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Sampling and Chopping Techniques

Sampling is an art form central to UK garage's DNA. Learn to find, chop, manipulate, and reimagine existing recordings into something entirely new.

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The Art of Digging

Great samples come from great source material. Here's where to look:

Record Shops & Charity Stores

Soul, disco, jazz, and R&B from the 70s-90s are gold mines. The physical dig often yields the best finds.

Streaming Services

Spotify, Apple Music for discovery. Make playlists of potential samples, then source properly.

Royalty-Free Libraries

Splice, Tracklib, Loopmasters. Legal, cleared, and ready to use.

Your Own Recordings

Record yourself playing chords, vocals, percussion. 100% original and unique.

Chopping Fundamentals

Once you have source material, the magic happens in the chop:

Chopping Workflow

  1. Import sample at original tempo (don't warp yet)
  2. Listen through and mark interesting sections
  3. Identify the tempo of the source material
  4. Set your DAW to the source tempo temporarily
  5. Slice on transients or at musical divisions (bars, beats)
  6. Map slices to pads or keys
  7. Rearrange into new patterns
  8. Time-stretch to your target tempo

Chopping Techniques

TechniqueDescriptionBest For
Transient SlicingChop at each drum hit or note attackDrum loops, rhythmic material
Bar/Beat SlicingChop at fixed intervals (every bar, every beat)Chord progressions, pads
Manual SlicingHand-pick exact slice pointsVocals, complex material
Granular SlicingMicro-chops for texture and glitchExperimental, textural

Pitching and Time-Stretching

Manipulating pitch and time opens creative possibilities:

  • Pitch without tempo change: Change the key while keeping tempo (Elastique, Complex Pro algorithms)
  • Tempo without pitch change: Speed up/slow down while keeping pitch
  • Classic vinyl pitch: Speed up = pitch up, slow down = pitch down (that vintage sound)
  • Formant control: When pitching vocals, adjust formants to avoid chipmunk/demon effects

Making It Unrecognizable

The goal is often to transform samples beyond recognition:

Transformation Techniques

  • Layer multiple chops from different sources
  • Reverse sections for new textures
  • Apply heavy processing (distortion, filters, reverb)
  • Re-pitch to different keys
  • Use granular synthesis to deconstruct
  • Resample your rearranged chops as new source material

Legal Considerations

Sampling copyrighted material without clearance is illegal, regardless of how short the sample is. Options for staying legal:

  • Use royalty-free sample libraries
  • Clear samples through the original rights holders
  • Use services like Tracklib that handle clearance
  • Record your own original material to sample
  • Recreate the sound rather than sampling it directly

Summary

Sampling is about finding gold in existing recordings and transforming it into something new. The best samplers are creative archaeologists - digging deep, chopping thoughtfully, and processing until the original becomes unrecognizable. Always respect copyright, and when in doubt, recreate or clear.

Devil's Advocate

Advanced thinking for experienced producers

"Is sampling lazy? Should you just create everything from scratch?"

This debate has raged since hip-hop began. Sampling is a skill - it's not about copying, but reimagining and recontextualizing.

Alternative Workflows to Try

  • 1.Record your own chord progressions and sample yourself
  • 2.Use samples as references, then recreate with your own sounds
  • 3.Combine sampling with original synthesis for hybrid approach

Critical Thinking Traps

Trap: "Any sample is fine if you chop it enough"

Reality: Copyright doesn't care about your processing. Clear it or don't use it.

Trap: "Royalty-free means boring"

Reality: Great producers make great music from any source material.

Trap: "Original = better than sampled"

Reality: What matters is the final result, not how you got there.

Lesson Downloads

Sample Clearance Guide

PDF guide to legal sampling

Chopping Templates

Ableton & FL Studio sampler setups

What You'll Learn

  • 1
    Digging for samples: vinyl, streaming, royalty-free
  • 2
    Chopping and rearranging loops
  • 3
    Pitching and time-stretching techniques
  • 4
    Legal considerations and clearance basics

Continue Learning

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