Purely sampling to make music

muzzadj

muzzadj

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I know this seems to be a pretty hot topic in the production forum these days. I've been back on the production for a few weeks now very on and off (been beating myself up alot about it all and giving up easily.) I have absolutely no VST's or anything im using i'm simply just using samples of sounds to make everything I do. I've far from finished a track, not even got to the drop on one yet but already can't help but feel im cheating. I've steered away from VST's for now as I no longer have a midi keyboard. Can I still use things such as FM8 without? Or am I doing OK for now just using samples? Please bear in mind i'm a massive beginner still right now trying to get to grips with any little process I can but seem to be drowning in information I feel I NEED to be taking in. So yeah, do I need a keyboard right now to use VST's and such? Or would you recommend I keep going the way I am for a while to get to grips with all the various processing of audio files?

Cheers!
 
I don't know what DAW you are using but as far as I know you don't need a midi keyboard to use VST synths.
Sampling isn't cheating, although it helps to manipulate the samples in weird and wonderful ways to get new and interesting sounds.
 
as far as im concerned sampling is what makes dnb what it is. Having said that im a beginner and i barely use any samples because im still getting to grips with everything, especially timestretching loops to make them fit. check out LSB's making of overthinking video for inspiration would post the link but im not allowed :S
and with most daws you wont need a midi keyboard as such, just click the notes into you sequencer, although for me i find this painstakingly slow without having a good knowledge of music theory. much quicker to play some notes and immediatedly be able to see what works and what dont.
 
you can use vsts as is, you dont need a keyboard. havent used mine in a while aswell..

as for sampling - just do what you want. if you dont want to use midi you dont have to, easy as that. have a look at emperors walkthrough of monolith for a prime example of sampling only ;)

good luck experimenting!
 
groelle said:
have a look at emperors walkthrough of monolith for a prime example of sampling only ;)
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this! i have totally stopped using syths and now work with audio only. i might use a sampled lead to smack a melody - i wasted too much time on synths
 
This might be a really stupid question but..

iv just started myself and im using breaks etc from sample packs! is this sampling!!?
 
i learnt the way to slice audio last night to get breaks and everything at the same speed. makes it much easier.
 
use whatever you want to, as long as it sounds good. thing id say with using drum loops from sample pack is to chop them up a bit, maybe filter parts of them out, and deffinaetly layer your own hits on them too. otherwise your beats will sound very generic. same with bass samples, one shots are fine but if you use a whole bass loop, youl probably get slated! just be creative and cut things up!
 
Never bothered with drum loops personally I just naturally feel it easier and better to mash a load of single hits together and make my own loop. Is this that much harder? Maybe it's the reason my drums always sound mega weak and just missing something? Maybe if I find a nice break, edit it a little and layer it with the beat i've made with single hits and make it quiet this will help?! One way to find out I guess :)
 
muzzadj said:
Never bothered with drum loops personally I just naturally feel it easier and better to mash a load of single hits together and make my own loop. Is this that much harder? Maybe it's the reason my drums always sound mega weak and just missing something? Maybe if I find a nice break, edit it a little and layer it with the beat i've made with single hits and make it quiet this will help?! One way to find out I guess :)
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Yeah i found it makes a much bigger difference.
 
Eeeeeh, it's much more rewarding to learn how to properly compress and eq a fuckton of single hits and create a unique break rather than just slapping a loop on there and calling it done.

(izotope ozone is my best friend when it comes to bring that phatness to drumhits)
 
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muzzadj said:
Never bothered with drum loops personally I just naturally feel it easier and better to mash a load of single hits together and make my own loop. Is this that much harder? Maybe it's the reason my drums always sound mega weak and just missing something? Maybe if I find a nice break, edit it a little and layer it with the beat i've made with single hits and make it quiet this will help?! One way to find out I guess :)
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Its pretty hard to create a beat that sounds fresh and exciting using just one shots, make your beat as good as you can, then look for loops which might fit the beat pattern, play around with them. Even something as simple as sticking a loop behind your main beat can bring it to life and give it more rhythm however if you want something truly unique you gotta mess around with slices, pitch, decays, fx. Theres loads you can do, just get creative.

Also if your beats are sounding weak you might wanna try looking up parallel compression, it certainly helps
 
Funny this thread comes up when i'm doing a fully sampled track right now lol
 
+yeah get to layering the drum hits and breaks and all that shit.

+Sampling is usually a reference for finding a sample yourself (ie not from a sample pack)

+There are no rules to that, i always use the example of a calibre tune, it might be even 80-100% 'samples' with just a synthed bass

+you can use VST without a keyboard thats what the piano roll is doing

+If you use a lot of samples you might want to get funky with effects and EQ etc. makes you get more interesting sounds and you feel a lot better about the whole creative process, right?.

Finally, like every producer most tunes dont ever see the light of day. most of it ends in the scrap pile. You'll come up good eventually. i try not to think "this is the onnne" cause it probably wont be. be more confident will you bro. You dont need dicks, like me, sitting n typing shit at my computer
 
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Only synth I own is a sine wave generator. All about sample manipulation for me. :)
 
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