Make It Funky: 50 Fresh Breakbeats

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:

Hotfile

Rapidshare

Megaupload

Mediafire

If you spot a broken link, let us know.

Peace.

The NuFunk.net Team

Make It Funky: Oberheim DX

This week we've got some wicked samples for you of a classic rhythm box - the Oberheim DX, courtesy of 'Calvin Cardioid' over at the CL516 blog.

You should check out his posts here and here.

The DX was a cut-down version of the Oberheim DMX, using samples of actual drum hits to program rhythms.

Its tight, punchy sounds made sure the unit was widely used in early hip-hop by artists such as Run DMC and later featured in the kit list of everyone from New Order to Daft Punk.

Calvin has uploaded a set of individual one-shots from this beautiful beastie here.

He says: "Feel free to use the loops. (Creative Commons License - Please give credit.) Also, I sampled some single hits so you can load'em up in your own MPC's. These hits hopefully sound pretty thick. They are mono WAV's in 16 bit 44.1khz."

And there are some downloadable sequences here:
Sounds from Oberheim DX by Calvin Cardioid

And a couple more here:
Oberheim DX Free Loop 118 by Calvin Cardioid

Oberheim DX Free Loop 106 by Calvin Cardioid

Oberheim DX Free Loop 180 by Calvin Cardioid

Oh, and if you use these samples anytime, drop the man a line and thank him!

What's That Sound? Black Market Breaks

A wicked documentary for you this week: Black Market Breaks looks at sampling culture and hip-hop - exploring different producers' approaches to sampling and digging culture.
Presented by UK hip-hop legend Mark B and featuring interviews with DJ Marley Marl, VIC, Dilated Peoples, Bubba Sparxxx, DJ Greenpeace, David Holmes, Tommy Koi of Mr Bongo Records, Andrew Mason of Wax Poetics & Jared from The Sound Library record store.

Watch it below, or download in audio form from here.









Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

What's That Sound? Edwin Birdsong

Deeply funky Edwin Birdsong played keyboards and organs with a deft touch and an inimitable groove - making him a hot pick for samplists everywhere.

You may be aware of Daft Punk's wholesale rip of his track 'Cola Bottle Baby' - if you aren't you'll either be impressed by their breath-taking audacity or disillusioned when you hear this:

Edwin Birdsong - Rola Cola

Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

The break from the Chemical Brothers 'Morning Lemon' is also an Edwin Birdsong riff, taken from his track 'Rapper Dapper Snapper' and pitched up to energising effect.

Chemical Brothers - Morning Lemon


Edwin Birdsong - Rapper Dapper Snapper


Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

Make It Funky: 150MB of free samples for NuFunk.net readers

We've had a great response from some of the samples and resources we've shared over the past couple of months, but this week, it feels like we've outdone ourselves.

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.

Mediafire

Rapidshare

Megaupload

Hotfile

Enjoy!

What's That Sound? Evil Knievel

A golden-era bigbeat sample for you this week, from Fatboy Slim favourite 'Evil Knievel' by Ceasefire & Deadly Avenger.

This tune completely rocks dancefloors. It did then and it does now. Relentless tough breaks, raw wah guitar, uplifting vocal shouts, growling bass and a storming main groove.

But where does that groove come from?

Well, in 1972, Quincy Jones worked on the soundtrack to a movie called 'Dollar$', also known as 'The Heist' or 'Le Coup'.

The soundtrack was classic blaxploitation fodder: moody, suspenseful, rugged and funky. The standout tracks were called 'Money Runner' and 'Money Is', which were released together on a 45, and it was the former that went on to become the blueprint for Evil Knievel.

Ceasefire & Deadly Avenger - Evil Knievel


Quincy Jones - Money Runner


Copies of the Money Is/Money Runner 7" still change hands, and the soundtrack to Dollar$/The Heist/The Coup is still available after a re-release in 2001. Neither of them are cheap though. Expect to pay US $15+ for the single and around $30 for the full soundtrack.

Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

What's That Sound? Lulu

Just a quick column this week, sharing a discovery I've only just made but that may well be OLD news to the rest of the world.

Remember Lulu? The one your mum liked? Yeah, that's her!

Well, what does she have in common with Norman Cook? More than you'd imagine.

I'll let the videos do the talking.

Lulu - Love Loves To Love


Fatboy Slim - Santa Cruz


Until next time keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

Make It Funky: Copyright Criminals

Featuring Chuck D, George Clinton, Hank Shocklee, De La Soul, Mixmaster Mike and many more speaking about the art, science and law of sampling - the Copyright Criminals vocal pack is a goldmine of funky snippets for producers and DJs.

