Questlove on J Dilla's sampling techniques | Red Bull Music Academy

[@flavwhite]

He's right, Dilla made his samples sound like loops when 99% of them were chopped to death.

[@nopenope7700]

What the hell does chopped to death mean? Anybody with a good sense of rhythm can do that...

[@JordanWBrace]

How did he even do it? Imagine how amazing and insightful it would've been watching Dilla chop records up!

[@elismith8356]

@@nopenope7700 u try doing this by hand with no computer no protools and remember u have 2 find every bit where there is no vocals. Just on uh MPC bro of course its possible but can u do it and make it sound as good as Dilla made it sound. I agree with quest I would of thought it was uh actual loop but it was constructed and each section put together.

[@elismith8356]

@@nopenope7700 do u even make beats what does chopping uh record have 2 do with rhythm. If u don't know what chopped to death means you my friend are just ignorant 2 sampling records on drum machines or any other music format. Would u like me to breakdown the term of chopping uh record ? I'm also sure if u watch this whole questlove lecture u will find your simple answer.I mean u could even watch the Iggy Pop lecture and learn something.

[@nopenope7700]

The ONLY reason why this a thing... is because it was New and it gave robot drummers like Quest space to be free... But wasn't even Dilla... It was D'Angelo.

[@jwizdum2103]

In my opinion, just to think of chopping a beat like "Don't Cry" that way he did, it's almost alien like, it's truly a high level use of the brain to chop shit the way he did, Dilla was a genius.

[@r.s.marcus3043]

He was so low-key about his creations that I didn't even realize that he made my favorite loops until he died. Every other great in hip hop has him as the penultimate talent in producer history.

[@danwillreview]

You mean the ultimate?

[@alexvasquez537]

Same

[@codymcginnis7837]

penultimate means second greatest playa

[@DCeeMusik]

Amazing! That's incredible how he sampled end parts and mixed parts with no vocals and made a song that sounded fluid. By Hand! On a MPC 3000. Remember, 3000s did not have waveforms nor a ton of sample time. Dilla made it work and made a banger out of it. Thanks, Brother Quest, for telling us this Dilla gem!

[@timsohn7057]

nobs and arrows lol. I can see how he would have done it, but it is SOOOO cumbersome on the MP vs programs these days. I still use the MPC, but usually after I edit everything. I use it only really for nostalgia. Around mid 2000s, my MPC started to get outpaced by some really good programs out now days. But I still love the MPC swings and workflow when it comes to straight up sampling records.

[@jaimerobinson5246]

Tim Sohn keep the hardware alive and you sustain a sound that 80-90% of producers have escaped

[@timsohn7057]

LMAO @ MS-DOS. ver 5.00+ was the truth tho.

[@timsohn7057]

Jaime Robinson Will do bro. I used to make so much beats and even sell em quite a bit. I went back to school later in life for health care and haven't been able to as much. Miss it alot. I plan to upload alot of my stuff on youtube. Im so old...those beats were pre youtube hahaha.

[@timsohn7057]

Jaime Robinson I have 2-3 beats only on my acct "eladbrit" but even those are quite old.

[@pcastalano32]

I Understand where he coming from, me & Dilla went to school together back in late late 80"s early 90"S we had a crew called D.D.P . Double Dose Possie in High school, Benjamin O. Davis Aerospace Highschool On the east side of Detroit ( I remember he sampled a, Donald Bird classic for the talent show we were in .... I took the L.P from my Uncle Chuck Record collection ... & That's how it all started , back then he went by the name (Silk )

[@onestar8753]

paris castalano yo that sounds so dope Man! Could we talk? Email me at [e-mail]

[@tyyer]

thats an incredible story man, its cool to hear about how talented these guys were even in their youth

[@Skinwalker110]

His brother Bobo Lamb be posting all types of great storys on dilla to thank you for this one brother🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩

[@d-nyl6116]

Peace

[@adidas20zero]

Dope!!!

