Wednesday 15 December 2010

Homework 80 - Bigger Than Hiphop

New homework! thanks for holdin out for the week break;

Homework 80 - Bigger Than Hiphop



RULES
This week is all about branching out; theres no theme to beat except we want you to display your beat skills outside of a traditional "blap" not to say anyone is generic in the least! but more that this week is your carte blanche to step out and hand in literally whatever you like for your homework...be it jazz, soul, drum & bass or ghettotech!

Show us what you can do when we free the walls! this is a non genre specific homework but it would be nice if you cooked something up specially rather than that 2 year old dubstep beat you had laying around!

DEADLINE
Beats are due Sunday 19th December, email to homework@louisden.com

Friday 10 December 2010

Jaisu - Prelude To The MPC EP + Promo Vid

Jaisu is finally hitting his blap hungry followers off with a release!, "Straight Out The MPC" is a collection 30 beats spanning his explosive Youtube beat tape series as well as sneaky new treats that have been crafted inbetween.

Before you can get your hands on that though he's dropped the "Prelude To The MPC" EP which features instrumental versions of released joints Jaisu has produced as well as a few sneaky vocal tracks, this and the "Straight Out The MPC" Beat Tape can be obtained from his bandcamp page linked below.

Visual accompaniment to these new releases comes courtesy of the Den's AB0181 who went in to provide a crazy costume changing sequence of Jai in the lab, peep!

Jaisu - Prelude To The MPC Promo Vid by AB0181



I think you can agree that they're both killin it!! Go bag them treats now!

Mykeforte.com launched + LEO beat tape!

Mykes emerged from the lab with a new beat tape and shiny website to show us, you may have noticed him in our BFF links to the left but for those who dont know you can now get the lowdown on everything Myke Forte and Audiopixel related at his new digital outlet www.mykeforte.com, he's got his discography, up to date news, blogs and more!

To celebrate the launch he's dropped the latest instalment of the Zodiak Beat Tape series in the form of Leo! go bag and be sure to check out the site!

A quick word from Myke about the release
"This one was quite tricky to finish as I didn't have a theme for this so I decided to try and interpret sounds by mood, and the fact that the Leo star sign is in the summer I wanted feel good beats, but not all of them came out that way. Give it a listen after the download, pass it on and send feedback. Peace.


Myke Forte - Zodiak::Leo


01 WarmUp (Sun Spirit)
02 SummerBreak (Zesteemed)
03 2Halves (VainConfidence)
04 Opalfruits (PassionAte)
05 illvillain (Domination)
06 NoJokes (Commandeer)
07 CruiseControl (Confidence)
08 OnaipChops (Cre-action)
09 Alionate (Self-Centered)
10 NeonBlack (Enlightened)
11 SoulAfrica (LionPride)
12 BeginingEnds (Presentfuture)
13 TalkingFlowers (Social Butterflies)

DOWNLOAD: bandcamp | megaupload


So remember thats mykeforte.com, hit dude up on Twitter @MykeForte if you wanna stay up to date!.

S-TYPE - Medusa EP free download

Den badman, league 08 winner and Tartan Bully S-TYPE has recently dropped the Medusa EP on the Phuture Labs label; dont let the title fool you bumping it wont turn your ears to stone but your neck may feel like it after the crazy head nods it'll generate!. The 3 track EP is genre crossing fusing elements of Electronica, Hiphop, Future Beats and more but rather than trying to pigeonhole you'd be better off bumping it (LOUD) and letting your ears form their own opinion


S-TYPE - Medusa EP (Phuture Labs 2010)

1. Terry Nutkins
2. Mr Lizard
3. Medusa

DOWLOAD: MP3's @ Phuture Labs | Wavs @ Soundcloud


Be sure to follow @S_TypeBeats on Twitter, "Like" him on his official Facebook page and check his Bandcamp if you wanna hear more heat!.

Jon Phonics Goodies - Run For Cover x TBear EP

I love it when I've got a backlog of stuff to blog for no other reason that it means are boys are really on this ting! Next up is Jon Phonics who seems to have ditched sleep in favor of delivering more slabs of future funk.

Run For Cover & A.M
Jon has a 7 inch single dropping early next year with the Chakra Sounds label to serve as a warm up he's put the tracks Run For Cover and A.M out to get y'all ready, you can bag those at the Chakra Sounds Bandcamp page, download and digest!! as bonus he makes his music video directoral debut in the promo vid for Run For Cover which you can peep below!.


Jon Phonics - Run For Cover Promo Video



JP x TB = EP
A couple weeks back Phonics and T'Bear (star of beat cypher 11) decided to put together a selection previously released works and stuff they had in the vaults to form a free EP entitled ‘TB aka TBear V’s Jon Phonics’ EP, so you got bangin beats from JP and dope bars courtesy of the charasmatic TB all for free, go grab it!


Local Hero Presents ‘TB aka TBear V’s Jon Phonics’ EP


01. Intro
02. Sex On Drugs
03. Reach For The Top
04. Celebrate
05. Free At Last
06. Deeper Underground
07. More Forward (Ill Rhythmikz Mix)
08. Broken Mans dreams (Feat. Mr. Drastick)
09. Changes (Feat. Yasine)
10. Remember (Feat. Sir Smurf Lil’ & Raggo Zulu Rebel)
11. More Forward (Original Version 2006)

DOWNLOAD: mediafire


Be sure to hit up @JonPhonics on Twitter if you want to stay glued to his releases/movements!

