For my own mixtape that I'm contributing as apart of Jarg People for the sixtapes project, I wanted to include my own beats that I had made and were in the process of creating. These beats that I created were not fully polished or mastered/EQ'd much at all, as I wanted to maintain a lo-fi diy vibe. I included 6 different beats on my tape. In the summer I found a bunch of old cassettes at home.
It was a collection of tapes my parents had, most of it was copies from cds. It took me a while to go through them all but I found a select few that I wanted to use to sample. I chopped up some of the recordings onto my sampler and managed to lay out 3 different beats which used the cassettes for samples. My tracks Talkdabwt, Cheesecake and Sun Down all feature samples from 3 different cassettes. This blog post will detail information and some of the process which was involved in the beats that are included in my tape for the DR.ME Brief.
TALKDABWT
The main sample used through the track is taken off of a Paul Simon Cassette Tape. The track is 'Still Crazy After All These Years'. I connected my tape player into my Roland 404 sampler and chopped sections of the track. After I had decided what I wanted to do with the samples I chopped up, I recorded them into Logic Pro X along with the drum beat from the 404 sampler. I added in a synthesiser to create a better flow for the track and also background percussion.
As seen below, I used a gradual fade into the first sample, which leads into the beat. The green line below indicates the tracking of the headphone's Left and Right. I wanted the beat to go from each headphone back and forth to begin with to create more of an atmosphere. As this is happening, I created a filter on the same section too, which also creates an interesting sweeping affect. Filters using EQ were also added to the synth sections, shown by the purple lines. The background percussion as shown below was pitched up a few semi tones because it sounded to low and I also included some sub bass to the main beat, enabling it so sound more whole through speakers.
CUMMFRECKLES
This track was made only using Logic Pro X. The drums were done within the Ultrabeat drum machine/sampler plugin. Any selection of samples from your computer can be loaded into Ultrabeat and those samples can be used to create a pattern in the sequencer (as shown below). Each individual sample can also be edited too, the length, the pitch etc. This track was my attempt at creating a build up using multiple instruments. The trumpets/brass come in at the begging and then the string ensemble using the same chords as each other. A few notes from a synth pad are then added into the mix as well as a few notes from a vibraphone. Soon after this the drums kick in along with the synth lead and continue for 12 bars. They both stop and create space for the other elements of the song and then kick in a again later in the track. And then slowly all the instruments/sections of the track layer off until it finishes with the trumpets. Not too much EQ was added to the track, a filter was applied to the string ensemble before the drums initially kick in.
SUN DOWN
Sundown, was my attempt at creating an upbeat footwork type of record. If you've ever listened to footwork, which originated in Chicago, you might see the influence within the track. The majority of the beat is slow paced however the upbeat sections are what resemble the footwork sound. This beat takes samples from Mike Oldfield's 'Ommadawn' record. This track features a lot of repetition with the samples and drums. EQ filters were including on the rolling hi hats as well as the main beat. The most difficult part of this track was editing the volume of the 808 bass drum, it kept peaking and becoming too loud. However I managed to use the automation volume control (yellow line) and keep the decibels down where they needed to be. I applied a few different effects and plug ins on different sections. The majority of my beats featured all use reverb on most parts. Here reverb was used along side the Bitcrusher, Pitch Shift and Delay for the Synth. I also implemented the 808 bass kick with an Amplifier because it sounded too beefy.
CHEESECAKE
This is probably one of the more simplistic beats, it features a couple of loops I made from sampling a Tom Waits Cassette, found in my parents collection. I only used my own drum pattern for the middle section of the track, because the main loop featured flowed really well on it's own. As you can see within the screen shots below theres only a few sections that were recorded. All from the Roland SP-404. No instruments inside Logic Pro X were used. An amplifier was used for the beat section in the middle to create a lo-fi vibe.
IFCKEDBAE
The most simple beat featured on my tape. Literally all that was involved is making two beats using Logic's Ultrabeat drum machine/sampler and creating two alternated patterns/switches within each drum beat. Both beats continue and feature an alternating chord change. This is also the shortest beat. Beat tapes often feature many many different beats that are all very short.
SHAWTY
Shawty was also created solely using Logic Pro X. The reason why this song was made, was because of the song 'Shawty' by Dej Loaf. I really wanted to sample it so I took different segments from the track by chopping it up within Logic. The two main sample were her saying 'Shawty' and a part of Young Thug's verse, who is a rapper that features on the track. I used ultrabeat again to create the main beat, only 6 different sounds were involved in the drum beat. The beat featured a rolling hi hat throughout and I changed the velocity on each hi hat to create more of a rolling flow for the beat. Other than the main samples and beat I used an 808 and added reverb and echo onto it for each note to bounce several times after they play. Pitch Shift was used on all the vocal samples too, I wanted to create a simple chilled out vibe to the track and I feel that I accomplished that.
On the whole I'm happy with the tracks I produced, I know that they're the first I have ever made so its understandable that they're not great. It's part of a learning process for sure. But the beat tape as well as the whole sixtapes project brings across a DIY aspect and these dusty beats do contribute to that feel.
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