Frugal
Rhythm
Roulette
In the original Rhythm Roulette by Mass Appeal hiphop producers are blindfolded in a record shop and get to select three (vinyl) records. The producer then has to make a beat by sampling these records. See YouTube for the classic 9th Wonder episode.
While that is great for them, three new records would quickly cost me more than a 100 bucks, which is a bit much for a fun game. I'm also not a big fan of blindfolding myself in public. I do have a library card where I can borrow a CD for 1 euro a piece, so I wrote down this version that is both puts less strain on your wallet and saves you a lot of weird looks.
If you don't have a library (that lets you borrow CDs), you can try it in a second hand store. It's a great way to find new music and practice sampling with records outside of your comfort zone.
I hope I don't have to tell you to sample in an ethical way; if you put your beat online, give credit to the artist. I'm not doing this with commercial intent, if you do, read up on the applicable laws. Listen to the album that you get; if you discover a new favourite album, support the artist. If you borrow your CDs from the library, treat the items with respect and return them on time.
How it works
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1
Go to your local library where they lend out CDs or other music media.
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2
The CDs might be split into sections; pick a section.
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3
With a random letter generator, generate a random letter.
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4
Based on the sorting, probably on artist name, go to the spot for the generated letter.
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5
Select a CD, by either:
a) Select one with the coolest cover art, based on your preference.
b) Select a second random letter, and a third etc. until only one option remains.
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6
Borrow the CD and make a beat by sampling it.
Guidelines
If a random letter gives you nothing, try again.
If there are multiple options for a given letter, either just select the most interesting option or generate more random letters to further narrow down the search.
If you draw a very dark or serious CD/record, feel free to take a mulligan; 'art is war' and all but this activity should ultimately still be fun.
Examples
This was the first round of Frugal Rhythm Roulette that I played, so I didn't have the rules down just yet. Using a random number generator I rolled a 'B' and found this album by Bright Eyes with a cool looking cover.
The beat below was created using the songs Just Once in the World, for the main sample and the voice clip, and Pageturners Rag for the intro.