Hi, I'm Dr.

Southall and we're gonna be looking at approaches to contemporary composition in this unit.

Let's begin.

In this lesson, you'll be able to create a composition based on samples.

There's four key terms for this lesson.

The first is sample, a clip of preexisting music or sound.

The second is sampling, the process of creating and using a sample.

The third is unpitched sound, which is sound that lacks a clear pitch, for example, a clap or a click.

Musique concrete is a style of music that is based on recorded sounds, for example, cars or doors, and we'll explore that more in this lesson.

There's two parts to this lesson, and the first is sampling sounds.

Advances in technology in the early 20th century provided new opportunities for composers.

This is very evident in the development of pop music, but composers in the classical world also made use of this in their work.

Musique concrete is a style of music from the late 1940s, which pioneered the use of real world recorded sounds to make music.

Pierre Schaeffer is one of the key figures of this style.

This composition explores the sounds of the railway.

What aspects of these sounds feel musical? Pause the video and listen to the clip.

Alex says, "The rhythms of the train and the train whistle feel musical." Other composers have also recorded real sounds and integrated them into more typical musical language.

What recorded sounds have been used in this 1970s song "Money"? How do these sounds link to the song title? Pause the video and listen to the clip.

Sofia says, "The sounds of cash register, coins and receipts being ripped are all sounds related to money." And they invoke that sense of money when you hear them.

Using clips of preexisting sound in a piece of music is called sampling.

Samples, the sound clips, can be from other musical recordings, speech or sounds.

Sampling is a key aspect of hip hop culture.

DJs create samples from other songs and use these as the basis of their music.

It's also been used across other genres, including pop and electronic styles.

What has been sampled in these examples? Pause the video and listen to the clips.

Well, the first one was speech from a TV and radio show, and the second one was an old musical recording.

The second example takes a short sound from an old musical recording and then uses software to change the pitch.

Listen again to that clip and then the original theme from "Godzilla." The brass note near the end of the "Godzilla" clip has been sampled and adapted in the song.

Pause the video and listen to the song using the sample and the original "Godzilla" theme.

Changing the pitch, timbre or rhythm, or adding effects is a common way that musicians use samples.

The key to effective sampling is doing something new with the sound that already exists.

In these examples, the sounds were chopped into short phrases and slotted into the chords and rhythms of the song, and they were arranged rhythmically to create a groove.

And some of them were re-pitched and chopped to create something new, such as the song that sampled the "Godzilla" theme.

Check for understanding.

Which of these is not an example of a sample? Is it a clip of a speech used in a new composition? Is a recording of a car chopped up to create a drum groove? Is it a melody recorded specifically for a new composition? Or is it a clip of an old song chopped up and used in a new way? The answer is C, a melody recorded specifically for a new composition is not an example of a sample.

The others are.

When creating samples, we need an idea of how we might use them musically so that we choose suitable samples.

We are going to create a rhythmic groove using sampled unpitched sounds.

Unpitched sounds are ones that don't have a clear pitch, such as clapping or clicking.

Can you think of any other examples of unpitched sounds? This audio track features many different everyday sounds, most of which are unpitched.

Let's have a listen.

(sample of grinding and rumbling sounds) (sample of clinking and clanking sounds) (sample of shaking, rattling sounds) (sample of wooden knocking sounds) (sample of metallic rattling and creaking sounds) (sample of rattling sounds) (sample of plastic vibrating sounds) (sample of machinery buzzing sounds) (sample of metallic banging, rattling sounds) (sample of crinkling sounds) (sample of metallic jingling, tinkling sounds) (sample of loud drill whirring sounds) (sample of machine rumbling sounds) (sample of soft shaking sounds) (sample of rummaging sounds) (sample of soft bristling, scouring sounds) (sample of metallic squeaking sounds) (sample of metallic rattling sounds) (sample of lawnmower motor rumbling sounds) Were you able to identify any of those sounds? And which ones do you think were most musically interesting? If you want to listen to it again, then please do pause the video and rewind.

Aisha heard car sounds, doors, taps and machines.

All of the sounds have different timbres and could be sampled to create interesting musical effects.

