Sampling

[Hina Muqadas]

Before digital recording took over the audio and video industries, everything was recorded in analog. Audio was recorded to devices like cassette tapes and records. Video was recorded to Beta and VHS tapes. The media was even edited in analog format, using multichannel audio tapes (such as 8-tracks) for music, and film reels for video recordings. This method involved a lot of rewinding and fast-forwarding, which resulted in a time-consuming process.
Fortunately, digital recording has now almost completely replaced analog recording. Digital editing can be done much more efficiently than analog editing and the media does not lose any quality in the process. However, since what humans see and hear is in analog format (linear waves of light and sound), saving audio and video in a digital format requires converting the signal from analog to digital. This process is called sampling.
Sampling involves taking snapshots of an audio or video signal at very fast intervals, usually tens of thousands of times per second. The quality of the digital signal is determined largely by the sampling rate, or the bit rate the signal is sampled at. The higher the bit rate, the more samples are created per second, and the more realistic the resulting audio or video file will be. For example, CD-quality audio is sampled at 44.1 kHz, or 44,100 samples per second. The difference between a 44.1 kHz digital recording and the original audio signal is imperceptible to most people. However, if the audio was recorded at 22 kHz (half the CD-quality rate), most people would notice the drop in quality right away.
Samples can be created by sampling live audio and video or by sampling previously recorded analog media. Since samples estimate the analog signal, the digital representation is never as accurate as the analog data. However, if a high enough sampling rate is used, the difference is not noticeable to the human senses. Because digital information can be edited and saved using a computer and will not deteriorate like analog media, the quality/convenience tradeoff involved in sampling is well worthwhile.

[Mark Zuckerberg]

the activity of providing or trying a small amount of a product so someone can decide whether to buy it:

[Kai]

The action or process of taking samples of something for analysis.

[Donald Trump]

items selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population

[Sonia]

the measurement, at regular intervals, of the amplitude of a varying waveform in order to convert it to digital form

[Marquetta]

a technique for electronically splicing pieces of previously recorded sound as part of a composition

[Julian]

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece.
Originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically manipulated tape loops or vinyl records on a phonograph by the late 1960s, the use of tape loop sampling influenced the development of minimalist music and the production of psychedelic rock and jazz fusion.
However, hip hop music was the first popular music genre based around the art of sampling - being born from 1970s DJs who experimented with manipulating vinyl on two turntables. The use of sampling in popular music spread with the rise of electronic music and disco in the mid-1970s to early 1980s, the development of electronic dance music and industrial music in the 1980s, and the worldwide influence of hip hop since the 1980s on genres ranging from contemporary RB to indie rock. Sampling is now most often done with a sampler, originally a piece of hardware, but today, more commonly a computer program. However, vinyl emulation software may also be used, and turntablists continue to sample using traditional methods. The inclusion of sampling tools in modern digital production methods increasingly introduced sampling into many genres of popular music, as well as genres predating the invention of sampling, such as classical music, jazz and various forms of traditional music.

[Richarddok]

(statistics) the selection of a suitable sample for study

[Kit]

the process or technique of obtaining a representative sample

[DanielDiems]

the analysis of a group by determining the characteristics of a significant percentage of its members chosen at random

[Sonia]

Sampling is a statistical process or method that involves selecting a subset of individuals or observations from a larger population or dataset. This subset, known as a sample, is used to analyze, make inferences or draw conclusions about the overall population. The aim is to gain insights about the population in a manageable, cost-effective and efficient manner. Sampling techniques are commonly used in research, survey and data analysis fields.

[Vania]

measurement at regular intervals of the amplitude of a varying waveform (in order to convert it to digital form)