Make sure you read the Introduction on this site before you enjoy the guide!

So, where do breakbeats come from? Isn't sampling technically illegal?

In fact, there's been some debate over where the term originates and also what is or isn't classed as a breakbeat. For the purpose of this guide, we'll assume that a breakbeat is any sampled drum rhythm.

Most of the classic breakbeats were sampled from old records. Is that legal? Well, if you've sampled a drum loop from a record, you've actually stolen 2 things; both the sound of that drum loop, and the musical content of that sound. In the case of a simple drum loop, it's usually impossible for an artist to claim legal ownership of the musical content. The reason for this is that nobody actually owns a drum rhythm. Drummers have based their rhythms on generic patterns since much earlier than any sampling technology was available. So that just leaves the sound itself. If you've stolen, say, 2 seconds from a 3-5 minute track, it's not likely to be worth the artist going into legal proceedings over. In the eyes of the law, all drummers sound pretty much the same. In other words, it's illegal to sample breakbeats from old records without permission from the holder of legal ownership, but it's essentially an unenforceable law. For these reasons, it has been done in the past and artists have got away with it. However, I cannot condone nor encourage this practise.

Straight laces? Buy a Sample CD. There have been hundreds and thousands of CDs released worldwide, many with just sampled drum loops on them. Usually when you buy one of these CDs you're automatically paying for the licence to use the sounds contained in your musical productions. In short, as long as you own the Sample CD, you can use the sounds on it pretty freely. This works because the Sample CD companies pre-clear the samples with the legal owners, so that you don't have to. Remember to check each CD's terms and conditions, though! Alternatively, there are many resources on the Internet. Just make sure you aren't downloading MP3 samples. What you want is usually WAV or AIFF, because these formats don't compromise the quality of the sample in favour of file size.

Lastly, you could create drum loops yourself. I don't want to go into a lot of detail, but you could use a real drum kit, or sample a drum machine. Sometimes drum machines are looked down on in elitist / purist circles, but I would tend to recommend whatever sounds best to you. Personally I like the feel of a live drummer, but sometimes using elements from a drum machine can give a nice unnatural edge to a drum loop. It really all depends on what you want and how you want it.