If you remember your first steps as a producer, you surely know how hard it was to learn all the technical terms. DAW, synth, plug-ins, Sylenth, Massive, Fl Studio, Logic, etc. One of the new words was certainly sample or sample packs. But let's go back to the very beginning.
What is sampling?
If we look back in history, the era of sampling began in 1979, and it was especially popular in hip-hop and rap. With analog, or digital devices, small song snippets of existing tracks were recorded and then reassembled. So sampling is nothing more than stealing. At that time, as well as today, it is still a recognized form of producing music. However, today the laws have become much stricter than back in the 80s.
Samples - Today
When you talk about samples today, they are also building blocks with which you can put together a song. There are samples of all kinds of sounds: Kicks, drums, synthesizers, vocals, etc. It's actually impossible to find a track in the EDM scene that doesn't contain a single sample. This kind of production saves producers a lot of time and there are no limits to creativity. I'm sure you played with Lego back in the day, right? Just think of samples as Lego bricks that you can use to build a song.
Which sample packs should I use?
The most important thing about samples is that they are 100% royalty free. This means that you can use the samples without having to pay any royalties. The sample packs from Baltic Audio or HighLife Samples are a very good choice. All sample packs and sound banks are 100% royalty free and you can use them without any worries.
Samples, but please be creative
Of course you should always come up with your own melodies to make your track stand out from the crowd. Otherwise, you'll end up like Klangkarussell. The two Austrians had a huge hit in 2012 with their single "Sonnentanz." However, a few months later it was revealed that the track consisted entirely of samples and no ideas of their own went into it. But as we can see here again well: Even with a sample pack you can get into the charts.