Evil Needle Beatmaking Video #2

Check the super dope fresh Evil Needle cooking up a heatrock in the lab powered by Reason and what looks like Leffe (big up)..

Evil Needle Beamaking Video #2



Nice work Needz! always bringing heat in the homeworks!, If you want to peep more blaps from him be sure to check his Bandcamp where he is archiving a lot of his louisden works.

BUG winter mix for RadioMagnetic +Quandron Remix

Hot on the heels of his last beat mix Radio Magnetic have recruited BUG to deliver an exclusive mix; head over there to peep 15 selected treats perfect to chill/zone out to as a backdrop for your wintery vibes.


1. Floating Points Ensemble – Post Suite
2. Sampha – Rainstars
3. Aaron Carl – Sky
4. Flying Lotus – Do The Astral Plane
5. Olivier Daysoul – In The Now (Duke Hugh Boassatronic Remix)
6. Afta-1 – H(eye)LAND (feat. Nikko Gray)
7. Full Crate – Cut The Barb
8. Floating Points – People’s Potential
9. Theo Parrish – Sketches (A1 / Untitled)
10. DVA – Just Vybe (feat. Fatima)
11. A Made Up Sound – Rear Window
12. Joy Orbison – Ladywell
13. Maddslinky – Further Away (feat. Tawiah)
14. Stac – Head On Me (Part Time Heroes Remix)
15. Quadron – Average Fruit (BUG’s Punch-Up)



The mix also closes with his recent illy remix of Quadrons Average Fruit if you want to listen to that outside of the mix he's got it up on his SoundCloud page to stream peep below.

Quadron - Average Fruit (BUG's Punch-Up) by BUGMusic

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Homework 79 - Space Week

Ok caving into chatroom pressure here, yeah of course its a dope idea but we weren't sure when to drop it and the ldbb heads have spoken so here it is!


Homework 79 - Space Week



This week we want you guys to flip samples from anything pertaining to Japanese culture; so composers, artists, groups, TV shows, anything originating from the country; we'll accept anything from Japanese War Drum flips right down to J-Pop to anime (if you can pull it off hahaha), so go nuts!!; obviously this is a sample based challenge so synth happy producers need to dig in the crates!

RULES
This week we want you to turn in beats that can fall into the theme of "Space", you can go the sci-fi route by flipping TV/Movie themes from sci-fi shows/films or you can turn in some futuristic synthed out space age funk, either or but its got to sound out of this world!

DEADLINE
Beats by 5th December please!! as usual email them to homework@louisden.com, and yes the league is coming but we took a hit with my laptop going caput the other day; going to take a while for me to get back on my feet so please be patient, if you can't wait then just jump on the homeworks to sharpen up!

Monday 22 November 2010

Louis Den Winter Beat Battle 16th December Birmingham, UK





Louis Den Beat Cypher is back for the last event of 2010, our last beat cypher had producers Pete Cannon, Gifted Music, Mazzie and Ed Strong; we were joined with PA's from Sonnyjim & Kelakovski, Stig Of The Dump and The IRS. Our usual round by round / PA Beat Cyphers are done for 2010 and this time we're closing the year out with a very special Winter Beat Battle!

Louis Den Winter Beat Battle will pit 16 producers up against each other to show and prove who has the best bangers in the vaults and determine who will walk away with the £100 and £50 respective first and second place cash prizes we're putting up alongside dope threads courtesy of iller clothing (www.iller.cc)

To make sure only the heatmakers get through we've assembled an all star judging panel to take care of scrutinising the nights beats, deciding who go through on each round are..

Mr Thing (Extended Players/GMB)
A vet in the game Mr Thing is a DMC Team Champion, part of the Extended Players outfit (along side DJ MK, Shortie Blitz and Harry Love) as well as an interntional DJ in his own right and producer. He dropped the classic Grown Man Business album with Yungun a few years back and has lent scratches/production duties to whole host of artists as well a string of dope mixes. Thing knows what sort of records will go off with a bang!

Sarah Love (BBC/MTV)
Sarah knows her music, having headed up the 4 hour 1xtra M1x Show for her term in office at the BBC and her preseting duties at MTV topped with her various international DJ spots, she knows what will move a crowd and what could essensially become a dope song!.

Disorda (Suspect Packages)
The hardest working man in UK Hiphop, Disorda heads up the online store Suspect Packages (in operation for almost 15 years!) and hosts the popular Suspect Radio as well as his monthly live events in London. He hasn't kept his online record store going by luck; having an intricate ear for music and knowing what will shift tied in with his DJ duties; Disorda can spot a banger from a dud easy!

Cipher Jewelz (MD7/Seven Entertainment)
Cipher is a cornerstone of the Birmingham hiphop scene and has paved the way for a lot of artists doing their thing today. MC and producer for the brum outfit Moorish Delta 7, they've dropped 2 classic albums (The Power & The Glory, Life In The City); they've supported the likes of DJ Whoo Kid - G Unit, Wu Tang, Dilated Peoples, Mobb Deep, Foxy Brown, Big Daddy Kane, Beatnuts, Erick Sermon and DMX and many more as well as heading up their own label Seven Entertainment handling everything from art, music production, distriubtion and marketing. Cipher is a head in the know when it comes to music and will spot heat from a distance!

