Do DJs who overuse the 'siren' sample make you want to call the sample police? DJ Ampero pleads for a better way of dropping samples into DJ sets...
I’m sure we’ve all at one time or other inflicted our share of sample overdrive on our audiences, or at least borne witness to the DJ who thought it’d be OK to run the siren, air horn and police siren samples from his DJ software in his set… at the same time.
It’s unfortunately all-too-common to find DJs (pros as well as amateurs) who make their sample and effects banks too prominent a fixture in their shows, sometimes to the extent that such behaviour all but destroys the groove, seriously annoying the crowd in the process.
The Virtual DJ effect
Virtual DJ is partly to blame. Beloved of beginners, the software (whether the trial version or the full monty) has a powerful sample feature where samples can be looped or one-shotted, and beatmatched at a click. Trouble is, it comes with a few starter samples, and on the first bank is almost always that infamous “siren” sample.
I hate this sample and haven’t used it at all for any reason in years. Why? Because a long time ago it became a prop that DJs always seemed to use to either mask shoddy transitions or make a feeble attempt to “spice up” the night.
A long time ago it became a prop that DJs always seemed to use to mask shoddy transitions…
You’d hear (and still do hear) that siren used a lot in venues that catered to club / dance / house crowds.
But when it comes to other genres like reggae and hip hop, better brace yourself for everything from wayward lasers to gunfire, police sirens, dog barks and explosions, ad infinitum.
Sadly, an all-out assault of sample boards can easily ruin a night – especially when a really good song is making the runs and there’s an abrupt air horn or cop chase overlaid. I’ve seen people walk out of venues over these seemly innocent additions to DJ sets that, somehow, evolve into overused and underloved DJ gimmicks.
The trouble with samples…
The trouble is, in unskilled and overexcited hands, such non-musical additions can be far too blunt a tool to do anything with other than annoy. Why don’t such DJs realise the toll on the average person’s sanity of hearing the siren sample every 16 beats? It’s nerve-wracking!
Dirty dozen: The six samples native to Virtual DJ that cause a lot of the grief on dancefloors the world over...
Worse, since samples tend to be notched a bit louder than the track that they’re being played over, their use can drive systems too far, distorting the sound to the point that clubbers feel tired, ears hurting from the music, and want to take a break – even if they’re really enjoying the tunes being played overall.
Subliminally, overuse of samples in this way makes the crowd want to leave.
The right way to use samples
I’m not saying it’s necessarily wrong to drop samples over DJ sets. I’m just saying that they should be used respectfully, to build excitement rather than to cover up for Neanderthal mixing abilities.
Samples can come in handy to give your sets a bit of personal flavour and even give you a window if you need to make a drastic tempo change.
Samples can come in handy to give your sets a bit of personal flavour.
I’m actually a fan of crafty and well executed samples: Girl Talk is one of my favourite DJs, and I love to see DJs take samples to a level of personal taste by creating and using their own quips, cuts, sounds and edits.
And while taking the time to find, locate and trim your own custom sample bank may seem like a lot of effort, it only takes seeing your 10th DJ this month hitting F3 in Virtual DJ to trigger the infernal “put your hands up in the air, put your hands up – in the air” sample to send you home for a night hunched over the keyboard, cutting up useful stabs and loops for your own sets to show how it should be done properly and make yourself stand out for the right reasons.
Audacity is an excellent cross-platform, open-source audio manipulation program.
Software that can help
Audacity is an awesome, free, program for crafting samples, although you’ll need to figure out a way of recording your computer’s output straight into the program internally (the solution differs between PC and Mac and depending on the version of Audacity you have).
There’s also a decent, free-ish web app at MediaConverter.org that let you submit video clips (uploads or YouTube links) and audio for conversion into quite a few formats (MP3 included) – so you can finally use the “Bumblebee Tuna” scene from Ace Ventura to kick off your next mix!
It’s definitely also good idea to cut your sample bank down to size, getting rid of the default files that came packaged with your software as a very minimum.
Once you get to know each and every same you create of choose to save, practise the hell out of them at home and figure where they’d all fit in your set; only should you even attempt to use then in your gigs, because only then can you use them effectively.
It’s definitely also good idea to cut your sample bank down to size…
This isn’t to suggest, by the way, you go all Fatboy Slim and start making production-grade tracks – but then again if that’s where thinking about samples in an original and creative sense takes you then why not run with it? You could just end up with the next “Renegade Master” on your hands…
I think the point is that sample use in sets has to be done to a certain level of originality, and always so the listeners can easily groove to what they came out for in the first place – the music.
