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2. Three wacky studio challenges

1 Why not try and make a whole tune using only one sound as your starting point? Try loading in a generic hi-hat, for example, before using it to create all the rhythmic and musical parts of the track via clever resampling, timeline audio mangling or less common techniques such as frequency shifting and granulising. Not easy, but it’s satisfying and fun! 2 Go to your local charity shop and ask the cashier to pick you out any DVD at random, then take that DVD home and make a whole track using only the sounds you’ve sampled from it. The complexity of this challenge can vary, or course: a blockbuster epic will provide lots of orchestral fodder, but a celebrity exercise video could prove more challenging… 3 Set yourself a budget of £10, then buy some random studio or electronic kit to make a track with. A £5 karaoke mic from the second-hand shop for recording combined with a few £1 Fisher Price toys off a car boot sale could be turned into your next banger – with little chance anyone else will have used those sounds already!