Soweto Kinch (Soweto Kinch Productions)
World renouned Jazz musician, composer, emcee and producer Soweto kicked off the beat cypher over 2 years ago back in October 2008 (along side Kelakovski, Mr Dick and Jehst). More recently he's not long launched his 3rd full length album "New Emancipation" on his own imprint and would have just come off tour to join the judging panel, with bangers in stock Soweto could himself enter this!! but he's been gracious enough to join the judging lineup to help decide the winners!.

As if this wasn't enough we're also letting guest DJ's SARAH LOVE (BBC 1Xtra, MTV) and MR THING (Extended Playes, DMC Champ) bless the decks with exclusive sets, Sarah will be hitting us off with the latest hiphop bangers whilst Mr Thing will drop an exclusive breaks mix filled with plenty of secret treats!

The EATGOOD team will also be showing off some of their Q4 2010 / 2011 material so expect a few new tracks from Sonnyjim, Redbeard and RTKal.

I WANT IN!! - HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE BEAT BATTLE
Head over to http://louisden.com/battle to register for the battle; if there are more than 16 sign ups this DOES NOT guarantee you a place in the event as if there are more than 16 producers we will have to names out of a hat on the night to determine who will be in place for the battle.

Battle Format
Producers will need to come to the event with their beat CD's ready; have at least 10 tracks covering a range of styles (within the hiphop genre) which you'll play x2 of per opponent (in a knockout format), winning beats will be decided by our allstar judging panel consisting of MR THING, SARAH LOVE, DISORDA, CIPHER JEWELS and SOWETO KINCH.

RULES
* Beats must come on CDR (no phones/usb/ipods)
* Beats CANNOT be played on your behalf; If you register you must turn up on the night to be in with a chance * Producers will be drawn at around 10PM on the night of the event, if you fail to acknowledge your presence we will move on and draw another name!

The nights action will be hosted by Kosyne, Redbeard & Sonnyjim with DJ CRO as the resident DJ providing music other than our guest DJ's

We look forward to seeing you there and close this years louis den action with a BANG!.

-----------------------------------------------
Louis Den Winter Beat Battle w/ Guest DJ's Mr Thing & Sarah Love
Thursday 16th December 2010
Downstairs @unPlug Digbeth
79 Digbeth High St
Birmingham
B5 6DY
9PM - LATE
£4.00 ENTRY BEFORE 10PM £5.00 AFTER
-----------------------------------------------
Links / Support
http://www.louisden.com
http://www.iller.cc
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Homework 78 - Big In Japan

We've just come off a short 1 week break, so apologies to anyone who was fiending for their Sunday stream fix; we've had a few things to sort for the upcoming Louis Den event in Birmingham so we had to get those worked out!!

We mentioned this idea in the last stream and was something that came up in the forum's homework suggestions thread so we figured we'd give it a go!.


Homework 78 - Big In Japan



This week we want you guys to flip samples from anything pertaining to Japanese culture; so composers, artists, groups, TV shows, anything originating from the country; we'll accept anything from Japanese War Drum flips right down to J-Pop to anime (if you can pull it off hahaha), so go nuts!!; obviously this is a sample based challenge so synth happy producers need to dig in the crates!

RULES
We want beats made utilising Japanese samples; whether its the intruments, influence or artists themselves.

DEADLINE
Beats are due via email to homework@louisden.com by 18:00 GMT on 28th November 2010, good luck!....PS the league is coming soon, more details on that this week!.

Friday 19 November 2010

New BUG Beat Mix for jus like music

BUG's cooked up another dope beatmix for JuslikeMusic, some illy selections from the likes of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Eric Lau, FS Green and some ldbb fam in the form of Apatight, Budgie and BUG himself.




Hit up BUG if you're feeling the mix!

Wizard - Chill Pill 2 [Free Download]

One the Den's busiest Wizard is back with the second instalment to his "Chill Pill" instrumental series, the original Chill Pill saw wizard digging through the vaults and letting some fresh stuff go to form a compilation of chill, deep and soulful beats; he's back again on a similar vibe (with a few up tempo joints too) for your listening pleasure.

Many of these joints are available for purcahse if you wanna hit up Wiz on his contact details below.




01.You Gotta Light? 02:50
02.Take It Easy 02:26
03.Pumpkins 02:01
04.Top Down 02:14
05.All That I Want 02:47
06.Got My Mind 02:19
07.You & Me 02:19
08.Surrender 01:46
09.Ice Cream 02:13
10.Summer 02:39
11.GM Music 02:42
12.Ready 02:24
13.Love Is 02:34
14.120 (Let Me Down) 01:30
15.Hamilton 02:44
16.Ya See Baby 02:08
17.Keep You Close 02:28
18.Sunny 02:43
19.That's All We Do 02:18
20.Slow Train 03:38

*All tracks produced by Wizard. Keys by Kelakovski for tracks 1, 5 and 20.M

DOWNLOAD/STREAM: http://wizardbeats.bandcamp.com/
BACKUP DOWNLOAD LINK: http://usershare.net/6jyumbwdjkib



Hit up Wizard on the social networks!
  • Twitter @WizardBeats |
  • Myspace |
  • Reverbnation |
  • Youtube |
  • Ozb's Bandcamp |
  • Facebook


  • Wizard's new production LP titled "That Work" is dropping later this month!

