Sampling Is Hard (ft. Baauer)

[@tracklib]

THANK YOU for this well needed conversation! Sampling is probably the best thing to happen to music in terms of developing new sounds and genres. And it's insane how there's not a mutually beneficial system for clearance. We're trying our best in developing a go-to system like Baauer mentioned, where records from past times have pre-negotiated terms that anyone can afford, but really it should have been dealt with a loooong time ago.

[@uhscue]

please work with Baauer! Been watching him use tracklib during all of his streams..

[@comebackstea]

Baauer is so underrated, glad you got him on

[@illmonohue]

only 10 mins in so far and this man has like the exact same opinions and sampling methods as myself. it’s like being indirectly validated of all the small musical insecurities i’ve had previously during my creative processes. thank you🙏

[@illmonohue]

shoutouts whosampled btw

[@rar3lotus]

@@illmonohueyeah they’re goated

[@Corbal975]

"I wanted to ask you if you could put in a summation what is your general process when taking what is essentially another person's piece of music and working it into your own? What's your approach, what are some of your preferences, what are some of those do's and don't's that you feel like are important to, y'know, embrace of avoid when you're, y'know, kind of borrowing from somebody else's work and creating your own through that process?" I enjoyed the interview, but stuff like this should be broken down into multiple questions or at least asked in a much more simple and concise way. It's way too long and multi-faceted and causes the person being interviewed to have to discard parts of what is being asked and answer the summary they created, potentially missing the point of your question in the first place. This is demonstrated by Baaer immediately pointing out how big it is, speaking about 40 seconds on just why he does the type of music he does, and then sitting in silence trying to remember what the rest of the question even was.

[@david-yt2gm]

I'm a producer and to me chopping a sample is the hardest part of making a beat. making the drums, bass, melodies and chords is way easier to sound good, but if you just loop the sample without chopping it up it becomes the easiest part

[@prod.youngkarter07]

It depends, for me that i havent learnt music theory yet the melody part is more difficult to me

[@first3numbers]

Finding a sample for a specific sound is the hardest part for me😊

[@Ottophil]

Try being autistic, it helps

[@Rr0gu3_5uture]

Man, I'm old as shit, my first sampler was an Akai S950, chopping breaks by ear because there's no waveform editor could be a fkin' nightmare, lol! Thank God for VSTi & DAWs.

[@Foeisudhxj]

@@prod.youngkarter07 music theory doesn’t really help with melody as much as it does harmony. The most complicated part of music theory and the part that music theory mainly focuses on is chords.

[@Tocinos]

I still can't believe you interviewed Lil Dicky. I also can't believe you forgot to mention his magnum opus, "Brain"

[@MetalBansheeX]

I'M BRAIN IS THE LITTEST

[@DTheAustralian]

You see on one hand, I can tell that Baauer is an accomplished artist with a good ear for music & sampling, and what is surely an eclectic career and discography But on the other hand, Harlem Shake guy 🫵

[@okuzhori]

Art is not about being the most talented. It’s about expressing yourself

[@unduloid]

But you need talent for that!

[@okuzhori]

@@unduloid no you dont?

[@unduloid]

@@okuzhori I express myself, but I have no talent, so nobody cares.

[@EmiliaApfelwein]

I think being an artist is about communicating things in the most effective way.

[@feli6277]

​@@unduloidmaybe some day somebody will care

[@lordfizzz]

This is so dope. My best homie passed in 2019 and he was the biggest Baauer fan. I was just talking to my partner about him yesterday I haven't really thought of him lately. No coincidences

[@bentley230]

Confirmation that god exists amirite 🫠

[@smurxxx0910]

I had a buddy pass back in 2018 I used to go to shows with. Our last show my buddy and I went to together was Barely Alive and Virtual Riot. I really don't go to shows too often anymore but this interview brought back some memories.

[@connorcraven9671]

"Did you make the sample or did the sample make you?" Golden rule from The Alchemist

[@unduloid]

I make my own samples.

[@halfadecade4770]

Would love love more electronic music artists.

[@Maxarcc]

Baauer's newer releases, especially Planet's Mad, are his best work to date in my opinion. He has grown a lot as an artist.

[@TORTOISESFORDAYS]

Is he the Harlem shake guy?

[@inputsh]

@@TORTOISESFORDAYS Yes

[@milhouse777]

​@@TORTOISESFORDAYSkinda, he did the beat but who made Harlem shake happened was filthyfrank, you know

[@panacea.palace]

What's his more recent stuff sound like?

[@stewartsa]

Baauer seems like a really down to earth and dope dude. Loved the convo.

