# Contemporary/post-modern composition using samplers



## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

ok so this is a really specific request but-

Distinct from the use of things like pre-recorded tape experiments- it seems like the sampler might be a useful tool for post-modern composers of a certain vein, in terms of the experimentation and manipulation it allows with pre-existing music. 

Not knowing too much about music since the 70s, are there any notable works from current composers who make extensive use of sampling (In particular, I'm interested if any notable works exist which use samples of other classical music recordings as musical elements)


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Carl Stone: Shing Kee (1986)




"The piece is entirely derived from a short sample of the Japanese pop singer Akiko Yano, singing Schubert ("The Linden Tree") in English. Formally, the piece is in two sections (plus introduction and coda). In the first section, the sample is introduced gradually into a repeating 5 second cycle of time. At the very beginning, just a few milliseconds are stretched to fill the 5 second cycle, so the amount of stretch is very extreme. As the piece progresses, more and more of the sample is inserted into the cycle, and so the amount of stretching decreases and eventually, when the length of the sample equals the length of the cycle, real time is achieved. At this moment, the piece moves to the second section, where the sample repeats simply, but is stretched farther and farther, to an almost absurd point wherein it seems to almost fall apart into its component sounds." - Carl Stone

Sukothai (1977)




"On "Sukothai," he takes a sliver of harpsichord from Benjamin Britten's already playful "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" and-in a process similar to Steve Reich's Come Out-teases it into two loops and then four. Stone exponentially increases them across a dizzying 14 minutes, until that dainty harpsichord line turns into a canon of a hefty 1024 loops." - Andy Beta


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Noah Creshevsky's Sequenza (for trombone) (2004), borrowing Berio's title, is a piece of trombone multitracking with samples from sources other than the instrument. Creshevsky passed away last year.
https://theopenspace.bandcamp.com/track/creshevsky-sequenza-for-trombone-2004


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)




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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Simon Steen-Andersen: Double Up (sampler & small orchestra)

This is one of the most creative contemporary pieces I know.

The orchestra imitates, or "doubles up", the sound files on the sampler (although sometimes, the orchestra just adds background coloring). Their blending together is pretty convincing; Steen-Andersen has some mad orchestration skills. The sound files are from everyday life, like an alarm clock going off or turning a key in a lock or typing on a keyboard.

The piece opens with sort of an introduction (0:00-0:45), with the sampler playing a glissando on, I believe, all the keys, running through each sample of the first sound bank really quickly while the orchestra imitates as much of the sample sounds as can be heard. The glissando is played four more times, each time a bit more slowed down.

Part 1 of the piece (0:46-8:47) arranges the samples into a story about a guy going to and from work, going to and from the casino, having a one-night stand, and then constantly calling the woman he hooked up with before getting into a car crash while on the phone/drunk, returning home from the ER, continuing to call the woman before receiving a return call and her coming over. For example, 0:46-2:05 is an uneventful day at work, beginning with snoring and the alarm going off, then shaving, showering, brushing teeth, etc. and ending with dinner, flipping channels on tv and lights out for bed (this article here has an audio sample of this part with the names of the samples to follow along - just scroll down in the article until "Audio/Video A").

Then we have a solo for the sampler (8:47-9:32), consisting of the sentence "Doubling up is a risky strategy, but it can yield large returns" broken up into syllables.

Part 2 (9:32-end) rearranges the samples from part 1 according to timbral and rhythmic similarities, creating a chain of events that evolves texturally. In this part, he's drawing on Lachenmann's music. Towards the end, the sampler plays clusters of samples, with a corresponding layering in the orchestra.


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