intermusic.

com

Page 1 of 3

DIY Rare Grooves

Anyone with a sampler with a filter can make a cut-up track

Whether you're making house, big beat or trip hop, sooner or later most of you will try our hand at a cut-up track.
God knows I've done enough in my time. Short loops of old funk or disco tunes are now as much part of club
music as the old four-on-the-floor kick is. And it's such a supremely easy way of injecting groove into your tune
without having to assemble a band of virtuoso musicians every time you want to add some 70s flavour. Just bag
yourself some funky samples and Bootsy Collins's your uncle.
The coolest cut?
The big question therefore is where do you find that killer groove? If you're on a 100% authentic trip then you
should really start spending every weekend at record fairs and jumble sales, digging out lost funk classics until
your house is so brimming with obscure vinyl it's in danger of structural collapse. Your partner will be pleased.
Alternatively, let somebody else do the hard work for you and buy yourself a couple of compilations, which are
usually put together by a true aficionado of the genre. This is a tried and tested route used by many of the biggest
names in dance music.
For example, last year's Disco Spectrum compilation compiled by Dave Lee has been so
mercilessly pillaged it now sounds more like a Now That's What I Call Really Big House Tracks Of 1999
compilation. And one of the longest running and still probably the best classic compilation series for anyone
seeking choice cuts is the Mastercuts collection.
Having found a track you like, simply run a minute or two of it into your computer or sampler, then loop up lots of
one or two bar sections. If you find listening to a particular loop causes you to start grinning/tapping your
foot/running round your studio whooping like a deranged hyena (delete as applicable) then you're probably on to
something. If you still feel the same way after listening for another five minutes it's probably fair to say you've
found your killer cut.
Choice cuts
So you've picked your music loop, now what? Your first and most important job is going to be getting the timing of
your cut sorted (see the Step-by-step 1: cutting up samples walkthrough box below). Why the obsession with
timing? Because this is dance music and tightening up the timing of your track can make as much difference to
the sound as getting your EQ right. It could be the vital ingredient in order to turn a shuffling toe-tapper of a rhythm
into a pounding beat-zilla.
There are two basic approaches to sample tracks, the first being the classic filtered disco sound of a music loop
simply dropped over beats as typified by Armand Van Helden's You Don't Know Me or DJ Sneak's classic You
Can't Hide From Your Bud.
One of the biggest advantages of heavy filtering is it can render your original sample unrecognisable. Now I'm not
suggesting for one minute you shouldn't clear your samples (perish the thought) but creative filtering will give your
lawyer something to argue with, when it comes to the debate about how integral the original sample is to the new
work.
The second way
The second, more subtle cut-up sound tries not to make the sample carry too much of the track, instead relying on
a more layered sound. Do this by replaying some of the parts from the sample such as strings or electric pianos,
then turning the original sample down in the mix so it just adds flavour rather than dominates. This approach is
finding favour with the dubbed-out garage of labels such as Subliminal.
However, this approach can often be tricky to mix because it means you have a music loop which occupies most
of the frequency spectrum on its own and over which you're trying to add more instruments. As with any mix you'll
have to spend time sorting out the mid-range frequencies, and if you use EQ or filters to roll-off anything over
8kHz or below 100Hz the cut shouldn't argue with your kick drum or make your hi-hats too messy.

http://intermusic.com/print.asp?ReviewId=2280&ArticleTable=Features&FeatureType=TUT... 9/17/01

