I know someone else who considered one of the best sample recreators on the planet, and he does mostly hip hop. Some of the Replay Heaven examples sound pretty darn good to me though, kudos to them.
I know someone else who considered one of the best sample recreators on the planet, and he does mostly hip hop. Some of the Replay Heaven examples sound pretty darn good to me though, kudos to them.
They were dead on. at first I thought they were just changing the EQ until I heard the roberta flack sample they have up and noticed a little bit difference in the female vocalist.
Big fan of "that guy" who is considered one of the best sample recreators around
Thanks! I actually got publishing on that "Last Call" track, which was no small feat. Did you know I'm the voice of Rocafella? "Here's to the Roc.... Here's to Rocafella". That wasnt a replay, that was an original piece of music, loosely inspired by another placeholder sample that was originally there but not used in the song. My favorite from that album though was "Family Business". "All that glitters is not Gold"
Sample recreators - well it seems a lot can happen in just 3 years, the kings of sample recreations right now are Scorccio Sample Replays.... that other outfit which you first mentioned (Replay Haven) seem to have totally lost the plot. There's a well known producer that I know who went to them and got a very poor replay production back, so he gave it to Scorccio and they turned out an absolute masterpiece.
Dear DocDaRoc,
you've posted a total of 7 posts on GS so far. 4 of them on 3 different threads have specifically been about Scorrio sample recreators. with links, hype, descriptions, etc... You've resurrected several old threads just to talk about them. Look, my guess is you work for them. cool, they do really good work. but two things....
1. GS is not your personal advertising forum. its one thing to hype your own company. cool, no problem, but at least be honest about your connection to them
2. Now you are dissing the competition, Replay Heaven. thats pretty F'd up. I know these guys well. they are my competition as well as clearly yours. they happen to be pretty awesome at what they do. i've heard LOTS of their work and they are scary good. Amazingly good. SO, unless you can actually provide an audio copy of what you claim is "their poor work" and an audio example of what you claim is scorrio's "absolute masterpiece", then i'm calling BULL$HIT on you.
please do not dis some of the absolute best most talented people in the recreation business without actually backing it up, especially when you are clearly connected somehow to scorrio.
No man, I don't work for them. Oh and by the way, it's spelled SCORCCIO - jIf you feel the need to make accusations, well that's your entitlement. But two wrongs don't make a right - I made a claim, and now you're making one - so where is your proof? You don't have anything of course. For all I know, you could be working for RH yourself. Why else would you be getting so upset and using foul language? But hey, I don't wish anything bad to fall upon anyone, so I'll remain a reasonable human being and wish you a Happy New Year.
Do you have a real name? a website? any credits to speak of?
Its easy to know that i am not working for Replay Heaven myself because we are not credited on any of the same songs, i am not listed on their website, They are not on mine, and for sample recreation, they are my direct competition. real detective work i know However, i do know them, as this industry is very small, and they do excellent, world class replay work.
So, hey Mark Summers, are you aware that you have someone running around slandering your competition anonymously to hype you up? It wouldn't make me happy at all if someone was hyping me up to slam someone else.
As far as being upset, i am not upset. I am also not going to sit idly by while some GS noob hiding behind a screen name disses some of the very best people in the world at sample recreation, while he simultaneously resurrects 3 different threads on the topic that are years old to hype up some other company. that is highly suspect on one level, and highly disrespectful on another.
Man, hats off to anyone in the sample recreation industry. Really tough stuff.
Ken, if you don't mind me asking how did you get started in this line of business? and how would one start out in this feild?
Its all pretty much abouve my ability but I find it quite interesting.. could ask quite a few questions on the topic actually.
Hey Dayl,
I did not seek to get into sample recreation, it found me. Back in i think 2002, i had been making alot of records with Just Blaze. mixing records for him and playing guitar on alot of records for him. I also was making alot of rock records as well as hip hop records.
Just Blaze and Kanye used to have the same management representation, and one day their manager called me along with a big record exec basically telling me "we need someone who knows both rock and hip hop to recreate a Paul McCartney sample for a record Kanye is producing on the Transporter Soundtrack, is this something you do".