    Jon Phonics - Stop Frame Beat Vid + raw ingredients

    New future funk from Jon Phonics here in the form of a stop motion beat making video which is a sly nod and wink to producer Ryan Leslie's beatvideos which are normally filled with suit donned dance steps and majestic air producing. I'm unsure what Jon is up to at the moment but judging from the video he's cooking up a storm in the lab!


    Jon Phonics Making A Beat Stop Frame



    Speaking of which if you still havent got yourself a copy of Jon Phonics last album "Half Past Calm 2" all I can say is #slippin, fix up and bag it from http://jonphonics.bandcamp.com immediately! as a bonus here is the new video for the track "Raw Ingredients" taken from the album which features Cyrus Malachi and Jehst!

    Raw Ingredients f/ Cyrus Malachi & Jehst


    Praise - Still Loading Beat Tape

    Check out the short but firey beat tape from producer Washington DC Producer Praise, I heard of dude via the ughh producer boards I post at/peep from time to time, but after checking the Behind The Beats interview with him (see bottom of post) I was intrigued to hear some heat which I got courtesy of his bandcamp; I posted this on the boards a few weeks back but after hearing it again it's more than front page worthy so im putting you on to some ill ish! peep!!

    Praise - Still Loading Beat Tape

    Praise - Behind The Beats Interview


    Wednesday 10 November 2010

    Homework 77 - Moms Playlist


    Homework 77 - Moms Playlist



    This week the homework is entitled "Mom's Playlist", this week we want you guys to dig for samples from songs typically found in "Mom Crates", okay now this is a bit tricky as its up open for interpretation; see YOUR mom's crates might be kinda deep; especially if what your parents played to you shaped your interest in music and the obvious stuff that would stand out to make beats from we aren't really looking for.

    Typically your average "Mom crates" would have cheesy easy listening, light modern pop, 80's stuff, crooners that sorta thing, the cheesier the better although like we said its open for interpretation but really though we want you to get busy with the type of stuff your mom/parents would bump.

    RULES
    Ok so this week you have to make a beat utilizing samples from music youd find in your mom's record collection; if nothing springs to mind we're thinking the typical sort of stuff a mom would cop (pop/crooners,80's etc) try find some mom themed compilations for name checks!, obviously twisting your own sounds into your beat is allowed but the body has to come from whatever you've sampled..

    DEADLINE
    Beats are due Sunday 14th November, get busy! as usual submit to homework@louisden.com

    Monday 1 November 2010

    Homework 76 - Reggae Week


    Homework 76 - Reggae Week



    This week you guys have to dig through your Reggae crates and flip a banger from em for Sundays session; If you actually want to turn in a Reggae flavoured beat then thats all good; but dont feel you have to all thats important is the source material, let the sample ride out at the start (or let us know what you sampled) so we can get a feel for the work you did, standard louisden rules apply and nothing more is required!

    RULES
    Create a Reggae themed beat or simply flip a beat making use of a Reggae sample/artist.

    DEADLINE
    Beats are due Sunday 7th November! session start 18:30 GMT at http://louisden.com/live, email entries to homework@louisden.com you know the deal by now!

    good luck, looking forward to getting the beats!

    Lab Session 75 - Louis Den Unplugged

    Props to all the chatroom heads and people who sent in beats for yesterdays session; we had a chilled one with Kos, Kelz and Myke Forte as we went through the entries for unplugged week, the idea being beats made without electrical instruments; some nice beats indeed check the stream below!.


    Lab Session 75 - Louisden Unplugged



    Remember if you miss the live streams you can always watch them back at http://louisden.com/live. New challenege up next!.

    Thursday 28 October 2010

    S-TYPE - TERRY NUTKINS (DOWNLOAD)



    I'm not going to front like I don't know this guy, because I do and let me tell you I have seen him cooking up something special in the lab over the last couple of months. Something similar to Frankenstein's monster, something akin to Norman Bates' mother in Psycho, basically you get the picture, he's been simmering up a monster.

    Glasgow's S-Type is a regular here at Louis Den. He's been contributing to challenges for eons, performed twice at Louis Den Beat Cyphers and won the renowned Louis Den beatmaking league in 2008! Anyways, Glasgow blog/label Phuturelabs have snapped him up for the labels third release in only a matter of months! crazy.

    So, to the details. S-Type's "Medusa" EP will be out on Wednesday 1st December for FREE download over at the Phuturelabs blog but until then... to whet y'alls appetites head over to XLR8R for the first exclusive from the EP and download it right nowwww!!

    Let S-Type know what you think over at his tweets

    For now, peace. AB

    MORE INFO HERE
    BANDCAMP
    TWITTER
    PHUTURELABS

    Wednesday 20 October 2010

    Louis Den Beat Cypher 12 Spotlight - Pete Cannon

    Finally in what reads like one of the most informative spotlight joints I've done is the larger than life Pete Cannon!, Mr Dick (as a lot of us Den people still call him) was one of the first producers ever to lace the Beat Cypher; back when we had a tight venue and even tighter budget and ZERO rep, Pete was down to ride just for the experience..

    Well it paid off seeing as 2 years we're still able to do it, come to think of it I'm pretty sure the only cypher pete has ever missed was one when he got stuck in a traffic Jam with Tactical Thinking (thats going back a year now) so despite hittin up almost every joint and providing plenty Open Beats and Bucks Fizz battle antics he's had a gang of placements and even a name change since his debut on the production showcase so it's about time Pete hit the cypher again!



