I spent part of my day yesterday cutting samples from a whole series of albums that I've particularly enjoyed in my life - from Mylène Farmer to Pazuzu - and that I'd like to include in my music in the future. Some samples are extremely short (a single piano note, a drum kick), others are longer and more specific, perhaps even recognizable, but I don't mind, on the contrary; even if it's an extremely rare practice (I don't know of any examples, in fact) in the scenes my music is naturally aimed at, the sentimental practice of sampling is something that really makes sense to me.
Why use a piano VST when I can sample a note on a record that I loved when I was young, and that has had an importance in my life? Nobody invents anything, neither sonority nor melody; all music is haunted by others that have gone before it, and sampling simply assumes and makes this reality explicit.