Cassius - "1999"

If you grew up in the 90s just like me you'll probably know this song because of an MTV commercial. But beside that, this is a HUGE track by Cassius (and you have to know them, whenever you grew up). Donna Summer's singing "sometimes" from her early 80s hit "If it hurts just a little" gets pitched high and filtered - Add a 4/4 groove and the bomb is served.

Here you are the steps to get your OWN exclusive copy of "1999" sample and smash your house parties:

check the BPM: 127

go @3:19 circa and select the 8-bar loop.

Adjust the start and the end of the sample and warp it.

Use the "Re-Pitch" mode and you'll suddenly recognize the sample as it's included in "1999"!!

Now let's add some filters, eqing and compressors. But FIRST make sure to turn the stereo file to mono using the Utility (Width: 0%)

Cut some low and hi frequencies with EQ Eight (let's say 200 hz for the low pass and 10 khz for the hi pass) and add some compression.

Now comes the fun part: add the Autofilter and play with cutting the hi frequencies the same way Cassius did.




You may add some chorus and distorsion to make it sound more similar to the original one. But at this point you can do basically whatever with your OWN exclusive copy of Donna Summer's "If it hurts just a little", as sampled by our French friends.

LL Cool J - "Mama Said Knock You Out"

LL Cool J goes back to 1967 to find out this groovy jam by Sly & The Family Stone called "A Trip To Your Heart" and get its choir for his "Mama Said Knock You Out". Moreover, still unsatisfied, he adds the most sampled break of all time, James Brown's "Funky Drummer", and the bomb is served. That's how you can get your own version with Ableton, in just 3 minutes.

Royksopp - "Eple"

An excerpt from Bob James' solo on his soulful ballad "You're as right as rain" gave the idea for Royksopp's "Eple". Here's to you an easy demonstration of what they did, using Ableton Live 6.

Modjo - "Lady"

For those who were born in the 80s "Lady", from French act Modjo, is an all-time favourite. It owes its success to the original Chic's "Soup For One", written by the most sampled songwriting duo of dance music, Rogers & Edwards.

Spiller - "Groove Jet"

Italian dj Spiller made a huge dance hit using samples from an old Salsoul gem, Carol Williams' "Love is you". In this video, I first "extract" the samples from the original tune and then recreate "Groove Jet" main beat by putting them togheter and adding some effects, all using Ableton 6.

Daft Punk - "One More Time"

Daft Punk's "One More Time" is one of the best examples of how a cool dance tune can be made from scratch using samples. This video will show you how, using Ableton Live 6, you can create the song's main beat from the original track, called "More spell on you" by Eddie Johns.