[@MrFonte-ug1gm]

"Little Brother" ONE OF MY ALLLLL TIME FAVS

[@jungle-wav1322]

5. MF Doom 4. Ye 3. Nujabes 2. Dilla 1. Pete Rock

[@elijahhill6602]

Jungle -Wav All caps when you spell #5’s name.

[@NateDogg8870]

Jungle -Wav J Dilla is deffo number 1

[@alonzox5420]

@@elijahhill6602 RIP MF DOOM & J. Dilla

[@tylergrace5137]

@@alonzox5420 1. Pete Rock 2. Dilla 3. Nujabes 4. DOOM 5. Madlib (honestly tied with DOOM in production, but DOOM gets extra points for MCing like a god too)

[@sixthSigmaSnowball]

Solving a 10,000 piece puzzle by throwing it in the air and having it land completed on a table. "Talent hits targets others can't hit. Genius hit targets others can't even see."

[@YouGotOptions2]

talent hits targets ortbers cant, genius hits targets others cant see?????????? where is this from??? if YOU came up with that yourself then BRA fucking VO!!!!!!! that is a great quote.

[@kunivin999]

That's from a great philosopher named Schopenhauer. Peace

[@freein2339]

Musicians create music others can't hear....people who sample try to ride the jock of real musicians....

[@jackrock121]

@@freein2339 You really are miserable

[@freein2339]

@@jackrock121 No ...I merely state facts...get over it..

[@therouxburroughs8426]

If u notice when he plays the sample he blinks everytime there is no vocals like he's remember it each time he closes on rhythm with his idea of the actual beat mapped out in his head. not only was Jay Dee a genius with Rhythm so is Questlove. He's like a father figure to me at this point vicariously through his internet wisdom and my love of his drumming and producing and DJ'ing. rock on quest, RIP Dee...

[@iii2308]

Dilla issa God to me😩😩

[@alvarezgamers]

I was thinking the same. quest is a manic at drumming and all things music. Such an inspiration dude.

[@bobjamaica9045]

Can you explain what you meant by that? Because I see him blinking randomly even during vocals unless I’m missing something here

[@frankystrings]

@@bobjamaica9045 hea full of ishit but the end of his message was his point I think

[@MrO_thevoice]

Nah he was just blinking

[@lovedichoreo1529]

He made it sound fluid. He made it sound like an actual loop (although he crafted it piece by piece seamlessly)

[@kri8beats778]

Dilla too clean. There's a reason all other producers respect him more than anyone else ever.... Long live DILLA!

[@gjbap]

Miss you Dilla....

[@JustGod7]

that is some difficult to almost impossible shit to do by chopping that by hand. He took out the pieces that Roy Ayers didn't speak on and made a beat. Even the part where Roy Ayers says "Now Listen" he added that part in. I seen post where people tried to recreate it and it sounds shitty. Dilla is in my top 5 greatest producers.

[@lex.cordis]

It's incredible, man. You can't hear any seams in it from the chops. I can't imagine the type of painstaking work it would take to get that so perfect. Like Quest said, it just sounds like a sampled loop!

[@trevorjones5412]

1. Dilla 2. Kanye 3. Pharell 4 & so on. who cares

[@Offcell9999]

Trevor Jones uh madlib? MADLIB?

[@lex.cordis]

moesephxd91 Shit, I was surprised to not at least see Pete Rock and/or Premier. But to each their own.

[@Offcell9999]

word, i love pete rock and dj premier but premier does not appeal to me as much as the other guys :/ too raw for my soul jazz funk ears

[@LoneStarVII]

As someone who remixed his Bye/So Far To Go, I can tell he did the same thing with those songs. He got little snippets and combined them into one vocal-less loop.

[@jazzg4570]

It’s amazing how much he was able to use with just the sample. Any other producer would still felt the need to add some booming kick or somethin extra but Dilla was able to get everything he needed out of that Roy Ayers song alone

[@mitchellwaubano156]

lmao q is straight up chillin on that couch

[@nastynate838]

😂

[@SebCrateDigger]

J Dilla is the best human being who had brought a new vision of hip hop. I'm proud to listen his sounds again. Thanks J Dilla and rest in peace.

