<< some kid in his basement hears a nice break on a record...samples it,
and uses it as the beat for his latest track...that is what i am talking
about. >>
And why is this behavior offensive? If the kid is clever enough to poach the
beat and successfully give it new context, gaining enjoyment from the making
of a track and experiencing the thrill of creating some kind of art, where is
the harm? Especially if no +money+ is changing hands.
And isn't DJ-ing a revered art form, consisting of nothing but using snippets
of other people's music in a new context?
OK, you guessed it, I'm pro-sampling...the only cases where sampling does rub
me the wrong way involve Will Smith types who have the resources to create
totally original sounds, yet take the easy route by biting Stevie Wonder.
And sometimes it does seems like an overall laziness on the part of the
mainstream music-listening public to embrace (virtually) the same song as a
hit record a second time around, rather than supporting something new. But
then again, countless millions are happy listening to the same songs, over
and over again, every day, on classic rock radio.
- Fred Church
bigkumquat@aol.com