The Producers Corner Sample Challenge

This is my first try at a "sample challenge", where a bunch of different producers are given the same sample source and a limited time to come up with a piece of music based around samples from that song.  In this case, it was the Facebook group The Producers Corner, and the source song was "Quest Under Capricorn" by The Shaolin Afronauts (2012).  I sampled no fewer than nine different snippets from the original song, added my own drum loops and percussion programming, and worked in a few loops from other similar-sounding jazz fusion records.  My finishing touch was some subtle voice clips I scratched onto the track from an old 45 I have containing the original Apollo 11 radio broadcasts.  I was inspired not only by the source material "Afronauts", but also the impending 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing.  I received the challenge at 9AM on Monday, and finished my mixdown at 3PM on Tuesday, making for 30 hours of work, not counting the odd minute here or there for sleep.  I hope you enjoy the final product!

Link to behind-the-scenes making-of video:  https://youtu.be/1Mm4VL0_gho

* This, my first entry into the TPC Sample Challenge, was lucky enough to win 1st place!

4 Feet High And Rhyming

Kickin' Up Some Dust

Watch making-of video!

Kickin' Up Some Dust (TPC Sample Challenge #94)

This is my second entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining.  People seemed to like my last one, so I thought I'd throw another one into the ring this week.  Having just won, I'll be listening to everyone else's and giving the admin my top five favorites; so knowing I can't be the winner this week, I was freed up to just have fun with it.  I was previously unaware of the two minute time limit on beats being played on the live YouTube show, so even though my 4:30 entry won last week, I have kept this one to exactly 2:00 so that everyone can hear the whole thing on the live show.  The challenge this week was "Love Serenade" by Barry White, from which I simply lifted a huge long chunk of sample and fed it through a few different noise gates to get a percussive synth-y sound, and then popped in a couple string accents from elsewhere in the song.  Other than that, it's just my beats and edits, and a vocal sample from the acappella of "Love Hangover".  Since the entire thing is only two minutes long, it didn't take me very long; from about 9 AM to 5 PM today.  But it was fun, and I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

Que Sera Seranade

Que Sera Seranade (TPC Sample Challenge #95)

This is my third entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. After winning my first week and judging the second, I was a little burnt out and in need of a vacation anyway, so I didn't make a beat for Challenge # 96. But after a long weekend escaping the heat in a secret desert island location, I decided to jump right back in with this week's challenge.  The source material is "Dagarnas Skum" by Ragnarök, a cool Nordic jazz fusion instrumental.  I took a few loops from it, added sampled beats and drum programming, replayed the bassline, added piano and chorus and scratching, and got it done in about ten hours today. The vocal sample at the beginning is from a poem about Ragnarok, spoken in some dead Asgardian tongue. The "interruptus" part in the middle is a recording from the first Sample Challenge live video I watched, in which there were certain audio problems getting started. Well, one man's technical difficulties are another man's production ideas, I guess... I hope you enjoy this, it was a lot of fun to make!

* This came in 2nd place.

Dagarnas Interruptus

Dagarnas Interruptus (TPC Sample Challenge #97)

This is my fourth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was "Skylab", a 14-minute electro-prog-rock instrumental by Dan Lacksman a.k.a. Electronic System. The song was released the same year as Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", and really could pass for an unreleased B-side for "Breathe" or something. So being a fervent Floydian myself, I dove right in, embracing and expanding upon the similarity. I grabbed five different sections of the original song, including the intro and an isolated bassline, added my own sampled beats, drum machine, piano, and scratching. And then as the final shine on the diamond, I took a bit of Clare Torry's astounding vocal solo from "The Great Gig In The Sky" and edited it to fit with the music loops. I generally enjoy beginning and ending instrumentals (hell, EVERYTHING I produce) with vocal samples, snippets from movies or TV, but even though I tossed some stuff in from "The Wizard Of Oz" and from a making-of DVD for "Dark Side Of The Moon", it felt cluttered so I just left them off in the final mix. Overall this ended up a lot "smoother" than I anticipated or intended, but that's how it is sometimes; you go in wanting to make a head-knocking banger and end up with a mellow slice of sampledelica. Grab your headphones, plug in, and drop out!

