Coca-Cola has hit upon the idea that sampling is very much like recycling, it being a process that involves turning something old into something new. And, to reinforce this message, it’s enlisted music producers Mark Ronson and Madlib to create a new EP of music that was created using sounds from its bottle-to-bottle clear plastic recycling process.
As well as being able to hear these tracks, you’re also being offered the chance to use the sounds yourself. This can be done either in the free online beatmaker, or by downloading the samples and dropping them into your music production software of choice.
Coca-Cola is doing this now to celebrate the fact that its Sprite, Fresca and Seagram bottles are now made of clear rather than green plastic. Green plastic can usually only be turned into a single-use item that can’t be recycled again; clear plastic, on the other hand, can be recycled multiple times.
Discussing his love of sampling, Mark Ronson describes it as “an artform which is constantly regenerating”.
“The tiniest sound, whether from an old record or from the world around us, can inspire an entire piece of music,” he says. “I learnt from my heroes, DJ Premier and Q-Tip, who all made incredible albums from sampling, and it’s stayed an integral part of my work up until today.”
Madlib, meanwhile, takes the view that “A great sample doesn’t have to come from other music, it just has to make you move. The thud of a plastic bottle going through a recycling facility is, in its own way, a piece of art, it has the ability to transform.”
He goes on to say: “Being able to take sounds from the recycling process that are so different from what I’ve used in the past, and flipping it into a whole new format, is a great example of the versatility of sound. Now any cat has the opportunity to make some dope sounds of their own.”
The short film above, narrated by MC Lyte, explores the similarities between sampling and recycling and features footage of Mark Ronson and Madlib at work in the studio. You can check out the online beatmaker and download the samples on the Recycled Records microsite (click the Preset button to access the downloads).