    1) Hey!! Please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!
    Mate, my name is Pete, Pete Cannon, ladies like to call me Barry big spuds and guys like to call me their mate as. I have been a human for 20 odd years now and making music since I was 5, yeah I said it 5. Well technically I started playing the piano at 5 but I got my first synth which was a DX7 at the age of 11 from cash converters Blackpool for Christmas, Christmas stats.. Before going through puberty I was manipulating fm synthesis through the joy that is algorhythm. At this point I loved old skool hardcore, which was basically sped up hip hop breaks and samples and collected rave tapes on the regs.

    So the next Christmas I blagged a set of dex and started record collecting big time. Buying every record that any crack head would sell in blackpool meant that the collection grew quickly and I was getting into collecting breaks by 15. At this time I rocked an Amiga with 8bit sampling and midi capabilities with a boss dr5 drum machine. Anyway everything developed over the years and after studying a B.T.E.C, H.N.D and a B.A degree in music production it just meant my obsession grew stronger to the point where all I do is speak about bloody music all day. Now days I collect synths and make wonk/hop/tech/step/drumcore/folk bass, on the real though I've got my 70s drum kit set up and planning on taking this no sample shit to the next level, making music that can evoke emotion. You'll see what I mean with some of the new shit that's coming out. I could go on for a million years but now I'm going to stop.


    2) Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?
    Well, daddy Cannon used to play the Beatles to me all the blooming time when I was real young and tell you what he still does today. He tells me he gave me a record player when I was 4 or so for my room. It had 78rpm on it which plays normal records really fast as it was intended for 78 old records. He gave me a load of his old records and left them in my room, he said he came back to me playing Jimmy Hendrix on 78rpm so it was fast as fuck.

    He told me "No peter, its not meant to be played at that speed" so he changed it back to 33. The min he went out of the room, I put it back to 78, from then he just let me play them all at 78 speed. The point is, it was in my mind to make horrible banging noise from a young age, these days I just try and make that same horrible banging noise with my beats, I rarely make smooth shiz. I just knew from then I loved this stuff and wanted to be involved with making music.



    3) What was your first peice of equipment and what were those beats like? Any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
    Yeah man, when I got the boss dr5 drum machine/sound module when I was 12, I linked it with midi to the DX7. The boss had 4 tracks on it, drums, bass, lead and extra. I could layer and record shit in little parts into its patterns.

    I then figured you could put all the patterns together to make a sequence, that blew my mind. My dad also had a four track so I could layer dx7 sounds over the sequenced dr5, well that was it, I was off making tunes every min I could. Funny thing is, ive still got these tunes, they are shit but it was all so exciting finding shit out then. I mean when you first "clock" midi when your that young and no one has ever told you about it, it was like shit your pants good, "So that sound can be played on this keyboard but it records in there....boooom" Anyway I got the Amiga and then I could sample my records in 8 bit and separate its 4 channels into the 4 track. This all continued till I got a pc and learned Cubase 5 at college (the old one, yeah Jon the old one) which I still use today. From there I kept going and I suppose here I am.

    4) Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
    Wow its all a wee bit different now, ha ha that makes me sound old. The whole process of how we learn and advance has sped up with the introduction of the web, which I didn't have when I started so I guess I would just say to get obsessed with music. Learn about all aspects from instrumentation, harmony, rhythm, arrangement, recording techniques, engineering techniques, research the crap out your fav music and get into stripping tracks down to figure out how they made them. I don't want to preach as I know I'm always going to be learning, I guess I could say never be scared to experiment, people might not like what you first do but as long as you want to do it and progress with it, it will happen if you stick it out. If not just ring Sivey and ask him for his mastering settings
    ahahahaha.


    5) What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER
    A pissed northern boy who's surname should have been Pan. However I have been practicing my air producing in the mirror at night and with just a bit more practice, well, I may just be able to air produce the crap out of this next cypher BRAAAAAAAAAAP.

  • Follow @PeteCannonBeats on Twitter
    Pete Cannon Youtube Exclusives
    Jam Baxta | Stig Of The Dump
  • Pete Plays Synths Video
  • Rustie - Neko (Pete Cannon is half Scottish remix)
  • MC Northern - Summertime (Petes ldbb entry for 'Summertime Beats' homework)
  • Louis Den Beat Cypher 12 Spotlight - Ed Strong

    Next up is Mr Ed Strong from the mighty IRS crew. Ed too has been Louis Den fam since we first started out is a frequent contributor to the weekly homework challenges, even back in the day when turn outs weren't as big Ed was always reppin with the banter and fresh joints.

    He also took part in our massive Louisden meets EOW beat clash back in Feb '09 and has been itching to get on the boards in Brum since the cypher started out; so we got him and the crew onboard!, find out some more info below.


    1) Hey!! Please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!
    Yes yes y'all, i'm ed strong, i'm an mc/beatmaker from south london. I've been doing the music with my crew IRS since 1998 so i'm feeling pretty old right about now.
    As a beatmaker i've done a bag of work for other people, the likes of skandal, sonnyjim, manage and few wasteman that can't pull there finger out n put their tracks out, you know how it goes... uk hip hop isn't a very productive genre.

