More Samples and Breakbeats

So, on Tuesday we saw the documentary film, "Copyright Criminals" and talked about the history of sampling in hip hop.

What were some of the issues about sampling that were raised in the film? Now that you've learned a little more about the history of sampling and heard from some of the different people involved in the debate, how do you feel about sampling? How would you feel about someone sampling your music and possibly making money off of it?

However you personally feel about the practice of sampling, it is generally acknowledged that sampling and using loops has made a huge impact on the way modern popular music is produced. Hip hop is the obvious example, but as hip hop became more mainstream, it also started to impact other genres like R&B, pop and rock. Sampling also was one of main foundations for a lot of different electronic music styles (techno, house, jungle, etc.).

Here's a quick example of sampling in a big rock hit:

"Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve....


...used a sample of this cover version...


...of the song, "Last Time" by the Rolling Stones...


...who probably were "inspired"by the song, "This Could Be the Last Time" by the Staples Singers:



So, the Rolling Stones actually sued the Verve for using the sample. The question is, who really owned the rights to that sample?

Anyway, quick recap...

The breakbeat was popularized by DJ Kool Herc, who figured out that by having two copies of a record, he could extend the drum solo (aka "break") for as long as he wanted; first he would play one record, then the other, then rewinding the break on the first record, etc. In DJ language, this is called beat juggling. Here's an example of beat juggling by DJ QBert:



A few years later, when samplers became affordable and had long enough sampling times, people were able to just record the breaks into the samplers and have them loop automatically for however long they wanted. In addition, people started being able to sample all kinds of different sounds and add them to their beats and really create something completely new out of anything in their record collections.

Today we're going to get into working with that famous break from the James Brown song called "The Funky Drummer".

Let's listen to the original for a second and give some respect to Clyde Stubblefield, the drummer who actually performed this piece of music history...



So now we're going to work on getting the break into our own songs so that we can use it.

But first...

Disclaimer: Sampling and distributing pieces of other artists' work without their permission is a violation of copyright laws. If you are merely sampling for educational purposes, as we are doing in this class, then you should be fine. But remember that if you intend to distribute and/or sell music that incorporates samples of other artists' work, you are legally required to get all necessary permissions from the owners for the use of those samples. BAVC in no way condones or advocates the unauthorized use of intellectual property.

That said, let's learn a little bit about music history by working with the world's most sampled drum break...

1. First, let's grab the audio file called, "Funky Drummer_break.wav". Copy that into your folder on your hard drive.
2. Start a new file in Reason.
   
3. Create an NN19 Digital Sampler.
4. Click on the Browse Sample button at the top of the NN19.
5. Load the Funky Drummer_break file into the sampler.
6. So what we've got here is a 1-bar drum break. In order to make it line up with everything else in your song, we've got to make the tempo of the song fit with the tempo of the break, so...first, set your L and R markers so that they are marking off a single bar (put the L on Bar 1 and R on Bar 2).
7. Now hit Shift-Tab on your keyboard to go into the Edit View of your NN19 sequencer track (the part that shows the keyboard and notes).
8. Click on the Pencil Tool.
9. Find key C3 and draw a note that is exactly one bar long.
10. Make sure the Loop On/Off button is lit up, then hit play and listen to the loop. What is happening?
11. Now let's adjust the tempo so that the sample loops perfectly...Lower the tempo until you get down to 101 BPM. Sounds good, right?
12. OK, so now we've got something that we can work with.
13. Switch back to the Arrange View (hit Shift-Tab).
14. You should now have a box called a region that looks like this:
15. Copy the region out for 16 bars so that it ends on Bar 17.
16. Save this as: your name_breakbeat
    

Once you've got the Funky Drummer loop for 16 Bars, please do the following:
Create a song that is at least 24-Bars long that incorporates both the drum break and your own original Redrum drum pattern (32-steps).