SAMPLING
(Article by Magesh)

In it's most basic form 'sampleing' is just recording a small piece of information. It may be a drum beat, a bass line or the sound of glass breaking. The beauty of sampleing is as long as you have a microphone and a sampler you can 'sample' any sound your mind can think of. Sampleing became popular in the early 1980's because MC'S could take an old instrumental song and rap over the top of it. The idea was simple. To take something old and put a new spin on it.

So how does Sampleing affect drumming in the year 2007?

For starters, sampleing has changed modern drumming styles and with this, the mentallity of drummers. I want to share with you a few significant changes sampleing has had on drumming...

1. A new generation - the drum break from the James Brown song 'The Funky Drummer' is the most sampled break in history. I first heard it on a hip hop album that was recorded in 1986. Even though this original drum beat had been recorded many years before that, it was the use of this break through sampleing that introduced me to funk drumming. Since it was recorded this beat has been sampled literally hundreds of times and used in a lot of different types of music ranging from drum n bass, hip hop to pop.

2. New Equipment - Just as the music has influenced the technology, the technology has also influenced the music. Because sampleing has become so popular it has caused innovations in equipment. Roland's 'SPDS' unit allows a drummer to sample his own sounds into this particular pad/trigger unit aswell as play the sounds that are already stored in this machine. For exapmle a classic 808 kick sound or a hand clap sound.

3. A new mentallity - I believe now more than ever that drummers are paying attention to the subtle nuances of a sampled drum beat. Details like 'How long ago was this sample recorded?' ' Was it recorded in Hi Fi or Lo Fi?' 'Does it have an effect on it like a distortion or a filter? This mindset helps a drummer go down a different path and may help him create something totally new.

4. New Laws - Since the introduction of the Internet and digital downloads there have been many changes in the music business regarding copyrights. Probably one of the biggest changes is the law concerning 'sampleing' When somebody samples a piece of music it needs to be 'cleared' by the artist/record company/music publisher. Although these laws have always been around they have never been as strongly as enforced as today. In the 1980's hip hop groups would use literally hundreds of samples on their albums. Some of these were from old obscure records and many of the samples weren't 'cleared' by the original artist. This couldn't happen today. There are too many legal ramifications.

5.New Credit - Probably now is the first time in history where drummers are truly getting the credit they deserve for contributing to the music as a whole. As far as songwriting goes it used to be thought that the only relavant factors of writing a song were the 'lyrics' and the 'melody'. This meant if a band got together and created a song like this.... the singer came in with the lyrics, the bass player created a funky bass line, the guitar player played a beutiful melody and the drummer layed down a solid beat, the drummer is the only member of the band who might not recive songwriting royalties if the song was to become a 'hit'. The mentallity has changed now because people are relizing how important the 'Beat' is. There are a lot of people who just 'sample' or programme their own beats and make beat cd's to get to other artist's. The good news is if their beats are used they will recieve royalties.

6. A new culture - In the last twenty years 'Sampelling' has gone from a 'behind the scenes' thing to the 'star of the show'. A whole new culture has emegered to embrace it. Right now DJ'S and MC'S have a far better understanding of sampelling than a lot of musicians. The reason for this is because they are surrounded by it constantly. I think there is a lot less predjudice towards creating music from programmers/dj's/rappers because they are more concerned with the the overall sound of things as opposed to if the 'technique' is right. Somtimes drummers become obsessed with having the 'right' technique which can affect the end result. Although I'm happy to see more and more drummers getting into this new culture.

7. A new instrument - At the end of the day an instrument is just something that produces a sound. What determines the sound is determined by a few factors, obviously the main one being the person that is playing the instrument. I have always looked at my sampler as an instrument. I 'play' the sample pads with my fingers and have to understand the depth of the faders just as a piano player has to know what 'key' he will be playing in. I have multiple 'effects' like distortions, filters and so on. I have to have a great understanding of these effects to truely make everything I do effective. For example, if I record a drum beat and put it through a 'distortion' effect I have to know how 'distorted' I can make it before it feedsback which might blow up the speaker( I have done this before!)A guitar player must understand his pedal board too.

8. A new sound - I have been combining sampleing and drumming for the last few years and can honestly say that my drumming has taken on a new direction that would not of been possible with my sampler and sampling. The sounds/rhythms I have created can be seen on my debut DVD which is called 'Unique Beats' which is out through 'Hal Leonard' and also available through my site. When drummers try to reproduce the sounds of a sampled beat on an acoustic drum set is when things become......INTERESTING. Again, the idea is simple. To take something old and put a new spin on it...