[@FungleFunTime]

Watch his streams. He's a very fun dude

[@stewartsa]

@@FungleFunTime have seen a tonne of his clips, it’s great content

[@Nova_Afterglow]

8:00 this is such a 180 view from what i had as an early producer and it is very refreshing to hear baauer say this. very early on i spent about an hour looking for the perfect sax jazz song that had minimal drums. i basically just took the sample as is, added some 808s and drums and called it done. i built this alongside 3 other songs where i went with my own chords and melodies. the sample song was my friend's favorite. i was a bit frustrated that the super easy song was the one ppl liked, and it took a while to get comfortable using loops even after this. nowadays im more in line with baauer, if ppl like something then they like it, and if you credit who you sample then it's all gravy.

[@donnydarko7624]

Melon just describing Track Lib to a T, also there are sites that commission artists to record new content made specifically to sell to beat makers to use, they also have a legally binding agreement that you must adhere to when using something from that sample pack. Their agreements allow you to use the sample without paying any royaltees unless you get it placed with an artist on a major or it reaches a specific threshold of units sold.

[@jdcichocki]

saw Baauer at Hijinx fest last year and it was one of the best DJ sets i’ve ever seen, he went the hell in

[@MusicOrLoseItTV]

I remember when Harlem Shake was the biggest thing - so big made Billboard change their ways

[@Thor_b]

Look up the mug shot!! They got our man viper! I wish I could post it here. It’s on the community posts of the channel KHOU 11

[@delthafunky333]

Baauer is everything. Luckyme familyyyy

[@chosenonebeats]

25:41 have these “professionals” not heard of Tracklib? It does exactly what they are scratching their heads over when it comes to clearing samples 😂

[@donnydarko7624]

I mentioned that too, as well as sites like the drum broker that commission packs from people like Frank Dukes, Marco Polo, THe Alchemist, etc. where the terms stipulate that they are royalty free unless it gets released by a major label or the units sold or streamed I would imagine as well surpass a certain threshold.

[@0_Cardboard_0]

You can’t do the Thug Shaker for an hour while screaming “HARLEM THUG SHAKER” and call it an interview, Tony

[@BeatsBySelim26]

Show me your thug shaker anthony 🤤🤤

[@Real_Boye]

Guitar player mostly here. Tried sampling and yeah that shit is hard af yall samplers are too creative it's scary

[@giulianogisotti4107]

THIS IS AMAZING. I've been following the Baauer stream for years!!!

[@PabloAfroSamurai]

Dude I love Baauer's smile. I also love his sampling breakdown tik toks

[@tumbr]

so basically that im blue interpolation is like the live action lion king release

[@fabiansierra7622]

Baauer sound has only gotten better since Harlem shake so much growth

[@kngflxx]

sample snitching sucks but im also so glad i can pop over and see wtf madlib did so i think that will just be forever dissonant

[@idlerwheel]

As you started to describe his music I immediately knew you were talking about Tom Lehrer. That guy was hysterical and was talking about about stuff that was wildly inappropriate for the 1950s.

[@marioi.carrillo6264]

Sampling can be insanely complex and intricate, not to mention creative. Scaring The Hoes and pretty much every single album from clipping. are a prime example of that. Of course you can always pick some 4 bar chunk of a song and loop it with some basic ass drums and leave it at that, but you can also pick a guitar a strum C G Am and F and make a basic ass song from that. Both things can be simple or really complex.

[@MichaelTurner856]

Real

[@willkersey7340]

Now do the Harlem Shake

[@wesleychaffin4029]

Wow the internet archive trick is absolute gold! Now I gotta get back in the studio :)

[@HNcomics]

Baauer's new music fucking rules man

[@startervisions]

Knowing how to make good music in any way is hard

[@AlexOrtiz-iv7tn]

Anthony finally starting to pay attention to the electronic dance music scene? I love Fantano, but for being the internets busiest music nerd he sure ignores the helll out of the mainstream edm/dance/electronic scene, or rarely gives it any attention in his content.

[@tannersagle6921]

Admittedly, speaking as a dance music fan he's not missing too much.

[@weihoozie]

I think he chooses just not to review it. A lot of edm are just your run of the mill songs made for the club. Not much to differentiate one house or techno dj from the rest. He does know of the music though, I know he mentioned he liked Miracle Maker by Dom Dolla.

[@UnlockYourWellness]

Planets Mad is an insane album, I love it ❤

[@JonnyBoyOfficial]

DO THE HARLEM SHAKE

[@Tocinos]

YO LOOK AT US BOTH BEING HERE OOOOOOOO OOOOOO OOOO

[@JonnyBoyOfficial]

@@Tocinos hahahahaha

[@JonnyBoyOfficial]

@@Tocinos my man the OG!!!

