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How Has Sampling In Modern Western Music Questioned What We Consider Creative?
Date : 29/06/2020
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Uploaded by : Olly
Uploaded on : 29/06/2020
Subject : Music
How Has Sampling in Modern Western Music Questioned What We Consider Creative? Olly Waynflete projectIntroductionThe use of samples in a modern song has become an essential ingredient to a top-selling hit, whether it be of the Hip-Hop, Pop, or Electronic genre. According to Collins Dictionary: To sample is to record (a sound) and feed it into a computerised synthesiser so that it can be reproduced at any pitch [7]. This definition masks the more ethical and moral sides of the practice, because sampling [7] is also often known among some Hip-Hop artists as copying another s idea and passing it off as your own . Although this essay won t make detailed exploration of copyright laws or artists methodology to find loopholes in the law in order to find a particularly catchy hook for their song, it will explain how certain sampling can be used creatively and effectively while other applications of sampling display the opposite of originality. There is a wide range in uses of sampling in the genre of Hip-Hop, which will be the main focus, but even though sampling is more commonly known as a digital act, it can also be seen in classical music from as early as the 1500s, notably in composers such as J.S. Bach. Therefore, I believe a more apt definition of sampling is: When musicians or pieces of their music are sampled, parts of their music are used by other musicians in their own work. This definition does entail the computerisation and synthesising of the sample but also includes the wider scope of where a sample can come from. Moreover, the definitions of sampling and remixing have substantial overlap, where remixing focuses on how each part of the music can be developed and placed together whereas sampling emphasises the intertextuality of different parts of music and how different samples fit with each other. The essence of creativity is something very difficult to define. The Latin word creare from which creativity is derived, means to make something exist [8], but The Oxford Dictionary entry suggests original ideas [9] which very much contradicts the use of musical sampling. However, other definitions refer to exploring imagination which certain uses of sampling clearly involve, and the definition activity of original invention [10] which would also be apt for explaining my argument. There are two known categories of creativity: Historical Creativity (H-creativity) and Psychological Creativity (P-creativity). H-creativity consists of inventions and ideas never before seen by mankind, whereas P-creativity is where one would use a previous idea or opinion and apply it in a new way by bringing the idea into a different world and context. P-creativity is the category of creativity that sampling in western music comes under, due to the factors of creativity being the change in the sonic profile of a certain recording. In this argument, a self-produced definition of creativity will be used, where the artist must show intellectual inventiveness [11] in order to be creative. This would include clear development of the sample from the quoted song, as well as the sample being played in an accompanying environment that is entirely different to the sound world from which it was taken. In this situation, I shall call the artist of the original song Artist 1, and the artist who cuts out a sample from that song will be called Artist 2. So, if for instance, Artist 2 uses the sample from Artist 1 s song over a drumbeat which is strikingly similar to the drumbeat in Artist 1 s song, and very few further variants are deployed, then that sample has not been creatively used because Artist 2 has not implemented exploring imagination in the new use of the sample, but has merely tried to create a copied song, to pass off as their own. However, contentious sampling like this has often paid off for artists such as Ed Sheeran, whose song Shape of You [12] is the most streamed track of all time (Spotify). In this song, the verse melody is directly copied from TLC s No Scrubs [13] (Information from Whosampled.com[14]) without initially purchasing the rights, and yet it is the most popular song in the world. Subsequently, when Sheeran was found out, the writers of No Scrubs [13] were awarded co-writing credits. This is due to Popular music being predominantly market-driven [40] and therefore artists like Ed Sheeran are willing to cut corners in the industry in order to make the best revenue. The popularity of the record implies that it has something in particular which draws so many people to listen to it. Hence, I believe songs like this have questioned the meaning of the term to be creative because Ed Sheeran has certainly not proved himself to have displayed exploring imagination in the production of the single, even though he has earned around $50 million so far from that song alone [15]. Although certain laws restrict complete pastiching without citation, the boundaries have been stretched on whether a song has been creatively produced or not through alternating instrumentations, effects, context and many other factors, which implies that the fundamentals and definitions of musical creativity are changing due to the growing trend and different uses of sampling. To illustrate, the song Out of the Water that I produced entirely through sampling, attempts to creatively engage all the samples mentioned in this essay.Sampling originally stemmed from the electronification of instruments like the bass and electric guitars, which played vital roles in the growth of Rock, Punk, Soul and Jazz genres through the late 20th century. Nelson George divulges that Sampling represents the kind of general schism that tore through the rock world when folk purists chastised Bob Dylan for plugging in electric instruments in 1965 and jazz purists attacked Miles Davis for rejecting acoustic instruments in the early 70s [1]. However, if everyone refuted the idea of advancement in musical ideas, then genres would not develop, and artists such as Miles Davis and Bob Dylan have proved that pioneering change can be very successful Bob Dylan is a 1960s- 70s icon who sold millions of records, and Miles Davis was voted by BBC radio and Jazz FM listeners as the best jazz musician to have ever lived[36], with his album Kind of Blue (1959)[17] being the most successful jazz album in history[36]. This essay will include the assessment of the difference in use of samples as mood setters or as part of a beat. These differ in their effect, but both individually can add intellectual inventiveness to a record. Finally, this essay will mainly focus on the Hip-Hop genre, and how changing the sonic profile of certain levels to the music, such as the vocals, bass or beat can define whether the production of a song can be deemed creative. There will always be a grey area in whether the production of a Hip-Hop track has involved intellectual inventiveness [11], however, because Hip-Hop was founded on the manipulation of pre-existing material [37] which has led to the multi-million success of Kanye West, but also the court downfall for later mentioned Biz Markie.
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This resource was uploaded by: Olly