[@mrgroosumthasandman8046]

Well explained Q! You got die hard instrument/band players saying "Oh any body can make anything sound good by JUST PRESSING BUTTONS"!!!! People that stay in there own box just don't understand, IT'S LIKE SOLVING A 10,000 PIECE PUZZLE IN RECORD TIME!!!!

[@tupd]

Mrgroosum ThaSandman i mean, with all the software now damn near anybody can make something sound good by just pressing buttons. Like Quest said, Dilla was doing his thing before the advent of all the plugins etc. His craft was a digital analog mix.

[@James-pb8xu]

Anything can sound or look good at first glance. the problem is keeping it fresh. Which software can't do for you.

[@PeteS_1994]

@@James-pb8xu Exactly or giving the song some soul or expression still takes skill.

[@lw3257]

Dilla's skills and the way he did things will forever be unmatched....there are alot of GREAT producers but no one will reach dilla.

[@joshuacoughlin4773]

Madlib exists

[@kosuzu_]

@@joshuacoughlin4773 Madlib is definitely a top 5 producer. He has a really good ear for samples, thats why hes the “Loot Digga”. But when it comes to chops and drums Dilla is uncontested. Even Madlib said it himself, “He’s king of the beats to me.”

[@JAYLIB03]

I remember hearing this sample in Pete rocks & CLs 'The main ingrediant." I'm a big Dilla fan and I thought he looped the sample. It's interesting hearing questlove explain how dilla chopped up the sample so good it sounded like a loop.

[@KevDNYC1]

Dilla had such an influence on my different hobbies. Some of my most awesome days was playing an MMO online like WoW or Planetside back in the day and throwing on a 2 hour mixtape of his. Kind of like a soundtrack for my avatars running around the games. haha Dilla is easily in my top 5 favorite producers of all time.

[@theafrospacecowboy]

1:01 And accidentally, Questlove did that little loop at the outro of Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth's "In The House"... lol

[@vernlarge2908]

Hugo Arruda dos Santos Showbiz used that 1st on an interlude on the Runaway Slaves album, and his was the best!

[@RBMA]

Questlove breaks down J Dilla's sample sorcery... Watch the full lecture - kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3Tbh615mpeBZ7s - for a deep dive on drumming, Dilla and D’Angelo.

[@OURshow]

DILLA DILLA DILLA BEATS BEATS BEATS.... let's not forget that another amazing producer was born on the same day on the other side of the planet... Nujabes!

[@MsBeatJunkie]

OUR show Yes he was amazing, I adore his music. His jazzy mellow sample techniques

[@OURshow]

RyNea Soul definitely. We try to keep both their legacies going on our radio show.

[@MsBeatJunkie]

That's awesome, and I'm glad that you do!

[@carloscamino6385]

Ll

[@tomzirp4457]

Questlove is definitely in the house, such a G and encyclopedia of good music

[@bv6377]

questlove youre not in the house

[@marcusiralieus]

J dilla actually changed the way I viewed music 🎵 inspirational man miss u ❤️💕

[@Junior13113]

Is it fair to say that J Dilla is a music genius? I think that's a fair assessment.

[@nweeezy]

i've always thought this; no one understood and used texture like Dilla did.

[@lewistyler462]

No controversy there

[@lovedichoreo1529]

"Its the equivalent of someone solving a 10,000 piece puzzle in record time"

[@xinsectoxurbanox]

this video makes me incredibly sad/happy at the same time.. coming from a place where I discovered J Dilla during his later years... it's crazy to have his style broken down.

[@kareems3187]

My Idol since 96 one of the very first Dilla beats I ever heard was "The Rhyme" Remix by Keith Murray. Once I heard that I knew this Brother was going to be different. I'm grateful I got to see him live with Madlib and MF DOOM. When Jaylin was on Tour with DOOM. His creativity was on another level thank you for your contribution to Hip Hop Dilla. May you and DOOM both rest in Peace

[@rmdavis85]

Like Water For Chocolate is one of my all time favorite hip-hop album, which was birth from that studio in that era

[@78proto]

Dilla was truly amazing. I always try to recreate his most difficult loops. This is on my bucket list, and Still Shining....if I can only find the source...

