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Making of "The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up" in Ableton by Jim Pavloff

Jim Pavloff5 HN recommenders · 2014–2025
4.1M views · tutorial · evergreen · Uploaded 2009-12-15

Jim Pavloff rebuilds the Prodigy track Smack My Bitch Up in Ableton, identifying the samples used and recreating the track by hand.

Recommended as a fun, in-depth look at how sampling and music production work, and as proof that skilled humans can reconstruct tracks from scratch.

Music theory, synthesis & production

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7 comments from Hacker News

@bigsassy2014 · in “How Daft Punk Created One of Their Most Famous Samples”

Here's a similar, but more in-depth, video on making "Smack my Bitch Up" from The Prodigy. My mind was blown when it shows how "Bulls on Parade" was sampled :D [VIDEO]

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@klochner2014 · in “How Daft Punk Created One of Their Most Famous Samples”

A little older but similar idea (and fun to watch) - remaking of The Prodigy's "smack my bitch up": [VIDEO]

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@guruz2017 · in “Get started making music”

I think I've watched this video a ton of times: [VIDEO] That guy is using Ableton Live to re-create a popular song of The Prodigy.

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@szastupov2019 · in “Ableton Connection Kit (2016)”

Keep in mind that Lite version barely has any instruments so you'll have to either use 3rd-party plugins or rely on sampling. A few month ago I decided to start fresh and removed all pirated DAWs, plugins, purchased Lite version and started learning it in and out. I was surprised how far you can go with just sampling. It was so much fun discovering new sample packs, chopping and remixing songs, trying to make tonal instruments out of weird noises. I've also realized how many popular songs use sampling (for example [VIDEO] ). So yeah, setting creative constraints is important ;) I'm at the point when I'm super at home using Ableton and ready to spend more money on Suit, but holding hopes for black Friday discounts. Also, shameless plug [LINK]

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@0x02022 · in “Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” synth sounds”

Was this the breakdown you saw? "Making of "The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up" in Ableton by Jim Pavloff" [VIDEO]

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@xpl2024 · in “Judge dismisses majority of GitHub Copilot copyright claims”

There are legendary Prodigy tracks reconstructions by Jim Pavloff, see: 1. "Smack my bitch up" [VIDEO] 2. "Voodoo people" [LINK] Those pieces sound exactly the same as the original, but it does not violate copyright because they've been produced by hand. Mind blowing!

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@dash22025 · in “Recreating Daft Punk's Something About Us”

Related: this recreation of Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up. I'm amazed at the level of musical knowledge needed to do this. [VIDEO]

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