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Tag Archives: audio editing

The natural history of the Funky Drummer break

So far as I know, the most-sampled recording in history is “The Funky Drummer Parts One And Two” by James Brown and the JBs. It’s a great funk tune, but it’s not as catchy as James Brown’s big hits like “Sex Machine” or “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag.” In fact, “The Funky Drummer” doesn’t [...]

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Digital audio is just long lists of numbers

How do you get sound in and out of a computer? There are two steps. You have to turn the sound into electricity, and then you have to turn the electricity into numbers. Turning sound into electricity At the physical level, a sound is a rhythmic vibration of air molecules. Your ears can detect subtle [...]

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In praise of Auto-tune

My experience with Auto-tune has felt like stepping out the door of a rocket ship to explore a whole new sonic planet. Hear me singing with Auto-tune, over a loop of The Roots and some samples of Jesse Selengut. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] And here’s me singing with Auto-tune over samples of [...]

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The sampling chain

I produce electronic music, on my own and with my bands like Revival Revival. We use a lot, and I mean a lot, of samples of copyrighted material. If you’re worried about our legal well-being, be at ease. We have yet to make a nickel from any of it, and if we ever eventually do, [...]

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