There's A Problem With Using Samples

Howdy! Today I want to talk about the weird nature of sampling, modern music creation, and how one artist became labeled as a thief.

Special thanks to @JonMeyer and @BennJordan for their interviews!

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Timestamps:
0:00 Soundgym
0:22 Video Start

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[VenusTheory]

Thank god this video is finally done - I've spent the last 5 days editing and putting this all together! 😅 What do you make of the whole situation?
(REMEMBER: we're here to discuss the track similarities, not personally attack NotLö)

[Hardcrafter]

When it comes to the royalty-free samples and loops I have, I generally tend to exclusively use one-shots, or percussion loops that can just sit in the background of the mix as extra ear candy.

I try to write the chords and melodies myself, despite being poor in music theory lol

[albertostang]

As a pro producer, I think using samples and splice packs in your production is valid. These packs provide unique sounds that can spark ideas, and can be manipulated, chopped, transposed, to blend seamlessly with your own style and vision of a song. In fact, lots of big producers use splice. However, it is important to note that using multiple samples from a single pack to recreate the pack's demo is not the wise approach. As with any tool or technique, it is not the tool itself that causes issues, but rather how it is used.

[Skrenja]

The main melody in A$AP Rocky's "Praise Da Lord" is a default Logic midi loop called "Andean Stroll Panpipe 02." They didn't change it at all. 😂

[GetInTheRing]

The spirit of Hip Hop is needed in this analysis. The art of sampling is to create something new from what already is. Unfortunately for NotLo they got caught in that space between stealing and transforming.

[theriguyayylmao]

This coming out right before Scaring the Hoes is great because that album serves as a tremendous example of how samples can be used in an incredibly creative way totally counter to the whole NotLö issue.

[MrMarcLaflamme]

NotLo used the samples in the Lego set to build the track shown in the instructions. While this is possible, the whole point is to use the samples in your own creation. Benn said it right - while the song was created, the feeling of creation wasn't there. Building something from instructions is cool and the result is pleasing, but nothing beats the feeling of making something your own.

[prodbyboba]

As a hip hop producer, sampling is something I experience a lot. I’m always leery to use melody loops without much variation as I want my product to sound different than someone else’s. However, to outright say “sampling bad, make your own stuff” is just not true. From the amazing sampling skills of J dilla, 9th wonder, and the Alchemist, to simple flips like the Cymatics loop from Miss the Rage, I think too nitty gritty ruins some of the fun of it. There is no way J Cole is going to make a whole soul album just to chop it up for his actual album to claim he made it by himself. Make stuff to make stuff, but be honest where you got it from. Push yourself creatively, but have fun as well.

[TreetopCanopy]

Another reminder that copyright infringement is different from plagiarism! Licensing can be complicated, and it's important to discuss the nuances with creators of all media

[yetispaghetti]

As someone who is absolutely in love with the Oldschool Boom-Bap style I completely agree that the artist needs to personalize the samples they use. A lot of Boom-Bap is Mostly if not all sampled, while still being completely different from the original songs. Songs like Shook Ones pt II (Mobb Deep), NY State of Mind (Nas), and Mathamatics (Mos Def) all sound so different from the songs that they were sampled from. Sampling isnt just an easy way out, sometimes its a key part of the style, just make sure the song still ends up being a new vision entirely rather than just the same song with only a small set of changes

[normannutbar]

I once found a synth patch called ‘Zombie Hyperdrive’ in an arturia preset pack.
I fell in love with it and wrote an entire song around it. I was half way through the song when I learned that I was basically remaking a song called red eyes.
I ended up contacting the original artist and releasing it as a cover, with his permission.

[SwiftDreamer]

Sampling vs using loops and whether they are creative or not will be argued until the end of time. I think Sampling is very underrated, though I'm inspired by Dilla. I think Sampling has gotten lazier, and loops are used as a crutch too much, but I have hope someone new will come soon that will push the envelope again and inspire the new generation to be different

[warringtonruncorn]

Music is there to be copied and remixed. It was copied and remixed by everyone for all of human history till licensing and publishing added money and lawyers to the bargain. However, this seems that NotLo went out of their way to try and recreate the demo track, missing the entire point of the creative process, and was in a web driven desire to "create more content" rather than express anything.

[quarmat]

Well this is my story: fell in love with French House in the late 90s/early 00s, loved the Daft Punk flipping samples technique. But I did not want to use others material. So I write my loops, sample and flip'em. If I hear - say - an old Disco brass+drum fill i'd like to use in a track of mine, I just try my best to recreate something very similar but not quite the same, neither in melody nor sound. I end up learning a lot in music production of genres that are not my own, learn a lot in sound design, and most of all I can make any micro adjustments to the very source of my sample if I need to. Time consuming? oh yes. Quite technical? mostly yes. Incredibly satisfying? hell yes.

[JesusGreenBL]

This is something worth being aware of for content creators too. On my main channel I had to take down a bunch of my videos including a specific music track, because while that track was offered for anyone to use freely - it turned out the person who created the track had apparently sampled another track without getting proper permission and they were coming after YouTube channels using the song as a result. I exclusively use tracks from the official YouTube audio library now just to play it safe.

[omnipop]

The scary part is that sometimes a sample pack can *_itself_* be partly comprised of loops outright stolen from some random, obscure artist's song. So, if you utilize the pack, while you might be in perfect compliance with the loop company's terms of use, you might still be vulnerable to some original artist coming out of the woodwork to sue you if your song becomes huge. Didn't Vengeance have a sample pack that turned out to be problematic in this way, years ago?

[kornelkovacs]

I just found your channel recently and I have to say it's truly a real gem. You're the reason I didn't give up on music and found my way of music making. Can't thank you enough!

[BombstractGnome]

Some collages are artful, some are not. The power in art is the act of doing something. I like what y’all said about robbing themselves of the creative process, outputting a product to be consumed rather than an artifact of actual experience. I could care less about the legalities, I’m sad for them cause they missed out on being creative

[imraan]

If NotLö made something completely different but wit the original sounds it would be creative in a way but this is just an outright rip-off imo.😐

[PenMarkArt]

My basic rule is don’t use loops, unless I chop it up *drastically*

Originally, back in college, I didn’t like sampling at all, thought it was cheating outright and avoided it.

Years later, I learned about sound design and found the transformation of sounds really creative.

My compromise now, is just to only use *some* one shots, and process them into my new creation. Loops make me uneasy, but I’ll still chop one up for occasional effect.

Keeping that creative-journey intact is most fulfilling to me, and using one-shots ALONGSIDE original synthesis is nice balance.