@hightopsfeed yooo thats mad g, I had a feeling you might because that one's still in your playlist

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

Royal Highness

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

Peace to Tomy Loops for the Dope Drum Kit
Go Check Him Out
https://tomyloops.bandcamp.com/album/tomy-loops-drum-kit-vol-1

[drop it all on em]

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)

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Remixed and Remastered

Vocals from 'Slaughtahouse Remix Acapella' by Masta Ace Incorporated

Instrumental: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/get-the-chills-instrumental
Visuals: https://youtu.be/v9WITrpsSZ8

Slaughtahouse by Masta Ace Incorporated is in my top 5 LPs of all time and is in my opinion the most criminally underrated 90s Hip Hop album. It did take a few listens to grow on me, but it has such a unique style that just hits ridiculously hard now, every time I play it I enjoy it more and get just as gassed off different lines and moments. I think it’s one of those albums where there’s no one song that you can listen to on it’s own, the whole thing hits so much harder when you listen to the album in full, which to me is what I go to music for as I love playing an album all the way through and hearing how one track leads into the next and builds on a theme etc. It sounds even crazier on tape, the drums knock so hard I don’t even understand it, and it was a huge influence on my production style when it comes to the focus on having layered, heavy hitting drums. I really focused on that in this remix, going crazy on the drum layering and trying to make the beat really rugged in a way that fits the style of this track. The original drop into Ace’s verse is so hard after the parody intro, which isn’t available on the acapella, so I just went straight into the hardcore style with bass heavy drums. The message and outlook of this track was so ahead of it’s time its crazy, and I’m in the process of getting the Masta Ace Acapella LP to do a full EP of remixes like this in the future, with that real rough and rugged hardcore sound that makes me love that album so much, it definitely deserves the tribute and respect.

Original uploads: 
https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/suckas-get-the-chills
https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/too-many

Get The Chills

[underneath]

Outer Space

[Come On]

Load the Bong

Nicotine - Dawn

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

Gaining Respect

Tapehead

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