what is MICROSAMPLING? transcript

What do Jan Jelinek, Burial, and J Dilla have in common? Let's find out. We all love sampling. There's nothing better than finding a perfect loop in an obscure 1960s Icelandic [music] chamber jazz record. Whether it's vinyl or YouTube, sampling is always fun. Today, I want to focus on one specific technique called micro sampling, which involves surgically chopping the samples into short fragments and rearranging them in an unrecognizable way.

There are plenty of artists using micro sampling. J Dilla, Sora, Jan Jelinek, Hieroglyphic Oval, Burial. The list could go on forever. The main appeal of this method are the limitation that it brings, forcing [music] you to come up with creative ideas and solutions using only short fragments of sounds. It's essentially the same technique [music] as making collage artwork, but with sounds. Now, grab a sample. Doesn't matter what genre it is.

Have a listen to it and let's get to work. Here's the sample I'm going to use. >> [music] >> Let's start by chopping short fragments of the sample. You can use Fruity Slicer >> [music] >> or [music] just slice manually, which is what I'm going to do. >> [music] >> Now, here's what we have. >> [music] [music] >> Let's rearrange the first loop. It's basically like solving a puzzle. Test out different chopped sounds together.

Swap their positions and keep working on it until it starts sounding cohesive. >> [music] [music] >> Now once you have your first loop ready, we need some variation. If you want to copy the pattern but want it to sound a bit different each time, just [music] press S to turn on the slip function which allows you to move the waveform around in your individual chop. It's fantastic [music] because when we initially choose our sounds, we don't really have a clear vision of what the loop will sound like.

But once you have the foundations, you might find that the parts you skipped at the beginning are actually [music] the best fit for this particular phrase. >> [music] [music] >> I will now repeat the process for the next few bars. >> [music] >> I'm quite happy with the loop for now. Let's add some ear candy. What I like to do is run the whole sample through a processing chain and that way we can use short fragments of it to add some flair to the loop and keep [music] it interesting.

Bit glidder by your windows to add some bit crushing. Then run it through Transporter [music] to loop short fragments of it. Just have the loop A on, add some more minimum length, add some [music] reverse and shift. >> [music] >> Then I will add the glitch shifter to manipulate the rhythm of the loops. Plenty of feedback and sign all the way down. I will record everything through Edison and chop it. >> [music] [music] >> Start adding the processed chops to the main loop. >> [music] [music] >> Here's what we have so far. >> [music] [music] >> If you're bothered by those clicks in between [music] the chops, set the clicking mode to smooth.

I now want to record the loop and give it the good old stretching algorithm treatment. Now, record the loop in Edison, stretch it. >> [music] >> You might want to pitch it down a bit. I'm going with minus 500 cent. >> [music] [music] >> Now, we can pitch the original and processed chops 500 cents down and then layer it with the stretched [music] sample. >> [music] [music] >> Now, I'll experiment with the arrangement, add some drums, and I'll come back to you with a full track. >> [music] [music] >> And there we have it.

That's it for the video. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll see you in a bit.