To create a rhythmic groove using samples, we need to do the following: We need to choose our sample sounds from the audio track, create a few samples of individual sounds, try to choose samples with different timbres.

So watch these videos now on how to choose a sample and how to create five or six different samples.

<v Instructor>For this first step, we're focusing</v> on the unpitched sounds track, that's got lots of different unpitched sounds on it from everyday objects and devices, and we're gonna choose some of these to start our sampling.

I've got 10 blank sample tracks down here where I'm gonna move my samples to once I've created them.

Let's look at how we create an individual sample.

I'm gonna mute the pitched sounds track so it's not playing at all because we're just focusing on the unpitched sounds at the moment.

And I'm gonna zoom in a little bit so I can pick out these individual sounds.

Let's say I wanted to Sample 1 of these sounds here.

(sample of thumping sounds) Maybe one of those sort of thumps.

(sample of thumps) What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna identify exactly where it is on the track, and then to isolate it, I move the playhead to just before it, I right click and I click split at playhead.

And you'll see there it split it into two separate regions.

If you are using different software, it might be worded slightly differently, but there'll be a similar function where you can just chop the region into.

Then what I need to do is go beyond the sound that I want to sample.

So there's my sound there, I've cut before it.

Now I'm gonna cut after it as well.

Move the playhead, right click, split at playhead, and now we'll see that sound is on its own in its own little region.

And all I can do is I can drag that into a separate track.

So I might drag it into my Sample 1 track, put it at the start.

Now if we listen to just this track, we will hear that sample sound on its own.

(sample of thumping sound) And that's that done.

If I want it to be even more precise, I could shorten it so that the sound is at the very start of the sample.

As is at the moment, there's a slight bit of silence before the sound, so I could shorten it like that, so the sound plays straight away.

(sample of thump sound) And that's my sample created.

Once I've created my first sample, then I'm gonna try and create five or six that contrast with each other, so ones that have slightly different timbres, slightly different kinds of sound.

So I'm gonna listen through to the track, try and find some interesting contrasting timbres.

Let's see if I can pick out a few now.

So my first one I've used is a sort of thump sound, so I want to find something different to that.

Let's see what's in here.

(sample of cranking, rattling) I could use one of these sounds here.

And what I might do is zoom in and I'm gonna go for this one here.

So I'm going to cut just before it, split the region, split just after it, and then I can move that into my next empty track, which is gonna be the Sample 2 track.

For now I'm just gonna put it at the start and I'm gonna gather them all at the start.

I'm gonna do the same for six different samples.

So I've got that thumpy one, I've got that sort of metallic rattling sound.

Let's see what else I can find.

(sample of dragging over plastic sound) I might go for one of these sort of clicky sort of sounds.

I might do that one there.

So I'm gonna split the region jus before it, split the region just after it and then move that new sample into an empty track, making sure I'm grabbing the right bit.

So this is gonna be my Sample 3.

And gradually I'm gonna carry that on until I've got five or six different samples that contrast with each other.

Let's just have listen to the three I've so far produced.

This is my first one.

(sample of thump) That's the thump.

Then I've got this metallic sort of rattle.

(sample of rattle) And then I've got this sort of clicky sound as my final one.

(sample of clicking plastic sound) So I've got three contrasting ones and I've create three more in Sample 4, 5 and 6.

<v ->Let's do a check for understanding.

</v> Which is an unpitched sound? Is an unpitched sound one where the pitch changes, one with a clear pitch, one where the pitch stays the same, or one with no clear pitch? Well done.

The answer is D.

An unpitched sound is one with no clear pitch.

Which two of these are unpitched sounds? The sound of a symbol clashing, a birdsong, a piano chord or a door shutting? The answer is A and D.

Unpitched sound examples are the sounds of symbols clashing and a door shutting.

Time for some practice.

We're gonna create five or six short samples from the unpitched sounds track.

Your success criteria are as follows: isolate five or six short samples from the track.

Each sample is placed in its own track and the samples will have a contrasting timbre.

Please do pause the video and go back to those clips to get some ideas of how to do this.

Good luck.

Now let's listen to these four samples and think about how they could be more useful as the basis of a composition.