Download the sample pack here. (Alternate link here.)

The vocals come from the voiceover of a documentary called 'Copyright Criminals: This Is A Sampling Sport', which explores copyright, remixing and sampling culture from the heady days of their birth right through to the 21sdt Century. Learn more about the movie here.

And watch extracts from the movie below:









Copyright Criminals Extracts from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

What's That Sound? Roy Ayers

One of the most sampled men of all time this week: Roy Ayers.

There's not enough space in the whole internet to document all the samples taken from this inspirational vibraphonist, songwriter and composer.

From A-Skillz' 'It's A Booty' mashup to Lemon D's skippy jungle anthem 'This Is Los Angeles', Roy Ayers' influence can be felt all over modern music.

Whether taking a full groove, as in the A-Skillz banger below, or simply taking a vocal stab, as Lemon D chooses to do, Ayers' music is a treasure-trove of sampleable goodies.

Also included below is the sharp guitar groove that underpins NWA's 'Fuck Tha Police' and the jazzy tribute of Mos Def's 'Brooklyn'.

The popularity of his work with samplists is probably explained by the fact that there's a Roy Ayers track for every mood - from driving electro-boogie and disco to laid back funk and free-form jazz.

As groovy as he is versatile, Roy Ayers, we salute you.

Roy Ayers - Love Will Bring Us Back Together


A-Skillz - It's A Booty


Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves The Sunshine (listen at 30 seconds)


Lemon D - This Is Los Angeles (listen at 4.40)


Roy Ayers - Boogie Back


NWA - F*ck Tha Police


Roy Ayers - We Live In Brooklyn Baby


Mos Def - Brooklyn


Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

Make It Funky: Sound Like Herb

Want to sound like Herbie Hancock? Well this week we've got the best free and paid for tools, from VSTi to sample sets.

And to get you in the mood, check this video of the man himself showing off his Fairlight CMI to Quincy Jones:

So, if you want  to capture the classic sounds of Herbie Hancock, where do you start? Well after that video, why not start with the Fairlight CMI digital sampling synth.

If you don't mind dropping a bit of cash on it, there's a superb emulation from Best Service called Cult Sampler, which retails for 99 Euro and uses the Native Instruments Kompakt engine.

They say:

"This library includes the sounds of the late 70s to the early 80s. Because the samplers at that time suffered from severe limitations in memory capacity (RAM), excess artistic high level sound programming was a must. Pitching and stretching of sounds was obligatory and 8 bit sounds were mostly the standard. This resulted in sounds with very special character. A character that nowadays is missing in our hyper-clean 24 bit / 96 kHz world of almost unlimited RAM.

"The 2000 sounds and multi-samples are perfectly laid out to play on your keyboard. Sounds of early vintage samplers like Orchestron, EMU II, Akai S-612, Ensoniq Mirage, Fairlight, Synclavier, Linn, Mellotron, Master Studio Coll., FZ-1, DSS-1. Each sound and multi-sample was produced on a highly professional level with the original samplers. Also on board are all these classic factory sounds."

Get yours here.

There is an alternative way to get your hands on those tasty vintage sampler sounds - gcoudert over at the EmusOnAcid forum has posted his full collection of Fairlight samples. Go here to download, the packs contain everything from percussion to FX, analogue synths to strings.

Herbie also famously used the Arp Odyssey synth.

The daddy of Odyssey emulations has to be Oddity from G-Force, which retails for 99 Euro. But once again there is a free alternative, in the shape of the remarkably good sounding Oddy-Free, which you can download here.

And finally, to complete the legendary keyboard collection? Well you're going to need some smooth electric piano and sharp, biting clav sounds.

Mr Ray VSTi from GSI does a great synthesised piano, and you can get it as part of the free donationware pack here. It includes: four types of pickups for Rhodes Mark I, Mark II, Wurlitzer and FM (DX7) simulation, adjustable pickup symmetry and distance, mallet hardness and hammer noise, a wah-wah effect, distortion and other effects.

If you take your electric piano seriously and have a few quid to spare, you should also consider the highly aclaimed Lounge Lizard from Applied Acoustics. It costs just over $200, but the sound is an incredible emulation of Rhodes and Wurlitzer pianos. You can read more and buy it here.

E-Piano from MDA is another good freebie, which uses a carefully sampled Rhodes to devastating effect. You can find it on their VST synths page here.

Finally, the Big Tick Ticky Clav is great for all your Clavinet needs. You can get it for free from here, all you need to do is give them your email address.

So get in the studio and get creating. Send your tracks, WIPs and studio kit recommendations to blog@nufunk.net

What’s That Sound? Salsoul

In this column, we’ve already looked at the impact a single record label can have on the music that follows. Some imprints provide such a wealth of material for samplists and diggers that they become the stuff of legend.

