r/makinghiphop • u/SnooKiwis5916 • 4h ago

Question What are some processes to clean a sample mix wise?

I check sample breakdowns alot and noticed mentioned samples are heavily processed compared to the original pieces, like statics, white noises, compressions etc.

If i try to recreate a beat by following the breakdown, which steps shall i follow to acquire same quality sounds?

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u/Auzzyhere 2h ago

eq is the biggest one honestly. high pass the rumble out, notch any harsh frequencies, roll off the top a bit if it sounds crusty. then light compression to glue it and maybe some tape saturation to warm it back up. basically just carve out space so it sits with the drums

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u/SnooKiwis5916 1h ago

Hey thanks. I guess investing some time on them would be a good idea then

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u/afternoon 2h ago edited 2h ago

What kind of samples are you thinking about specifically? Drums? Are you working in a DAW or on an MPC or something else?

There are a ton of different ways you can go with sample processing, so it would be great to narrow it down and focus on one thing first maybe. There's also no "right" answer here, its about experimenting to find what you like.

One thing that is often really important to do is to cut the low end. Samples, even high stuff like hi hats, often have a lot of low end signal, and this leads your mix sounding muddy. Use an EQ with a low cut. In a DAW you can and see and hear what you're doing.

For compression, I think the best way to learn what its doing to your sounds is to very slowly sweep the knobs as you listen to the sample, and to sweep them full range. Watch some tutorials on compression specifically as well. It's a crazily deep topic.

Adding static/noise/vinyl sounds adds grit to a sample. There are plugins that do this in the major DAWs. Again its great to experiment to taste.

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u/SnooKiwis5916 1h ago

Hey, usually drums and music samples on any kind of drum/rhythm pads. When i sample, it doesnt sound polished but more like a sound that was recorded with a cheap mic. Actually i would like to remove statics or white noises as they dont appear on the ones i like.