• Arthol Gibson (DJ Ampero) is a DJ, remixer and writer from The Bahamas. Check him out on Twitter – and why not Like his Facebook Page too?
Have you been guilty of overusing samples? Do you hear DJs who make this mistake? Have you found a way to be creative with samples and do something different in your DJing? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
Now go to:
Your Questions: Where’s Best Place To Get Samples & Loops For My DJ Sets?
How To Make And Perform Mashups, Part 1 – Sampling
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Tags: samples, Virtual DJ
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Effects also fall into this category!
[ link ]You mean that damned flanger? UUUGGGH. Also, DJs who use HP filters during a song randomly: stoppit! Those filters are used for builds (mostly).
[ link ]I really dislike the use of samples.
It’s cheap and amateurish. Let your tunes and mixing do the talking, not a load of random .wav’s fired off at the press of a button. Yes, I’m aware some DJs do it well, but it’s still one of the biggest crimes a DJ can commit, IMO.
Almost as bad as unsync’d DJM FX mashing.
[ link ]The way I see it, if you want FX you should be playing tunes with FX already in them.
To get things timed right, properly EQed and integrated with the rest of a track, you need to do things asynchronously, in the studio, making proper use of EQs, compressors etc. A good example is this breakdown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud9uqgbyYjM – it’s far more effective than you could hope to achieve live.
You can’t just bang stuff on top of electronic music and expect it to sound good. The style is too densely engineered to tolerate that, and the tolerances are tiny.
[ link ]Dont agree just like a great dj can make a crap tune sound good,a good dj can add to a track by creative use of effects.On the othher hand bad use of effects will make the track sound worse.
[ link ]The worse thing is that these days inexperienced djs with little or no knowledge and who are sometimes tone deaf have easy accesse to all these tools and in the wrong hands its a receipt for disaster
Seems to me like there’s an idea for a new article. Effective use of effects when DJing. As Tony says, they can either make or break a mix easily.
[ link ]I have to agree with tony here.
Clever use of FX can really drive a tune onto another level.
Through my years of stomping on dancefloors, I noticed that most DJs just don’t bother with being clever or subtle, they just flick to FLANGE and mash the big orange button, but there’s so much to do beyond that.
Smart use of the roll, for instance, can really make a buildup whip up a frenzy, or the delay can be used to create nifty little jumps in percussion.
It works better for some genres than others. On breakbeat styles, DJM style effects don’t tend to work well. A&H H/LPFs suit it so much better. But on say trance or hard dance (what I’m used to), a smart bit of flanging, DJMfilter or crush really works. And timing wise, I’ve never had any issues with the DJM (or Traktor) FX syncing.
But as StrangeMatter said, I think this is really one for a new article
[ link ]Amen, to the two above posts..
[ link ]I like samples when they enhance the experience, but not when they’re used to hide bad mixovers or for ego. It’s ridiculous when DJs think they’re supposed to be “doing something” every second. Sometimes you have to step back and let a good track just play. Not everything has to be tweaked.
I also hate overkill on name drops. “Audio masturbation” I like to call it.
[ link ]you mean like “audio audio AUDIO MASTURBATION..bation… bation… bation…?”
[ link ]There are people out there who use virtual DJ? Out live? For realz?
[ link ]Sure, man, I used it for years. It is a good program.
[ link ]Yeah…and there are even DJs who use Windows.
[ link ]I don’t understand peoples hate for virtual dj…. I have used traktor, serato and vdj, and choose vdj. To each is own.
[ link ]People “hate” it mostly because it goes against the grain.
[ link ]Alot of folk see it’s ease of use, without the need for hardware, as a cop out to the tangible prowess of being a DJ but, honestly, I DJ’d with VDJ for about 5 years before really getting hands-on with equipment and because VDJs interface is so intuitive finding my way around actual, tangible, devices was a breeze.
Something one really can’t do with Serato.
There are people out there who use traktor? Out live? For realz?
[ link ]Dancehall/Reggae venues = lazers, bombs, gunshots, artist tags, sirens, horns, all night long baby. its what identifies the genre and sound systems. for dance, club shit i definitely wouldn’t use the same samples i’d use for a reggae night, maybe for hiphop a few horns here and there.
[ link ]I use the siren, heck I let people trigger it on my Rane 57, the come up to me and ask if I can play the siren and I let them do it. Other good samples are the classic, WESTSIDE & THIS IS LOS ANGELES!
