Week 3: sampling 1

Working with pre-recorded sound material

If synthesis is about creating sound from nothing, then sampling is about recording sounds and playing them back.

Goals for this week

to be able to read in (and play back) a pre-recorded sound file in Pd
to understand some of the different creative options (and controls) available to you when working with sampled sounds

Working with samples leads to many possibilities: Musique Concrete, ambient, hip hop, noise, etc. Here’s a few ideas to help you get started.

two main composers at the start of the movement: Pierre Schaeffer (1910-1995) and Pierre Henry (b. 1927)
defined by these composers as Real Music™—all their sounds are from physical objects
this is music without the abstraction of notation
the first example is Cinq études de bruits (1948), composed using vinyl records! No tape yet in France. The piano sounds were supplied by composer/pianist, Pierre Boulez, and it was premiered via radio

what is your sample, and what kind(s) of meaning does it have: in its original context? out of context?
what kind of meaning would you like it to have in its new context?
do you want to preserve some of the original meaning (keep it recognisable) or strip the clip of its meaning (usually short samples)?

always reference your sources in this course and any other situation.
be mindful of whether your use of content is ethical and appropriate. Take care with:
1. cultural appropriation; is the material you’re working with culturally sensitive? do you have the right/permission to take those sounds out of context? what would Edward Said say? does your use of this/these sound/s ‘other’ an individual or group?
2. consent; feel free to record in public spaces, but if you can make out specific voices and/or names, get consent

pitch: you can usually get 4 MIDI notes (semitones) in either direction before the sample starts to have too many artefacts/get weird (which might be cool!) think of the Ferris Bueller coughing piano…
amount of the sample being triggered: do you always want to hear the same section of the sample? maybe you reveal more of it over time? or less? or random selections?
effects? Is the sample(s) always affected in the same way?
forwards or backwards: what does it sound like backwards? can you use these mirror images as a compositional tool? e.g. maybe the user/performer can control which direction the sample is played in

automated and sequenced—think of drum machines (doesn’t have to be a ‘regular’ beat)
Mapped to different controls in a virtual instrument and manipulated live (maybe with a controller, when we get there)—think of an electric piano or MIDI saxophone
played ‘as is’—maybe there is a field recording that acts as a backdrop for the rest of the sounds in your composition

are you coming from a musical or extramusical starting point?
1. I want a particular kind of sound, e.g. short, sharp, unpitched attack
2. I want a particular kind of feeling, e.g. warm, relaxed
3. maybe you want some kind of message, and are using speech or a recognizable sound (orchestra tuning up, radio ad, etc.)
do I want a solid/static sound? if there is rhythm in the sample, should I try to get rid of it, or work with it?
would it be easier to synthesise the sound I want?