Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Audio: Jay Roacher - Death Is The Dancer
Check da bro Jay Roacher spitting some new rap words over this 'free to use' 22 beat...
22 - death is the dancer feat jay roacher by jay roacher
22 - death is the dancer feat jay roacher by jay roacher
Monday, March 7, 2011
Audio: Alphabethead - Aliceo
Do tempo changes have a place in Hip Hop?
When I started listening Progressive Rock and Metal and I was amazed at the bands’ ability to expand and contract time and make sudden jumps in tempo. Coming from a Hip Hop DJ background where the beats are fixed, matched and mixed I was intrigued as to how this was done and wondered whether it could be implemented within Hip Hop?
Whilst in the Flower Orphans I played alongside Dean Hunter, an insanely good guitarist. He came from a metal background and was all about highly intricate riffs and complicated song structures. I once asked him how he navigated tempo changes with such ease and he gave me the best advice I could ask for; “Just do it…and when you hit the change, play it with conviction!” This encouragement launched my obsession with tempo changes both within my tracks and live sets. Sudden changes in DJ sets are pretty much taboo so this direction certainly resulted in its fair share of drunken-punter feedback; “stop chopping and changing the rhythm” or just straight up “play something we can dance to!” Advice I will never heed; I take it as a healthy challenge to dance to shifting rhythms!
Alterations in tempo can add excitement and shift the momentum and energy like nothing else. Unfortunately, there are very few examples in Hip Hop. A few that come to mind are J-Live “Them That’s Not” which gradually winds up in speed until finally locking onto a constant tempo. Another is the absolutely phenomenal “Chemical Calisthenics” by Blackalicious with multiple tempo changes and percussive stabs which the vocalist accents perfectly. This is such an exhilarating listen for me – Prog Hip Hop at its finest! Please check that song out if you haven’t already. The Blackalicious song “Alphabet Aerobatics” is another beautiful example of acceleration of the beats.
Aliceo is a Hip Hop instrumental where I was also toying with tempo changes. Nothing too dramatic, just alterations of 5-10 BPM’s between the different sections. My hope was that the listener wouldn’t perceive them as tempo adjustments more as slight changes in feel? Also, near the conclusion of the tune the ‘chorus’ speeds up in pitch whilst slowing down in speed. My last album ‘Electricity’ was all sampled-based Hip Hop and had quite a few of these little tempo anomalies. I hope you enjoy…
Download Aliceo
X.ABC
Ps. My bro reckons that the Sitar used here has previously been sampled by Cypress Hill? Please hit me up if you know for which track?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Audio: Saia Defects to Darkside (Mac)
SFT - Divine Light STMB 208 by Saia F. T.
Saia says:
You know how your PC dies so you have to learn to make beats on a new program cause they don’t have Fruity on Macs? .. Yeah, shot Ableton.
Saia says:
You know how your PC dies so you have to learn to make beats on a new program cause they don’t have Fruity on Macs? .. Yeah, shot Ableton.
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