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Choose samples that haven't been used loads of times before, says Jon Carter.

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Jon Carter

1. Choose something that people haven't heard 44 million times before.

2. Don't just take the massive main hook of a cheesy 80s song and put a torpid house beat behind it… unless you want to be top of the charts for weeks.

3. Grinding a small sample into dust with filters and effects will not change the copyright status of the sample. You won't have to clear it anyway.

4. Don't get a 40-piece orchestra to replay that tiny Salsoul sample, for pretty much the same reason as mentioned previously. And it won't sound quite the same if you do, either.

5. Don't pull the SCSI lead out of the back of your Akai while it's switched on – it will die. I did once – now I have no Akai.

6. Never worry about a sample being 'clean' enough. Dirt is good.

7. Sometimes you can build the tune around the sample, then remove it – the inspiration of the sample has actually created a better song in its absence.

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