Sonic State has introduced a new series, The Art Of Sampling.

Episode 1 looks at the history of sampling:

Before digital sampling, sound manipulation was seen as a subversive and avante garde activity. Composers were ostracized for experimenting with found sound sources and a belief that music could exist outside the strict confines of the classical or popular domain.

Yep, life was an exciting adventure if you were a liberal minded avant garde experimentalist trying to scratch a living back in the early 1900’s.

And this is where our story begins. With the pioneers of sampling.