Chopping Samples in Ableton

I wanted to show you a quick way to chop samples in Ableton without using midi controllers, drum racks, etc. It’s real simple and gets you quick results because you have no presets to setup, etc. You can simply do this technique with a mouse and keyboard. I like chopping samples this way because it gives me different results and flows real nice!

Pick your sample and import it into the Ableton timeline - not the session view. Next you set the BPM of your project. For hip hop beats I like to set it between 78bpm and 85 bpm. By default Ableton. tries to warp the imported song to the tempo of your track. If I’m working on a sample without drums and I’m somewhere in the ballpark in terms of tempo, I prefer to unwarp it first so I get the original tempo. In order to be able to use warp markers, you need to click Warp again though and in the popup select keep original tempo.

Next step is to activate the loop function and set a loop of 1 bar. From then on you simply move the start marker to find a nice starting point for the chop and set 1.1.1 by right clicking. Then use the warp markers to stretch it to the right length.

Once I have my first chop I duplicate the loop and find another chop by moving the start marker in the second loop. You can always shorten the loop to 1/2 bar or maybe uneven time signatures to vary the timing of the chops.

All in all it’s a really simple, straightforward way to chop up a sample you like - no euipment needed. Since these days most DAWs have timestretching features like Ableton’s Warp, you can really do this in any DAW - I just happen to like Ableton.

If you dig this and work in Ableton as well, check out more tutorials on abletonlife .com - also check out beatproduction.net for sound packs and even more tips on beatmaking.