HELL NO IT WASNT. i had never done anything like that. but of course i said "sure i can do that, send it over and i'll knock it out". It was sink or swim time. they sent over the sample and i spent the next several days figuring out how on earth to recreate the sounds of a record from the 1970's with equipment from 2002. it was a bit of a nightmare as all sample recreations are, but eventually, i locked it in, sent it over, they loved it, and that was the first song i ever worked on with Kanye.
Awesome story Ken! I am curious to know your work on "Last Call" with Kanye because I have heard the original Bette Middler sample and it doesn't sound much like "Last Call." I am curious to know what went into that track because it is one of my favorite hip-hop songs of all time!
Awesome story Ken! I am curious to know your work on "Last Call" with Kanye because I have heard the original Bette Middler sample and it doesn't sound much like "Last Call." I am curious to know what went into that track because it is one of my favorite hip-hop songs of all time!
many days and sleepless nights of my life went into making the music for that track. Basically, Kanye wanted me to use the Bette Midler record as inspiration for the music for Last Call, but to create a new piece of music from scratch. (i'm NOT comparing myself to Van Gogh) but Van Gogh used to do this occasionally. find a painting from another painter that he loved, and paint his own rendition of it in his own mind's eye. it looked totally different but you could tell the inspiration came from the same place. You can hear this done time and time again on TV commercials when you are listening and you go "Oh, thats supposed to sound like or remind me of Coldplay or Rihanna or???"
The sped up voice "Here's to the Roc, Here's to Rocafella" is me. (i am also the voice of the old southern black man on "Family Business"..... all that glitters is not gold, gold is not reality...... :-)
then i basically figured out what instrumentation went into the Midler record, and laid out my own sound pallet based on that. tried to capture the essence of the sonics and feel of that record while creating something new. I also added several small new sounds not found in the Midler record. So, none of the melodies or rhythms were copied from the Midler record, but they were an inspiration. Sonics were matched up pretty close.
its a very long, kind of grueling process, but the end result is that 6 years later people are still saying its one of their favorite hip hop songs of all time, which is a little mind blowing for me actually. Rarely do you think anything remotely along those terms when you are creating such things. I just always try to do great work and hope for the best. That song is kind of special to me because i am a co-writer on the song, which technically makes me a Grammy winning songwriter, though not exactly how i wanna earn the title. all in good time. I've shifted a big chunk of my career over to songwriting now and i think you'll hear ALOT more from me as a writer in 2011 and beyond. Check my weblink to my PMP page if you want to hear some of my latest songs i'm shopping.
Wow Ken, truly remarkable story. At 16 years old I can say that Kanye's College Dropout "sound" is one of the best sounds I have ever come across in hip-hop, and Last Call being my favorite song on the album, I appreciate the enlightenment on what went into making it.
PS- That was you on Family Business? Truly remarkable!
Haha, damn Ken! you put it on the line with the McCartney sample and it worked out.
Thanks for sharing that. How did you start working with Blaze? hmm.. I wonder if he needs another guitarist
Ultra. Cool. Story. Bro.
your welcome I've known Just Blaze since before i knew (or anyone else knew) that he was even a producer. I had the very good fortune of watching his career ascend to the stratosphere where it still resides. If you ever meet him, ask him about the first day he was ever in the studio with Jay Z. Its one of my all time favorite stories i've ever heard from anyone.
How did i start working with him? One night at a studio I was doing a session at, he asked me if i'd stay after my session for an hour or so and mix a beat that he had. He had a big meeting the next day and he didnt know how to mix. (Again, when he asked me this, i didnt even know he was a producer), so i stayed after my session and mixed a couple beats for him that night. The next day his meeting went great. Here and there, he started producing hip hop tracks for indie label artists and i would mix his records for him. It all started there. He's beyond gifted.
