Tutorials - General - Loops And Samples An Overview

Most of the music of today and of the past 20 plus years contains loops or samples of some sort. The concept of manipulating loops and samples has permanently changed the way music is made, and many artists and producers have embraced it wholeheartedly.

Many of these samples have been the key ingredient or "hook" in the song itself. Consider the work of Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) or The Fugees for example; there are thousands more professional and non-professional artists, producers and enthusiasts doing exactly the same thing. Whether it's a major recording facility or someone trying to spice up their home movies, samples and loops play an important role in the creative process. And with the continual decrease in price of computers and audio-video equipment and the increase in their power and functionality, the ranks of users will most likely continue to swell.

A brief look at the linear notes of many modern pop albums will acknowledge the use of some form of sample borrowed from somewhere. The reason they do this is principally legal, particularly when someone copyrights the sampled material. This has inspired a whole new aspect of music law regarding the use of copyrighted material and the compensation due for its usage. This has left many artists at a standstill, either unable to pay for the usage or unwilling to give up their composition credits.

In response to this, people began creating CDs that contained material especially for music and sound production that could be used either for a fee, or fully licensed to the user. The sampling industry was born! Since then, scores of companies and production teams have filled the market with various sampling CDs and sound effects libraries which all vary as much in style as in quality. Additionally, many CDs, besides being regular audio CDs, are offered as CD-ROMs to accommodate one or many of the staggering amount of file formats used by today's music hardware and software systems (such as samplers and audio sequencing programs).

There are still two main ways in which the material is used.

The first of these is a royalty system where the user reports (and pays a fee) each time they use all or part of a sample CD or library. This method is offset by the physical CDs costing little or nothing, but requires strict monitoring to ensure that users report their usage of the product.


The second method is the buyout system where the user pays a higher price for the CD, but is almost unlimited in their use of the CD or library.
The only exception being the re-distribution of the material as another library or via a public data retrieval system or online resource. It should be noted however that this stipulation usually applies to both royalty and buyout systems. This makes the buyout system more common among producers of musical sample CDs.

The Internet has affected not only the way we communicate, but also the way many people do business. The music industry at large is feeling the effects of this and the sampling industry is no exception. It has become possible for sampling CD and sound effect producers to distribute their material online. Whether it's mail order CDs, downloadable data files or both, the Internet is helping them reach more potential customers and business partners worldwide. This exciting situation is set to expand as more and more people "get online" and connection speeds (bandwidth) increase. Likewise, new ideas and demands for online sample resources and services will develop and companies that are already familiar with these concepts and ready to meet the challenges are sure to enjoy continued success.

Used with permission of http://www.powerfx.com/

Added by - Looperman

Date - 2006-05-16 18:40:27

Viewed - 4349 times

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