[ link ]The key to samples is they’re meant as enhancement and nothing more. Effects such as uprising, filtered noise is what make drops better in songs and it can also be used as a DJ.
[ link ]Agreed, and good article. Like any tool, it all depends upon the user—samples can greatly enhance a set or kill it.
Funny story: I spent a couple of hours getting the signature sax riff from Springsteen’s “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” into a perfect bite-sized sample. It was the day I found out Clarence Clemons had died, so I wanted to drop a perfect sample into my mix in his honor. It took a good bit of tweaking in Audacity until I was happy with it.
And then I just plain forgot to play it
[ link ]As a producer first and dj second I actually have crafted quite a number of samples that I use regularly and not a single siren among them. Two that stand out are a plain white noise sample that can be filtered to create a buildup from scratch and a Shepard tone. A Shepard tone is a tone that continually rises ad infinitum to create tension and increases energy in the room. These two samples when used appropriately nearly always have the desired effect of getting asses out of chairs and on the floor. But like effects and alcohol, use samples in moderation.
[ link ]why does everybody make fun of virtual dj and windows????i really can’t get it???oh i know it’s cool to use a mac and a traktor right with cdj’s connected???i work in a small club with virtual dj and windows on a pc and i am far better than some mates of mine who play in big clubs with macs and traktors!i guess i ll never be a pro if i use pionners with virtual dj but if i do that with traktor what?i am on the right path?
[ link ]We don’t make fun of Virtual DJ or Windows here, both are viable options for DJing with.
[ link ]Windows and Macs can do the same thing. I’m not only a DJ, but a web developer and graphic designer and I’m “supposed” to love Macs, but I have the same programs (Adobe Creative Suite) and can do whatever I need to do on my PC that can be done on a Mac. PCs rule.
I’m Windows 7 and Traktor 2 – and have used this setup live with no issues at all.
[ link ]lol dont worry about it.I use Mixxx on Ubuntu Linux (both are non-starters to the so-called pros), and at the end of the day, the audience doesn’t care. So long as it sounds good
[ link ]Its a common thing that goes on when the title “DJ” is applied. I’m not biased AT ALL….and I’ll never be…..but a lot of ppl have a lot of unfounded, angry, opinions that they feel they must shout to the heavens. I find that ignoring them is the best option…..u know the “stupid is as stupid does” phrase. I usually, 9 times out of 10, opt out of being a part of all the angry arguments that go on via the Internet when the title “DJ” is thrown into the mix. I’d rather enjoy the music….no matter how it’s played. Don’t take all the angry comments to heart man…..just let it all go. Let’em shout….when everybody their shouting at eventually stops listening they’ll realize the only 1 that cares is them and the tiny gathering they have behind them. Don’t bother even responding to the nonsense……let’em rant to deft ears. Bc in the end….does it really matter? Take care bro.
[ link ]i also think that a good dj don’t need samples and stupid effects to saw that he’s good,they are very tiring,if you play a boring set or a bad one neither samples or effects will save you ass!this is my opinion!
[ link ]I doubt anyone will disagree with you on this point, your opinion.
[ link ]The goal of the article, though, was just to offer a friendly nudge to those that may use samples and who may be using them in an ineffective manner and simply don’t realize it.
Like everything else that DJing encompasses, use of samples is a worthy skill to have if it applies to your style.
Certain genres even beckon the use of both samples and effects because of the culture that surrounds it.
No – it wouldn’t and doesn’t, straight out, make you a good DJ if you use them or not but if you take the time to be skllful with what you have it will definitely put you a notch higher than those that abuse.
Vocal samples which you make yourself, whether they’re from movies, tv shows, radio or voice, tend to work far far better than say, that stupid sien, air horn sample which gets overused to bloody much.
Theres nothing like a good Father Ted quote in a progressive trance breakdown, or a creepy Dracula sample mixed over some psytrance.
[ link ]Or just forgo the Dracula sample and just drop “Dracul” from IM in a psytrance set.
[ link ]agree samples used at the wrong time or out of key can sound rubbish the samples and acapellas should compliment the music not take away from it.
Check this video clip from Dutch master Ben Liebrand this guy taught Armin Van Buuren to DJ [the audio is not too good as someone recorded this on a mobile phone]
This is done using 4 pioneer cdjs and all samples are individual nothing pre recorded.I was actually present at this gig stood at the back of the dj box for most of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP7Lhpcb5ss
PS we should start a discussion samples and acas that work well!!
