History of Sampling
Sampling and its Hip-Hop History.
Sampling has been one of the most monumental concepts for music within the past 30 years. Many argue that sampling is 'stealing' or plagiarism, and in some circumstances, they would be correct, however, I believe that it opens up a new world of musical possibility for both producers and artists.
So how did the idea of sampling come to fruition?
Sampling, of which is synonymous with the Hip-Hop genre, was originally conceptualised by a music genre titled- Musique Concrete. Musique Concrete, as defined by Britanica, is an "experimental technique of musical composition using recorded sounds as raw material." This genre was created in 1948 composer Pierre Schaeffer and his associates at the Studio d'Essai ("Experimental Studio") of the French radio system (Britannica, 2018). Many of these musical pieces were performed and recorded on the first ever samplers called 'Tape Replay Keyboards of which the first ones were invented by the music company- Chamberlin. These sampling instruments were keyboards of which each note contained a tape recorder which stored an 8 second loop. Nothing really happened in the world sampling technology until 1969 when BBC radiophonic inventor Peter Zinovieff developed the first digital sampler, the EMS Musys (The Guardian, 2018).
Digital Sampling
The Beginning of Hip Hop sampling and hip-hop itself (technological advancements that influenced sampling)
From the concept of Musique Concrete, and multiple decades of technological development, Hip-Hop began to develop one of the most unique yet considerably mass used musical production techniques to grace the 20th and 21st century. Music sampling in Hip-Hop predated the 1980's however, many of the artists of the time rarely ever sampled due to insane prices of technology required to sample (one of the earliest digital sampler being the Synclavier which cost around $300,000 in the 70's). It may be impossible to find a contender for the first ever hip-hop act to sample however, in the early 1980's many popular rap acts were beginning to experiment with sampling many of the earliest accounts of sampling include- Grandmaster Flash's 'Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash And The Wheels Of Steel'; Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force's 'Don't Stop Planet Rock' and Masterdon Committee 'Funkbox Party'.
There were many methods of being able to sample in the early 80's however, it wasn't til 1988 when one of the largest music brands in the world, Akai, released the earliest MPC series. The MPC60 was more a legitimate pioneering digital instrument then a sample player, which gave musicians an opportunity to creatively and expressively use sampling as more than a means of repeating and replicating music, being able to create detailed and artistic pieces of music. This MPC was also revolutionary for Midi through its use of drum pads which were used for not only creating drum patterns but also programming bass and sample-based melodies. Many successful producers including the likes of J Dilla and Nujabes, found there success producing silky-smooth, retro Hip-Hop style synonymous with the MPC, not only this but also giving birth to the modern Hip-Hop genre known as 'Lo-Fi'. The video below gives an excellent demonstration of the many capabilities of the Akai MPC series.
Figure 1: The Akai MPC60 II (1991)
Other genres that exist because of sampling and sampling in other genres (pink floyd) (LO-FI)
So, we covered how sampling began and how the concept of sampling in essence birthed a sound and genre of music, but how did it affect pre-existing music of the times?
Well.
Just prior to the time the first digital sampler was create (1960's) the Mellotron, which is considered the predecessor to modern synthesizers and samplers, was created. The Mellotron not only influenced the sound of so many early bands, but also defined it. Having featured on- The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever; Led Zeppelin's Kashmir; and David Bowie's Space Oddity, just to name a few, with these songs being held in very high regard in the music world. The Mellotron worked as a keyboard playback sampler, where you could 'load' patches that were recorded on tape and play them back at different speeds and pitches. This was heavily used in progressive rock until it was replaced by more powerful digital synths.
In conclusion, the concept of sampling has changed the face of music since its existence. So much so that the technique of sampling has managed to find its way into most if not all music genres, this being a good thing as sampling is a means of creative re imagination of musical concepts and ideas. I personally feel that being able to sample is very important and can help boost your own personal production quality.
Bibliography
https://ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=49257
https://reverb.com/au/news/a-brief-history-of-the-akai-mpc
https://stason.org/TULARC/music-genres/progressive/78-What-is-the-Mellotron-and-how-does-it-work-What-are-rela.html
(https://universityobserver.ie/a-brief-history-of-sampling/)