Library of Congress wants to bring back the golden age of hip hop

May 25, 2020 10:47 AM

Library of Congress app lets you make hip hop with century-old samples (Engadget): "The US Library of Congress has unveiled Citizen DJ, a digital tool that allows you to remix sounds from its massive collection of film, television, video and sound recordings. It was created by "innovator in residence" Brian Foo to recapture the '80s and '90s golden age of hip-hop sampling." You can explore collections using the web interface, use a simple music-creation app to remix beats, and download "sample packs" with thousands of audio clips from a particular collection that can be used in most music production software. Explainer video (Vimeo). See also: Library of Congress Needs a Few Citizen DJs (LOC)
posted by not_the_water (16 comments total)

If anyone has technical issues using this, let me know
posted by adamsc at 11:30 AM on May 25, 2020 [9 favorites]

I just had to have the Big Copyright Discussion with my older kid, who has been creating a lot of music in BandLab lately, and wanting to sample all her favorite bits of her favorite songs to use in loops. So seeing something like this is incredibly timely!
posted by mittens at 11:36 AM on May 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

This is awesome!

Bonus: Brian Foo has a ton of neat projects on his site.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:38 AM on May 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

I got a letter from the government the other day
I opened & read it- They wanted me to make hip hop with century old samples??!!
posted by Bob Regular at 12:48 PM on May 25, 2020 [20 favorites]

Century old?!?!?
posted by tiny frying pan at 12:56 PM on May 25, 2020

Citizen DJ? Tone LOC was right there!
posted by emelenjr at 1:00 PM on May 25, 2020 [15 favorites]

All Samples Cleared Expired!
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:05 PM on May 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

This can only lead to too much electroswing.
posted by scruss at 1:09 PM on May 25, 2020 [5 favorites]

Wow - this looks incredibly cool ... and I have to say, I am always astounded and extra delighted to find something good coming out of any federal agency during the current administration. (I am a huge, huge fan of the Library of Congress and I know it is still filled with people doing excellent things - I'm just always amazed when an agency hasn't been rendered completely ineffectual by the anti-American administration.)

Also, filthy light thief is totally correct - Brian Foo is up to a LOT of cool things! Thank you for pointing that out, filthy light thief - and not_the_water, thank you so much for highlighting this project for us!
posted by kristi at 1:51 PM on May 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

That's flippin' amazing. What a cool thing to make available.
posted by vernondalhart at 2:41 PM on May 25, 2020

James Brown is regarded as the most sampled man in history. Sometimes he would ask the rhetorical question 'who got the funk'? And then he would reaffirm that we all share ownership of the funk.
posted by adept256 at 4:29 PM on May 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

This is really cool but just difficult enough to confuse me. Can I have a for dummies version?
posted by Sterros at 6:29 PM on May 25, 2020

I 've always loved his Louisiana land loss project, Brian foo is tops once again
posted by eustatic at 7:05 PM on May 25, 2020

Wheeeeee!
posted by soundguy99 at 7:48 PM on May 25, 2020

New Jack Swing and Miami Bass both didn't last nearly as long as they should have. I still maintain that INOJ's version of Time After Time is the best cover of it.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 8:03 AM on May 26, 2020

This is incredibly fun. Thank you.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:24 AM on May 29, 2020