2 Octaves of Upright Bass Samples
It only looks like DJMSP.com is slowing down. Lately I've been hauling my laptop around the city, setting up shop in living rooms and practice sessions, recording all the live instruments I can get my hands on. Chopping and labeling the footage is tedious work, but I do it because I fucking love you people.
You deserve tools like this: two octaves of lush, deep, powerful acoustic upright bass samples. There's going to be a flood of free, dope and original content like this for the rest of the summer. Here's an appetizer.
REMIX: Algorhythms Accapellas Volume 1
World Around is getting busy this summer. Right now we're ripping through a laundry list of special requests, and one of the most common was remixable versions of the Algorhythms EP. Here's the first batch -- three accapellas and instrumentals (for reference) covering some of my favorite cuts off the EP: Blowing Numbers, Dreams of Lisbon and What's This?
Check out the rest for details on the remix content and the $10 billion prize.
Man Mantis: Madison Beat Scientist
I've spotlighted Madison producer Man Mantis once before, but this time I'm doing it right. This time, it's an in-depth, all-access, gear-head interview about the production process, lessons learned in the music business, and the love of hip hop. Winning awards, beat battles, and even sample lawsuits, Man Mantis is taking his beat hustle very seriously in 2009.
This means staying busy, keeping humble, and even teaching school kids the art of making beats. Meet the Man Mantis.
Apr. 26, 2009 beats, business, hip hop, mixing, production, war
Falside: Being a Beatsmith in 2009
This dude just turned 20 and odds are, he's got way more album credits than you: Vast Aire, C Rayz Walz, and one of my favorite veterans, El Da Sensei. Fortunately, I got to pick his brain, so rather than just hating on the kid and being bitter, you can learn a bit and hopefully tighten up your own operation. Here, we're talking craft, equipment, promotion and...well, you know the drill.
We're talking shop. Falside runs a more successful shop than most producers, so he's worth listening to. Tune in.
Apr. 23, 2009 beats, business, hip hop, mixing, production
HipGnosis Drops Science and Mathemagick
Midwest producer HipGnosis has been constantly evolving over the past three years I've known him. So when I decided to start doing actual interviews for my site, he was a logical first choice to turn to. He's also got a wicked fresh new album about to drop on Lab Beat, so the timing was perfect. We're talking shop about building beats, evolving new production styles, and even psychoacoustics.
In other words, not your average producer interview. Dig it.
Apr. 21, 2009 beats, hip hop, mixing, production
Top 10 Articles on DIY Hip Hop
Any other year, I'd be high right now. It's 4/20, but 2009 is different -- colder, leaner, more focused. So today I'm going to round up the best DIY Hip Hop articles and advice, to re-cap the past two years of underground hustle, smart moves and stupid mistakes. Anyone who takes their music seriously is working hard right now to get ready for the summer season, and this is a mega-dose of gems, strategies, and useful facts.
We'll be getting back into hip hop production for the rest of the year -- I just figured you folks would appreciate this one...
DJ Toomp: Hip Hop is Business is Life
I've mentioned DJ Toomp once before, when I posted the hip hop production roundtable back in February. The guys has paid dues longer than you've thought about getting into hip hop, so "veteran" is an understatement. Here, he's talking about patience, dedication, strategy and smart business.
Oh yeah, and making fucking crazy bangers. He does that, too.
Apr. 19, 2009 beats, business, hip hop, mixing, production
Louis Mackey on Rapping, Drinking and Creative Psychosis
Louis Mackey has been with World Around Records since the very beginning, and since then he's become a serious liability. Despite a superhuman work ethic and serious mic skills, we're still waiting on his first official release. (Then again, considering Algorhythms was almost three years late, I guess that means the dude fits right in.)
This is the inside scoop from the mouth of madness himself: an interview we conducted at perhaps the shittiest little bar in Carbondale, Illinois. Enjoy.
DIY Hip Hop on Twitter: A Guided Tour
I haven't found a decent directory of hip hop on Twitter, so I went ahead and made one. Well, not really. I made a list and got an intern to code this shit up for me. If you're doing hip hop and just getting started on Twitter, well, holy shit are you in luck. This is the Cliff Notes...we did the homework for you. Specifically, 19 year old James Newell of Boston, MA did the actual work.
For free. Yeah, being on a label is pretty awesome. Anyways, enjoy the fruits of James' labor...
Thes One: Vintage Gear and Dusty Samples
People Under the Stairs have been on point for a very, very, very long time. The production is always lush and fresh, and so today we're gonna dig up some gems from Thes One, who is a vinyl freak, an analog gear fetishist, and a very eloquent and dope human being, too. He's talking about building home studios, keeping your business together on the road, and of course, the fine art of hip hop production. Enjoy.
Oh yeah...Thes One is the dude on the left.
Apr. 13, 2009 beats, hip hop, mixing, production, samples
Just Blaze Talks Tech, Beats and Life
This is a collection of interviews. Lately, internet dudes have been calling foul over my technique of chopping and mixing a bunch of bullshit interviews into a dope lesson on hip hop production. I'm doing this to get all the Good Shit in one place. My place. This is for the kids, man.
