Beat Making with Samples
Chop, flip, bang, turn old records into new fire
Create beats by chopping and rearranging samples from existing music, nature sounds, or field recordings. This is the art form behind hip-hop and electronic music production. Slice a drum break, pitch-shift a vocal, layer a melody from a vinyl record, the possibilities are infinite. Free tools and royalty-free sample packs mean zero barrier to entry.
How to start
- 1Download Koala Sampler on your phone ($5) or use the free BandLab on any device
- 2Record sounds around you: tap a table, snap fingers, hum a melody
- 3Chop your recordings into short clips and arrange them on a beat grid
- 4Layer a kick, snare, and hi-hat pattern as your foundation
- 5Add a melodic sample on top and experiment with pitch and tempo changes
What you'll need
- Smartphone or computerEssentialFree
- Koala Sampler app or BandLab (free)EssentialFree
- HeadphonesEssential~$20
- MIDI pad controllerNice to have~$40
Where to learn more
Plot twists
Ways to spice this up when the basics get boring.
- Sample only sounds from your kitchen to make a beat
- Flip a random thrift store vinyl record into a hip-hop beat
- Make a beat using only your voice as the sound source
- Create a beat from field recordings of your neighborhood
- Challenge a friend: same sample, different beats, compare results
Tapping out beats on a phone screen is basically a fidget toy that makes music. Koala Sampler is designed for instant creation, record, chop, and bang out a beat in under 5 minutes.
Producer J Dilla would sample from the most unexpected sources, he once turned a Mothball commercial into a classic hip-hop beat that producers still study today.
Similar vibes
If this one didn't land, try one of these.