    2) Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?
    I've always been into music. I played piano n drums as a kid. My mum was pretty pushy and into music herself so she made sure i was making noise from early. My older brother is my main inspiration for actually making beats though. He bought an AKAI s1100 sampler when i was about 13/14 and showed me the ropes. Luckily I was already schooled on sampling and hip hop, my brother also shared all his music with me so i got exposed to de la soul and tribe before i'd even reached double figures haha

    3) What was your first piece of equipment and what were those beats like? Any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
    The Akai 1100 was my first bit of kit i used regularly. I had a bernard perdie drum record that got rinsed out, bare of my beats had the same drum loops in them. As far as music samples, I didn't really know where to start. This is pre internet blogspot and dinner money times so i used to raid older family member's record collections and hit up the charity shops for whatever i could find on the cheap. I remember finding Manuel 'music of the mountains' and other instrumental stuff and going mad for it... I went through a serious latin stage in my late teens, pretty much any record with spanish guitar or a foxy latino girl on the cover got bought haha

    Since then and now i've been trying different bits of hardware and software as technology has got better. Fruity loops, acid pro, reason, cubase etc... I had an mpc2000 for alittle while but then I got my hands on a mac g4 and logic with the ex24 and I haven't really changed up since then. I use logic 8 and some hardware processors and FX these days.

    4) Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
    1] Don't go out and buy an mpc for early kool herc points. They cost alot and in the early stages you will probably get better results using software.
    2] Don't get caught up in the 'this is real hip hop, only use samples' BS. If a track bangs, it bangs regardless of what/who/how it was made. Just have fun with it until you find your feet
    3] once points 1 and 2 are covered and your getting some nice beats on the go, learn to mix [especially drums] it can make or break a track.

    5) What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
    From me.... I've got some heat for this I hope, we'll have to wait and see how it goes down. There's some strong beatmakers doing this with me so it could be crazy. From my team IRS... we got a bag of new material and anyone that's seen us knows we don't do live shows by half... I'm very much looking forward to it.

  • Follow TheIRSCrew on Twitter
  • Check out Ed Strong on Myspace
  • Peep Ed Strong Beat Vids and Tracks on Youtube
  • Peep IRS music on Bandcamp
  • Louis Den Beat Cypher 12 Spotlight - Mazzie

    Next up on Beat Cypher 12's lineup is young Mazzie aka Mazworth, Mazzie is longtime LouisDen fam, he's been a participant in both Louis Den Leagues (08/09) as well as numerous homeworks and even made the mission from Devon to link up for our Dilla Tribute session back in Feb '08. He's also part of the production duo "Mazzaro" alongside Den staple Figaro.

    Anyway pay your dues and you'll get your shot; Mazzies has and here he is! enjoy his spotlight blog (was all typed up on a blackberry apparently lolz)


    1)Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
    Sup all my names Mazzie aka Mazworth, I'm a beat maker from the Southwest now residing in Manchester. I've been producing for around 5 or so years, I'm currently studying a BA in 'Music Production' so I'm now getting to grips with the whole recording and engineering side of things

    2) Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
    When I was younger I was mainly into Drum and Bass, I used to buy all the Heltah Skeltah and One Nation cassette tapes, it was a big influence for me at the time, but on the Hip Hop side of things hearing Dre and Dillas stuff set the ball rolling for me and spured me on to trying my own hand at beat making. As well as influential producers and artists, close friends and a lot of the den heads are the reason why I picked up on beat making.

    3) What was your first peice of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
    At the beginning I didn't really own any hardware, I just wanted to get my hands on any piece of music programme software. A friend gave me Reason 2.5, which is what I repped for a while, the beats I made on Reason were pretty swag, I wasn't feeling the whole reason refills...this is when I copped a Mac and switched to Logic!

    4) Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
    Keep grinding away don't give up, you will find you're own creative sound, devlop it and see where it takes you. Network with other artists they will spur you on and inspire you.

    5) What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
    You will hear a range of styles, from synth bangers to chilled boom-bap beats! Keep your ears open and enjoy!

  • Hit @Mazworth Up On Twitter
  • Mazzie on Myspace
  • Hear Mazzie music on his Bandcamp
  • Louis Den Beat Cypher 12 Spotlight - GiftedMusic

    Back from a short hiatus of these joints (dont think we did them for Cypher 11), we're hittin you with a batch of Spotlight blogs in preperation for tomorrow's beat cypher, first up is Gifted Music a dope producer from Birmingham (also the home of Louis Den) who came to our attention back in Beat Cypher 8 (Dec 2009), he blessed the open beats round with some bangers and stayed in touch since then.

    Get the low down on him right here.



    1) Hey!! Please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!
    Greetings! Gifted's the alias, you can call me GiftedMusic if you like! I'm a 21 year old, Birmingham born & bred Producer/Composer, Songwriter & Engineer. I've been doing this since 6th grade! It became serious about 3-4 years ago, haven't looked back since! (I don't intend to either)

    2) Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?
    I'd say that "defining moment", was when i bought, "Kanye West - The College Dropout". It was pretty much a wrap after that! I just knew from then, this is what i want to do for the rest of my life.

    3) What was your first peice of equipment and what were those beats like? Any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
    My first equipment was what nearly everyone started on, a cracked version on FL Studio (LOL). The beats were influenced heavily by UK Garage/Grime, but as i started to learn my way around FL more i learnt about structure and really began making more Hip-Hop/R&B. One of the interesting things about my early producing days is that, i didn't actually know about time signatures/keeping in time or anything. I had no music knowledge at all, it was terrible. I just knew how i wanted it sound and i used to go by the grid patterns on the FL drum sequencer to gauge how it would sound, and after developing familiarity with FL - I learnt what drum loop i was creating just by how it looked. I ultimately was seeing sound.