Pink Fraud

Pink Fraud (TPC Sample Challenge #98)

This is my fifth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was twofold: "The Nostalgia of Empty Bottles" by Strings Orchestra, and "Gruner Wind / Vent Vert" by Francis Coppieters. It's also a special challenge because it's the 100th contest, and will be accompanied by a get-together of producers and artists at the home of the organizer. Anticipating the celebratory week, I knew I wanted to do something which ran through the history of my favorite and most influential hip-hop producers of the past, giving a measure or so to display sampling in their style before moving on to the next one. This plan was complicated by the inclusion of TWO source songs, but that turned out to be a gift as I wanted to change the sample with each segment. But more problematic was the new time limit - 1:30 instead of the normal 2:00 - designed to keep the live YouTube show down to a manageable length. In order to fit the maximum producers into the space allotted, I eliminated the segments dedicated to Man Parrish, The Dust Brothers, The 45 King, and Large Professor, and bumped the speed up to 100 BPM. I was still left with things progressing from Arthur Baker to Dr Dre and cutting off there at 1:30, but I figured screw it, I'm just going to make the thing two full minutes even if it gets cut off on the live show. This turned out to be a lot of work, and I put it down and walked away a few times before finally finishing almost a week after starting - a frustratingly snail-like pace for me! I stopped at RZA, figuring that covered 1982-1993, the "second" decade of hip-hop (the first being Kool Herc in 1973 through Grandmaster Flash in 1981). Note: I did NOT actually sample any work by these producers, merely created beats from scratch in their distinctive styles; early Linn drum, 808 and 909 drum sounds, Marley's obsession with "Impeach The President", a Wattstax vocal grab over funky drummers for The Bomb Squad, a crackly children's record for Prince Paul, Pete Rock's signature voice interjections, Dre's G-Funk, and RZA's dark simple catchy kung fu grip. I abandoned plans to continue up through the present, from J Dilla through Timbaland, Puff Daddy, Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Kanye West, Madlib, and concluding with DJ Khaled, which would have just been him shouting his name followed by a few seconds of crickets and then the sound of a cash register. It would have been a funny moment, but it would have made the beat twice as long, and I'd still be working on the thing now. I'm glad to get this thing out of my head and into stereo; it drove me nuts for a week, now it's your turn!

Namedrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Namedrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (TPC Sample Challenge #100)

This is my sixth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was "I've Made My Choice" by Jeff Kurtenacker, from his soundtrack to the 2011 video game "WildStar". I kept it fairly simple this time, combining and re-arranging seven separate snippets from the original song, over some breakbeats, basslines, scratching, and a vocal sample from a preacher talking about music. The result is a kind of bouncy spooky vibe, and one I hope you all enjoy!

Musicology 101

Musicology 101 (TPC Sample Challenge #101)

This is my seventh entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1978 jazz fusion album "Double Exposure" by Joe Chambers with Larry Young. I kept it fairly simple again, combining and re-arranging six separate snippets from various sections of the album, over some breakbeats, drum programming, choral keyboards, and scratching. The result is kind of a dark bouncy spacefunk vibe, and one I hope you all enjoy!

Chamberpot

Chamberpot (TPC Sample Challenge #113)

This is my eighth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1974 prog-rock-soul album "Mourner's Rhapsody" by Czesław Niemen. I jumped at the chance to grab and chop the chorale parts, and combined and re-arranged a total of seven separate snippets from various sections of the album, over some breakbeats, drum programming, and scratching. The layer cake is topped off with some icing in the form of vinyl cuts and loops from everyone's favorite 1981 swashbuckling adventure film. The result is kind of a spooky ethereal deep-thudding vibe, and one I hope you all enjoy!

Rapsodies Of The Lost Art

Rapsodies Of The Lost Art (TPC Sample Challenge #114)

This is my ninth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1979 experimental synthstrumental album "Frontiers Of Science" by Alan Hawkshaw. I was away on vacation all week and didn't get a chance to dedicate my normal time and effort, but whipped this up the morning of the challenge deadline. I looped up a few separate snippets from various sections of the album, over some breakbeats, drum programming, and scratching. A general theme of death and destruction began to emerge, and I followed through on that with some vocal samples from various sources. The result is kind of a deep Floydian Enigmatic vibe, and one I hope you all enjoy!

