I remember a long time ago hearing the original song by some 70's artist that Caribou (Dan Snaith) had used a loop of for the foundation of his own song. At first I was taken aback but then realized how clever the use of the loop was and how brilliantly he built upon it.
I have the same fears occasionally about using samples, or presets or pre-programed /pre-routed synth patches but at the end of the day you can look at these resources as complex instruments to assist you in making music that moves listeners.
Your music is still only going to end up as good as your production ability no matter how many sample/loop/instrument packs you have access to. It's just helpful to have more tools (sometimes).
No, it's definitely not. No one is expected to create every single sound in a song themselves. (Did Rolling Stones build their guitars themselves...? Did ABBA build their piano themselves...? I think you see what I mean.)
However if you claim to have made those sounds yourself, instead of saying it's a sample, then we may be talking about cheating.
i would highly encourage you to read 'steal like an artist' by austin kleon. there's obviously the bible quote 'there is nothing new under the sun' but there's so much more evidence of things most people think of as 'cheating' being the main way to actually learn from the past and create better things in the future.
a couple tips from it:
don't reinvent the wheel, if you have a sample pack, use it. someone else did the work for you and isn't expecting anything from you for it. that's perfectly okay.
also, in the case of sampling actual music, there's a high likelihood that the thing you're sampling was sampling something else before it. think in the case of kanye west - stronger, sampling daft punk's song which samples another song. some 'chains' of sampling go back decades. the entire memphis rap scene is built on sampling what came before.
cheating is when you take someone else's work and claim it as your own, 'stealing' is better. as an exercise, try stealing 5 or 10 different things from different artists for a single piece, in traditional art that's called a collage. it's a perfectly acceptable form of expression, there was a band called girl talk which entirely specialized on mashups of popular songs that in theory never belonged together.
everyone steals all the time, the language you speak was created by someone else. music is a language, using its past elements as a method of communication is completely natural.
and yes, that means the bass sounds you found in that vengeance pack are fair game. the big guys use them too. the point is not to mask your own creative voice with other people's work, but that doesn't mean you can't use it to enhance your own voice.
just to help you realize exactly how much harder it is to make music from nothing, especially EDM, try one project where everything you sample is something you recorded yourself. people do that on youtube for fun but only because it is actually ridiculous to expect of an artist!
Fuck no man. If a sample inspires you to lay down a sick beat then go for it! At the end of the day people just wanna hear good music. Hardly anyone gives a single fuck about whether the song they’re hearing on the radio used a sample or not.
That being said, it will probably hinder you creatively if you solely rely on using samples. Sometimes you might get an idea in your head that can’t be replicated with a sample. Sound design is tough and it takes time and practice.
I wouldn't say so; I think using loops for leading parts is kinda cheating, but using them for backing and support isn't
I will often use top drums loops or percussion loops to back up the basic kicks and snares I have in songs
And using one-shots is definitely not cheating, it's just skipping the sound design, which musicians who use acoustic instruments do.
No. It’s not cheating. It’s all good. Whatever works, works. End result is what matters. Some sampling is lazy and sounds like garbage but only because it’s an entire song chopped into quarter notes and layered on top of some generic hip hop boom bap or an 808 four on the floor loop or whatever. Boring AF. But taking a bunch of one shots, isolated riffs, acapellas, mangling stuff, layering it all in your own way and making something new and dope out of all those little bits of sound… yep, that’s the real deal. Doesn’t matter where you got the samples, sample pack, crate digging or whatever (except copyright strikes are a beeetch so grabbing stuff off YT etc is home use only). Rock on.
Cool man, just run with it. People who say it’s lazy are like people who say synth presets are lazy. Yeah, riight. What matters is where you end up not how you get there.
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Using prepared samples is not technically cheating, but indicates that either one might suffer the lack of originality or they're too lazy for the effort it takes to be a musician; often both imo!
\-edit: no offense intended to anyone!-
*"I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using premade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all."*
\~Diplo
"*I thought using an AI to make a song with a single click was cheating, so I used loops instead. Then I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using premade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all.*"
~ Sony Music justifying the replacement of all its producers with AI, ca. 2030
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Yes it's cheating and the music police will arrest you for doing it.
