Not sure for @enrico_pallazzo’s case, but my cousin had created multiple accounts around the time we had just started doing challenges with @natehorn and just from not settling on a username at that time he got life banned by device/ IP address I can’t remember which exactly, but he couldn’t even make another account lol. Luckily, there are some cool mods here who were understanding of the situation and reversed the ban (they were just trying to protect the marketplace here). This is my first time seeing the reason as troll though lmao so they must have earned it!
Having seen his posts on another thread I can see why now
Yep. Shame. Moving on!
Gonna lock my votes in now before I change my mind. I’ve made notes for 'em all but will share once over as I know I’d be bad writing about my own entry, I’d probably slag it off lol.
1st - Track 9 - Loving the vibe of this one. Got a great retrospective feel and the music fits the vocals perfectly and the change up in the second half helps tell the story and convey the mood. Sick.
2nd - Track 7 - Love the guitar sample, use of the Beatles vocals and fits Jay perfectly, great structure. Drums slap.
3rd - Track 3 - Filthy abstract goodness. Strong early EL-P/Co Flow vibes at least to my ears/aging brain haha. Gives a real different slant to Jay’s vocals. Sounds super nice sonically too to me. Very cool. I want this one to go on longer too.
As often… hard to decide.
1st
#07 This one is abstract and soooo fat! Love it. Well structured and mixed. The verse part with this weird guitar sample and the choir part… Bewitching! Great work.
2nd
#01 Nice playlist opening… The Jay-Z’s verse fit so well on this beat. Really like the progression of this track, start cool like an ear candy and became more intense with some « oriental » feeling at the last part. Dope!
3rd
#09 This muddy and scalable bass line is excellent! And this sampled guitar sound great too. Really like the nuance between the first and the second part (with a slight preference for the second one).
HM (these could be in the top 3 for sure!)
#04
#05
#06
(With this playlist, I’m starting to like Jay-Z )
Great work again everyone
Here’s my votes with Beatles nerd disclaimer for sample spotting.
1st Track 5
Great stuff, a nice mix of tracks overlapping and very nicely arranged, I can hear strawberry fields and In My Life I believe, and possibly one other for the main bit.
2nd track 1
Nice dark mood to it, I think the sample is the Spanish guitar intro to Bungalow Bill.
Which is actually a Mellotron preset tape loop, not played by any of the Beatles.
Like the little horn type drop-ins too
3rd Track 3
I don’t really recognise the sample on this out them all submitted, but I like it regardless and can’t wait to hear where it’s from, the nature type noises, is that the intro to Sun-King manipulated?
Maybe the creepy sounding guitar is from there too.
Thanks to the hosts for another fun one
As I was writing it I felt the sudden urge to buy a button down tank top and a bow tie
What did the lads have for breakfast the day that was recorded?
Well Paul had a lovely bit of bacon
(This is before Linda turned up with her Nut Cutlets)
And Ringo had chicken drumsticks.
I’ve no idea what the other two had cos you won’t catch me being that nerdy
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#1 Track 6 - What an explosion of a start! The acapella worked out really well on the Jaz-O part (other parts too but thought that that was a great section), and nice subtle drum tricks. This sounds like a BIG car jam
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#2 Track 5 - Candy sample flip it’s just so pleasant to listen to even without an acapella. For some reason when I first played through this playlist I remembered there being an acapella, and briefly entertained the conspiracy that maybe the sc algos recognized the voice and removed it somehow. Awesome track
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#3 Track 8 - The whole song sounds endearing not sure how else to put it. Great happy remix
HMs:
All of you guys killed it. That start is x-large, the middle is x-large, and the end is x-large on this tape!
These challenges are feeling more and more like being invited to a harem with a bunch of beautiful women and being told that you can only choose 3 Really neat takes on this challenge @everyone, and enjoyed the playful nature of having Beatles, mixed with some less delicate lyrics! Personally, started to really “listen” in on Jay-Z’s rap style in his earlier works around 93-00, and I can’t help but believe it was almost all Sauce Money’s flow. This further proves just how important it is to have a good sauce in your recipe
Great stuff liked all of them. 25&6 stood out to me.