    4) Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
    Acquire as much musical knowledge as possible, then practise everything you learn. Learn piano theory, study music and then most importantly go and study the greats (not just musical greats, any & every great) - You have to stay inspired. It can't work otherwise!

    5) What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
    Eargasms galore! Nah, i just want to play great music to a crowd of great people. I'm all about the energy!


  • Follow @Gifted_Music on Twitter
  • Brand new Swiss (So Solid) single produced by Gifted, "Bad Boys". On all major UK radio stations/shows now
  • Homework 75 - Louisden Unplugged

    Following on from "Different Drums" a couple weeks back; we want you to explore different musical avenues with an idea thats been kicking around in the forums "Homework Suggestions" thread for a while; here it is below.


    Homework 75 - Louis Den Unplugged



    RULES
    This week you guys have to turn in a beat using acoustic instruments only; to put it simply non-electrical instruments...i.e. if its got a plug on it..its a no go, much in the same vien of MTV's "Unplugged" series you may rememeber Jay-Z doing his Unplugged set backed by the Roots band, the tracks he did had their samples replayed by guitars, drums, string sections, woodwinds and more.

    So you can approach this number of ways; those feeling confident in their non sampled works can make a beat from scratch using authentic sound patches or VST's, those with access to the instruments can record themselves playing the whole joints (wow!), or those more comfortable behind an MP will have to dig out records with these sounds on and get chopping!.

    DEADLINE
    Beats are due Sunday 31st October (its a 2 weeker) email entries to homework@louisden.com, please no zshare links or stuff that'll expire; just attach the beat and hit the stream for 18:30 GMT!


    Go get em!!, and dont forget its Beat Cypher 12 this Thursday; come out and jam if you are in the area!, details are here - http://bit.ly/9Fmv3p

    Tuesday 12 October 2010

    Homework 74 - Disney Week

    Another post stream discussion that formed a homework (you should stick around after the beats to get involved!!), this weeks homework is to dig inside the vaults of music which is under the Disney banner!.


    Homework 74 - Disney Week



    However you can see this as a way to get creative; a little similar to sesame street week given that theres loads of soundtracks, character albums, tv shows and everything...but go deeper too if you must (video games, spin offs, merchandise) anything that may have had music attached to it thats associated with Disney characters. (dont sue us please!!)..

    The only rule we have for this is to make sure whatever you use for a sample source; make sure its DISNEY CARTOON CHARACTER based; dont get cute and try flippin some hannah montana ish; that'll get you banished from the Den!!

    RULES
    To make a beat by using samples taken from Disney cartoon character, products, tv shows, movies, video games and/or anything else you can get your hands on; standard louisden rules apply in that any sounds/vst's/synths are cool but try and make the sample the main body of the beat.

    DEADLINE
    Sunday 17th October, live stream will start between 18:30 and 19:00 GMT, submit beats to homework@louisden.com, once again please attach the beats in the message, if you have to ignore us and send us a download link (lol) then at least have it on an instant start joint like sendspace/mediafire no wack countdowns please!.

    LINKS/RESOURCES
    Why dont you hit up the forum @ http://louisden.com/forum in the Louis Den subforum; folks normally trade links to sample resources!! may be useful!!

    BANGERS PLEASE!!


    .kos

    Read more: http://www.myspace.com/louisdenbeatbattles/blog?bID=539859293#ixzz12BjtrtAh

    Friday 8 October 2010

    Kela Got That Crack Vol.2!!!

    Kela's back! It's been a while since the first volume of Kela Got That Crack and since I'm in Birmingham for a few days, figured I'd go see what Kelz was saying for making another video.
    This is what we filmed in the Louis Den studios last night with Kosyne chillin in the back. Kela breaks down 4 beats, two brand new, one old banger and one new "kelatron" dubstep heat rocker.
    Follow Kelakovski (if you ain't already) here: http://www.twitter.com/kelakovski and come peep more of my videos at: http://www.youtube.com.ab0181
    PEACE! (ab.)

    Tuesday 5 October 2010

    Homework 73 - Different Drums


    Homework 73 - Different Drums



    This week (partly suggested by Sonnyjim) we want you guys to turn in a sampled or non sampled beat but the goal is to use different drums!, by different we mean using different types of drums and percussion sounds, ethnic drum sounds or even using some sound shaping skills to morph other sounds into usable kits.

    So no typical Kick/Snare beats, we want you to dig into new territory for your drum sounds and sounds, the scope here is stupid!!

    heres just a small list of the sort of instruments you could investigate

    "bodhrán, bongos, castanets, chimes, conga,cymbals, finger cymbals, glockenspiel, gong, guiro: kalimba, hand drums, maracas, marimba, snare drum, tambourines, timpani, triangle, vibraphone, xylophone"

    Just google or youtube any of these joints to see the sort of sounds you should look into!

    If you need some more help peep this Percussion reference article.
    http://www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/instruments/percuss.html

    Those sampling might want to draw out some records from around the world to tap into these sounds, or maybe search out some kits then find a sample to match or even a VST with patches containing sounds like these, remember its not a must you turn in say a Middle Eastern sounding beat; just more that you've dug for drum sounds other than a regular kick and snare or if you have theres a bit more going on drum wise.