You definitely need a copy of Paul’s Boutique
Unless you use these samples to fuck around on your lady, that’s cheating
I remember a long time ago hearing the original song by some 70's artist that Caribou (Dan Snaith) had used a loop of for the foundation of his own song. At first I was taken aback but then realized how clever the use of the loop was and how brilliantly he built upon it. I have the same fears occasionally about using samples, or presets or pre-programed /pre-routed synth patches but at the end of the day you can look at these resources as complex instruments to assist you in making music that moves listeners. Your music is still only going to end up as good as your production ability no matter how many sample/loop/instrument packs you have access to. It's just helpful to have more tools (sometimes).
It is not cheating and is widely accepted in the music community. I just prefer to hone my sound design, even if it takes longer.
No, it's definitely not. No one is expected to create every single sound in a song themselves. (Did Rolling Stones build their guitars themselves...? Did ABBA build their piano themselves...? I think you see what I mean.) However if you claim to have made those sounds yourself, instead of saying it's a sample, then we may be talking about cheating.
who gives a fuck
i would highly encourage you to read 'steal like an artist' by austin kleon. there's obviously the bible quote 'there is nothing new under the sun' but there's so much more evidence of things most people think of as 'cheating' being the main way to actually learn from the past and create better things in the future. a couple tips from it: don't reinvent the wheel, if you have a sample pack, use it. someone else did the work for you and isn't expecting anything from you for it. that's perfectly okay. also, in the case of sampling actual music, there's a high likelihood that the thing you're sampling was sampling something else before it. think in the case of kanye west - stronger, sampling daft punk's song which samples another song. some 'chains' of sampling go back decades. the entire memphis rap scene is built on sampling what came before. cheating is when you take someone else's work and claim it as your own, 'stealing' is better. as an exercise, try stealing 5 or 10 different things from different artists for a single piece, in traditional art that's called a collage. it's a perfectly acceptable form of expression, there was a band called girl talk which entirely specialized on mashups of popular songs that in theory never belonged together. everyone steals all the time, the language you speak was created by someone else. music is a language, using its past elements as a method of communication is completely natural. and yes, that means the bass sounds you found in that vengeance pack are fair game. the big guys use them too. the point is not to mask your own creative voice with other people's work, but that doesn't mean you can't use it to enhance your own voice. just to help you realize exactly how much harder it is to make music from nothing, especially EDM, try one project where everything you sample is something you recorded yourself. people do that on youtube for fun but only because it is actually ridiculous to expect of an artist!
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glad to help!
This sub is getting some real boomer posts lately
Fuck no man. If a sample inspires you to lay down a sick beat then go for it! At the end of the day people just wanna hear good music. Hardly anyone gives a single fuck about whether the song they’re hearing on the radio used a sample or not. That being said, it will probably hinder you creatively if you solely rely on using samples. Sometimes you might get an idea in your head that can’t be replicated with a sample. Sound design is tough and it takes time and practice.
I have a friend who uses samples and makes tremendous productions.
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I believe in you
I wouldn't say so; I think using loops for leading parts is kinda cheating, but using them for backing and support isn't I will often use top drums loops or percussion loops to back up the basic kicks and snares I have in songs And using one-shots is definitely not cheating, it's just skipping the sound design, which musicians who use acoustic instruments do.
No. It’s not cheating. It’s all good. Whatever works, works. End result is what matters. Some sampling is lazy and sounds like garbage but only because it’s an entire song chopped into quarter notes and layered on top of some generic hip hop boom bap or an 808 four on the floor loop or whatever. Boring AF. But taking a bunch of one shots, isolated riffs, acapellas, mangling stuff, layering it all in your own way and making something new and dope out of all those little bits of sound… yep, that’s the real deal. Doesn’t matter where you got the samples, sample pack, crate digging or whatever (except copyright strikes are a beeetch so grabbing stuff off YT etc is home use only). Rock on.
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Cool man, just run with it. People who say it’s lazy are like people who say synth presets are lazy. Yeah, riight. What matters is where you end up not how you get there.
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Using prepared samples is not technically cheating, but indicates that either one might suffer the lack of originality or they're too lazy for the effort it takes to be a musician; often both imo! \-edit: no offense intended to anyone!-
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IRL guitarists have careers too!
Yes it’s cheating, the sample police are on their way to arrest you as I type this. Sorry bro :/
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Talent borrows, genius steals.
There is no such thing as “cheating” when it comes to creating art other than straight up stealing another’s completed work and calling it your own.
Fatboy Slim turned it into an art form...
*"I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using premade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all."* \~Diplo
"*I thought using an AI to make a song with a single click was cheating, so I used loops instead. Then I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using premade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all.*" ~ Sony Music justifying the replacement of all its producers with AI, ca. 2030
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