How Do You Play Chords Over A Sample?

[King Musa]

I always have difficulties with this shyt.....Any tips?

Like what's going on in this track with the piano chords on the sample at the 0:37 mark.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

Not sure what you mean.
In the case of that beat its all about chopping your loops and getting the right timing.
@KushSkywalker is very familiar with sampling. You can pick his brain too for this type of thing.
One you have your sample chopped and on beat you could always play your own keys over it. Overall I didn't hear anything complicated on that beat.

 

[King Musa]

Not sure what you mean.
In the case of that beat its all about chopping your loops and getting the right timing.
@KushSkywalker is very familiar with sampling. You can pick his brain too for this type of thing.
One you have your sample chopped and on beat you could always play your own keys over it. Overall I didn't hear anything complicated on that beat.

I'm referring to how you find out what chords fit into the key of the sample.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

I'm referring to how you find out what chords fit into the key of the sample.

I play by ear.
Every now and then I'll get a trained musician to come in and help me if I want something specific outside of my skill set.

 

[King Musa]

I play by ear.
Every now and then I'll get a trained musician to come in and help me if I want something specific outside of my skill set.

That's neat breh....I'm trying to get better at playing by ear. Thanks for the input.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

That's neat breh....I'm trying to get better at playing by ear. Thanks for the input.

I had a pianist show me the basic chords and I've been able to build from there.
My production is no where near where I want it to be but like mostly everything else in music, it's something you develop over time.

 

[producingfire]

It's all about playing in the same key as the sample. Then most of what you play will sound good within the confines of the track.

 

[ThaRealness]

Soul, funk and rock samples are easy... I don't have formal musical training, but you find the right key, figure out if the initial chord is major or minor, stack notes until it sounds right, experiment with chord voicing (switching the root note of the chord is key), and listen carefully for salient voicing.... for example, if its an E minor triad chord, and you hear a B note over everything else, try playing B E G (instead of E G B )


Same rules apply to jazz, but there is much less room for error.... unless its only 1 or 2 chords, you probably aren't figuring that shyt out



By the way, start with the most basic major/minor triads. C E and G = major and D F and A = minor. From there you can stack on extra notes... for them jazzy r&B chords, play d F A C E

This is assuming that you get your synthesizer in key

 

[DJ Mart-Kos]

I never play chords on top of samples that already have chords in them. It's almost impossible for me to find the right chords this way.
Just stick to melodies instead i would say.

 

[Mr Rager]

I use gootar and fukk around til I find what fits

 

[GPBear]

You can start with the piano sample and then add the bass to it.

You can just sit there and pitch the sample until the roots match and then it should be decent

 

[Tom Foolery]

Play by ear. To be more specific it's call ear training.
Ear training - Wikipedia

Also I think those piano sounds where samples.

 

[KillSpray]

It's really a combination of skills. First you have to know how to play/create chords

Then you should know how to detect the key of another piece of music, which means you'll have to understand on some level what scales are.

Then it's just a matter of playing around until you find chords that you like.

 

[King Musa]

It's really a combination of skills. First you have to know how to play/create chords

Then you should know how to detect the key of another piece of music, which means you'll have to understand on some level what scales are.

Then it's just a matter of playing around until you find chords that you like.

Yeah....the problem for me is finding what the key of the track is by ear....But, I'm getting better at it.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

I usually find a sample that blends well with the chords I'm planning to use. If its a jazz sample, I usually low filter some organs or a synth to add some background to the track. Most of my shyt usually be lo-fi, so it's easy to just create a 1 to 2 bar chord to go with the beat.