[ link ]Acas are ace in trance when done right. I like to use the intro monologue from the film Rock ‘n’ Rolla on the drop of the Jordan Suckley remix of Greg Downey’s Grudge Match. It sounds awesome and fits perfectly.
[ link ]I’ll add that I took the idea from Judge Jules who layed it over Simon Patterson’s Thump. I just do it with a bit more finesse!
[ link ]Hah, thats so awesome, yeah the soundtracks to those films have some decent dialogue tracks.
[ link ]I just wanted to say thank you to all who took the time out to read and comment on this article. It’s great to see both the unity and personal opinions.
[ link ]If Phil allows I may do a short tutorial bit on effective sample usage.
I use samples, I even use the siren and people don’t hate they just have fun with it. Is’nt that the hole idea… Have fun?
[ link ]I got traktor s4 (the software only, yes hacked), and prefer virtual dj and yes I use a laptop with windows and controller. I play live all the time not at home (like 90% of you “djs”).
And yes you don’t need the sampler to show you have skills but they are fun and they do add to your momentum when playing.
I use samples, I even use the siren and people don’t hate they just have fun with it. Is’nt that the hole idea… Have fun?
[ link ]I got traktor s4 (the software only, yes hacked), and prefer virtual dj and yes I use a laptop with windows and controller. I play live all the time not at home (like 90% of you “djs”).
And yes you don’t need the sampler to show you have skills but they are fun and they do add to your momentum when playing.
Why are you proud to admit to using hacked software? It’s theft and we don’t condone or tolerate it here.
[ link ]there’s not even an excuse… Use Mixxx if your strapped of cash…or freebie version of VDJ (do they still have that?)
[ link ]Samples are such a wreck for certain types of music. I absolutely HATE hearing things like video game sounds and pop culture references in Psytrance. I joke to my friends that the DJ’s spinning that stuff is ‘gimmicktrance’. Things like a sudden Street Fighter sample completely rips me out of the music and you can see it in others too; they suddenly stop because it wrecks the flow of the music. It’s lame. Gotta cut that crap out.
[ link ]Samples and reggae go hand in hand. Im so accustomed to hearing laser or gunshot samples (better that than the real thing). As the other poster mentioned, it depends on the genre of music.
To the comments regarding virtual dj, a lot of people tend to believe if you’re not using Serato, you’re not a serious dj. To the people that ask me why I’m not using serato, I ask them if wearing jordans makes them a better basketball player. It’s either you have skills or you don’t.
[ link ]Not sure if you mind me posting, but we think done the right way and in tempo… samples, fx & loops can add a lot to a dj set, mixtape, remix or edit. If you are pushed for time to make your own, check us out. http://www.mixaloop.com – thanks
[ link ]I don’t agree with the article at all and here’s why… Trying to tell people how to do something the “right way” is tantamount to limiting their creativity. When a DJ has the freedom to mess around is when happy accidents and innovations usually come about… Remember how vinyl scratching came about?
[ link ]Also, and very importantly. I have never seen or heard of anybody leaving a venue because the DJ used samples “badly”.
We’re not saying how to do it “the right way”… just pointing out a trap that’s plainly wrong. Experiment behind closed doors by all means, but not in front of a paying crowd…
[ link ]I personally try not to use any effects or samples, I feel it can detract from the music.
[ link ]I’m not the biggest fan of Dancehall, but if and when someone requests something from that genere it’s far too much goofy fun to start jamming on the siren/gunshot/laser sounds. Call it a guilty pleasure if you will.
Video-game sounds and Flava Flav’s “YEAH BOY!” can also be a treat when used sparingly.
[ link ]I agree that using samples for the sake of using samples is a poor decision. When your more worried about doing something than you are about how everything sounds your making a fatal mistake. I personally have never used any air horns, sirens, etc.
The way I use Traktors remix decks (don’t have the f1 yet) is by taking a loop of the outgoing track (if it works well) and using it in the incoming track somehow.
Here’s an example of this in action:
http://www.hark.com/clips/mcqvwnpflp-hell-yeah-meets-lets-go-dawrecked-one-remix
Outgoing track: “Hell Yeah”
Incoming Track: “Let’s Go” by Usher
Once I blended into “Let’s Go” I applied Traktor’s gator effect to the “Hell Yeah” loop in the remix deck and used it throughout “Let’s Go”.
PS. I realize this is nothing unique. A lot of ppl do this. Just figured I’d share it to reinforce what I’m saying to those that might not understand what I mean.
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