To sample or not to sample—that is the question. Actually no it’s not, of course you should sample anything and everything—and the more samples the merrier! In this article and accompanying video, we’ll show you how to sample in Reason 10.
But before we go any further, let’s take a quick stroll through the history books to see how sampling got started (yes, there was a time when sampling didn’t exist…shudder). So what is sampling?
Sampling first appeared in popular music in Jamaican dub music in the 1960s, when artists such as Lee “Scratch” Perry started using pre-recorded samples of reggae rhythms to produce new tracks. The technique quickly spread to psychedelic rock, jazz fusion, and minimalist music during the mid 1960s, and continued to gain traction in electronic and disco music production in the 1970s.
But sampling wasn’t considered a mainstream production technique until the mid 1980s, when DJs manipulated vinyl using two turntables and an audio mixer to create an entirely new genre of music that would dominate the world: hip hop.
With the global rise of hip hop and the release of dedicated digital samplers in the 1980s, sampling quickly found its way into every corner of the music world. And although music and audio technology have changed and evolved over the decades, sampling has remained an invaluable production tool for every conceivable genre—from indie rock to R&B.
Sampling in Reason is incredibly easy and intuitive, with a rich feature set that offers a range of sampling methods to fit any music creation workflow. In this video, hip hop producer, teacher, and sound designer MG The Future provides an in-depth sampling tutorial that will show you how to quickly create captivating arrangements using samples in Reason.
You’ll see how to use Kong’s Nurse REX Player, Slice Trigger Mode, Chunk Trigger Mode, and more to create deep and layered tracks with any sampled sound source (a must watch for J Dilla fans).
Start chopping your own samples in Reason today!
Try Reason for free Buy Reason
