DO NOT sample anything before you see this

The video covers sampling, one of the most important topics in electronic music production, including both traditional sampling and multi-dimensional sampling techniques.

• Edam Beyer sampled a track from another artist • Daft Punk's 'Harder Better Faster' contains a sample • Prodigy's 'Smack My [Expletive] Up' samples three different tracks

Understanding multi-dimensional sampling is extremely important if you want to sample a track effectively in music production.

The video will cover important details on sampling throughout, with emphasis on both traditional and advanced sampling techniques.

When getting a sample in a DAW, the first thing to understand is that the sample's length and tempo may not match what you need.

• Slowing down a cassette player decreases pitch and increases length • This approach often changes the pitch, which is undesirable • Modern DAWs use algorithms to stretch samples without changing pitch or creating artifacts

Ableton Live offers different warping algorithms: Beats, Tones, Texture, Repeat, Complex, and Complex Pro to stretch samples without unwanted artifacts.

• Cut out a piece from the track that you like • Change the sample duration using warp engines • Add effects to finalize the sample

Find the sample's tempo by identifying where the sample loops itself, then use that information to match it to your track's tempo.

• Play the sample and identify the loop point • Adjust the track's tempo to fit the sample into four bars • Double-click and enable warp to maintain the original tempo and length

Choose the appropriate warping algorithm for your sample type. The Beats algorithm works best for drums and percussion, while Complex works better for textured samples.

Using the wrong algorithm can leave artifacts in the sample. Experiment with different options to find the one that sounds most natural for your specific sample.

When the sample is in a different key than your track, they won't sound good together and require pitch adjustment.

Transpose the sample to match your track's key using the transpose function in your DAW.

• Find specific pieces of the sample that work for your track • Use warping markers to match the exact tempo of your track • Quantize markers using keyboard shortcuts to align with the grid

You can manually insert additional markers and adjust them to match your track's timing. Perfect alignment is not necessary, just having markers close to the tempo is sufficient.

In traditional sampling, once you've adjusted the sample, you add effects to get the sound you're looking for.

• EQ to shape the frequency response • Overdrive for additional coloring • Delay for spatial effects • Reverb for ambient qualities • Compression for dynamic control • Saturation for warmth

Effects can help reduce artifacts from the original track and make the sample blend better with your track, creating a cohesive sound.

This one-dimensional approach focuses on processing a single sample with different effects to achieve the desired sound.

Multi-dimensional sampling means thinking about your sample in different time and frequency domains, allowing separate control over different frequency bands.

• Control the length of each frequency band separately • Apply different effects to different layers • Achieve much more control over how you process the sample

You can increase the number of bands and dimensions as needed. Each band represents a different frequency range, and each dimension provides a separate layer to work with.

This method gives control over different frequency ranges, different time domains, and different effects on a single sample.

Always look for places where the sample is as isolated as possible. Busy tracks with many sounds are good candidates for multi-dimensional sampling.

With classical sampling methods, isolating specific elements like a kick from a busy track is difficult. Even with EQ and compression, you won't get a clean sound.

Split the sound into multiple layers or dimensions, each with its own frequency response and length control, allowing you to isolate specific elements much more effectively.

• Two layers = two-dimensional sampling • Three layers = three-dimensional sampling • Each layer is a separate dimension with different frequency response and length

Use a multiband processor like Pro-MB to split the sound into different frequency areas, creating separate layers for processing.

• Create a sub-bass area for low frequencies • Create a mid area for mid-range frequencies • Create a treble area for high frequencies • Disable compression on each band to use it purely as a splitter

Duplicate the multiband processor three times and solo each frequency band separately on different tracks. This creates isolated layers for each frequency range.

Consolidate or freeze each isolated layer so you have separate audio files for each frequency band, ready for individual processing.

A kick drum consists of different parts: tail (sustain), thump (main body), and transient (initial attack).

• The tail can stay long for natural sustain • The thump doesn't need the exact same length as the tail • Each component can be cut to its ideal length independently

This approach allows you to cut and shape each frequency component to the exact length needed without affecting other parts, eliminating unwanted artifacts with minimal additional EQ.

The final multi-dimensional sampled kick is almost as clean as if it were recorded in isolation, showing the power of this technique.

The multi-dimensional sampling approach for claps is exactly the same as for kicks: create multiple frequency bands and process each layer separately.

• Splitting into more bands increases resolution and control • More bands means longer processing time • Greater number of bands provides exponentially more power and control

• Remove unwanted elements like kick transient from layers where you only want the clap • Keep desired components like clap transient and air in the appropriate layers • Adjust length of each component based on desired characteristics

You can creatively process each layer differently. For example, boost low and high end for more aggression, and add distortion to mid-layer for a grittier clap sound.

By having different frequency layers and resolutions, you gain extreme control over how the sample sounds and behaves in your track.

• Apply different effects to different layers for greater control • Resampling different layers separately allows for unique processing combinations • Each layer can be treated as an independent sound source

This multi-dimensional method can be applied to any sample as long as you want to isolate specific elements from a track.

The multi-dimensional sampling approach significantly improves isolation and sampling quality compared to traditional methods alone.