The pitched up voice of an 80s singer that you hear in your favorite song

Way before, the techniques used for music production were way harder to implement and limited than what we have today. You had to record the song in a studio, with musicians that had proficiency in a musical instrument an engineers that knew how to use the equipment in order to mix the track in the right way, making It all the more costly. From these obstacles, a new kind of technology was born, which permited to take already recorded pieces of music (Or any type of audio), modify and use It for the purposes of the user. This technlogy is what we know now as "Sampling", topic that we'll discuss in the presented article in detail. So, let's begin by defining what this commonly used process is.

What is sampling?

The more literal definition of sampling explains that It is the process of taking pieces of sound already recorded and applying It with a new purpose in another sound. In this case, we're referring to the use of sampling in music, which is basically taking music that has been already recorded or segments of movies, shows or other pieces of media, while applying different effects alongside other procedures in order to introduce It in a new song.

How was sampling popularized?

Being the genre that's most sample-driven, even in today standards, It's pretty predictable that in the roots of Hip Hop we'll find the origins of sampling as we know It today. The earliest examples of sampling were pretty basic, where bands recorded sounds from the atmosphere to use It for their songs (For example, the Beatles in many of their songs like Blackbird during the 60s), though the use of sampling that we're accustomed to is accredited to the hip hop movement in the late 70s and early 80s, where they used DJ turntables in order to flip different segments of songs and even speeches in a really unique way. This style has evolved to form what we know today, where software or really specialized equipment can apply any kind of effect and modification (Like time shifting, reversing, chopping of the sample, pitch bending and many other features) in a comfortable and easy way.

How has sampling changed the world?

Sampling has had an immense influence in the culture as we know today, providing a platform for people with no background in music theory or professional production to express their thoughts and ideas in a really creative way, and with this making music in general more diverse and less sterile, cementing the pathway for the biggest genre nowadays. It provides us with the tools to turn a previously conceived Idea by another artist and turn It into something new and fresh with our own personal touch. Its influence not only stays in the field of music, As the recording of different sounds for post-production effects in a pretty common practice in the world of sound design for videogames and movies nowadays (One example of this being all the grotesque sounds in the games of the Mortal Kombat series).

We hope that with this series paragraph we can help you understand a little more about sampling, what It is, Its beginnings and how It has influenced us tremendously. We wish you the best of luck and we encourage you to put into practice this beautiful way of handling sound.