Salsoul is one such label.

With artists like Loleatta Holloway, Instant Funk, Edwin Birdsong and of course the all-star Salsoul Orchestra, Salsoul straddled the disco and funk genres, making danceable records with catchy vocal hooks and strong grooves.

This has made them a sampling favourite with everyone from Coldcut and Public Enemy to Spiller and Daft Punk.

We’ll start with probably one of the most iconic samples ever, from ‘Oooh I love It (Love Break)’ by the Salsoul Orchestra.

Listen from around 5.44 and compare to the intro of the Coldcut track below it.






Check out the breakdown at 2.54 in this one and compare it with the bassline from 1.54 in the Daft Punk video below:





And the cultural ram-raiding doesn’t stop there. Spiller ripped off Carol Williams’ ‘Love Is You’ wholesale when they made ‘Groovejet’.





So there you go – whenever you see a Salsoul joint in a bargain bin, grab it and hold it tight, it's solid gold for samplists.


Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

What's That Sound? Datafile One

We've got a What's That Sound? with a difference this week. We're looking at a CD that was the staple source for a vast swathe of dance music produced in the 1990s.

It's possibly the most influential sample CD of all time. Released in 1991 and containing sounds ranging from Roland 808 kits to breakbeats, soulful vocal hooks to wierd animal FX, it was a one-stop shop for all samplists and its influence can still be heard today.

We're talking, of course, about Zero-G's 'Datafile One'.

Everyone from Coldcut to the Prodigy have used sounds from this sample pack. Whether they sourced them from 'Datafile One' isn't certain, but the fact is the sounds appear in their tunes.

Just have a listen to a few of the samples below and try to count the number of times you've heard them used.

Datafile One by NuFunk.net


Amazing innit? And all this from a sample CD that didn't even offer purchasers a commercial license.

Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

Make It Funky: KPM Project

No huge post this week, just a reminder about the ongoing KPM project we have going on.

Head here to read more about it, here to get some inspiration from how others have sampled this legendary label and head here to grab some sample material, listen to the first couple of project tracks and get involved.

What's That Sound? The Big Match

Any crate-digger worth his salt knows library music LPs can be a goldmine of instrumental delights, funky drum fills and snappy breaks.

But one label more than any other is a sign of quality. The plain, unassuming, green label of a KPM release brings shivers to a sample-hunter's spine. In keeping with this week's 'Make It Funky' challenge we're going to look at a classic sample from this hugely influential label.

KPM brought together some of the most talented musicians and composers of the 1960s and 1970s to create library music for television, film and radio.

If you were born in the UK in the 60s, 70s or 80s you will know a whole load of KPM tunes whether you are aware of it or not.

The snooker theme, the music from Grandstand, even the twangy playground funk of Grange Hill all came from this powerhouse label.

Of course this makes it hugely popular among samplists worldwide.

Gnarls Barkley have sampled their tracks as have Talib Kwali, Chemical Brothers and Jay Z.

But let's look at an artist close to our hearts here at NuFunk.net - Fatboy Slim.

His album 'Better Living Through Chemistry' brough big funky breaks into the mainstream and one of the biggest tunes on the album was 'Punk To Funk'.


So, any of that sound familiar? Did it remind you of a certain sporting theme? How about 'The Big Match'?


The tune is 'Young Scene' by KPM supremo Keith Mansfield, who also wrote the iconic themes for 'The Sweeney' and Wimbledon Tennis on BBC. You can get the track on KPM 1037 - 'Flaboyant Themes Volume 1' and those clever folks over at Junodownload have got a whole bundle of KPM releases for download.

As a special bonus, we're also tipping a sample from Freestylers Ft. Million Dan 'Dogz & Sledges'.


Again by Keith Mansfield, check out 'Teenage Villain' below:


Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

Make It Funky - Let's re-funk KPM

This week we've got a very special 'Make It Funky' for you. Rather than offering samples or other resources, we're setting you a challenge - to Re-Funk a track from the legendary KPM library music series.

Sampled by everyone from The Freestylers, Skeewiff and Fatboy Slim to Jay Z and Gnarls Barkley, KPM produced library music for film, TV and radio - from gentle classical themes to lowdown funky car chase tracks. One of their tunes even featured in Tarantino's 'Kill Bill'.



So, think you can add a fresh NuFunk twist to some dusty old grooves? Then get involved! Whether you're re-editing an existing track, mashing several KPM joints together or building an entirely new track from a KPM-inspired starting point, we want to hear it.