intermusic.com

Page 2 of 3

Step-by-step 1: cutting up samples

The first step in any cut-up track is cutting up your sample and, contrary to popular belief, its not as easy as it
looks. Here are six easy tips to perfectly
cutting and pasting your samples and sounds...
First things first, get yourself a bar of two of some old groove. If you want to change its tempo do the
timestretching now, before we start fixing the rhythmic timing.
It's easy to assume once your cut is at the right tempo it will play in time with anything you layer over it but that's
rarely the case. The chances of a live band putting down a metronomically perfect performance are very, very
slim. You'll probably find some beats are slightly early while others are late. You have two options: fix the timing of
your cut to fit the rest of your track or try and sync your track to the cut. The former is the easier option because
the latter takes ages and can result in an awkward-sounding groove.
Step 1
There are various ways of going about this job, the most obvious being ReCycle which is tailor-made for this
situation. Alternatively you could chop the loops up by hand in Logic Audio. You can start by cutting the bar into
the four main beats.
Step 2
Examine the start and end of each chunk; does it overlap a drum hit? If so, move the start and end points so that
the beat starts cleanly and ends before the next one. If this leaves a small gap between beats don't worry about it
at this point.
Step 3
Now layer up some of your own drums which you know are in time. You should be able to hear the improved
timing on the four main beats of the bar. However, you may find the editing has had a negative effect on the
rhythmic timing in between beats. If this is the case you need to make finer edits.
Step 4
Chop each of the four slices in half and repeat the previous process. This gives the loop sufficiently tight timing
without getting too robotic. In extreme cases cut all eight sections in half again and start working in 16ths. If you're
using a swing quantise, place every second 16th slice at a swung timing.
Step 5
If you have gaps of silence between slices which sound bad you can try timestretching the offending portion to fill
the gap. This
usually sounds pretty good as timestretching is more accurate when working with short samples rather than a
whole loop. And if it pushes any beats out of time you can always cut them back into place.
Step 6
Although these methods are useful in most situations, there are cases where these
techniques won't work, particularly if the original cut has a really idiosyncratic groove. Also beware of taking
sections featuring long held notes because these will tend to show up any chopping of the sample. At the end of
the day, if it's not working, give it up.

Step-by-step 2: filters and followers

Creative filtering can transform your loop into a completely unrecognisable squelchy funk...
Step 1
Envelope followers are used to create filter sweeps in response to the volume of the music being fed through
them. This creates really groovy and weird filter effects. There are several filter plug-ins with envelope followers,
including Opcode's Fusion:Filter, Logic's native Auto-Filter and two freebies the mda RezFilter (found at
www.abel.co.uk/~maxim/index.htm) and Prosoniq North Pole (www.prosoniq.com).
Step 2
If you want a really deep, filtered sound you can feed your loop through the mda RezFilter. Then roll the cutoff
down quite low, go for a medium resonance setting, then set the Env/VCF parameter to sweep the cutoff up as
the volume increases.

http://intermusic.com/print.asp?ReviewId=2280&ArticleTable=Features&FeatureType=TUT... 9/17/01

intermusic.com

Page 3 of 3

Step 3
Short attack and decay times will create strange plucked filter sounds, while longer
settings make for pulsing organic swells. Using shorter times will give the sound some edge and if you feed the
result through a stereo delay this will result in a bit of a dubby feel.
Step-by-step 3: rearranging the sample
Be a bit creative with the basic sample, whether a few fills or a full reworking in order to keep the listener's
interest...
Step 1
The first thing to do is split the sample into manageable chunks. For example you can use the eighth-note edit
which was a result of fixing the timing. Obviously you can work with smaller or larger chunks as well, but for this
example we'll number the chunks one to eight consecutively.
Step 2
Copy the snare from chunk seven to the 16th beat between chunks five and six. If you repeat chunk eight twice at
the end, this adds an extra snare beat to the basic groove and a little pace to the end of the bar.
Step 3
Building on the previous variation this fill is created by swapping chunk five (a kick) for chunk three (a snare). You
can also add another copy of chunk eight to the end, this time on the last 32nd of the bar. If you're using swing
quantise don't forget to place chunks accordingly.
The final cut is the deepest
So, these few little pointers should help you on your way to cut-up stardom but, as always, the simplest and best
way to learn is to listen to plenty of examples of the genre. A few classics from the French school of filtering which
will well repay a listen are the Daft Punk remix of Scott Grooves' Mothership Re-connection, DJ Falcon's remix of
Cassius' La Mouche and pretty much anything from Funky Derek's Boogie Dawn album. Bon appetit.

Matt Thomas Future Music 08/00

http://intermusic.com/print.asp?ReviewId=2280&ArticleTable=Features&FeatureType=TUT... 9/17/01