Building Blocks is a series of features developed in partnership with Splice commissioning dance music artists to make a sample pack. Each artist develops a pack that reflects their voice as a producer—a suite of sounds they'd use in their own tracks and live sets. Apart from the sample pack itself, each feature includes video and text where the artists talk all things samples and sampling, the process of making the pack, and their own creative evolution from beginner to the present day. The packs will be available to purchase via Splice.

The fourth installment comes from Brazilian-born producer ANNA, who originally cut her musical teeth working as a DJ for her father's nightclub at the age of 14. Her infectious big room techno has landed on pivotal labels Novamute, Drumcode and Domino in recent years. Speaking to RA, she discusses her earliest experiences as a producer, the importance of taking advantage of any resources available to better one's craft and the ideas behind her sample pack.

Try this free patch that ANNA created for Ableton Live.

What were your earliest experiences of music production?

I first started to play around with music production some years after I started to DJ. It was a desire to play my own stuff and see what I could create. I loved the music I was playing so much that I wanted to create some of it myself. In the beginning, I was just playing with software. My first one was FL Studio, which at the time was called Fruity Loops. I tried Reason, Cubase. But I never went really deep into it. I just went deep into it when I met the DJ and producer Weber, who at the time was my boyfriend and who gave me a license for Ableton Live as a gift. At the time, back in 2008, we were leaving Czech Republic and he started to teach me how to use the software. He taught me some stuff I would practice the whole day, and when he came back from work, I would ask some questions, he would teach me some more stuff. And then I started to research, to practice a lot day and night, and things started to develop more and more. But these were my first contacts, really, with that stuff.

How did you acquire knowledge about production?

I did some production classes in the beginning. I still study music theory, piano, I'm taking some singing lessons and I'm learning the flute now. I think it is very much an ongoing thing. It is a never-ending learning journey. There are always new things coming out, new ways of making music. I think if you stop being curious about it, you stay a little bit behind. I was really lucky to have someone with more experience, a teacher since the very beginning who gave me a lot of shortcuts. I think it would probably take much more time to learn everything alone. But also, nowadays we have much more information available. There is an immense volume of content–even for free. And you can get both the classical sort of training and you can get very specific techniques that aren't very common. So there are no excuses anymore, you just don't learn if you don't learn.

Did you ever have a bias against samples as being less creative than synthesis?

I don't really think using samples is less creative than using synthesis to create. I am in a moment where I prefer to create everything from scratch, and even then I use samples sometimes, even if it is for a starting point to create something totally different. And I remember the first track I ever did was completely done by layering samples on top of each other. But I don't think this is the way samples should be used. You can get really creative with samples. You can put your touch to it, your signature, through the way you process them, through the way you add them. For me the best example of this is The Prodigy; they use tons of samples, but they really add their signature to them, and their sound sounds completely unique. So I think using samples this way can be as original as creating any sound on any synthesizer. Even if you are a skilled sound designer, samples tend to be very valuable because they are another way to exercise your creativity and techniques. Taking a sample and processing it in different ways is really inspiring. You can use different effects, cut them up, use different slices.

Sometimes I like the texture of a sample or the timbre, for example, so I use it as a starting point to create something totally different, but it's still with that initial thing that I liked. Sometimes I use samples as layers for an original sound that I created myself. So this process alone can be a very powerful sound design tool.

Do you have a favorite part of your sample pack?

My favorite parts of the sample pack are the musical parts, the synth lines and bass lines. It is always the most fun part for me and I'm happy with the sounds that I could achieve and how well they work with the sequence. I also love the drums, the kicks are really strong. They loop textures, I love everything.

Did you have any overall goals for the pack?

The goal of the sample pack was to translate my sound, but without being completely personal. So everybody who's going to use it can still add their own identity. I also wanted to make stuff that will cross over many different styles to be multifunctional. So you're going to find sounds to create a very energetic techno track, or a melodic, or an ambient or a more introspective one. I tried to focus on the stuff that I usually look for when I am making music. So different kinds of drums, some inspiring melodic parts, textures, effects. From there, I created a lot of stuff. I kept what I thought would translate my aesthetic the most.

What are some of the challenges of making a sample pack?

The most challenging part of making the sample pack was to create a lot of melodies and sounds without being repetitive. It was challenging. And also the organization was a big part of it because you have to prepare each sample with the right level, right fade. You have to name everything perfectly with the BPM, the key. At some point it became a mess, but I've managed. The idea behind this sample pack was to use almost 100% of the hardware in the studio, because they are less accessible. I also used some of the plugins that are part of my signature sound. But most of the work was done using the machines–with compression, saturation and distortion, while still leaving plenty of room for those who are going to process the sample pack even further. I also tried to explore a wide range of emotions when creating the sounds. So you'll find sounds suitable for creating a very energetic, wavy techno track, as well as some more introspective ambient sounds with more melodic content.