Oh yeah: This one is about Just Blaze, who is a human textbook on hip hop and music production. This one is fucking awesome. Read on.
Apr. 10, 2009 beats, hip hop, mixing, production
Case Study: Hank Shocklee Drops Science
Chances are, I don't need to introduce Hank Shocklee to you. But if I do: basically, this dude ran Public Enemy's production team, the infamously dope Bomb Squad. They worked with every single setup you can imagine, experimented non-stop, and laid the foundation for every genre and style of hip hop that's happened since. Public Enemy was the blueprint for everyone's everything, and Hank Shocklee drops gems left and right.
Apr. 7, 2009 beats, hip hop, mixing, production, tutorial
Bridgeport Music: Hip Hop Parasites
Armen Boladian is the reason hip hop sucks in 2009. I know what you're thinking: that's one busy old dude, but no. He's on some dumb-lazy Get Rich Quick shit and you should be, too. This is also a discussion about sample laws and why it's basically illegal for you to sample popular music: thanks to lawsuits from this exact same Grandpa Pedobear looking fucktard. It gets worse, too.
Apr. 6, 2009 copyright, mastering, production, samples
Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip Hop
A review + remix of the Joseph Schloss book "Making Beats: the Art of Sample-Based Hip Hop." Not well-written but it's got unusually damn good interviews with a lot of producers, plus lots of crate-digging history. And, since this is DJMSP.COM™ I'm going to cut-up and remix all the good stuff for you. This is the ADD extended cut of the history, technology and philosophy behind hip hop production and sampling for beats.
Apr. 5, 2009 beats, books, copyright, hip hop, production
An Interview With DJ Squid
People think I'm crazy, but that's only because they've never dealt with DJ Squid before. I've never met the dude, but since we're both making beats for Humpasaur Jones, I find myself in contact with him all the time. I've been told that instead of doing lots of drugs and posting up whatever happens when I can find the keyboard, I should take the time to "network" and do interviews with other producers. So I started with the easiest target I could find: a legitimately mentally ill dude from Gary, Indiana who makes beats so old school you kind of wish hip hop had never happened.
That's a compliment, by the way.
Apr. 2, 2009 beats, cop-a-slice, hip hop, production
DJ Multiple Sex Partners Gives You Accapellas
Hand-cultivated collections of hip hop accapellas for your very much remixing pleasure. There's 4 .zip packs, all organized around a theme...I figured it's better to drop a bunch of sample collections at once instead of doing a post for each one. Right? It is, right?
Anyways, here's the goods...
Mar. 29, 2009 accapella, download, hip hop, rap, remix, samples
Copyrighted Loops 1: Strictly Stolen Samples
Please, sue me: I need the publicity. Plus I'm ready: the two dudes picture above are both former Clinton Cabinet officials who represent my label these days. In addition to a few hundred other clients, but still, WE GOT THAT.
And you get this: here's 33 of the most obviously funky, recognizably badass loops I've chopped up in the past decade of doing this dirty work. Maybe pop culture is just a sucking void of infinite, puke-eating nostalgia -- but the more important question is, will drunk people dance to it? You know the answer has to be Yes.
Mar. 23, 2009 beats, copyright, download, loops, production, samples, wav
Case Study: How The Roots Produced "Rising Down"
This was dope: a wicked detailed look at how the Roots do their production process. Apparently it involves multiple producers, non-stop sessions and over 2000 tracks of sketches per album. Right on. If you're a hip hop production nerd, this is basically a cross between porno and crack. Enjoy.
Mar. 13, 2009 mixing, production
Case Study: Pete Rock's Production Process
I'm not a hip hop purist and I have pretty much no fucking respect for my elders. I do like dope beats, though, and Pete Rock has been making classic bangers for over 50 years now. Pete Rock has also fucked with every beat-making system known to humankind, and what he's using now is worth paying attention to. When a dude knows everything, has everything, and just wants it all to sound right when he's blazed...what does he do?
Mar. 9, 2009 beats, production, tutorial
Case Study: Kutmasta Kurt Dismantling the Crates
Kutmasta Kurt is insanely good. He's very famous for lots of good reasons, but to me what's really important is that he produces for two of my favorite emcees, Motion Man and Kool Keith. (Yeah, in that order. Motion Man kicks dick and you're sleeping.) Masters of Illusion is an all-time classic album.
This is a remix of a bunch of new and old Kutmasta Kurt interviews, just the good stuff...the lessons for the kids. The insider details and the peeks behind the curtain. This is some educational shit.
Mar. 3, 2009 beats, production, tutorial
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Recent Posts
- 2 Octaves of Upright Bass Samples
- REMIX: Algorhythms Accapellas Volume 1
- Man Mantis: Madison Beat Scientist
- Falside: Being a Beatsmith in 2009
- HipGnosis Drops Science and Mathemagick
- Top 10 Articles on DIY Hip Hop
- DJ Toomp: Hip Hop is Business is Life
- Louis Mackey on Rapping, Drinking and Creative Psychosis
- DIY Hip Hop on Twitter: A Guided Tour
- Thes One: Vintage Gear and Dusty Samples
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