How to Sample a Song? (Tools & Legal Tips)

Sampling is hot, along with the rise of hip-hop. The trend can be traced back to the 1980s. Decades have passed. Sampling still plays a critical role in music, and, increasingly, being applied in various music genres, such as pop, electronic, rock and so on.

Once you want to produce a musical work, sampling is an essential part of the production. Probably, it lies the first step to get started. Then, how to get samples from songs? What should be noticed when sampling? Get answers here.

A quick view of the content. We’re going to cover:

Part 1: What is Sampling?
Part 2: Free Tools for Song Sampling
Part 3: How to Sample a Song?
Part 4: Tips to Sample a Song Legally
Part 5: Is Sampling Plagiarism?

What is Sampling in Music?

Sampling in music means extracting a portion from a piece of music and reusing it in another project. And the portion can be a phrase of vocal, melody, beat, sound effect, and accompaniment of certain instruments.

When processing a composition or remix, music sampling, or song sampling, namely, can be a bone of the song. This is common in hip hop music. In the era when hip-hop emerged, many artists produced music without instruments and studios due to limited resources. They dug materials from various records and later turned this music-making mode into a trend.

Examples of Sampling

• Backing track: instruments like pianos or guitars can be sampled.
• Drum beat: like drum hits or entire drum loops.
• Vocal: vocal line, harmonies, chorus, etc.
• Natural sound: street noise, rain, wind, etc.
• Sound effect: siren, loudhailer, tick, etc.

One application can help you understand how you can use music sampling in your song. That is VST (Virtual Studio Technology). VST instrument software collects and records audio from real instruments to produce sound. In the context of sampling a song, you can use tools to isolate certain elements and reuse them when creating a new song.

Free Software for Song Sampling

How can you be without tools to sample a song? See what software you need here.

DAW - software to record, edit, and mix multiple sample tracks.

• Ableton Live 12 - free for 30 days
• FL Studio Trial - lifetime free
• Adobe Audition - free for 7 days
• GarageBand - free for Apple device users

Audio Editing Software - provides one-click features like extract, split, denoise, remove, etc.

• Audacity - free and open source
• Kingshiper Audio Editor & Vocal Remover - free to use

Sampler Software/ VST Plugin - for beat-making and sound design.

• MAGIX Independence
• Grace by One Small Clue

EQ - to adjust frequencies for background music and vocals

• MEqualizer
• Ozone 11 EQ

Song Identifier/Song Finder - identify a certain piece of music and find sources.

• Google Assistant

How to Sample a Song?

By chance, you hear a great song, perhaps on the street or at a party, and are inspired by a segment of it. You have a strong desire to sample the song then. But, how to sample a song, more importantly, to sample legally?

Step 1. Get permission for the song.

Song clearance is crucial when creating samples. You risk legal trouble if you're not cautious. Therefore, to sample a song, you need to check its copyright first. You can:

1) Use databases like the U.S. Copyright Office or BMI/ASCAP/SESAC to find registered works and their copyright holders.

2) Look for contact information and reach out directly.

Step 2.Obtain the song resource and analyze it.

As you get the audio file, you can use tools with stem splitter or BPM finder features to help the analysis.

Listen repeatedly and mark the segments you want to sample.

Step 3.Separate music elements and extract samples.

The main melodic line, hook, drum beats, vocal, bass line, instrumental parts, and others are able to be isolated using DAWs and audio editor.

How-tos:

A. Sample vocals from a song

To sample vocals from a song, you can use vocal extractors or DAWs.

1) Open Kingshiper Vocal Remover and drag the song.

2) Click Vocal and then click Start.

3) Export the file.

B. Sample Instruments form a song

1) Click Instruments in Vocal Remover

2) Click the button of start.

C. Sample Tracks

1) Import the audio file to Audition.

2) In the waveform view, select the whole track or a certain part.

3) Use Dynamic Processing to control specific frequency ranges. It helps to isolate certain audio elements. Find the feature in Effects > Amplitude and Compression > Dynamics Processing.

4) Use Center Channel Extractor to isolate or remove vocals. The feature is located in Effects > Stereo Imagery > Center Channel Extractor.

Step 4. Edit the sample

Still using the DAW, you can adjust the tempo or pitch of the sample track to fit your project.

Tips to Sample a Song Legally

The point to sample a song legally is that to get authorization or use copyright free music.

1Use materials of sample libraries.

There are some sample libraries to provide pre-cleared samples. The resources are allowed to be used without additional permissions. For examples,

• Producer Loops
• Prime Loops
• Freesound
• Soundiron

2Use music from the Public Domain.

Songs in the public domain are works that are no longer protected by copyright. Anyone can use them to reproduce their own works.

Resources for Finding Public Domain Songs:

• Public Domain Information Project
• Copyright Public Records Portal

3Pay licensing fees.

This a thing that you can negotiate with the work owner. You can consider a music synchronization license, mechanical license, public performance license, etc.

Is Sampling Plagiarism?

To sample a song is very often trapping in plagiarism issues. A short piece of the same beat or similar melody that evokes a sense of familiarity among listeners, suspicion raises.

Is that the case of plagiarism? Fifty fifty.

Plagiarism in music does exist and is quite common, especially in today's advanced media landscape. The music material is too easy to get. However, it may also be the case of sampling. Although the two are mentioned together constantly, sampling should not be confused with plagiarism. In fact, there is a line between them. If the sampling part is obtained from authorized work, or you can call sample clearance, then the production is not considered plagiarism.

Learn more:

When it comes to measuring music plagiarism, there is no standard bar or note for counting similarity. In most cases, musical element comparison, listeners’ feeling, and experts’ opinions are involved.

Nowadays, the AI technique is used to detect plagiarism and with impressive results. For example, Spotify develops Plagiarism Risk Detector and finds over 40,000 songs with infringements.