[@churricardo1457]

CO LO TE RORI TA

[@grants5399]

shout out to Neil Cicierega at the end

[@noelbreitenbach8673]

Loooooved this conversation!

[@doghousejake]

Wow, samplers and DJs are really having to Harlem Shake their pockets empty with this publishing stuff!

[@Tym16]

Don't let sample clearances and anxiety disrupt your creative process!

[@prodbyzaqq]

Sampling da 🐐 no 🧢

[@murkie4956]

no one cares anymore

[@DudeSmokedd]

Lets say all thanks to Baauer because he made pink guy on the map with the harlem shake!!!

[@zacharyplaxton4365]

J-lo stole the beat for jenny from the block. the beat was based on a beatnuts song so technically there is legel recourse if you steal or are influenced by a sample flip!

[@zickster]

I remember when a guy in a morph suit shaked his body to a Baauer track and posted it online. I hope that guy is doing well I heard he's into music now.

[@sophiaisabelle027]

We appreciate your dedication and hard work. You'll always have our support.

[@NewDave]

Great conversation. I love pushing the limits of sampling. It's my favorite part of making music.

[@toobadxbeats]

Sampling is life 🍩

[@psychokitty444]

A Wendy Carlos interview might be a long shot, but worth the ask.

[@marcocardia3960]

Watching this I finally understood Endtroducing´s album cover

[@jacoblacey7851]

New fantano vinyl display dropped‼

[@J.S.3259]

It was so much easier when we had 5.25 inch floppies and Amigas to help with the sequencing

[@unduloid]

Trackers all the way, baby!

[@LetterNumber]

Baauer is a person that if you told me didn't have a face, I'd believe you I'm glad he's doing ok tho

[@harbarycarbary]

Joji owes this man so much

[@will.davlin]

SebastiAn should be the top artist of all time

[@unduloid]

Who?

[@prodbyzaqq]

Fantano da 🐐 no 🧢

[@murkie4956]

u fell off

[@blakej4924]

@@murkie4956wym this dude was never on in the first place.

[@murkie4956]

@@blakej4924 he literally had a whole ass interview with fantano when he was popping off and started off by flexing how he was in LA and more famous than fantano at that time

[@blakej4924]

@@murkie4956 look at his comments. “[insert name] da 🐐 no 🧢” is literally every one of his comments. Dude is a clown.

[@Bi_scotti_5]

about the Doja Cat thing, that's biting and usually the way that you usually take care of that is by making it known like the producer you mention did. I dont think the producer community as tight-knit as it was in like the 90s or 00s, but back then producers' careers would be ruined by that sort of thing

[@Havanasyndromev2k]

There are no time limits on samples if what is lifted is recognizable and they can make money suing you they will

[@patient666zero]

*planet melon*

[@PalaeoJoe]

I love noticing that something is a sample. I was elated when I noticed that Pastime Paradise was sampled to create Gangsta's Paradise

[@unduloid]

Technically _everything_ recorded today is a sample.

[@nyko9631]

The man made the Harlem shake sheeeeesh

[@donnydarko7624]

The sample pack thing from the 90's a lot of those are not safe to use. Although I will say a lot of the instrument one shots are the company's original recording, but the drum breaks and many of the vocal chops are not cleared. Look at it this way if you hear something on one of those CD's that you can identify as being from song by James Brown, or First Choice, or Biz Markie, Parliament or a movie, or TV show or any other source that is not explicitly classified as creative commons, or copyright free, you should just err on the side of caution and should just assume that if you were to use it in something you made and that work of art yo made with that sound blew up, that someone would be knocking on your door soon after for all the profits you made off of said artwork.

[@tristandavid2343]

How could you not mention the sampling goat, Dj Shadow

[@unduloid]

Or Automator...

[@smurxxx0910]

Qbert, Kid Koala, Prefuse 73, Cut Chemist and a few others were killing it in the mid 90s to early 2000s with sampling. MF DOOM was pretty legendary for sampling and did instrumental mixes under the moniker Metal Fingers.

[@tristandavid2343]

@@smurxxx0910some great ones you mentioned. I think the avalanches and dj shadow have been the most influential and greatest artists out there in the sampling genre

[@smurxxx0910]

@@tristandavid2343 DJ Shadow is an OG. I gotta see him live a few years back. He still brought the fire. The X-ecutioners are also pioneers in sampling and scratching. The Avalanches came on a little later in the game but rejuvenated sampling alongside acts like RJD2, Wax Tailor, and Ruckus Roboticus.

[@smurxxx0910]

I remember seeing Baauer and RL Grime live back in the day and they killed it together. Glad Baauer is still digging and creating.

