgers samples with the xylophone thing in the background, built some ambient stuff aroudn the xylophone and it sounds creepy as hell now.

Just remember that whatever you sample, if your going to print it and sell it, get written permission from the copyright holder, it will save a alot of time and HUGE headache. If you cant get the rights, you can mess with the sound untill it is no longer recognizable as the oprigonal sample, using grain effects, distortion, verb, modulation etc. I had to do this because James Earl Jones wanted $500,000 for a 2 min clip of him reading mask of the red death.... screw that, I'll read it myself, lol

-C$
 

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