Sampling

            While reading the “How Music Sampling Works” article, I was reminded of a documentary that I had previously watched in my Ethics in Communications Course entitled, “A Remix Manifesto.” Both pieces demonstrate the long and complicated history behind sampling and how it can truly maximize creativity while resulting in legal problems. The main issue that stood out to me was that when there is a legal dispute regarding sampling, the compensation tends to go to big companies that technically hold the copyright, rather than the artists themselves who were actually involved in the process of creating the music and who seem to be more rightfully entitled to the earnings. It seems as if copyright lawsuits are just another way for large companies to increase their revenue, which can stifle the creativity of others.

            The article, “10 Incredible Ways Electronic Artists Are Using Found Sound” was one that was very interesting to me. Prior to reading this, when I thought of sampling, I thought of using musical pieces of other artists within ones work. The concept of found sound such as Diego Stocco using the sounds in a dry cleaner had never occurred to me before as constituting sampling. This broadened my perception to see that there are many ways in which sampling can be used. The Avalanches “Frontier Scientist” especially struck me. Again, I never thought using spoken work recordings could be incorporated as sampling. This has got me to start thinking about my project. I am thinking of going to a playground to collect my found sound as I think there are a variety of noises that could be recorded there, such as a bouncing basketball, the sound of swings and woodchips to make a dynamic sound.