A history of music sampling through the ages with live examples. Presented by Andrew Yu at SF Learning Night on July 28th, 2015.

1. THE ART OF SAMPLING
Andrew Chando Yu
@aychando

2. In music, sampling is the act of taking a
portion (sample) of one sound
recording and reusing it as
an instrument or a sound recording in a
different song or piece.
WHAT IS SAMPLING?

3. "Sampling is lacking in creativity"
vs
"Sampling has been innovative and revolutionary"

4. 1960s – experimental
musicians and musique
concrete, electroacoustic
1970s – Hip Hop and
scratch DJs
Mid-1970s – Electronic
music and disco
HISTORY

5. Tchaikovsky
1812 Overture (1880)
La Marseillaise 1792
God Save the Tsar! 1833
At the Gate, at My Gate - Traditional Folk 1854
O Lord, Save Thy People (Hymn) 1863

6. Loops
Variety of short samples of beats strung together;
a repeating section of sound material
Musical instrument
Sampling of a sound
TYPES

7. 6 second drum solo
1969 by "G. C." Colemann
"Amen, Brother” The Winstons
Used in:
Hip hop, breakbeat hardcore, hardcore
techno and breakcore, jungle, D&B, TV
advertisement.
“AMEN BREAK”

8. No royalties
Plagiarism
Flattering

10. An area of contention from a legal
perspective
LEGAL ISSUES

11. 1956 “The Flying Saucer” by
Buchanan and Goodman
Sampled 18 chart hits from 1955-
56
Sampled Orwelle’s “War of the
Worlds” broadcast
Agreement reached to share
royalties from records sold

12. Campbell vs. Acuff-Rose, 1994
(Roy Orbison v. 2 Live Crew)
SUPREME COURT CASE

13. The court ruled that any financial gain 2 Live Crew
received from their version did not infringe upon
Acuff-Rose because the two songs were targeted
at very different audiences.
2 Live Crew's use of copyrighted material was
protected under the fair use doctrine, as parody,
even though it was released commercially

14. Samples are fair use (a legal doctrine in the USA)
International sampling is governed by agreements
such as the Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works and the WIPO
Copyright and Performances and Phonograms
Treaties Implementation Act
REGULATION

15. BLURRED LINES CASE
Marvin Gaye “Got to Give It Up” (1977)
Robin Thicke “Blurred Lines” (2013)

17. Creative
Homage
Tribute
Respect
Flattery
Unoriginal
Theft
Infringement
Illegal
Plagiarism
allusion
git checkout -b

19. "The highest form of flattery is imitation”
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal”

23. Let’s hear some examples!

24. Edwin Birdsong
“Coca cola bottle baby” (1975)
Daft Punk “Harder Better Faster”
(2001)
Kanye West “Stronger” (2007)

25. Delegation “You and I” (1979)
Triple X (XXX) “Feel The Same” (1999)
Maya Jane Coles “What They Say” (2010)
Drake, Nicki, Tunechi “Truffle Butter” (2015)

26. Blind Faith (1969)
Traffic
Stevie Winwood “Valerie” (1982)
DJ Falcon “Call On Me” (2004)
Eric Prydz “Call on Me” (2004)

27. A PERSONAL FAVORITE
Whitney Houston “I Have Nothing” (1992)
chopped, sped-up, and reversed three
different ways
Drake “Tuscan Leather” (2013)

28. Questions?
Comments?

29. Avicii “Levels” (2010)
Pretty Lights “Finally Moving” (2008)
Etta James “Something’s got a hold of me” (1962)

30. Avicii “Levels” (2010)
Pretty Lights “Finally Moving” (2008)
Etta James “Something’s got a hold of me” (1962)

31. Brenda Russell “Piano In the Dark” (1988)
Bingo Players “Cry” (2011)
Flo Rida “Cry” (2013)