Master of Your Public Domain

     Aspiring rappers, DJs, and hip-hop superstars, you've got a friend in...the Library of Congress?
     True dat. The LoC has dug into its massive archive of recorded sound and created a tool for samplers and other makers of sonic collage. It's called Citizen DJ.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of sick beatz.

     Here's the general idea. First you explore one of several online audio archives with this colorful interface. You can filter your searches by musical genre or pitch.

     Then you can click the Remix button, and the website will present you with this:

      Suddenly a little aural snippet has been turned into four beats of a backing track, complete with drums. You can re-remix this loop to your heart's content. There are dozens of beat patterns to choose from. Once you're happy with the loop you can download its components and use them in your upcoming mixtape.
     Why is the national library doing something like this? Copyright law. (Did you know that the U.S. copyright office is part of the Library of Congress?) In the early days of hip-hop, DJs sampled all kinds of records to make their signature works -- everything is a remix -- without worrying much about getting sued. That's not the case these days, when hip-hop is big business and mega-corporations will send legal teams to demand payment for a 2-second snippet. So, Citizen DJ to the rescue! with its panoply of sample-ready sonic clips, all the in public doman, all free to use.
     Keeping all the royalties to yourself? Truly, a rapper's delight.