If you don't have any in your collection, you will find KPM records at loads of second-hand vinyl shops, some CD versions are available and a lot of the catalogue is even online at Junodownload.

Any questions? Why not come along to the 'Studio & Production' forum at NuFunk.net and ask there, or comment below.

And if you're missing some brass or drums for your track, or need some vocal bits and pieces, why not check out our previous 'Make It Funky' columns for some free sample material.

If we get enough good music together off the back of this, we could put a free release out in homage to the legendary musos that made KPM great.

EDIT: Madwickedbadman over at the NuFunk.net forum has offered up some sample material to kick things off - go check out the samples and see what you come up with!

What's That Sound? Hustlers Convention Live

Sometimes a record arrives that changes everything. 'Hustlers Convention Live 1989' is one of those records.

Recorded live at Cafe de Paris, London, on March 14th 1989 - not only did it set in stone a massively important moment, as UK hip-hop found its own voice and threw one of the most legendary parties of all time, but it informed everything that followed.

One this record Tim Westwood, Asher D, Daddy Freddy, Merlin, The Demon Boyz and even Queen Latifah play host to the most hype party ever committed to wax. The crowd is rowdy, the MCs are at the height of their game and the tracks come thick, fast and grimey.

As the breakbeat hardcore scene erupted in the UK from 1990 onwards, the sound was heavily influenced by the rap records the DJs and producers had in their crates.

Public Enemy's albums were picked apart for breakbeats and vocal snippets, but arguably the Hustlers Convention was even more influential.

Sampled repeatedly by The Prodigy, you can hear parts of this album on Ruff In The Jungle Bizzness, Fire, Rip Up The Soundsystem, Everybody In The Place and even recently on Take Me To The Hospital.

The Freestylers and Freska Allstars also got in on the act.

However, trying to list the artists who have sampled this record is futile. Just have a listen and see how many snippets you recognise.

Asher D and Daddy Freddy - The Ragamuffin Duo Take Charge



Daddy Freddy - Live Jam



MC Duke & Merlin - Freestyle 2



The Demon Boyz - Roughneck Business


Second-hand copies of this record are still around. Check Discogs to find some that are available. And it appears you can also download the album in MP3 format from Amazon.

Anyway, until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.

Make It Funky: Soul Voices

Brace yourselves, we have nearly 200MB of soul acapellas for you this week. With more than 50 tracks, this pack is one of the definitive soul vocal packs.

Featuring classics from Diana Ross, The Four Tops, The Jackson Five, The Supremes, The Temptations and many more, you need this in your life whether you are a producer or a DJ.

It's got soulful 'oooohs', funky grunts and catchy hooks aplenty. So slice them up, loop them up, mash them up or just chill out and listen to some acapella soul.

EDIT: Due to mad traffic on this pack, we've had to upload to Upload Jockey: NEW LINK.

Grab them here.

Or at this alternative link: Clickety click.

What's That Sound? Scammers

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.

Make It Funky: Two, Three, Break!

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.

You need it in your life.

Head over here and grab them!

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.

Grab the files here.

What's That Sound? Chas & Dave invented Hip-Hop

We're back with another delve in the crates to bring you obscure samplistics and trace the genesis of beats.

Not strictly NuFunk this time, but hey, a sample is a sample, right?

First up a bit of history. Specifically the history of these two luvverly cock-er-nies:

Their names? Chas & Dave. Their music? Well it sounds a bit like this:

So how the f*ck is that in any way connected with Hip-Hop / Funk / anything else in the realm of decent music?

Allow me to explain.

For this to make any sense you have to understand that despite all appearances to the contrary, Chas (Charles Hodges) & Dave (David Peacock) were once very well-respected session musicians.

They worked with many artists around the world including Labi Siffre - a jazz musician and poet who wrote the song 'It Must Be Love' (later covered by everyone from Madness to Rik Fu*king Waller).

In particular, Chas & Dave worked on a track called 'I Got The' from Siffre's 1975 album 'Remember My Song'.

This song went on to become the basis for the Dr Dre-produced Eminem vehicle 'My Name Is'.

But not only that. The song was also sampled by Wu-Tang Clan, Jay-Z, Def Squad and even Primal Scream.

For my money, the best riff is at the start - the one that Jay-Z and Def Squad jumped on, but you can hear the Dre loop around 2.10.

Anyway, here it is, in all its Chas & Dave-ish glory:

Siffre's 'Remember My Song' album is still widely available, and this track also appears on his greatest hits compilation, 'The Best Of Labi Siffre'. All of his work is worth checking out for heavy atmospheric grooves.

Until next time, keep your fingers dusty and your grooves clean.