[@jackstern5737]

I remember seeing them playing an amazing b2b in 2014. Absolute peak of of live trap edm I could imagine

[@unduloid]

Yeah, making music on one of those IAKA devices ain't easy.

[@fraicheness]

Random shoutout to 2manyDJs, Justice and Paul's Boutique

[@Grahamrobinsonvt802]

😂 Harlan shake a classic banger 😂

[@smurxxx0910]

It was fun live. They sprayed us down with super soakers when it dropped. 🎉

[@BrahamGean]

if i made music i would sample from 14:32 to 14:38.."ppl r u no, going to come after you"

[@consecuenciasescena5111]

The simple things @baauer ❤

[@hellobrowizard101]

Sampling is not hard. Finding the right sample is hard

[@jivelane]

fr

[@gogipedagogi8838]

personally i want to eat my own dookie when someone says "uh sampling is easy u just stealing an exsistent music"

[@paulie_g_]

Phenomenal questions 👏👏

[@astral_plane_crash]

SO DOODLE HARLEM SHAKE

[@Thor_b]

YOOOO! Guys the just arrested the rapper VIPER for kidnapping! KHOU 11 KHOU 3 hours ago A man has been charged with aggravated kidnapping after being accused of locking a woman up in his garage for years. The woman was allegedly taken by the man when he spotted her panhandling on the street and told her he could help her. Court documents said she was pregnant at the time. Bro, this can’t be real tell me this is a lie !!

[@MichaelTurner856]

I remember this and it is real, unfortunately

[@goininside]

i love you harry

[@luisduran7393]

We can always make our own samples though

[@xwinger15]

I fricking love baauer!!!!!!!

[@unduloid]

So... who is he?

[@willkersey7340]

Man started a Tiktok trend before Tiktok existed.

[@ericktello4575]

Hey man i wanted to know if you could review Sonidos De Karmatica De Resonancia since i believe its a really interesting and unique album that came out no a long time ago

[@fraicheness]

My fav type of cotent from Anthony

[@peterphilip]

Fantano, you should definitely do another AI take from the perspective of sampling. AI is much less inclined to plagiarism than sampling.

[@luisduran7393]

Theres companies or people that only try to find samples to g et a cut like lawyers w nothing to do w artist or relation to anything... Just str8 snitching to get an income stream

[@dvst2482]

Sampling is easy af it just takes a while to chop it up if youre trying to make a new melody with the sample

[@icanusernamebetterthanyou3853]

I think 1:05:07 and 1:09:31 should be said way more often by both music makers and audiences

[@churricardo1457]

me when uhmmm UMMM stealing stealing theft i like pilfering i'm a sneaky poacher i like taking things that do not belong to me 😼😼😼

[@BuiltbyFellony]

Re the early 2000s nostalgia bait comment - remember this happens in every decade to some degree. Since we move in 20 year cycles with people growing up, making money and remembering the shit they liked as kids, since it's 2024 we're getting these 2000s babies flipping what they grew up with. One day a kid will flip Death Grips into something brand new because that's what they grew up with. It's nothing new

[@emmanuelguerrero3751]

LuckyMe!

[@MichaelTurner856]

Yep

[@Elliott.Revell]

Sampling is easy. Digging is hard.

[@nicktinson2950]

@34:30 it reminded me of when Lupe Fiasco T.R.O.Y.

[@TheWolfAndGeneral]

big w

[@Ryukishi07hjj]

Try to add time lapse

[@TheFamousMockingbird]

Ther eis a huge irony that "sample snitching" is considred a dirty thing. samplign even though it is its on unique talent, is dishonest in its nature. like i just found three days ago the synth melody from Chamber of Reflection on Salad Days was ganked from a japanese artist. Like when you sample you kinda present a whole iece of music as something that is uniquely you, and its not, because you are taking SO much direct sound form something already existing.

[@teensuite]

kolo terrorita

[@lohm8767]

whats the point of putting chat on the screen if youre just gonna blur it?

[@okuzhori]

Sampling is god copyright is fuck

[@jlgrave2010]

Bow wow

[@Massivecarcrash]

wub wub wub wub wub wub wub wub

[@user-wq7rw8dd7q]

Antonio el Fantas

[@isaacmcginn7923]

Plz interview oddwin!!!

[@MrBanana808]

A.I. is sampling all the content of humans. If Big Tech is getting a pass, then musicians who sample should also get a pass. A.I. is going to make the line very blurry.

[@19film80]

Boards of Canada

[@ogpandamonium]

I love sampling but I just can't afford to give thousands to greedy companies to be able to use a 3 second snippet of a song they had nothing to do with making