I love how you hold down the De La orientation

Instrumental: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/so-smooth-instrumental

Remixed and Remastered.
Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead.
Vocals from ‘Gazzillion Ear Acapella’ by MF DOOM.

Visuals: https://youtu.be/8OvPhUhnuRk

Cover art is from this article, a mad interesting look at the behind the scenes of both these videos, written by Adam Bhala Lough, the director of the visuals I used: https://www.passionweiss.com/2021/01/03/mf-doom-dead-bent-video/

I remember being ridiculously gassed when I originally made this beat, the flip was really unexpected, the sample was mainly vocals, but once I chopped it up on the MPC I managed to chop out this melody from either side of the vocals, which gave the beat a really nice vibe. It’s difficult to describe because I’m not entirely sure what is happening, but I think parts of the melody were panning around the vocal, and the way I chopped it made that panning a part of the melody for the beat, giving it an interesting vibe. For the original upload I put a Casual acapella over the beat, which I still think fits well, but it wasn’t mixed great, I definitely rushed it a bit because of how gassed I was with the beat, I just wanted to upload it and put it out there (https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/the-way-i-wreck-shit) 

Whenever I rework old beats I keep getting inspired to put DOOM acapellas over them, a huge part of this is when I rework beats I’m using software on the computer, so I’m also thinking about putting together full length projects, and there’s no doubt that the first one I do will be a tribute to DOOM. I’ve made a start on it but there’s still a long way to go, and I want to keep most of the tracks unreleased until that drops. I got carried away with this one though, and dedicated my free time this week to mixing and mastering it, I was just too gassed off it and wanted to get it to a place where it sounded right. I’m really happy with how this one came out, and will definitely be mixing the rest of the project with this in mind, but I’m sure I’ll try and improve and tweak this one again by the time that drops. Hope people like this one, peace and thank you for listening.

Sparklin' Jewels

Instrumental: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/dont-sink-instrumental

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Trouble In The Water Acapella' by De La Soul and DJ Honda

Visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2auRPCFGxv0


I’ve been listening to a lot of disco recently, it started by digging through songs to sample but then I was just enjoying it so much I immersed myself in the genre for a bit. This beat samples a disco song, and originally when I first chopped and sequenced it, I pitched down the sample by -90 on the MPC (which is a lot), to make a really grimey sounding beat that I wanted to put this acapella over, because it fit the really melancholic vibe of the sample. However when I revisited the beat this week after listening to a lot of disco, I decided to completely change what I did; the sample sounded too distorted for how pitched down it was, and because of that it was basically impossible to mix it well. Whilst experimenting with how to fix it I decided to just do the inverse of what I’d done, and pitched the sample up by +90 on the MPC, and worked out completely new sequences for the melody and bassline. This made a way more upbeat track, but it still fit the trouble in the water acapella crazily, I think it works because De La Soul have always experimented and innovated beyond conventions, so this different approach fit their style well.

Because I pitched the sample up so much this was unbelievably long to mix, the high pitch gave it so much next resonance which was too harsh to listen to, so it was a real challenge to lessen that without losing all of the highs and making the track sound muddy, because that completely clashes with the vibe its going for. I think it came out OK, its definitely an interesting outcome, I’m not really sure how I feel about it. Also the record I took the acapella from is pretty beat up, which made this even harder to mix, there’s tons of vinyl crackle which sounds awful (especially on some S sounds in the vocal) and basically gave the vocals the same problem as the sample. I cleaned it up as best I could and I think they both sound good together, not too muddy etc, but I’m for sure going to buy a copy of the acapella in better condition in the future, and do a cleaner mix of this track, but for now I’m happy with how this turned out.

200th upload

Don't Sink

Dedicated to Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal. 

Beats, mixing and mastering by Tapehead.
Vocals and scratches from 'Just To Get A Rep Acapella' and 'The Squeeze Acapella' by Gang Starr.

Visuals: https://youtu.be/wYH3_H5WaoA
Original upload: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/claiming-respect

Since I started remixing and remastering my old beats it's been really helpful to hear the difference and improvements in my mixing ability. The first beat in this track is a rework of a very old beat, probably one of the first 10 beats I ever made. I was so happy with how it came out at the time, particular the way Guru's verse from Just To Get A Rep flowed over it, and it was mad to be able to improve on the concept I worked out back then and execute it better here. I wanted to take it one step further with this one though, and decided to add a new remix as a switchup, flipping a different part of the same sample that I used for the first beat. I initially only did this because of Just To Get A Rep acapella is so short, and I wanted the track to be longer, but it ended being a really great way of building on the ideas and concepts I was playing with back when I first flipped the sample, and mixing that with all the ways I've learned and developed as a producer since then. I'm really happy with how it came out, and will definitely be doing this again with other old ideas and concepts. 

For the switch up I tried a few different Guru acapellas, but eventually settled on his final verse from The Squeeze. I thought it fit really well after the stick up story on Just To Get A Rep, with Guru essentially sticking up those in power and demanding what is rightfully is, it contrasts as an inverse against the story of Just To Get A Rep which worked mad well to me. Because of this I named this track 'Gaining Respect' off a line from the chorus in The Squeeze, with the original remix being called 'Claiming Respect' off a line in Just To Get A Rep, I thought that worked well in showing the progression and development between the two tracks.

Another interesting thing about this track is the original upload was the first of my tracks that @hightopsfeed liked and reposted, reaching out to say he rated it. That began the start of conversations and discussions that really enabled me to begin the process of developing and growing as an artist, and I'll always remember and associate that with this track.

Gaining Respect

Murai

Instrumental for https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/gaining-respect

Since I started remixing and remastering my old beats it's been really helpful to hear the difference and improvements in my mixing ability. The first beat in this track is a rework of a very old beat, probably one of the first 10 beats I ever made. I was so happy with how it came out at the time, and it was mad to be able to improve on the concept I worked out back then and execute it better here. I wanted to take it one step further with this one though, and decided to add a new remix as a switchup, flipping a different part of the same sample that I used for the first beat. I initially only did this because of Just To Get A Rep acapella is so short, and I wanted the track to be longer, but it ended being a really great way of building on the ideas and concepts I was playing with back when I first flipped the sample, and mixing that with all the ways I've learned and developed as a producer since then. I'm really happy with how it came out, and will definitely be doing this again with other old ideas and concepts.

Gaining Respect (Instrumental)

High ground

A bit different / experimental. 

Hope people will enjoy <3

H i g h t i d e s

Tippin' High By MFKN Madface

rio to velo

Feel Tha Warmth

Schnuere

Beatmaker / Emcee
Contact: tapeheadloops@gmail.com

<--MPC2000 Classic                     

Underground Airplay

Trying to give something back to Hip Hop - really appreciate any comments or feedback.

Peace

Don't Sink

Tapehead

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