After the success of last month's sample pack, we've done it again. This month we've raided the crates and found 50 hip hop and funk breaks for you - all recorded from vinyl and presented as 24bit 44khz WAVs for you to load into your weapon of choice.
Some will be familiar, others completely fresh and new. Loop, mash, slice, dice and splice them to your hearts content.
Choose your favourite host and get your download on:
We've been delving into the NuFunk.net crates to find some awesome samples for the producers amongst you. Some may be familiar, some are a bit more obscure, but they all come dripping with funky flavour.
We are proud to present the 'NuFunk.net Sample Pack: July 2010', containing nearly 150MB of free samples including breakbeats, percussion hits and loops, instrument samples, vocals and full grooves - all recorded from vinyl and presented as 24bit 44khz WAVs.
It breaks down like this:
29MB (19 Files) of Drums and Percussion including bongo lines, claps, snares, breaks and unusual stuff like finger cymbals.
68MB (25 Files) of Instruments and Grooves taken from some of the hottest funk, soul and disco tracks. Includes stabs, flute lines, guitar lines, bass and full funked-out grooves to chop and play around with.
52MB (15 files) of vocals including hip hop snippets and cool spoken word phrases.
Hey, we're not saying it's everything you need to produce a track, but combine these samples with your own arsenal and you've got a recipe for some banging beats.
We've uploaded to a bunch of places, so choose your favourite host and get busy. Hit us up if you notice a broken link.
From DJing to production, Hayz is one of the biggest names in the funky breaks scene, blending commercial, accessible sounds with underground cool as he cuts, scratches and fades his way through the world of NuFunk.
He took time to talk to NuFunk.net and drop a free download exclusively for our readers.
As you were growing up, what music did you love and what artists inspired you?
When I was 15 or 16 I was really heavily into hip-hop - Gangstarr, Hijack, Gunshot, groups like Caveman with MCM. I think there’s a strong parallel with that era of hip-hop and the NuFunk scene.
As I was growing up I went to Cream (Club Nation) in Liverpool religiously. I used to see Jeremy Healy, Carl Cox all those big names at the time. It was a very Italian era in house music. That was when I first got decks.
How did you start out making music?
DJing came first around 1995, I was playing Big Beat in Sheffield at clubs like Republic - the home of Gatecrasher and Music Factory.
Production came more recently, about two or three years ago. I’d always wanted to do it, I have a classical background in music and I play guitar, drums and piano. Then it felt like the software had arrived that made my style of music possible, especially Ableton.
It’s a very DJ-friendly piece of software, the learning curve isn’t as steep as some DAW software if you already have a background in mixing tracks together.
That combined with things like Serato has changed everything. It’s amazing to think that now someone can produce a track in their room and instantly have it on digital vinyl. I used to be such a vinyl purist but I saw Serato and realised that the technology had moved on.
My style of DJing has always been cutting, scratching and fading - heavily working the crossfader. I use the decks as musical instruments and if the new technology couldn’t deliver that, I wouldn’t be happy DJing.
For me, you can’t just play records, you have to add to the performance and make the music your own - whether that’s through adding little breaks using ‘loop rolling’ in Serato, adding cuts and fades on the mixer, or playing your own tweaked edits and versions of familiar tracks – you can’t just play the same records in the same way as the next DJ.
That’s where production came in for me. I was already playing a lot of exclusives and unreleased stuff – I worked hard to get my hands on tracks before they were widely available – but I also wanted to make the music sound completely new and that’s why I started making my own stuff.
What’s your take on the old sampling debate?
Back in the day, hip-hop producers used to sample artists and use each other’s samples as a form of respect. They would use elements of the music they loved and reinvent them – bring them back into the public consciousness. I think NuFunk works in the same way.
Nowadays, yeah legally you could take someone to court for the few hundred pounds they made on a digital release or vinyl, but would it be worth it? I still think that ripping off another track entirely crosses the line, that's a different matter altogether.
Your biggest release is probably the Ghetto Base EP (see video below), was it your first?
The Rhyme Assassin EP on Badboe’s Breakbeat Paradise label came first – it had mixes from Jayl Funk, Mark Walton & Noel Boogie (aka Fretless) and Calagad 13. That got in the top five on the Juno charts.
Ghetto Base was my second release and that got to number 1 in the Breaks & Electro, Funk and singles chart for all genres on Juno, which surpassed my expectations. I selected the remixers on that very carefully – Nick Fonkynson, Ursula 1000, Freak-Fu, Jayl Funk and Rhythm Scholar all bring something awesome to the EP.
That was released digitally on Pig Balls Records, then Big M Productions picked it up and released it on vinyl backed with three tracks from the talented Rory Hoy. The whole package, the production, the remixes, the video – it all went into making it a success.
What are you working on now?
I’ve got loads more I want to do musically – I want to do more original work. My new project is working with MCM formerly lyricist for a group called Caveman. They used to do some really infectious funky hip-hop and their track Fry You Like Fish is a classic.
I just recently got him round and recorded some vocals. I'm also working with a guy called Phaze 5, who is producing some wicked guitar licks – so it’s a real original track.
