Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Putting together a beat with a theme can be a challenge, but bcwarlock topped the rest recently with his Beat This! win. Throwing in Kung Fu samples wasn't enough, as he also made the beat sound like it could be in the movie itself. Now it's time to find out how he did it...
Congratulations on winning the Beat This! Competition. How did you put together that beat?
For the beat I used some dialogue and fight sounds from Bruce lee movies and found an Asian bamboo flute sample off of YouTube. I loaded my sounds into Ableton and chopped them up and laid in some simple drums and used an auto filter for the middle part to add some variation. I also used a lot of ping song delay not all on one sound but rather had the delay on a return channel to give the whole track a floating like sound. After I finished that I exported the beat to my SP404 and added some glitches and also some dirtiness that comes with bouncing back and forth between hardware and software. Then I mastered it and uploaded
I was laughing at some of the beats because of all the Kung Fu samples. Did you have a hard time finding some good samples to use?
No not really. I used to watch Bruce Lee movies a bunch and I already dig the Asian instrumental tracks like the one I got off of YouTube. But I agree some of the Kung Fu movies are pretty goofy.
What do you currently have in your studio setup?
It changes a lot but my main staple is software (Ableton) and one of my SP samplers and occasionally a 4 track cassette recorder. For monitors just the KRK 5s and a KRK Sub. I'm discovering that I make my best stuff when I get my ideas out the fastest and don't spend a lot of time messing with the gear. I just point and click and I'm getting pretty fast with it
Your beats seem to be smooth yet somewhat experimental. What do you normally sample?
I'll sample anything but I really enjoy Jazz so especially that, and if it's got a Rhodes... even better!
Sampling versus Synths has always been a big debate amongts Hip Hop producers. Are you solely sample-based? Have you done synth-style beats?
Oh yeah I do both, but I like to do any beat I make like it was sampled... so I'll usually render my synths to audio and chop them like they came off of a record, it makes it way more fun! I think people should chill with the debates, the more time you're debating the less you're making beats so it's kind of silly. If it sounds good to you, do it!
How did you first get into beat making?
Burial and his awesome music. I know he's not Hip Hop but before that I thought music production was pretty soulless sounding and I was into Metal, Ppunk and Hardcore and played guitar. When I heard his stuff it showed me that you could make music with a machine and it could actually make you feel something. After him I discovered Flying Lotus and fell down the Hip Hop rabbit hole haha.
Where are you from?
Danville, Virginia.
It can be overwhelming when seeing tons of beatmakers online posting their beats. What do you think is the best way to stand out from the rest?
Make the music you hear in your head and try not to make what you think others will like. Hopefully you will develop a unique style and that's half the battle of standing out. The other half like marketing etc., I'm not so sure about. I'll let you know when I figure it out hahaha.
What are you trying to accomplish with your music?
I want to make music that makes me feel something that listening to my favorite producers makes me feel. If I can do that I hope everything else will fall into place, just going to take it one step at a time.
Do you have any projects coming out soon?
Right now I'm working on my submissions to my label (Mt. Fuji Tapes) for their second lofi compilation cassette, also I'm working on another beat tape, my last one is sold out but you can still cop the digital on the Mt Fuji Bandcamp page... I go by SP//W.
What's the one piece of advice you'd give to other beat makers?
Make what you want to hear and what makes you happy... If you're not doing that you might as well be working in an office or something.
Thanks for doing the interview. Any shoutouts you'd like to give?
All the homies at Mt. Fuji Tapes and also Bonding Tapes.
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