How to Sample Music
Turning sounds into beats – a beginner's workshop with Max Mella
Curious about the world of music production? Learn the basics of sampling in this hands-on workshop.
You learn how to find, chop, manipulate, and creatively flip sounds into your own beats. This workshop covers beat-making, using samples, understanding MIDI and using audio effects.
You are encouraged to capture sounds (e.g. as voice notes on your phone) which reflect personal experiences and environments which you feel are meaningful to implement as source material. Bring your laptop, curiosity, and create your first sampled track!
What to bring
• Laptop (preferably Apple Macbook) and charger
• Please install: Ableton (trial or lite versions are fine)
• Headphones
• Pen and notebook
Why you should join
This short course is perfect for you, if you are a beginner who is curious about beat-making, hip-hop, electronic music, and creative production techniques. No advanced skills are required.
About the teacher
Max Mella is an Italian German non-binary artist, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, based in Berlin and London. Mella is one of the two artists in the duo, Bluebox. They have released music on Roya (an independent record label on Warp Records), receiving support from both BBC Radio 1 and Worldwide FM. Drawing from experience in Berlin and London they approach production through a genre-fluid lens, fusing elements from such as: Electronica, Ambient, Hip Hop and more into both their creative and teaching practices.
Their creative journey has led to numerous collaborations and productions with artists such as Davide Shorty, Sans Soucis, Aphty Khéa, as well as their role as a music production lecturer at Hochschule Macromedia in Berlin.