My votes:
- #6
- #1
- #8
#6 - sounds incredible. Nice intro and outro. The main part with the piano bounces hard, the production is great, the bass sounds huge. Love it
#1 - very creative. Also great production. Sounds very professional. Vocals fit very well. Love both parts, especially the second part where I’m only sleeping comes in
#8 - although it’s mainly loops, the Because sample is just super tastefully used here. The combination with rap vocals fits so well, and the chorus section with the vocal harmonies gives me chills
HM: Honestly I love the whole playlist. But I want to mention #5 for the great piano chops and beautiful vibes, and #9 for creative use of delays and huge bass
Thanks all for the listening experience!!
I love the battles in which each track I’m like “this one” then another track comes and bumps that one. Quality!
Some of the things that really impressed me in the tracks this round are:
- Arrangement. People put some real creative planning into putting samples, riffs, effects, build ups and surprise elements together
- Jay Z in the pocket Enough said… well a few tracks felt like they crafted their beats around Jiggas flow and that paid dividends. Some amazing choices
- Drum and Bass work: I am envious of the skill here for producing basslines that sound live and drum programming which head nod and sound live.
- Final production: This round I made sure my headphones were on and some tracks really shine in stereo between the ears. That final mix sounds amazing. I want to learn some of those techniques!
Here are my choices:
#9 At first I was straining to hear what John Lennon was saying as he slowly drowns into the dubbed out waves and I was like - shit. And then I let myself relax and wait for what was next. That bassline is pure emotion. I don’t know what the beatmaker was going through writing this but that deep contemplative space comes through! Jay Z sounds like he was hired to rap on this track rather than the other way around. Of all the tracks, I felt like this Jayz verse sat the most naturally in the mix, rhythm, speed and all. I like the darkness, the dub and the depth. beautiful track. Thanks and Big ups.
#8 The bass and drum work on this beat is special but what is really nice is the way I can picture the beatles as some shoegazers playing guitars on the stage behind Jay Z. Some really talented production work on the final mix too.
#7 That distorted guitar riff (which I know but can’t place) hooked me and kept me - I think its meant to lean a bit hard on the right channel in the mix (a nod to the old mixing techniques from the 19060s records?) with the harmonized vocals floating in on the left (another nod). And I love that loose beat which I assume has some hits from a Ringo drum break in there somewhere. Bassline programming is on point too! I had to check to see if that Snoop scratch from the chorus is in the original, it is. Adds dimension. Thanks!
Honourable mentions:
- #1 - sets the mix off hype. Beat is deep. Trumpets grow so nicely throughout the track. And then that transition at 2:35 just when I thought the drums were good on part one - they go deeper! (gotta remember to always wear headphones when I listen to these beatbattles). I love that it is a Jay Z freestyle - but as such it goes on too long for me. Tightening it up and bringing that transition sooner and its in my top three.
- #6 - I really feel that intro and build up! Although I can’t quite hear what he’s saying but the sweeping vibe is dope. And then the intro vocals have me ready for the beat, but then it’s totally different. Lol. Perhaps its my DJ habits coming in, but it wasn’t what I was expecting - and then you return to it at the end. I wonder if working in the intro/outro more as a bit of a chorus or bridge?
Congrats to all here. I have already bookmarked a few of the producers (still unknown) to ask for a few secrets from
Onto the next
Very good job everyone, it was hard to choose a top 3 !
Here is my vote :
#8 Drum kit sound dope and bassline is perfect. The chorus is dope too!
#6 Very good sample flip, love the energy !
#1 Part 1 was very good, part 2 is insane, props !
Peace !
Final results are in, and the playlist has been revealed.
The stage is so crowded people are having a hard time not to fall off!!
#1 : @malus_mons 10 points
#2: Three way split between @Unifono , @Ooly and @looms , 9 points each!
#3: @Yabba 8 points
Congratulations to all the winners!
What an amazing battle this was, wow
My votes
3 points: Track 9
2 points: Track 1
1 point: Track 8
Thank you @everyone for putting in the effort making such great tracks for this battle, extra thanks to the mods for keeping this a welcoming place and special thanks to @Unifono for being an excellent coach-host!