Remixing also keeps me busy – but with my own business and a family, plus several residencies, it’s hard to fit it all in. I’m always really honoured to be asked, but it’s often hard to find the time so I have to be careful about what I commit to.
Where can people hear you spinning?
I’ve got loads going on at the moment. There’s Funk Shui at the Lost Angel in Battersea, Graffiti Rock with Kool Hertz at Bar Vinyl in Camden and we’ve got the NuFunk.net launch party coming up at the Lost Angel, too. I've just been approached about playing at a festival in Athens and a couple of new swanky venues have booked me in to start new Sat night residencies, which is super-cool!
Hayz has also given us a fresh track, one that he’s been keeping very close to his chest for a while. Listen below and if you want to get your hands on a copy of this exclusive track, as well as a whole bunch of other goodies, head over to our exclusive Member's Vault and download the 'Megabundle'. This is a members-only forum, so if you're not a member yet, join up HERE.
When I heard The Scammers Meet The Great Wugga Wugga - 'Sally's Walk' back in the heady days of the 1990s, I was blown away.
If you haven't heard it you should. Unfortunately there are no clips of it anywhere on the whole worldly-wide inter-wangle.
However, you can preview / buy it at Juno and get a pretty good idea of how much you need it in your life...
Anyway, after hearing that blistering big beat tune, I needed to know where that funky-ass sample came from. Sadly it was a long time before I twigged.
A couple of years ago, after a fiercely fought and particularly costly Ebay auction, I found myself the proud owner of a beautiful piece of wax from the legendary Ultimate Breaks & Beats series.
Midway through side B, listening to a track called 'Let A Woman Be A Woman, Let A Man Be Man' by a band called Dyke & The Blazers, my ears suddenly pricked up.
There it was, as slamming and funked-out as I remembered it from the Scammers record - the 'Sally's Walk' break.
Have a listen, it kicks in around 1.40:
Blinder innit?
You can get it on Ultimate Breaks & Beats Vol. 17, on 'Greatest Hits' by Dyke & The Blazers (1969) and it also appears on a load of different compilations, including Dj Pogo's 'These Are The Breaks'.
Anyhoo, until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.
Another wicked and bad freebie for you: this time we have an incredible encyclopedia of drum breaks lovingly sampled, bounced and sliced by Cyberworm over at Rhythm Lab.
Available in both Rex and Wav flavours, this mighty collection has everything from 5 Stairsteps to ZZ Hill.
Also, those superb folks over at Salad Records.com have posted some awesome links to John Bonham's drum out-takes from 1979 album "In Through The Door".
The legendary Led Zep skin-basher's percussive stylings have been sampled by everyone from Eminem to The Prodigy. Now you can get in on the act too.
Welcome to 'Make It Funky'. Each week we're going to be providing resources, links and tips for Nu Funk producers. Hopefully there's going to be something for everyone, from noobs to pro's, so stay tuned.
First up, drums. Without them there is no funk.
So here's some links to all the drums you'll ever need.
First up, a well-recorded live drum kit. Sadly the legendary NS7 kit is no longer free, but there is a really rather tasty alternative - the Analogue Drums Big Mono kit.
Analogue Drums say: "Big Mono is a roomy rendition of a lovable Ludwig, a Rogers Dynasonic snare drum, some tasty Zildjians, and a Sabian ride for good luck. Tracked through a '75 Neve desk, and as always onto a nice thick roll of tape. Recorded in mono using a decca-tree configuration, this kit sounds retro with plenty of space."
Each drum has been multisampled at loads of different velocity levels, for realistic sounding drum sequencing.
You have to register to get your hands on it, but you get 254 discrete 24-bit, 44.1khz mono wav samples, a quick-reference card (PDF) and sampler mapping files for Battery, Kontakt and Logic's EXS24 - all in a handy 135MB package.
Now for all the drum machine samples you will ever need. From Acetone Rhythm Ace to Yamaha TX16W, taking in 200 different machines on the way, including the seminal Roland TR-505, 808 and 909.
Simply go to this page, hosted by netlabel Hexawe.
"But what about the breaks?" I hear you cry. Well don't get pissy, we've got that covered too.
Phat Drumloops does exactly what it says on the tin, provides phat breaks from some of the most distinctive drum tracks ever recorded.
It's got yer 'Amen Brother', yer 'Think', yer 'Apache', yer 'Funky Mule' - but it also has some more obscure and unexpected freshness. For example: 'Atlanta Boogaloo' by The Inclines and 'Oh Woman, Oh Why' by Sir Paul of McCartney.
With 580 entries, their beats archive is definitely worth a look for fresh faces and dust-fingered diggers alike.
And finally, you lucky, lucky people, a NuFunk.Net EXCLUSIVE: a massive sampled vinyl kit, with 50 snares, 50 kicks, 50 hats, plenty of fills and percussive hits. There are more than 180 individual samples in this pack, lovingly sourced and sliced ready to load into your weapon of choice.
Grab it here. Don't say we never give you anything.
Now get busy - we want to hear your demos, tracks and WIPs. Use our Soundcloud Dropbox on the right of the page to send us some hot shizzle.
And if you have always fancied making tracks but aren't sure how to go about it, why not start by downloading the Free Portable Music Studio? It contains everything you need to get you up and running.
