I thought this article was awesome, although brief...talk about being surprised, check out what this guy says about some of the "samples" on Kanye's freshman LP
Scratch magazine: the lab: July 2005
logic vs. pro tools?
That’s barely a question. Some say that Logic compliments the individual creative process while Pro Tools lends itself more to commercial studios and engineer types. The fact is that Logic can be used for producing, mixing, editing, live recording, and MIDI programming—basically anything creative and musical you would ever want to do with your computer. One of the best places to hear Logic in action is on Kanye West’s The College Dropout where I relied on Logic to create musical elements for “All Falls Down,” “Last Call,” “Family Business,” and “Never Let Me Down.” I’m also using Logic 7 on Kanye’s forthcoming Late Registration, but that’s top secret, so until I can tell you about it, dig these dirty digital Dropout secrets.
1. confessions Just when you thought the sped-up music in “Never Let Me Down” was a sample, it’s not, it’s me (even the chipmunk vocal). Kanye sampled some obscure record and didn’t know what it was, and he asked me if I could re-create the exact sound of the sample the way he used it—from scratch. I grabbed my weapon of choice, Logic, to accomplish this overwhelming task. The goal was to recreate a ’70s live band and singer, sampled in mono from scratchy vinyl, well enough to make Kanye believe it was real.
2. get low The raw sample arrived in its (very) sped-up form. To bring the speed down and get the pitch of the sample out of helium-huffing range, I decided to use Logic’s Time and Pitch Machine in Classic Mode (which functions like slowing down a record). I had never heard the original song before, and I didn’t even know if it was a male or female singer, but as Logic slowed the sample down, a ’70s soul vibe emerged with a male singer’s voice sitting in the front of the mix. I won’t mention any names, but this guy’s ruined classics like “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.”
3. when it comes to being tuned, at least be tuned in key (sing along now!) Next, I figured out the new tempo and tuning and lined it up in MIDI to the Logic grid, looping the audio file on beat. I had to be very careful when I slowed the sample down to make sure it was on key, because if it was sharp or flat, learning the notes would be very difficult. I listened to the same four bars of music looped over and over for what seemed like eternity. My ears gradually separated each piece of the sonic puzzle—the notes revealing themselves first, which then gave way to the more subtle details of the loop.
Scratch magazine: the lab: July 2005
logic vs. pro tools?
That’s barely a question. Some say that Logic compliments the individual creative process while Pro Tools lends itself more to commercial studios and engineer types. The fact is that Logic can be used for producing, mixing, editing, live recording, and MIDI programming—basically anything creative and musical you would ever want to do with your computer. One of the best places to hear Logic in action is on Kanye West’s The College Dropout where I relied on Logic to create musical elements for “All Falls Down,” “Last Call,” “Family Business,” and “Never Let Me Down.” I’m also using Logic 7 on Kanye’s forthcoming Late Registration, but that’s top secret, so until I can tell you about it, dig these dirty digital Dropout secrets.
1. confessions Just when you thought the sped-up music in “Never Let Me Down” was a sample, it’s not, it’s me (even the chipmunk vocal). Kanye sampled some obscure record and didn’t know what it was, and he asked me if I could re-create the exact sound of the sample the way he used it—from scratch. I grabbed my weapon of choice, Logic, to accomplish this overwhelming task. The goal was to recreate a ’70s live band and singer, sampled in mono from scratchy vinyl, well enough to make Kanye believe it was real.
2. get low The raw sample arrived in its (very) sped-up form. To bring the speed down and get the pitch of the sample out of helium-huffing range, I decided to use Logic’s Time and Pitch Machine in Classic Mode (which functions like slowing down a record). I had never heard the original song before, and I didn’t even know if it was a male or female singer, but as Logic slowed the sample down, a ’70s soul vibe emerged with a male singer’s voice sitting in the front of the mix. I won’t mention any names, but this guy’s ruined classics like “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.”
3. when it comes to being tuned, at least be tuned in key (sing along now!) Next, I figured out the new tempo and tuning and lined it up in MIDI to the Logic grid, looping the audio file on beat. I had to be very careful when I slowed the sample down to make sure it was on key, because if it was sharp or flat, learning the notes would be very difficult. I listened to the same four bars of music looped over and over for what seemed like eternity. My ears gradually separated each piece of the sonic puzzle—the notes revealing themselves first, which then gave way to the more subtle details of the loop.
