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0 pointslegitster13d ago0 comments

"Samples" were kind of like musical memes in the 1980s. What made for a good sample had a lot more to do with convenience and luck. The sounds that were picked for drum samples had more to do with how useful they were - the dynamic range, how isolated the drums are, how easy they were to mix.

The other famous drum sample - the "Funky Drummer" as drummed by Clyde Stubblefield for James Brown, Stubblefield didn't think the particular drum pattern he used was particularly noteworthy. In that case, James Brown's production choices were actually more key - his signature sound revolved around really crisp drums that he insisted needed to be clear on AM Radio and Jukeboxes. Which is what made it so useful for sampling.

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zimpenfish13d ago

I saw a video about popular/influential/most-used samples the other week[0] and it mentioned James Brown becoming aware of sampling (I guess mid-late 90s?) and specifically making sure that anything he thought might be sample-able was "clean" from that point on.

[0] GFL finding anything in YouTube history / search these days hence no link. Wasn't from Synthet, I don't think.

jammaloo13d ago

You said it wasn't from Synthet, but they did release a video ~2 weeks ago which talked about exactly that. Super interesting, whether it's the correct video or not!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K71XefOlJh0

zimpenfish12d ago

> You said it wasn't from Synthet, but they did release a video ~2 weeks ago which talked about exactly that.

Good grief, I thought it might be that video but somehow completely blanked on it when I double-checked and decided it wasn't. Thanks for actually checking usefully!

(Synthet videos are almost always worth a watch even if you can't remember them a couple of weeks later. Old age, innit.)

pdntspa13d ago

Maybe, but the amen break has a very specific je ne sais quoi that makes it way more useful and pleasant as a sample than almost any other sample. There's just so many situations in the kind of music I make where the amen is like the only loop that fits. Funky drummer might come in second.

It could just be its cultural weight has me hypnotized. But maybe its just that good

akst13d ago

I’ve produced music through much of 2010-2020, I wasn’t there in the 1980-2010s but it wasn’t uncommon see discussion online about different samples or things like this. Never really seen any mention something like this unquantified “je ne sais quoi” or at least don’t really recall

My take is, it was the first of its kind to widely circulate exhibiting desirable quantities for sampling, a combination of good enough and path dependency. After a certain level of saturation/entrenchment it carried an aesthetic compared to readily available samples (maybe this is what you meant).

Whenever I couldn’t find a breakbeat sample (or wanted some starting point at least) I’d default to it. When I did music production it was very easy to get your hands on a loop but obviously that’s much later.

jamal-kumar11d ago

amen and funky drummer are fun but I find it funner to chop up the apache break. it's got a little bongo in there

WhiteOwlLion13d ago

Samplers became accessible at the time which allowed music production with just loops. Look at snap I got the power. All looped samples

input_sh13d ago

I mean, look at any house or hip-hop track, sampling's like the most fundamental part of both genres.

The track you've mentioned is the prime example of the blend of those two genres. Before the term Eurodance caught on, this track would be referred to as hip-house (as in hip-hop + house). Chicago and the broader NY area did it first, but it was a Belgian track that first topped the US charts (Technotronic's Pump Up The Jam).

redwall_hp13d ago

That's why one of the super simple improvements I'd make to music copyright law, if I had to choose one thing rather than a massive overhaul, is for sampling to also be subject to the compulsory mechanical royalty system.

So any artist could sample something, do some paperwork, and send of a fraction of royalties. Rather than the current system where you need explicit permission from the recording artist and have no recourse if they say no.

So many music genres exist because of sampling, and the shit legal precedents set in recent decades ruined an amazing thing.

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riffraff13d ago

> Belgian track

What a wasted chance to say "Belgian techno anthem"!

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