Why sampling ENCHANCES MUSIC

Reinventing Old Media

By Preston Bergeron

Sampling

What is Sampling?

Sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, or sound effects. A sample can be brief and only incorporate a single musical note (as is the case with sample-based synthesis), or it can consist of longer portions of music (such as a drumbeat or complete melody). Samples aren't limited to only music. They can be used from any form of media.

Why is Sampling Important?

Sampling is a way of preservation and innovation. When you sample an old piece of media either music or film, you are not only preserving the original within the new song sampling it but also reinventing the sounds, lyrics, and melody of the old song into a new unique version that expands upon the creativeness of the original.

Audio Sampling

Original Song

Huit Octobre 1971 by Cortex.

Original Show

Spider Man - Season 1 Episode 2 (Dr. Doom, Master of the World)

Song sampling Originals

One Beer by MF Doom

What was sampled?

The Originals

Huit Octobre 1971 by Cortex is a French pop / jazz song released in 1975. The part of the song that stands out the most is the vocals and the drums. The vocals have an angelic sound to it and the drums have a unique upbeat clash with the smooth vocals that work perfectly. In the Spider Man episode, what pops out is the conversations between the characters that seem like a joking matter in the face of danger.

How the Original was Reinvented

MF Doom sampled the drums and vocals of Huit Octobre 1971 to make them higher and faster pitched. MF Doom uses that has his beat for majority of the song. The Spider Man episode is used as an ending to the song. The main villain is Doctor Doom, who MF Doom based his rap persona off of. The ending features a lot of different forms of old superhero media with Doctor Doom.

Modes

The modes used are linguistic and auditory. The auditory comes from both, but the song has mor to do with auditory then with linguistic. The spider man episode is mainly linguistic with little music used from it.

Audio and LYRic Sampling

Orignal Song

Through the Fire - Chaka Khan

Song sampling Original

Through the Wire - Kanye West

What was Sampled?

The Original

Through the Fire by Chaka Khan features a smooth melody with Chaka's strong vocals explaining how she would go to great lengths in order to be with someone she is in love with.

How the Original was Reinvented

In Through the Wire by Kanye West, he uses the second chorus of Through the Fire as the intro and reuses at is the background vocals throughout the song. The title of the song is inspired by Through the Fire but with "fire" changed to "wire".

Modes

The auditory modes are vocal and linguistic. The linguistic aspect is the title, the vocal is the singing of Chaka Khan throughout her song.

Conculison

Sampling is a creative way to use old media in new music in order to give it a modern-day reinvention. Samples can be used as the backbone of a new song as the main beat and chorus or can give a song an older sound to it while still being new. Overall sampling preserves these old forms of media from being lost and gives birth to new creative and unique ways of making music for the better of the industry.