By: Steve M.

Steve M. — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 18:56:34 +0000

One more short comment. Sampling in the form I described above has been going on for a very long time. Perhaps the earliest example was in the form of an actual instrument called the Mellotron. The Mellotron was a tape relay based keyboard that used pre-recorded 8 second samples (that had to be purchased separately). A few examples of the Mellotron are; opening flute sounds in “strawberry fields forever” and “stairway to heaven”, violins on “knights in white satin” and “court of the crimson king”, and more recently choir sounds in Radioheads “exit music”

By: Steve M.

Steve M. — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 18:24:42 +0000

Another fundamentally different but related aspect of sampling not discussed here (until now) is the act of using a sampler as an instrument in its own right. I believe it’s fair to presume that when most folks think of sampling, they automatically jump to the conclusion that the “sample” is a recording of a previously published musical phrase from another artist. Although this might be true, as in the examples quoted in the authors’ blog, the most widely used form of sampling involves using recorded snippets of instrument sounds within a hardware or software based “sampler”, and playing them back in the form of a new instrument. This methodology is used constantly in music today, and bears absolutely no resemblance to an original piece of work. In fact, there is an entire industry built out of selling pre-recorded instrument sounds for use in samplers. A simple example, out of thousands, is Bardstown Audio. This small company takes great care in recording live instruments that a typical consumer couldn’t afford, such as a Bosendorfer grand piano. Thousands of recordings are taken of the instrument at each pitch, with varying velocity levels, and then sold on “sample CDs” to be used by musicians. Once loaded into a compatible sampler, a very realistic copy of a Bosendorfer Grand can be played back using a midi keyboard in a professional studio or home recording environment at a fraction of the cost. This concept extends to almost every instrument imaginable as well as sound effects. Another example is from a company called Redmatica. Redmatica makes a software program called Autosampler that automates the process described above. Using Autosampler, a professional or hobbyist musician can borrow a midi capable synthesizer or other instrument from a friend, automatically sample the sounds from the instrument, and save the files in their computer for later playback in their sequencer/sampler program of choice. I believe that no one can argue that sampling in this way isn’t a legitimate method of music creation. If there are complaints from purists, go through their music collection and start throwing out nearly everything that isn’t recorded live.

Comments on: “I’m about to lose my mind.”

By: Steve M.

By: Steve M.