Annihilation

Annihilation (TPC Sample Challenge #115)

This is my tenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the compilation "Soundtracks Easy Listening Sample Set Mix" (artist/author info unclear) on YouTube. The album is packed with track after track with cool samples and beats, so I decided to attack this with the concept of using ONLY samples from the source material, NO additional breakbeats, loops, drum machine, keyboards, nothing. I located, chopped, edited, pitch-shifted, rearranged, and combined no fewer than TWENTY samples from the 47-minute album, choosing to forgo the Ennio Morricone section and the part famously sampled by DJ Shadow. My intent was to show off what it is I do, how my mind thinks, hearing loops and the possibilities of combining and overlaying them. There actually is a LOT of work going on under the surface here, but I wanted to present a finished product that sounds more or less like one coherent original composition. As with computer graphic effects in movies, I feel the best sampling skills can approximate a new reality so convincing that the effects pass unnoticed to the eye or ear. With that in mind, I titled the song "Invisibility", highlighting my idea of getting out of the way of the samples and letting them do their thing - and so the only additional samples I added from an outside source are a few vocal snippets from Claude Rains as "The Invisible Man". I hope you all enjoy this as is, and tune in soon for my making-of video where I'll show you all the samples and how they're combined. Enjoy!

Invisibility

Invisibility (TPC Sample Challenge #116)

This is my eleventh entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1980 album "Quark" by Jun Fukamachi, an odd atonal fusion of jazz and new wave. It's actually not a great sample source, as it contains very few standout loops or standalone instruments, but in this case I have no one to blame for myself, as I forgot that I was the one who offered this as an offhand suggestion for an upcoming sample challenge. Very well, challenge accepted! I built the song around a restructured loop of just about the only piano piece on an otherwise synth-heavy album. I surrounded that with twelve other samples and snippets from the source material, combined it with some breakbeats, drum programming, scratching, and a loop from a children's song I've been wanting to use for a while. The result is nowhere near as hard-edged kick-you-in-the-face hip-hop as I wanted to get to this week, but again considering the source I have no one to blame but myself. I persevered and ended up with something I like, kind of a "Private Press"-era DJ Shadow vibe, and one I hope you enjoy!

Chop Suey

Chop Suey (TPC Sample Challenge #117)

This is my twelfth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1971 jazz-rock album "Ball Of Eyes" by Placebo. I built the song around six loops from the source album, added my own breakbeats, drum programming, vocal samples, and scratching. The result is bouncy and funky and joyful and just the kind of thing I need to have in my ears right now. I hope you enjoy it too!

Life After Def

Life After Def (TPC Sample Challenge #118)

This is my thirteenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1977 prog-rock/jazz-fusion album "El-ahrairah" by Bo Hansson. I grabbed no fewer than fifteen samples from the source album, edited the hell out of them and arranged them in and around and on top of each other, then added my own breakbeats, drum programming and vocal samples. The result is a slow booming electro-dub paean to everything from Adrian Sherwood to Figrin D’an And The Modal Nodes. I usually try to keep these to precisely two minutes - the time limit for the live TPC YouTube show - but in this case I refused to compromise on composition, nor tempo, so it runs a little long. I mixed in some nods to the two current all-consuming aspects of pop culture - Christmas and Star Wars - including samples from "The Holiday Special" and "Christmas In The Stars". I hope you all enjoy it, and have one more round friends before it's good night but not goodbye!

The Santalorian

The Santalorian (TPC Sample Challenge #119)

This is my fourteenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1970 smooth jazz album "Vocal Patterns" by The Roger Webb Sound. I grabbed about thirteen samples from the source album, did my usual editing to cram square pegs into round holes, arranged them in and around and on top of each other, then added my own piano & chorus, breakbeats, drum programming, scratching, and vocal samples. I was hoping to create something slow and choppy and banging this week, but the source material brought to mind nothing more than Newman & Redford riding by on sepia horses, so I embraced the cheesy smoothness and went with it. The result is kind of a peppy spacey lounge trip, and one which I hope you all enjoy. Happy New Year!!!