[@postmodernmusicalsophist2503]

Too many people are afraid to put new guys in their lists. Cause i swear Terrace Martin deserves to be in a top 10

[@Jeannek4493]

I love how he talks about how he made it sound “normal”, freakin amazing

[@elohkayee]

This is perhaps my most favorite Dilla beat, so thankful to see Questlove describe it's creation! Dilla forever!!

[@rachels7795]

What’s it called?

[@elohkayee]

@@rachels7795 Little Brother

[@rachels7795]

@@elohkayee thank you:)

[@digaholicrecords8620]

I know what Quest mean by Dilla's skill. I first the Roy Ayers sample from Pete Rock & CL Smooth record and did a India Aire remix from that same loop. i went and seen the "Hurricane" movie then went to record store and listen to BlackStarr song and tried to chop that sample cause i was blown away by the way Dilla chop it. R.I.P Dilla.

[@davidk8055]

Omg thats one of my all time fave tracks Little brother by (Yassin Bey) Mos & kweli. Glad to know where it was sampled from and how. Long Live DILLA DILLA DILLA 4EVA!

[@LawrinMaxwellsmpc500]

I also chop my samples like that, I chop in quarter notes, just like how he demonstrates, one chop for every beat in the sample. It makes for a very neat loop because you have more control over the chop placement. Classic chopping technique for MPC users.

[@Bootstrap193]

2:00 someone make a gif

[@soufienkhalfaoui7593]

All my respect to Dilla and Questo but the way the MPC chops the samples is what makes it sounding so natural.

[@raybrooks1555]

he always used great soul music too....Roy Ayers, Stevie Wonder, the list goes on and on......

[@onelastdisco1518]

Hey! Questlove’s in the house!

[@FreshForReal]

2:10 His facial expression explains it all. True greatness can't be explained just felt and appreciated. ?uestLove #dilladay #dilladillabeatsbeats

[@Warhero1171]

Hey, Questlove's in the house. . .

[@ShionHyrezUK]

Ye the end result is awesome! I think a 10,000 piece puzzle is over stated but J Dilla is like Premier he can take something and turn it on its head. J Dilla, Premo, Pete Rock, 9th Wonder are the my best of all time so far. Mine at least!

[@AcidSh33tz]

you just dont understand how much of a perfectionest dilla was, the man had a crazy OCD when it came to records

[@kenc5199]

I just want someone that really knows to inform all these people trying to emulate his sound that he fought the sequencer every step. he made it how he heard it. his original sound was him not adding or messing with swing, but removing the quantize and keeping it how he hit the keys.

[@alvarezgamers]

As someone who loves to sample. That shit he did is hardddddd. Hard because it’s easy to make it sound choppy as hell when you only grab lil Drum piece like that. 🙏rip J

[@kurtfromMichigan]

Excellence. No one has ever surpassed Dillas skill imo when you take in everything. All the way back to his pause and play beats on cassette tapes before he met amp fiddler.

[@jammawun]

He's one hell of a teacher!

[@VerbaDeLycKRecords]

Quest is a genius id love to sit down and talk to him about stuff like this

[@kolbeinngauti3971]

You can just listen to Questlove Supreme , that's basically what that is :)

[@cherneta8065]

1. Dilla 2. Madlib 3. Pharelle 4. Timbo 5. 9th wonder 6. Kanye 7. Pete Rock 8. Primo 9. Dr Dre 10.Organize Noize

[@xJoBoy]

Good list. But I think just mentioning Pharrell is pretty disrespectful to the genius that his Chad Hugo.

[@TheGreenwood03]

+saucy lastname what's the point of those lists ?

[@Drizzyfor6]

+saucy lastname 1.Dilla2.Premo3.Organizd Noize4.Dre5.Kanye6.Large Professor7.Pete Rock8.9th Wonder9.Timbo10.Madlib11.Neptunes12.Scott Storch13.Hi-Tek14.Will IAM

[@GeminiEye1314]

+saucy lastname Can't forget Apollo Brown

[@cherneta8065]

GeminiEye1 He's aight not in all time great list.

