Using sample pack samples as leads?

L

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Mar 3, 2013
Hi there, I randomly started a neuro track today, I used a vengeance bass sound to make the main bass, eventhough it's edited alot, would you guys still consider this "cheating"? I mean, it sounds good, so I don't know how any of you would react to it should you recognise it when listening?
 
id say it would not be cheating if you made this sample your own, just think of how many times people have used 808's or reese's in their tunes.
 
i don't use sample packs for synths or basses, but whatever works for you. if it sounds unique then its all good. in drum and bass i think the end result is more important than how you get there.
 
i agree with above but im a big culprate in this and because of it i feel my production skills are somewhat limited due to the fact i never took the time and effort to make my own sounds and through it learn your snyths and those lil "good accidents"
 
do what you want it doenst matter as long as it sounds good. Just dont use a whole bass loop for example. If you do that, it will be far too obvious and it will be picked up on, also not originial. however, arranging one shots, chopping up bass loops etc is perfectly fine imo. The amount of tunes that are coming out at the moment that use sample packs is insane, the octane and dlr pack still gets rinsed to shit, the june miller one is everywhere too, but there good tunes cos people have been creative with the samples. thats my thoughts anyway
 
There's an unlimited way to use the same bass sample differently so don't think it's cheating. Pretty sure xtrah used that bit from that system tune near miss in his new one shock treatment.
 
Listen to it and to the original and compare, recently I've seen a guy do something similar with Mako's sample pack, expect he didn't change the bass itself, nor the bassline pattern, he just straight up stuck it in there. But if you've made the sample your own by modifying and treating in a different way, I think it's okay, as long as it doesn't sound too close to the original, but this is just my view on things, this is a subject of discussion by almost every producer, and opinions vary, so just stick to what you think is reasonable.
 
Don't block yourself. Cheating is when you have used any bass sample and telling people you made it fully from scratch.
Shine out with your arrangement skillz, nothing else matters !
 
depends really, from a listeners perspective it makes no difference but as a producer its a strange feeling when you get a sample pack break and cut a little and it sounds great, but next time when you use an unprocessed funk break or some single hits you got from nowhere special, and you just cant make it work? but like i said, thats a crafts pride kind of thing, for producers. the listeners dont care where you got your samples from. its a strange duality. because we are pretty extreme when it comes to sourcing our samples.
 
If someone can make a whole track sound good then personally I don't give a shit what sounds are in there, both from a listening and producing perspective.

However if a track sounds shit and has a lot of obvious, mass-used samples then, well, you know where I'm going with this.
 
I wouldn't really worry about it. People are lifting breaks/drum loops and bass loops out of sample packs, using them straight up and getting releases on established labels. Just do whatever you want, only you'll know if you're cheating yourself or not.
 
I wouldn't do it. Whenever I hear a sample from a pack in a tune I tend to lose a tad of respect for whoever used it. I know its silly but yeah.

But yeah basically what riiiissuu sed...
 
sam the dnb man said:
I wouldn't do it. Whenever I hear a sample from a pack in a tune I tend to lose a tad of respect for whoever used it. I know its silly but yeah.

But yeah basically what riiiissuu sed...
Click to expand...

Your dj sets are full with any bass samples from packs ;)
 
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logikz said:
depends really, from a listeners perspective it makes no difference but as a producer its a strange feeling when you get a sample pack break and cut a little and it sounds great, but next time when you use an unprocessed funk break or some single hits you got from nowhere special, and you just cant make it work? but like i said, thats a crafts pride kind of thing, for producers. the listeners dont care where you got your samples from. its a strange duality. because we are pretty extreme when it comes to sourcing our samples.
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Real talk mystery head man. I have taken to listen to Breaks I have collected(dnb ones), chopping them up to see the rhythms and trying figure out how best to arrange my own stuff.

One way to creatively use the Bass samples you gather, is to use them more as a wave table for your sampler. Im so noob is unreal, but constantly amazed at what you can do with a sampler, so why restrict that avenue for your productions.

I understand the pride thing, but on some occasions it could be self defeating, obviously if you pick up learning your way around making synth patches, is a good ruote, but as I am still experimenting, saving to buy the gear I want to work with, I can mess around with some samples, to get something going. I do try with what I have on board now, fiddling with Operator in Abelton quite a bit, but it really takes me a long time to get anything good going, and probably not even good, just pleasing to my noob ears.

Emperor masterclass for monolith, you see that tune is nearly all sample based. Good enough for Kasra, good enough for me :)

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Oh and to help you along, have a look on The Grid, there is a nice set of 808 Kicks and guy has given away. He rcorded them through tape, and wanged em through a Keeley Modded DS-1. Some gold in that pack! Not a lot but about 20 nice hits!
 
tewky1 said:
Im so noob is unreal
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With you there mate, my stuff sounds great to me until I A/B it with something else :sadbana:

Back on topic though, I find timestretching, resampling and layering the shit out of synth samples can work wonders. I managed to make a few percussive elements out of synth stabs at some point too which was interesting haha..
 
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