Sampling (music)
A process similar to sampling originated in the 1940s with musique concrète, experimental music created by splicing and looping tape.
The term sampling was coined in the late 1970s by the creators of the Fairlight CMI, a synthesizer with the ability to record and playback short sounds.
However, VMG Salsoul v Ciccone (2016) found that unlicensed samples constituted de minimis copying, and did not infringe copyright.
Musique concrète was brought to a mainstream audience by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which used the techniques to produce soundtracks for shows including Doctor Who.
[3] Holger Czukay of the experimental German band Can spliced tape recordings into his music before the advent of digital sampling.
The term sample was coined by Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel to describe a feature of their Fairlight CMI synthesizer, launched in 1979.
[9] In 1988, Akai released the first MPC sampler,[10] which allowed users to assign samples to pads and trigger them independently, similarly to playing a keyboard or drum kit.
[12] Today, most samples are recorded and edited using digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Pro Tools and Ableton Live.
[17] The Kingsway Music Library, created in 2015 by the American producer Frank Dukes,[18] has been used by artists including Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, and J.
[24] Using the Fairlight, the "first truly world-changing sampler", the English producer Trevor Horn became the "key architect" in incorporating sampling into pop music in the 1980s.
[5] The Japanese electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra were pioneers in sampling,[26][27][28] constructing music by cutting fragments of sounds and looping them.
[24] The Guardian journalist David McNamee wrote that "two record decks and your dad's old funk collection was once the working-class black answer to punk".
[37][38] The E-mu SP-1200, released in 1987, had a ten-second sample length and a distinctive "gritty" sound, and was used extensively by East Coast producers during the golden age of hip hop of the late 1980s and early 90s.
[39] Commonly sampled elements include strings, basslines, drum loops, vocal hooks or entire bars of music, especially from soul records.
[35] It has been used in thousands of recordings, including songs by rock bands such as Oasis and theme tunes for television shows such as Futurama, and is among the most sampled tracks in music history.
[46] The orchestra hit originated as a sound on the Fairlight, sampled from Stravinsky's 1910 orchestral work Firebird Suite,[47]: 1 and became a hip hop cliché.
[40] Sampling without permission can breach the copyright of the original sound recording, of the composition and lyrics, and of the performances, such as a rhythm or guitar riff.
[40] In some cases, sampling is protected under American fair use laws,[40] which grant "limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the rights holder".
[51] DJ Shadow said that artists tended to either see sampling as a mark of respect and a means to introduce their music to new audiences, or to be protective of their legacy and see no benefit.
For example, the Desiigner track "Panda" (2015) reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after Kanye West sampled it on "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt.
The Turtles singer, Mark Volman, told the Los Angeles Times: "Sampling is just a longer term for theft.
[60] In 2005, the writer Nelson George described it as the "most damaging example of anti-hip hop vindictiveness", which "sent a chill through the industry that is still felt".
[61] According to the Guardian, "Sampling became risky business and a rich man's game, with record labels regularly checking if their musical property had been tea-leafed.
"[14] By comparison, the 1989 Beastie Boys album Paul's Boutique is composed almost entirely of samples, most of which were cleared "easily and affordably"; the clearance process would be much more expensive today.
[62] The Washington Post described the modern use of well known samples, such as on records by Kanye West, as an act of conspicuous consumption similar to flaunting cars or jewelry.
[14] In 2000, the jazz flautist James Newton filed a claim against the Beastie Boys' 1992 single "Pass the Mic", which samples his composition "Choir".
The judge found that the sample, comprising six seconds and three notes, was de minimis (small enough to be trivial) and did not require clearance.
[65] The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that all samples, no matter how short, required a license.
[65] However, in the 2016 case VMG Salsoul v Ciccone, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Madonna did not require a license for a short horn sample in her 1990 song "Vogue".