[@sparbarz1]

The way he chopped that shit up....CRAZY!!

[@SkilledNature]

This was LIGHT to dilla! Shiiiiit Dont Cry still makes me say omg 😯

[@jasondrew6157]

"Solving a 10,000 piece puzzle in record time" isn't really a good comparison. It isn't impressive because of the speed in which the result was achieved, it's impressive because Dilla breaks something down and recreates it into something completely different that is still coherent. It's more like taking a 10,000 piece puzzle of a horse and rearranging it into the Mona Lisa.

[@apostle.i]

Yeah I agree with your statement more but I get what quest love meant . Awesome example though

[@comptonsboi33]

RIP & Happy Born Day Big Homie

[@MVP_MAGAZINE]

I remember shaking Dallas hand just before he died....it was an honour

[@seboufdu59]

Trully amazing, RIP Forever Dilla.

[@leibweiss]

You DJ the party for us in Camden New Jersey before you got signed to a record label

[@omniosi]

love. "micro-chops"!

[@bridgewater420]

J DILLA SAVED MY LIFE

[@brekbeatattack7038]

questlove's in da house

[@JOESTEF20]

Dr Dre, Q Tip, DJ Quik, Kanye West, J Dilla... not in that order but those are my favorites

[@ericakamrkrump]

Thank you for including kanye . People don't understand how amazing of a producer he is . Top 3 with Dilla and Pete Rock

[@JOESTEF20]

Lol truth man... He has such great taste in the way he samples.

[@mdptg1990]

@@JOESTEF20 He is the best at making soul music 100% but people don't give him props due to his personality, even though most of the best producers like himself and Madlib are weird as fuck. It's just that Kanye was in the spotlight

[@shuaduah]

Roy...Pete...James... Get it.

[@sperg0101]

R.I.P. James Yancey

[@walterclark9821]

J dilla is a legend.

[@ItsNNJA]

rip to the greatest of all time 🙏🏽✨

[@DetroitFettyghost]

Questlove is ALSO a god on the chop. RIP DILLA Detroit loves you and so does the whole 🌎

[@kapkix]

MISS YOU DILLA. RIP!

[@bernardbenjamin5607]

JDILLA FOREVER

[@vernlarge2908]

Listen to Showbiz & A.G.'s 1st album called Runaway Slave and there is an interlude where Show made a beat out of THE SAME Roy Ayers song, he chopped it up and took the vocals out. 1st one to use it and KILLED it! THAT ALBUM CAME OUT IN 1992!

[@joshuamartinpryce8424]

Techniques are individual. They come from learned experience. Spirituality is an essence of techniques because the spiritually strong have adapted a mindset of spiritual technique.

[@kammikeisari5195]

The equivelant of breaking down a mural and building a mosaic of the pieces.

[@GlitterFistsFish]

Dilla changed my life

[@TwangBeats]

R.I.P J Dilla

[@LifeGotIt]

dilla is the G.O.A.T. of sampling in hip hop!

[@asosound]

yeah thats dilla

[@estlhm805]

Life stories of greatness unknown

[@lugaro4448]

Even now with fl and pro tools there’s clicking sometimes. He made that shit sound so smooth oh my god

[@beatattic5360]

LITTLE BROTHER!

[@omarsaleem3076]

Imma sound like a hate and I’m far from that as I love DILLA, but as a drummer it’s not very difficult what he did...he had a great ear and a lot of patience. One of the best to ever do it.

[@deadmoonscriptures1556]

I understand what you're saying, but all hip hop is simple drumming. It's how he managed to take small pieces from across a song where there were no vocals present, scattered across the song; changing the chord structure and still make it sound like it was meant to be that way from the start. Think of it like alchemy.. taking base material and transmuting it into something else, to express yourself.

[@coreyfreelander1478]

That’s why he’s the undisputed GOAT.

[@tropfkopf]

1:42 12 pads on dillas mpc?

[@smartfkr]

we'll never forget jay dilla....

