Assignment #1: Sampling Project

In this assignment you will create a new piece of music based on a sample from another piece of music. You may choose to sample the Timmy Thomas “Why Can’t We Live Together” that Drake used for “Hotline Bling” or Sting’s “Shape of My Heart,” used for Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams.”

Requirements:

• A song length of at least 30 seconds
• One of the samples must be used
• The BPM of the project must match the sample’s BPM (check with the click track, Step 7)
• A new drum track either through the beat maker or through loops.
• At least two other instruments added through the keyboard or loops.

Steps:

• The key to being able to sample and then create new musical elements that sound good with the sample is aligning the BPM (Beats per Minute).
• Step 1: Download and listen to the track you want to sample and tap along to find the BPM.
• Step 2: Go to Soundtrap, login, and enter the studio.
• Step 3: Go to the bottom of the window and click where it says “120” or tempo. Remember “Tempo” is the BPM or pulse.
• Change the tempo of the song to whatever the BPMs were that you tapped.
• Step 4: Go to the middle of the window where it says “Import file” and click.
• Step 5: Select the file from the computer.
• Step 6: The track should appear in your mix, drap the loop icon to extend the track for a longer play.
• Step 7: Go to the bottom of the screen where a bottom says “off.” This is the metronome which keeps the pulse. Turn it on and make sure the sample matches up with the beat.
• Step 8: Create a drumbeat, use sampled drums or other instruments, or try to come up with piano line over the sample. Be creative!
• Step 9: Share your project with a fellow student to get aesthetic feedback and to have them check your project against the rubric.
• Step 10: Make final adjustments based on feedback.

For those of you needing extra help getting started, there are links below to projects already set-up. Click on the link for the sample you want to work with:

"Shape of My Lucid Dreams"

"Drake Remake"

For more of a challenge, write a melody for your project and sing it or play it on a keyboard instrument.