From Nate Harrison Sent Wed, Jul 8th 1998, 20:03
From Nate Harrison Sent Wed, Jul 8th 1998, 20:03
Finally, a debate with fellow NYC'er Mr. Fahey:) While I agree with some of what you say, the whole rules thing is too much. Having bought a sampler a few months ago, my thinking about sample usage in IDM/jungle/whatever has changed dramatically. Jesus the amount of control over a sound is unbeleivable! To that end, yes I agree some people are lazy with samplers. But after playing with one I decided that doesn't matter. Are all guitar players lazy if they don't try freaky chords tweaks and solos like Jimi HendriX? Or is it allowable to feel content with strumming a few chords and calling that a song? Well, Ithink so. When you say lazy people, I assume you mean the blasse, predominantly clubby type drumnbass producers who don't tweak their breaks enough. I think they could afford to get a little more creative, but at the same time I think certain music works in certain arenas. It was Kent I believe who said that while he enjoys going to clubs and hearing ultrarepetitve house, because it works in that context, he rarely listens to it at home becaue it is not intellectually challenging. I feel the same way. I don't think those people who you refer to as lazy are really lazy, I think they are people very much into a club culture, who don't care about geeky IDMer type people overanalyzing very 64th snare, who just want to maintain a certain 'vibe', at the risk of coming off to some as 'lazy'. I find Roni Size incredibly boring, but in a club context, different story. I just think everyone has their own idea of what sounds good in their mind, lazy or not. my .02 Nate On Wed, 8 Jul 1998, Christopher Fahey wrote: > > >> About a year ago I was introduced to the Amen break via this list > >> and I began to notice that artists I had previously thought to be > I'm not sayin sampling is lazy, I'm only saying that some people with > samplers are lazy. Okay, *most* people with samplers are lazy. I love > sampling, but I think that when using a sample one should consider > carefully: > > * Is there another option besides using the sample? > * Is the sample essential to my musical "vision"? > * Has this sample been used a thousand times before? > * If so, how will my use of it distinguish itself from others who > have used it? > * How will my use of the sample distinguish itself from the original? > * Will my listeners be aware of the sample's source? > * If so, how will their mental connection color their musical > experience? > * If not, am I being deceptive? Is the listener missing something > (the aforementioned "color")? > * Do I have the kind of money I'll need to defend myself when I get my > ass sued by some impoverished 60 year old funky drummer who hasn't seen a > dime from their effort? > > I think that sampling is cool and almost essential to the > postmodern/information age artistic impulse. I have mixed feeling about the > fact that you basically can't sample anymore unless you are either a) a > small time artist on an indie label or b) you are puffy combs. Part of me is > glad that artists are moving away from sampling and towards programming, and > I'm also glad that unpaid artists are starting to get their due for samples > used in multiplatinum hits, but I resent the fact that copyrights are so > strong that sampling is almost taboo. > > I also emphatically disagree with anyone who says that sampling is > antithetical to musical artistry. > > I still think that using the Amen Break in 1998 would be hard to justify > artistically. > > > > > >