Thanks for the votes! My track came together the morning of the deadline, I wasn’t very successful my first 2 attempts, for I was trying to use only a SP404mk2 which I got recently but that’s was’t working. I used the break from “the boogie back” by Roy Ayers @aarb420 shared and chopped it and just played the the Blackbird chops over it for awhile and recorded into Ableton. I settled on the 3 parts you hear, added the beat repeat effect on the main sample to give it that glitchy effect. Added my own beats, and bass and ran it all through Sketch Cassette to give it the tape saturation vibe. I didn’t have time to fuss with finding the right acapella, but I did! I got lucky that it already fit the bpm I was working with and I like how there was 2 verses that told 2 connected stories the acapella was from the movie soundtrack “American Gangsta”. So the last thing I wanted to do was add some spoken words from one of the Beatles. Found this clip of a John Lennon interview:
it worked because Jay-Z is basically telling the story of a street hustler cooking crack turning into the “King of New York” if you will. But in order to do that this person had to work with the government, in this case he mentions Reagan and Oliver North and the Iran Contra money/drugs/weapons schemes that the gangters in the US government at that time had cooked up in their trap-house of evil.
Our world is run by insane people, for insane objectives. If this isn’t apparent, it will be after the next battle. I think I have a pretty good idea for it.
Peace y’all happy holidays, love ya!
Well done to the winner/s great work and thanks to the hosts for getting it together.
For mine I used the Kool & Gang drumbreak which I chopped into hits and layered and added my own ride sound.
I became determined to use a track that Ringo wrote or sings on for my main sample so I used Octopus Garden which is the main piano part with a bit of filtered guitar from Something under it.
I also used Golden Slumbers for the intro/outro and on the last verse i chopped a different beat from Something
All done on Digitakt with help from Ableton to overlay the vocal.
I think mine goes least with the Jay Z acapella out of all you guys beats, which are an excellent fit…
I just used the first one I came across then stuck with it, it was a bit long, I trimmed a bit off the start and end or my track woulda been over 5 minutes.
Shouts to all beatmakers, every track was great and it was fun sample spotting
Thanks to @flipinfantile and @Unifono for hosting this battle!
Congrats to @everyone for these great tracks!
To be honest, I’m a little surprised to be in the top 3, when I hear the quality and creative research of everyone.
I was #08. I started with the DT, but I switched to full Ableton for this track.
Material used:
The Beatles
Because
Jay-Z acapella
Dead Presidents II
Drums
The Boogie Back by Roy Ayers
Tired by Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra
Add one shot shaker and ride
Bass
Synth bass (from Thor)
Congralutions @malus_mons - such a sick track and I love it when the planets align like they did for you with that acapella
Serious big ups to everyone. Every track was great and what a sweet cohesive collection of tunes. I haven’t enjoyed the beatles or jay-z so much since the grey album way back! Big thanks to @Unifono and @flipinfantile for the great idea and hosting
Here’s my full notes:
Track 2 - This gives strong Grey album vibes (I think, it’s been some years!). Dig the sense of space/minimalism to this & vocal echo blasts. I wanted it to go on longer. One bit of (hopefully) constructive feedback is I feel the kick could do with a little beefing up.
Track 3 - Filthy abstract goodness. Strong early EL-P/Co Flow vibes at least to my ears/aging brain haha. Gives a real different slant to Jay’s vocals. Sounds super nice sonically too to me. Very cool. I want this one to go on longer too.
Track 4 - Digging the cuts and playfulness. Great work with the Beatles vocal chops and how they sit with the rest of the tune. I want to hear vintage De La on this.
Track 5 - Nice change up amongst all the vocal tracks. Especially liking the pitched up guitar lick over the filtered part. Super clean sound and nicely structured.
Track 6 - Hard! Sounds like an official release and could be on Jay’s album. Not one element that isn’t sick tbh, it’s all stand out.
Track 7 - Love the guitar sample, use of the Beatles vocals and fits Jay perfectly, great structure. Drums slap. This one’s a percy.
Track 8 - Smooth and sounds pro. Bass is super clear. Something I struggle with haha. Everything fits nicely. Great use of Beatles vocals again.
Track 9 - Loving the vibe of this one. Got a great retrospective feel and the music fits the vocals perfectly and the change up in the second half helps tell the story and convey the mood. Sick.
If any beatles bods (@Yabba/@Unifono I’m looking at you haha) fancy trying to name all the samples on mine, there’s 5 of 'em! Yabba was right on the Bungalow Bill guitar - and that mellotron fact goes to show that one of if not the most revered band ever used samples/presets too
Here’s the instrumental. There was a fair bit of serato sample stem and pitch/time use and the horn I found isolated on a pretty well known tune of theirs on youtube