Sampling.....

What is Sampling?

What are some different types of sampling?
    -Sampling a Melody (vocal, instrumental)
    - Sampling a Groove
    -Sampling  a Lyric
    -Sampling an Effect
    -Sometimes they are weaker Connections!
               


WHY Might someone sample a song? 
      - $$    ?
      -  Popularity   ?
      - Laziness  ?

Does sampling take away from a songs authenticity? 

Does it make a difference when we judge a song? 

'WhoSampled' Group Reserach Activity

Materials:
1) Cell Phone/Laptop with web access
2) Headphones

Your group has been assigned a recording artist (see list below). Using this class,  your group must do the following: select a combination of songs that are connected by a sample, Research the two artists in question, Do a ‘mini analysis’ for each of the songs, and discuss the sample itself. We are trying to draw as many parallels as possible between the artists (era, genre etc), and the songs (genre, style instrumentation, meaning) in an effort to discover WHY the artist chose to use this sample. The assignment specifications are below (split the work up amongst yourselves). 


1) Song Selection: Using www.whosampled.com and your respective group artist, select two songs that are related by a sample. This could be either your artist doing the sampling OR your artist being sampled (ex. song combo: Queen’s Under Pressure VS. Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby). 

2) Research Preliminary (wiki info) facts about the two connected artists – biographical information, significant musical contributions, etc. Are these artists from the same era? Do they perform the same genre? Have these two artists collaborated together before? Have they ever met? Try to find as many things in common as possible!

3) Do a ‘mini analysis’ for each song.  These can be your own thoughts or you can look them up using wiki/Pandora etc. Can you draw any parallels between the two songs? Do they have similar meanings? Are they of a similar genre? Again, try to find things in common between the two songs.

4) Discuss the sample itself. What is the nature of the sample?  Did the artist in question sample an entire melody? A Groove? Riff? A lyric? Has it been sampled before in other songs? Are the other songs it has been sampled in similar to the one your group is discussing? Feel free the use wiki to look up any related information (ex. There is a lawsuit associated with the usage of the sample [like with the current Robin Thicke vs. Marvin Gaye case])


5) Given the info above, discuss within your group WHY you think the artist chose this sample.  Was it because they wanted to absorb some of the popularity from the sample’s original song? Was it to pay tribute to the original artist? Was it completely random? Examine the commonalities between the songs, and the artists and try to come up with a reason why you think this artist used this artists idea/musical thought.


Group A: Daft Punk
Group B: Snoop Dogg
Group C: James Brown
Group D: The Beatles
Group E: Earth, Wind, and Fire