TRIGGER TRIBUTE
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Erik Hawkins
It's been a long-standing tradition to pay homage to influential bands and artists, often by covering one of their songs. More subtle tactics include name-dropping or weaving a lyric or musical phrase into the tapestry of your own tunes. Another fun way to give nods to influences is to drop a couple of samples straight from your favorite songs into your live performance. With computers and samplers onstage and a little bit of preparation, you can easily fly a pitch- and tempo-synchronized sample into the middle of your set. That is also a great trick to hype your audience because it can develop a more personal bond of common interest with your fans.
CHOP IT UP
Identify a sparsely orchestrated section from the song that you want to sample — for example, a break that highlights the chorus, a bridge without the beat, or even an a cappella version of the song. That will give you plenty of musical space around which to fit your own performance. It's much easier to play drums over a sample that doesn't contain monster drums or strum a guitar over a sample without a wall of distorted guitar chords. Think about your musical influences and choose an artist with staccato, percussive and electronic arrangements because the clearly defined waveform peaks in that music is ideal for slicing, dicing and fabricating smooth tempo changes.
The sample should be long enough for listeners to identify the original song, but not so long that it becomes difficult to trigger and synchronize. If it's too long, it may be tough to find a good moment to play it or difficult to beat-match after a few bars. A four- to eight-bar sample is generally long enough to capture most phrases, from a distinctive synth riff to a complete vocal chorus. The shorter the sample, however, the easier it will be to trigger and beat-match. Make sure that the sample is truncated right to its first downbeat, with no dead air in front of the downbeat. If there is any space in front of that first downbeat, it will be impossible to synchronize the sample's tempo to the tempo of your song. You can truncate the sample to the downbeat with any good waveform-editor software program, from shareware such as the open-source Audacity to Digidesign Pro Tools.
Not only will you need to beat-match the sample to your song — or alternately, match your song's tempo to the sample — but you'll also need to match keys. Consequently, you can't tune the sample to change its tempo because that will alter its pitch as well. Instead, you'll need to employ a tempo-change method that does not change its pitch and then tune the sample to your song's key without altering its tempo. There are two options available: beat slicing (sometimes called “recycling”) using a software program such as Propellerhead ReCycle or the beat-slicing function inside a hardware box such as the Korg ESX-1; or beat-based time compression/expansion using a program such as Ableton Live or the time-compression/expansion algorithm inside a hardware box such as the ESX-1. Recycling works best for percussive, staccato sounds, while beat-based time compression/expansion is better suited for ambient and legato sounds.
RIGHT ON TIME
There are a few options for triggering the sample in time with your music, dependent on your live setup and sample-playback device. If sequencers are an integral part of your live performance, then the sequencer can play back the sample at the appropriate time. That is a surefire method to ensure that the sample will trigger exactly on beat and be locked to the same tempo as the rest of your tracks or to the band.
Without a sequencer triggering the sampler, a band member will need to trigger it manually at the appropriate moment. If the sample already has been properly tuned and beat-matched and loaded into a sampler for playback, then it only needs to be triggered on beat for it to play in time. For the sample's tempo to remain locked with the band, however, you must perform your song at the exact same bpm as the sample. To guarantee the correct tempo, your drummer will likely need to play to a click track. Although you can adjust the tempo of a sequenced REX sample on the fly (such as a REX loop loaded into a Dr.REX device in Propellerhead Reason), you may not have time for such an operation live. Basing the band's tempo on a steady click track will help minimize the chances of a train wreck when you trigger the sample.
If the sample's tempo can be adjusted on the fly using a tap-tempo method, then weakening the sample's bpm while it's playing is a viable option. The ability to tap a key and have the sequencer playing the sample adjust the sample's bpm, however, is only possible with select gear. Ableton Live can perform that feat using its Tap Tempo button, which you can assign to a key on your computer's keyboard or any external MIDI controller (such as an unused key or button on a MIDI keyboard). The Korg EXS-1 also has a Tap key that can adjust the tempo of its beat-sliced sample in real time. The ability to simply tap a key in time to your beat and change the sample's tempo makes for a quick, easy-to-use beat-matching system.
COPYRIGHT CONCERNS
Triggering a sample — from a song that you purchased — in the middle of your own material is no different than a DJ playing a record at a party. As long as no recordings of your performance containing the copyrighted material are distributed or sold, you're not breaking any copyright laws. It's similar to producing a mash-up for your own amusement. Should you decide to release a copy of the performance containing the copyrighted sample for public consumption, however, you'll need to obtain the express written permission of the copyright holder(s) to distribute the recording.
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