[@dereckvon]

Badass Questlove.

[@wh7490]

What was the second song? Had to comb my neck hairs back down 🔥🔥

[@MoskaMasker]

Little Brother by Blackstar

[@wh7490]

Thanks

[@affbenflack8777]

Didn’t Pete Rock chop up that Roy Ayers joint for an intro on the second Pete Rock and CL smooth record way before Dilla did

[@Monev360]

according to Questlove, that's how this all started. Here's the link to the full story: www.rappersiknow.com/2008/11/26/questlove-vs-jay-dee-the-little-brother-beat-story/. Also, this is one of songs I mention in my video on J Dilla samples: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJrLaIlsf72Sj5o

[@MrHestichs]

What is the name of the original song? The first one that comes up.

[@theafrospacecowboy]

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - "Ain't Got Time".

[@bosssavage7768]

Jdilla was legendary his beats touch me spiritually

[@dollardv]

Well said my brother .

[@bobjamaica9045]

Little Brother such an amazing track, shout out Most Def and Talib Kweli who somehow found this beat that was going to be scrapped by Dilla..

[@jlbang24]

what's the name of the beat that dilla made at the end?

[@Jpgoeagles]

little brother by black star

[@ambushed10304]

Just what he's saying at 2:30 ("it sounds normal to you"). I'm not talking about choping samples, I just have a technical question: I don't know how mixing stuff is on a mpc3000, but the mixing after (pro mixing and even mastering on studio) is clearing all this stuff, no? I mean, I have a mpc1000 for 3 years now, and any loop I do is straight shitty (I'm talking about sound / mixing clarity), beacause EQing is is not that efficient... I mean if you could plug speakers straight out his mpc300 master, it would not be that clear I guess? Dumb question maybe... But is there anyone here making beat on MPC (don't care which one) and getting THAT clear without using any hardware or even simple DAW EQs, comp, etc... ?

[@zero9448]

I use a phrase sampler (SP-555) to get my loops sounding nice (EQs, effects, clean loops), then dump into the MPC1000 to chop up and work on a project... eventually the stems from mpc find there way into a DAW but you can still get clean sounding beats on all hardware. Especially people like Dilla who worked with almost exclusively hardware when they were learning how to produce.

[@ambushed10304]

Yeah, true that the SP / mpc combination is really heavy ;) it can be a way indeed, as I always wonder how it is possible to make a beat 100% "straight outta the mpc", and sounding that nice (J Dilla, or any other one).

[@Popu_GTB]

1:02 - 1:12 Good job looping that part by accident Questlove. It sounded really good 🤣

[@blackjay3771]

Truth time folks. J Dilla wasn’t your average teen from the ghetto that had no musical training. His music was next level because he received formal training and applied it to hip hop formulas. His music doesn’t sound like your average hip hop producer because your average hip hop producer doesn’t have formal music education. That’s why Dilla is hands down the greatest hip hop producer of all time. Ask Dre, Premier, Kanye, Pharrell, Timbaland and anyone else. Dilla could easily make his music sound like any one of those guys. But ask them could they reproduce a Dilla sound. Nope!

[@10alexcr]

Anyone know the 2 tracks being played??

[@teggsr13]

Dilla=Master Creater of Music

[@terence2541]

1:02 im sorry i was looping.. no he let you know where the loop was for black Star...

[@tollertoller4life]

Wow is all I could say..

[@Smoothways]

I think in the days and age of computer technology and super fast processors it amazes people that you can something like putting patterns together by hand and playing each sample pattern by hand instead of using programs... The difference to most of the people out there was that he managed to make it sound perfect as well as organic (because of the manual work). But I have to admit I am not a drummer so I may lack the sense of imagination it takes to understand how difficult this task is.

[@carolmcnulty5017]

What's the name of the song he's talking about

[@alltrue8217]

KING DILLA!

[@14TruLuv]

1.)dilla 2.)primo 3.)Pete Rock 5.)timbo 6.)just Blaze 7.)neptunes 8.)large pro 9.)organized noise 10.)q-tip