Staying Competitive in the Industry - Sample Replacement

Hey everyone, today I want to talk about my experiences involving staying competitive in the industry and keeping up with modern trends. For me this is a conversation that was only sparked by reflecting on how I was performing and interacting with topics and processes that are popular within the industry of music, as well as evaluating how my work compared to commercial projects.

This brings us to the main topic of this post - sample replacement, Sample replacement is a staple of todays industry and has become the go-to approach to remain current and modern and to add that extra punch that the younger generations of consumers have now become accustomed to. There are actually a wide range of songs that utilise sample replacement that you may not have initially expected. These range from bands like Nirvana to almost every modern rock band such as Arctic Monkeys and Matchbox 20.

Here's a quick video that helped me further understand the steps and processes of sample replacement.

So I started to consider sample replacement. I mean, if every other modern act is employing this process it becomes almost detrimental to your own work if you're not doing it yourself. So I decided to give it a go with four songs I am recording for a local Hard Rock / Metal band named Black Banner, and let me tell you I sure did enjoy it!

Have a listen to the original drum track first. Notice how it feels like it lacks that iconic click in the kick drum and the thickness of the snare? We recorded this kit with only a small timeframe so to be honest we didn't choose the best technique to promote those necessary aspects. However, that is another reason why sample replacement was such a useful and beneficial procedure for these tracks. Here, have a listen.

Now, have a listen to the drums track after I blended in a new kick and a new snare with the original tracks - listen to how full, thick and mean it sounds.

The improvement is obvious and the results speak for themselves. The bands reference for what they wanted the songs to sound like were Megadeth's Endgame but with those original recordings there was no way the track could have sounded as clean, punchy and crisp. However another justification for using sample replacement would have been that on that album Megadeth used sample replacement as well. So without employing this modern necessity we would have been disadvantaged from the start regardless of how well the tracks were mixed. The conclusion that I have come to is that sample replacement i a try useful tool and isn't as taboo'd as I once though. throughout his endeavour I've come to realise that sample replacement is a viable and useful aesthetic choice that doesn't impurify the music - contrary to my previous beliefs.