so...while i recognize that sample-cultcha is based on chopping and re-building breaks that you've found from endless diggin, etc. i wanted peeps' opinions on using Loop Packs (y'know, buy-em CDs or swipe-em downloads or whatever).

do you use em? chop and screw em? use them with stuff you've glaumed from diggin? MFX the mofos so they're unrecognizable?

just getting a sense from dudes, what you do. is it finally just about the art you create, or (how much) is about how you created it?

note: this is my first philosophical post.

I don't use sound sample packs or loop packs since most of that stuff sounds pretty lifeless to me, but I don't see anything wrong with it.

chopping chopping chopping....
and then you make your loops differents and everything is ok.

im chopping directly into each gear…
mv8000 * have autochop
mc808 * have autochop
sp555 * sp_style and loop capture
sp404 * sp_style

luv chop....all my songs begin with one chop and then feel the way...

Yeah, I'd also chop up those sample packs to give 'em a more unique feel. Being in the Bay Area there are a lot of talented live musicians that I know, so if I need like a crisp session sound my friends house is filled with sitars, guitars piano's and drums. I just bring a mic and my macbook and go to work.

Not sure exactly what a loop pack is, I guesse its like a compelation of samples that someone put together. I stay away from that kinda stuff. I want to flip something that was not intended to be flipped.

^ yeah, there are various versions. some are pretty much pre-made everything: drums, bass, stabs, etc.

others are just dif drum loops.

others are just dif one-shots.

others (the most famous) are billions of funk & soul samples from hip hop's early days, collected in one place.

again - i'm just trying to get a sense of whether peeps use any of this stuff themselves.

I used to use loop packs when I first started like 5 years ago.just to get me feet wet. I dont mess them at all these days.

When I do use them I definitely make sure to chop it to pieces, apply effects, filters, EQ them and so on. Not so much to make it unrecognizable, but more so because the sounds has to merge perfectly with what I already got in the songs.

I tend to stay away from loop and sample packs. It's not all bad though as I used to use pre-made drums from Rifftworks that you can buy as separate add-ons. Really high quality drums, very nice to work with... but that was mainly before I used my samplers to make drums for my guitar jams.

Nowadays I'm preparing to make real songs with intro, main part and outro fit for someone to sing over, so I don't use anything coming from a loop pack, but play almost everything with live instruments and mixed-and-messed-with-beyond-recognition-kind of samples.

interesting subject..
buying loops....fuk em. Half the fun in making sample music is digging, or discovering old tracks...getting to know the genres, the eras and the years that correlate to them. I agree with juxt, if its designed to be chopped and sampled it takes the fun out imo. But one shot drums are fair play in many cases....like a drummer of a band buys a drum kit to use for all their songs...producers build libraries of drum "kits". Nothing like a nice gritty clear snare from a break you chopped from a record nobody ever herd of, or the slamming crispness of a snare from a good sample pack...even the og clap of an 808! now im rampling arent i. I want to get into synthasizing me own drums - kicks, snares, etc. And recording me own. Requires some know-how tho i guess....

the sitch i'm in is that i can play a bunch of instruments, so theoretically, can do whatever i want. in reality, i end up sometimes getting in ruts or following familiar changes, etc..
samples allow me to inject something i wouldn't have thought of (or with a feel, or texture i wouldn't have done) and build on top. unexpected, often illuminating.
so for me: i have no probs taking from everywhere (samples i've dug for, found sound, stuff from d/l, loop discs) provided i build on and over it, and it propels my (so called) art.
but i recognize that there's a hierarchy and some shiznit's considered weak in comparison. so i'm trying to see where others fall on this grid. you know?

i end up sometimes getting in ruts or following familiar changes, etc..

Yeah, I have that too... pretty annoying, but the only way to solve this, is forcing yourself to do something different.

I try not to use anything someone else has found and chopped (unless it's for a collab where you're sharing samples back and forth)... especially store bought packs. I think those "hip hop sample packs" not only cheapen the creative process in general, but also disrespect the architects who dug up the chops in the first place and made them "hip hop".

I think their use could be justified for someone just starting to make beats... but anyone who feels weird about it to the point of asking "is this right?" probably has come to the realization that they can do better for their art by digging-up and chopping their own samples. It's more rewarding that way imo...

This is just how I see it... not trying to pass judgement or piss anyone off... we all know different things work for different people.

i use them...i know sorry
but only for some shit.
if i cant find a clean clap or whatever or a hi hat...then yeah i might get one and make it sound a lil dirty...ha but yeah

I don't have a problem with loop packs, but I love Lootpack.

^ all good points, and interesting.

actually, my question about 'is this right' is mostly cuz i don't come from a hip hop background. these days i'm reading so much about its processes and (often unwritten but largely agreed upon) rules that i'm learning stuff about how the community sees its art. very cool and i have a deep respect for it all. and like most, i go digging all the time, chopping and hacking (tho i must say, i've learned i'm more a loop-the-break and build on it kinda guy!).

but for where i'm coming from, i'm maybe more open to using every and all avenues, so long as it allows me to get close to what's in my head. breaks, chopped stuff, live instros, things from here things from there.

so i really don't have a problem w/ glauming stuff from loop packs here n there to fit w/in the larger fabric of what i'm trying to do.

howevs, i guess in some people's eyes, that may be seen as less valid...