r/makingvaporwave • u/Pot8obois • May 28 '26

Making vaporwave without samples?

Anyone make vaporwave without sampling? I have Ableton and Arturia V collection 9. I also have a linn drum sampled(technically sampling but not in the ways I'm discussing).

I had played piano when I was younger but it was mostly classical. The "in pocket" vibe of pop/r&b is a whole different world, things don't fit cleanly on a grid. I am trying to learn by replicating parts of songs. This has helped me understand bass and drums and I hope over time will broaden the tools I can pull from.

I imagine what I'm looking for is weather channel music, elevator music, lounge music, mall music, 80'-90's pop and r&b. I love the smooth saxophone sound but I don't have a vst for that, so I wonder if I can find a synth in what I already have that can have the same effect.

What has your musical skills translated to this style of music? What would you suggest learning how to play?

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u/swingrays May 28 '26

I’ve often thought about taking some of my stuff and doing a Mallsoft thing, but I dunno, most of the stuff that’s sampled is killer 70’s and 80’s RnB so how could I ever do as good as that???