(sample of knocking sound) We'll just listen one more time.

(sample of knocking, banging sounds) Well, the timbres of the samples could have more contrast.

So currently most of them have a similar timbre.

They're banging or thumping sounds.

Alright, let's move on to part two, composing with samples.

We are going to use our unpitched sounds to create a rhythmic groove as if they are percussion instruments.

Compare these two rhythmic patterns, which one sounds more memorable and more like a musical pattern and why? Here's the first one.

(sample of random knocking, rattling and banging) And here's the second one.

(sample of rhythmic knocks, rattles and bangs) So which of those two sounds more memorable and more like a musical pattern? And why do you think that? As always, just pause and rewind if you want to hear them again.

Well, the second one I think, hopefully you agree was more musical, and one of the reasons for that is that it uses repetition more effectively, making it more memorable and musical.

The first one sounds more like a random collection of different sounds.

We can use a rhythm grid to help us plan the repetition.

Here's an example of one.

Mark the beats on a rhythm grid that you want each sample to play on.

So here is that grid again, and we've got two samples and you can see we're marking where we want each one to play.

So with this example in mind, this is how it would sound.

(sample of alternating rhythmic knocking and banging) Quite a simple one to start off with, but you can see that it's alternating between Sample 1 and Sample 2 in a regular rhythm.

A faster rhythm would be indicated with more dots.

So this one looks a little bit more complicated as a result.

Again, we just have the two samples.

Sample one plays twice on each beat and Sample 2 plays four times on each beat.

So that's gonna sound like this.

(sample of fast rhythmic knocking and banging) Layer the samples to create different rhythms and combinations and make sure that some of the samples have a pattern that repeats.

So if we look at Sample 3 for example, there's repeating happening there and if we look at beats one and two, there's repetition there in beats five and six.

Let's have a listen so that we can transpose what we're seeing to what we can hear.

(sample of busy rhythmic knocking and banging) All right, so if you can focus on one or two samples and hear them when I play it again.

(sample of busy rhythmic knocking and banging) I think it sounds really cool When the whole pattern repeats, it then starts to feel familiar and musical.

Let's listen.

(sample of repeating rhythmic knocking and banging) If the rhythm keeps changing, we won't experience this sense of familiarity.

Building a rhythm that has a clear sense of pulse also helps it sound musical.

Repeating some samples at a fast tempo can create a sustained effect.

Let's listen to a single sample first.

(sample of quick click) I'll play it again if you missed it.

Goes quick.

(sample of quick click) It's not that exciting is it? But if we play it repeatedly and quickly, it's gonna sound like this.

(fast clicking sample) Okay, it's starting to sound slightly more interesting and if we play the sample repeated really quickly, it's gonna sound like this.

(rapidly clicking sample) Changing the speed of repetition can completely transform the original sample.

To create an eight-beat rhythmic groove from your samples, experiment with different patterns.

We're gonna watch a clip now where exactly that is gonna happen.

And look at the methods that are used and hopefully you're inspired with your own one.

<v Instructor>So I've created my six individual samples.

</v> So let's have a listen to each very quickly.

This is the first.

(thump sample) The second.

(clank sample) The third.

(click sample) You'll notice that each of these have very contrasting timbres.

(snapping sample) There's some that are quite thumpy and metallic, some that are much lighter, some clicky ones.

(jingly sample) That's quite a gentle sort of rattle.

(sustained rattling sample) And then there's more sustained sound there as well.

So I've got six different contrasting samples.

I've got my rhythm grid here and what I'm gonna do is start planning out some rhythms and some patterns that I can use to arrange my samples into a repeating pattern.

So let's start off with Sample 1.

Now I can maybe experiment with using Sample 1 on beat one.

Maybe I'd use it on beat three, five, and seven.

So every two beats.

Remember we're creating an eight beat pattern here.

So if I zoom out here, that's gonna last for two bars.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna right click and copy and I'm gonna copy that sample so that it plays every two beats.

So on beat three, beat five, and beat seven.

Let's have a listen to what that sounds like.

(four-beat thump sample) So I'm gonna stick with that for now.

Now let's have listen to Sample 2 and we're gonna work out how we're gonna use this.