I really like this dude, not just his music, I dont know him personally but when he talks he looks really humble (well of course he says "the best bla bla" that's not the point), chek out that lil interview, interesting comments:
Hey ken, I know that recreated samples is a long complicated process and that you can’t explain everything you do, but could you explain the steps you take to recreate a sample. thanks
Hey ken, I know that recreated samples is a long complicated process and that you can’t explain everything you do, but could you explain the steps you take to recreate a sample. thanks
you answered your own question. This falls under "you dont know what you dont know". and as i've said before, how do i explain somehting in a post that takes me on average 10 to 20 HOURS PER BAR OF MUSIC to recreate. Step #1 - spend 10 to 20 hours per bar trying to solve the mystery of how the hell to use modern technology to recreate a vintage sound. Step #2, make sure your handgun is unloaded and in a safe lockbox. Step #3, before beginning replay, dispose of lockbox key
20 hours a bar? how many bars you usually have to come up with?
Nuts.
it takes a good 5 minutes for me to replay anything, and hear everything about it.
Now to translate that into the proper sounds...may be tricky, especially when not playing real instruments to re-create ...real instruments.
But 20 hours a bar to do so?
Nuts.
And Berries.
You should pick a sample some time and actually attempt to do a full, exact recreation. pick a little 2 bar sample. see how you do. Maybe i'm just slow
When I said that, i wasn't being disrespectful to ken or what he does.
He's the reason, why I do what i do.
So please miss me with cold sarcasm.
@ Ken ... I / We have ...easier to do with 80s music than anything before.
And guitars are getting easier as well.
The hardest part I would imagine is "ambience" - considering, VST's dont have a smoke filled room preset. or Half cracked cabinet...train station above studio ..etc etc
In so many words, duplicating the chords, notes, instruments is one thing.
Putting those into the right atmosphere is a totally different beats.
Mg, this is easy, I need you to recreate a sample in this clip, its actually less than a bar. I need a one shot, you can hear the effect at 2:41 & 2:53.
I actually appreciate the fact that it takes successful people quite a bit of time and effort to do something like sample recreation. For me it reaffirms that talent will only get you so far.
I recently tried to recreate the Quincy Jones sample used in Mobb Deeps 'Shook Ones part II'.
Try truly recreating something like that and you'll understand.
Keep in mind Q did that in the 70's!
I actually appreciate the fact that it takes successful people quite a bit of time and effort to do something like sample recreation. For me it reaffirms that talent will only get you so far.
I recently tried to recreate the Quincy Jones sample used in Mobb Deeps 'Shook Ones part II'.
Try truly recreating something like that and you'll understand.
Keep in mind Q did that in the 70's!
"Talent will only get you so far"
I'm not sure I understand that part. Anything like this, without Talent, wouldn't take you too far at all.
I barely have relative pitch hearing. So for a while, me playing a bassline in key with a sample was a major feat!
But now, being able to take chords, and recreate arrangements..and take them somewhere else...go up...go down..speed up...slow down...and have no recognition of the sample anymore...is more of a creative thing then it is a talent one.
But then again i've been meditating on this aspect of creating for a long time, personally.
Try getting a single shot piano to sound like a real one. Try to get a soundfont to sound like a Korg Triton. All these problems existed, when i started.
So for me to go from that into...trying to get a string section in kontakt to sound like an orchestra "arranged" by Quincy jones..wouldn't be a question of Talent...but more so resources (human, instrumentalists ...)
But I started because I figured playing something i like would come out and feel better, than me hacking away a 4 bar loops split into 16ths, like alot of popular sampled based beats do...
20 hours a bar? how many bars you usually have to come up with?
Nuts.
it takes a good 5 minutes for me to replay anything, and hear everything about it.
Now to translate that into the proper sounds...may be tricky, especially when not playing real instruments to re-create ...real instruments.
Same here, it takes 10 to 20 min for my session musicians to figure out notes and all that, and then they record to my drum beat.
I dont know any producer (especially during 90s when everybody on west coast was doing interpolations of classic songs ) that spent 20 hours trying to recreate exact same sound of original song. Whats the point?
If you want that EXACT, SAME, old sound, then direct sample is way to go! No?
You never see any band or artist who covers some song sit for days trying to setup exact same tone, effects, etc.
Great examples of sample recreations / interpolations
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Some of the Replay Heaven examples sound pretty darn good to me though, kudos to them.
