Extension: Sample this!

Questions from your work on Amen Break

1. What is a drum break?

2. What genre did hip hop producers borrow drum breaks from?

3. What was the process of 'borrowing' actually called?

4. What bits of technology did they use to do this?

5. Can you remember any songs that use this 'borrowing' technique?

1. Let's get our vocabulary straight...

2. The Mellotron

One of the earliest samplers used small magnetic tapes. Bands like The Beatles and King Crimson used Mellotrons to create interesting sounds in the 1960s and 70s.

• Why do you think this instrument was so attractive to pop musicians in the 1960s?

3. Fast-forward to the 1980s

Herbie Hancock bought this digital sampler in 1981 for $27,500. That equates to around $80,000 in today's money!

Try the MK-1 Sampler. It has switchable sounds, just like the Mellotron. Unlike the Mellotron, this is totally digital.

https://ericrosenbaum.github.io/MK-1/ericrosenbaum.github.io

If you have a microphone at home (maybe on a laptop?) you can even record your own sounds in to the sampler!

4. Try my Funky Sampler!

Click on this link to open the youtube video in a new tab.

5. God level: Trim audio regions and sample

Follow this link and click on Sampling.

https://musedlab.org/soundbreaking

Watch the video below for help:

6. Quizlet: Sampling Vocab

Do you know your sampler from your sequencer? Use my flash card set to practice.