Rhythm & Move: Music Track
This session’s Bridge music students made beats with percussive sample elements to go with our central theme Rhythm & Move. The samples were sourced from vinyl records that we bought on a field trip to Amoeba Records in Berkeley. The students were given a $5 budget to pick whatever records looked interesting to them. Some of the students based their purchases off of the instrumentation of the records, the musicians, or simply just the cover art. They listened to the songs and pulled the samples that caught their ear. Once they found the samples they wanted to use, they loaded them into the software program Reason and used the sampler instrument devices to manipulate the sample to their liking. Their composition was then built around that.
Sampling derived from early hip-hop in the late 1970’s when DJs would take an isolated drum break in a record and play them repeatedly back and forth. Once technology started to get a bit more sophisticated, DJ’s would then record these drum breaks to a cassette tape and add a more musical sample from another record on top of it, creating a whole new sound.
This created a feud between artists who sample and creators of original music. Producers were not getting permission from creators and creators were not profiting off of their own music. Many artists and record companies viewed it as stealing, while others viewed sampling music as a new way to enhance their music and create something new out of the old. Since then, sampling has been very prevalent in all forms of music and has helped shape the technology we use to create the music we make today.
Arlette Sanchez “It’s Party Time!”
My sample beat comes from two old records I found at Amoeba. All the drum sounds and melody lines were recorded from the record and slightly manipulated so that it matched up in both pitch and rhythm/tempo. It’s a party beat to dance to! My trip to the music shop was okay, but when I saw these two records and listened to their songs, I really liked it! I liked it because it was electronic music and I enjoy listening to electronic music. I used a sampler in Reason to chop up the audio and arrange it the way I wanted it.
Aria Bendy “Electric Rhythm”
I wanted to take a new spin on a 90’s classic “That Somebody” by Aaliyah and Timbaland. I wanted to give the beat a techno sound, but at the same time, I wanted to make something that didn’t sound too corny. I played around with a few guitars in Reason and put a little spice into my composition until I was satisfied. I used both the rhythm of Aaliyah’s voice as well as Timbaland’s beatboxing to analyze the tempo of the song. I then built the beat around that.
Niya Brown “IOENO”
You are listening to IOENO. I used “You Are My Lady” by Freddie Jackson as my sample. I really love old school music and this particular song is one of my favorites. In order to make this beat, I chose my favorite part of the song and looped it in the software program Reason. Once I got the melody, I then reversed the sample and added my own drums and melody lines.
Kevin Wright “Big D.R.A.M Type Beat”
When I created this D.R.A.M beat, I made it so that people can enjoy it and vibe on it. What inspired me to make it was the “Type Beats” videos on YouTube. I thought, “what’s a good way to try and sound like an artist? By remixing their song!” I then took the acapella from a very popular song by D.R.A.M, “Cha-Cha.” I analyzed the tempo and used the rhythm and melody of his voice to help inspire the instrumentation of this beat. I hope you enjoy it!
Aaron Waterford “Cook Out”
For this beat, I sampled an old school favorite “Loving You” by Minnie Riperton. I took one of my favorite parts of the song and loaded it into the sampler instrument in Reason. The sampler instrument is cool because it lets you change the pitch of the sample, which in turn speeds up the tempo. I then played out the sample at my own rhythm and added my own drums to it as well.