He wasn’t kidding with the name. I love Christmas. I love hip hop. I love Jonwayne. So when I found out Jonwayne had made an album of Christmas beats, who do you think I reacted? The rap game St Nick has blessed us with his latest gift, Yuletide Bangerz and the title is free of hyperbole. Every song is packed with nostalgic wonder and Jonwayne’s trademark rhythms….
Germany’s Slim the Chemist keeps his jazz beats in order with his Silence EP. I found this in my bookmarks from a while back and thought I’d share it with you. Slim the Chemist is a producer from Düsseldorf in Germany and Silence EP was his first release with Roots of Society Records. I had high hopes when I discovered his origin as Germany isn’t…
Belgian producer Freddy Bracker gives “a retrospect of the daily” with Daily Grooves & Nasty Loops. With an SP-202, DR-202, MPC2000XL, MiniNova and a lot of patience at his disposal, Freddy Bracker brings us Daily Grooves & Nasty Loops. Not to sound cliché but this is a gritty urban smörgåsbord of samples and ever-shifting rhythms. The textures are accentuated by the hardware, adding to the audible grime. Stand…
Estelle Caswell discussed how J Dilla made his MPC3000 musical for Vox. Many musicians are synonymous with their instrument of choice – Jimi and his guitar, Questlove and his drums, Dorothy Ashby and her harp. And then there’s J Dilla and his MPC3000. In effect, J Dilla was a Jimi, Questlove, and Dorothy thanks to the MPC’s capabilities but he was so much more than…
Imagine a whole set made out of a single record. That’s exactly what eLiMenCe has done with “Out of Ram”. According to eLiMenCE, all of the beats on this set contain samples from one record with accompanying drums from one drum kit created from random sounds. But the origins of the name “Out of Ram” is where the real interest resides. The Colorado producer said he…
We have a special guest editorial from Point Blank Electronic Music School and it’s all about sampling. Sampling is the use of someone else’s recording within your own to create something new. It can range from lifting sections of drums or other isolated instruments to entire musical ideas and right down to milliseconds of material. It’s such a common technique that we’ve developed instruments to…
Akai release their latest sampler, the MPC Touch. MIDI controllers, drum machines and samplers (most combine the technology of all three) are constantly evolving and now Akai have upped the ante with the MPC Touch. The Japanese company have implemented a 7″ multi-touchscreen to their “music production center”, adding the capability to drag and chop samples and alter waveforms like never before. But they haven’t…
We interviewed Philly’s Davu Flint about his musical upbringing, how his home state has moulded his music and another life as an international gigolo. Of all the social media I use, Facebook is arguably the worst for content that doesn’t make me want to throw my laptop out of my bedroom window. However, I’ve done my best to surround myself with like-minded individuals and music…
Producers Greymatter and Mr Beatnick discussed the art of sampling at the London Electronic Music Event back in June. Here’s an hour long video of what they did. The question of whether sampling is lazy or creative has been asked since the technique became readily accessible in the 80s and more so in the 90s when copyright law stepped in. Legality aside, the level of…
The upcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. has a new exhibit courtesy of J Dilla’s custom Moog synth and MPC3000. As I remarked on Facebook, this is bigger than you think. The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. is still under construction but when it’s ready for visitors, Jay Dee fans will be excited for a…