2020 Visions

2020 Visions (TPC Sample Challenge #120)

This is my fifteenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1977 motion picture soundtrack to an obscure little art film called "Star Wars", with music by John Williams. I edited and combined eight loops from different points on the soundtrack, added my own piano & bassline, breakbeats & drum programming, then as a finishing touch I scratched a bunch of snippets from my "Story Of Star Wars" vinyl. In general the samples I grabbed were some of Williams' jazzier passages, such as (of course) the Cantina theme. The main loop here is a fairly recognizable bit from "The Desert And The Robot Auction", a sample I'm sure many of my fellow producers will grab for this challenge, so I tried to change it up a bit by transposing its position to invert the high and low notes. I hope you all enjoy the result. Happy New Year and May The Force Be With You!

Rebel Bass

Rebel Bass (TPC Sample Challenge #121)

This is my sixteenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was this spacey prog-rock thing called "Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts I-IX" by some old band called Pink Floyd or something. Never heard of them, but it's kinda cool I guess. I didn't have a lot of time to work on this, so I just edited and combined five loops from different points in the Floyd song cycle, added my own keyboards, bassline, breakbeats, and drum programming. I was going for a kind of fast one-drop reggae feel, but as usual it grew a mind of its own, got away from me and evolved into some kind of electro-dance-funk thing. I got it sounding as finished as I could, adding a couple of vocal samples for an intro and outro, and called it a day. I hope you find something to enjoy in the final result!

Welcome To The Mashine

Welcome To The Mashine (TPC Sample Challenge #127)

This is my seventeenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the closing credits song to the film "Oblivion" by M83 featuring Susanne Sundfør. I didn't have a lot of time to work on this, so I just edited and combined three main loops from the source song, layered in another organ sample I'd been wanting to use, and added my own keyboards, bassline, breakbeats, drum programming, and scratching on top. The end result is a kind of sci-fi ethereal reggae feel, and one which I hope you all enjoy!

Living In Oblivion

Living In Oblivion (TPC Sample Challenge #129)

This is my eighteenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was a YouTube track entitled "Ambient Dark Jazz | Shiprinski - Noir Mixture"... make of that what you will. What I made was a fairly simple slow moody beat based around one main loop from the source, with accents added from four other points on the video, an Imani Coppola acappella (acoppola?), and lots of my own drum programming on top. Like many of us, I've got a lot going on within and without these days, but decided to focus and get something in for the challenge. I hope you enjoy the result, and please everyone be careful and stay healthy!!!

Legacy

Legacy (TPC Sample Challenge #133)

This is my nineteenth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was a YouTube track entitled "Love Songs and Lamentations: Japanese Folk, Country, Ambient & Acoustic"... Which rather made a hash out of my intention to create a head-knocking banger this week. I swear I go in with the idea of creating some hard-hitting gritty hip-hop, but always end up with some smooth atmospheric trip-hop instead. This week is no exception. I dove deep into the source material, utilizing no fewer than thirteen loops and snippets, adding tons of drum programming on top, along with some keyboards and little vinyl scratches from a koto record. I hope you enjoy the result, and please everyone be careful and stay healthy!!!

The Land Of The Rising Drum

The Land Of The Rising Drum (TPC Sample Challenge #134)

This is my twentieth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the album "Goëtia - Dark Magic Music", by Peter Gundry; a gothic treasure trove of chorus, piano, and strings. It took me a while to settle on a catchy hook, but once I re-timed a swingy section of low woodwinds, I had my foundation and was able to sprinkle on about eight other loops and snippets. I then added my standard layers of breakbeats, drum programming, keyboards, and scratching, trying to keep things a bit simpler and head-bobbing this week. I hope you enjoy the result, and please everyone be careful and stay healthy!!!

PS - Upon completing this piece, I tossed an Imani Coppola acapella (acoppola?) on top, time-stretched to fit, and it turned out to be precisely in key and aligned to the same arrangement. I extended the music, added and changed a few things, and this is the result:

https://soundcloud.com/type4/imani-coppola-dont-touch-that-microphone-caterpillar-snacks-remix-by-matt-reyes-of-type-4

Instrumental version (essentially an extended version of this beat) here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/dont-touch-that-microphone-instrumental

Let me know what you think!

Caterpillar Snacks

Caterpillar Snacks (TPC Sample Challenge #135)

After decades of recording and touring, and many turbulent ups and downs, Bostonians TYPE 4 are still going strong.  They've never let go of that golden age of hip-hop, still digging through vinyl for musical samples, and digging through life for lyrical stories.  Tommy O'Deed, Matt Reyes & Bill Ierardi make hip-hop for grownups, the old fashioned way: for the love of it.