Digital Sampling: Daft Punks Song Faster, Better, Stronger
Technology
Digital Sampling
In the past five decades advancements in technology have provided an abundance of new tools to create and record sound. One major practice that evolved from this is sampling. Sampling has sparked controversy within the music world, raising questions about authenticity, copyright, and most importantly: whether the use of samples detracts from the compositional value of a piece. This essay will argue that French duo, Daft Punks song ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ released in 2001 has taken a sample from Edwin Birdsong’s 1979 hit ‘Cola Bottle Baby’ and transformed a soul and disco hit into a House/Dance classic.
Recent technologies have broadened the field of possibilities in music production. …show more content…
This can be clearly noted in many of Daft Punk’s songs. Before the invention of the MIDI synthesiser in 1981, DJs manually mixed, scratched and overlayed samples together to create seamless pieces of music for their audiences in real time (Sanjek, 1992). Due to the invention of the MIDI synthesiser anyone, DJ or not was able to collect samples and use them to their will from their own home, therefore no lon ger limiting music making to DJ’s and those whom had the equipment. With the incorporation of the new technology this also meant that a greater amount of effects were able to be incorporated. Daft Punk’s 2001 hit ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, is an example of a sampling as it has an obvious musical sample from Edwin Birdsong’s 1979 hit ‘Cola Bottle Baby’, throughout the whole song. At the start of both of the songs they sound the same, although they both take on their genres in the first verse. Daft Punk use electronic noises and voices and other synthesised beats to add to the basic funk/groove bass line. Through the use of technology Daft Punk were able to take a musical idea from a different genre and transform it to fit into their genre. Thomas Bangalter, half of the French duo states, ’Technology has made music accessible in a philosophically interesting way, which is great,’ (Pitchfork 2013) talking about the …show more content…
“Records That Play: The Present Past in Sampling Practice.” Popular Music 28.2 (2009): 143-159. Web. 13 Aug 2012.
Davies, Hugh. “A History of Sampling.” Organised Sound 1.1 (1996): 3-11. Web. 14 Aug. 2012.
Den Tandt, Christophe. “From Craft to Corporate Interfacing: Rock Musicianship in the Age of Music Television and Computer-Programmed Music.” Popular Music & Society 27.2 (2004): 139-160. Web. 14 Aug. 2012.
Dombal, Ryan. Pitchfork. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.
Ghosn, Joseph, and Olivier Wicker. "Bringing Order To The Chaos The Daft Punk Interview." Worldcrunch. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.
Katz, Mark. “Music in 1s and 0s: The Art and Politics of Digital Sampling.” Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music. Berkley: University of California Press, 2004. 137-157. Print.
Sanjek, David. “Don’t Have to DJ No More: Sampling and the Autonomous Creator.” Cardozo Arts & Entertainment 10.607 (1992): 607-624. Web. 15 Aug.
Digital Sampling
In the past five decades advancements in technology have provided an abundance of new tools to create and record sound. One major practice that evolved from this is sampling. Sampling has sparked controversy within the music world, raising questions about authenticity, copyright, and most importantly: whether the use of samples detracts from the compositional value of a piece. This essay will argue that French duo, Daft Punks song ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ released in 2001 has taken a sample from Edwin Birdsong’s 1979 hit ‘Cola Bottle Baby’ and transformed a soul and disco hit into a House/Dance classic.
Recent technologies have broadened the field of possibilities in music production. …show more content…
This can be clearly noted in many of Daft Punk’s songs. Before the invention of the MIDI synthesiser in 1981, DJs manually mixed, scratched and overlayed samples together to create seamless pieces of music for their audiences in real time (Sanjek, 1992). Due to the invention of the MIDI synthesiser anyone, DJ or not was able to collect samples and use them to their will from their own home, therefore no lon ger limiting music making to DJ’s and those whom had the equipment. With the incorporation of the new technology this also meant that a greater amount of effects were able to be incorporated. Daft Punk’s 2001 hit ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, is an example of a sampling as it has an obvious musical sample from Edwin Birdsong’s 1979 hit ‘Cola Bottle Baby’, throughout the whole song. At the start of both of the songs they sound the same, although they both take on their genres in the first verse. Daft Punk use electronic noises and voices and other synthesised beats to add to the basic funk/groove bass line. Through the use of technology Daft Punk were able to take a musical idea from a different genre and transform it to fit into their genre. Thomas Bangalter, half of the French duo states, ’Technology has made music accessible in a philosophically interesting way, which is great,’ (Pitchfork 2013) talking about the …show more content…
“Records That Play: The Present Past in Sampling Practice.” Popular Music 28.2 (2009): 143-159. Web. 13 Aug 2012.
Davies, Hugh. “A History of Sampling.” Organised Sound 1.1 (1996): 3-11. Web. 14 Aug. 2012.
Den Tandt, Christophe. “From Craft to Corporate Interfacing: Rock Musicianship in the Age of Music Television and Computer-Programmed Music.” Popular Music & Society 27.2 (2004): 139-160. Web. 14 Aug. 2012.
Dombal, Ryan. Pitchfork. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.
Ghosn, Joseph, and Olivier Wicker. "Bringing Order To The Chaos The Daft Punk Interview." Worldcrunch. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.
Katz, Mark. “Music in 1s and 0s: The Art and Politics of Digital Sampling.” Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music. Berkley: University of California Press, 2004. 137-157. Print.
Sanjek, David. “Don’t Have to DJ No More: Sampling and the Autonomous Creator.” Cardozo Arts & Entertainment 10.607 (1992): 607-624. Web. 15 Aug.