(quick rattle sample) So that's a different kind of sound.

So I'm gonna create a different kind of rhythm with that.

Maybe let's go for, let's try out two quavers on beat two and then maybe the same on beat six.

And if I don't like it, all I can do is edit my grid to try something else.

So I'm gonna find beat two and I'm gonna right click and copy so that I've got two of those squeezed into beat two.

So that's matching my rhythm grid.

Then I'm gonna find the same on beat six and I'm gonna do the same there.

So right click, copy and paste.

Let's see what these two sound like together.

(rhythmic thumping and rattling sample) I quite like that, that sounds quite interesting already.

Now let's move on to Sample 3.

So let's listen to that one.

(soft click sample) So that's a gentle click and it's a very short sound.

If you look at the region there, you can see the sound finishes very quickly.

So what I might do is do some really fast rhythms with this one.

So I could do, for example, I could do four notes or I could do even more if I wanted.

Four notes on beat three.

Maybe I'll try the same on beat four.

And then maybe I could copy that pattern at the end.

So I could do it in beat seven and beat eight as well.

Again, if I don't like it, I can just change it.

So we're experimenting here to try different things.

Now, in order to fit four into one beat, I need to make sure that the sample is short enough to be a quarter of a beat.

So I'm just gonna shorten it and then I can loop in.

If I look there, I can see I've now created four versions of that sample in that one beat.

So I've decided I want it on beat three and beat four.

Let's move it there.

I can just keep it going like that 'cause it just carries on through.

And then I'm gonna copy that to beat seven and beat eight as well.

Let's hear all three samples together now.

(rhythmic fluttering pattern sample) So you can see it's already starting to layer up.

What I'm now gonna do is I'm gonna do the same with Sample 4, 5 and 6 and then I'll show you what my end product looks like.

I've now been through and finished all six samples.

As you can see, if you look at my rhythm grid, some of them have faster rhythms, some of them play more notes.

Some of them only play one or two notes and lots of them repeat patterns.

So it sounds like there's lots of repetition, which is what we want here.

Let's have a listen to what the end product sounds like.

(rhythmic rattling clicking, jingling sample) <v ->Which clip matches this rhythm grid?</v> So here we have a rhythm grid of three different samples going across eight beats, and I want you to listen to three different clips and see if you can match which one it is.

Here's the first one.

(repetitive clicking, tapping and jingling sample) So that was A, let's listen to B.

(repetitive sharp tapping, jingling rhythm sample) And finally let's listen to C.

(off beat tapping and rattling rhythm sample) All right, which of those matched the rhythm grid? You can, of course, rewind if you've forgotten what they sound like, otherwise, the answer is B.

Time for some practice.

So you're gonna create an eight-beat rhythmic groove using samples and your success criteria are as follows: Use at least four different samples.

Each sample is in a separate track.

Experiment to find patterns that you like.

The pattern uses some repeated rhythms, so you could plan this using the rhythm grid.

It's rhythmic and has a clear sense of pulse.

Here's a rhythm grid for reference.

I hope you enjoy it.

Please pause and go back to the success criteria if you need it, And enjoy this task, it's pretty fun and I think you're gonna make some cool sounds.

Okay to finish off, then, we're gonna evaluate this rhythmic groove that someone else has created and I want you to think about effective features of how the pattern has used samples.

So this is the pattern.

(repetitive rhythmic sample pattern plays) So three effective features of how that pattern has used samples.

Here's a model answer.

It uses contrasting timbres.

It's not too busy, you can easily hear each sound.

And it has a clear rhythm and repeating pattern.

And it's four beats long.

It has a strong sense of pulse.

Alright, let's do a quick summary of today's lesson.

Composers have used recordings of sound in their music since recording technology was created.

This ranges from abstract-sounding musique concrete to using samples of sound and music in popular music styles.

Sampling is the process of creating samples, clips of preexisting sound or music that are used in a new way.

And to create samples, we isolate individual sounds.

We can then combine them in a new way to create a musical pattern.

Hope you made some really interesting sounds and patterns and enjoyed this lesson as much as I did.

Thank you so much.

See you next time.

Goodbye.