    RULES
    Turn in a beat (sampled or not) via email to homework@louisden.com which uses various drum sounds and percussion different to a typical kick/snare pattern.

    DEADLINE
    Turn in beats by October 10th 2010, 18:00 GMT, we'll try our best to get the stream kicked off for 18:30, good luck and keep the standard up!!.

    Lab Session 72 - Sesame Street Beats

    Last weeks session was dope!, not a great deal of beats but the quality was all there; myself and Kela were joined by the EatGoood crew Sonnyjim, Redbeard and Taharka as we played back the beats with plenty of jokes; good work guys!

    To view last weeks session or any of our recorded streams peep our ustream channel located at http://louisden.com/live or for last weeks in particular its embeded below!.


    Louis Den Homework 72 - Sesame Street Joints



    new homework next!.

    Friday 1 October 2010

    Louis Den Beat Cypher 12 - October 21st 2010

    August saw a return to form with Beat Cypher 11 playing host to the talents of S-TYPE, JAISU, JON PHONICS, MR FIGZ and MUNESHINE all the way from Toronto Canda, beats were banging and there were vibes aplenty! Check the exclusive Round One (http://tinyurl.com/cypher11) and jokes/outtakes (http://vimeo.com/14589942) from Louis Den’s own AB0181.





    Back again for whats going to be the last Louis Den (BEAT CYPHER) of this year!, shed... a tear!! This season has gone quick!, they’ll be some goodness coming your way in Winter but it’ll be a little different from what your used to, but rather than wishing away the rest of 2010 heres whats in store for our next joint!.



    ON THE BOARDS
    PETE CANNON - Back for the second time round, he did the first ever cipher back in October 2008 under the name MR DICK (which now just strictly raps); new name change; new grind since then he’s laid down beats for TORAE, SWAY, MILLION DAN, DR SYNTAX, STIG OF THE DUMP and more! another go at the cypher will really let him show heads where he's at!
    http://petecannon.bandcamp.com/


    GIFTED MUSIC - A very talented and humble cat; we first met Gifted at the December Beat Cypher last year, since then he's always shown love reppin with the open beats and playing plenty of bangers, Gifted has quite the resume having worked with WRETCH32, GIGGS, YOUNG MONEY and frequent collabs with SO SOLID CREW including the brand new comeback single for rapper SWISS, he'll have some fresh sounds no doubt.
    Gifted Music on Facebook


    ED STRONG of the mighty IRS CREW, Ed has been Louis Den fam since we started our online battles back in 2007; a longtime coming Ed is reaching this cypher to play some gems out of the catalogue, production highlights include the bulk of the IRS releases, SONNYJIM, SKANDAL and more!
    http://theirs.bandcamp.com/

    MAZZIE - King of the "busted beat cd's" for the open beats; Mazzie (originally from Devon but now in Manchester) has been down with the fam for long time, bit of a sleeping giant as he's never in the forefront with his beats but has always been keepin up with the big boys!! nows his chance to show you whats poppin, production credits include UK's Truth and P.SO (formerly P.Casso) outta New York.
    http://mazzie.bandcamp.com/


    ON THE MIC
    Stig Of The Dump, x2 World EOW champ, Battle Vet and drinker!!, You may know Stig from his infamous Jump Off battles, you may know him from his x2 EOW world titles, or you may have read his rantings in various magazines, at the core of this though is one of the countries top tier emcees!! Stig's debut album "Mood Swings" drops 11th October and he'll be blessing Birmingham give a sneak peek at some of his new material collaborator Pete Cannon (he produced 5 joints on there) is also in the building so expect fun!, Stig will be backed by Brighton vet and Dont Flop battler Enlish.
    http://www.stigandsyntax.com/

    THE I.R.S, On the verge of dropping their sophmore album "Speaks Volumes" and staedily leaking their free "Offcuts" LP the gang of strong rhymers will be performing (with their producer/mc Ed Strong taking the produciton line up), Indie group of the year winners for 2008 and larger than life mic characters Ed Strong, King Kaiow, Superb and DV will be in the building laying down some South London funk.
    http://theirs.bandcamp.com/


    SONNYJIM & Kelakovski, these two have been busy cooking up an EP of treats that'll surface in the near future on Eat Good Records, both are keen to let the cypher hear some of the new material so seperate to the other performers they'll be previewing some new bits for the beat cypher crowd (no Kelz isnt rapping!)
    http://eatgoodrecords.com/

    Finally, as usual we'll have our very own DJ CRO providing the backdrop of hip-hop beats, breaks and treats inbetween the nights action.

    *ARRIVE EARLY TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN BEATS, ONLY 3 BEATS MAX PER PRODUCER AND WE MAY HAVE TO REDUCE THAT NUMBER IF THERES A HUGE AMOUNT OF SIGN UPS (prefence is given to newer names)

    * NO MP3 PLAYERS/PHONES/ DATA CD's FOR OPEN BEATS, sorry but its an ache to get all this sorted and the cables/pc's are for the showcased producers only...bring an audio CD or most likely its not happening!!.

    * THERE IS NO GUESTLIST AT THE BEAT CYPHER, please don’t try it and blag it…respect the cypher and the other heads paying, the more heads supporting the more chance of us being able to keep the movement going, please dont be shy and dig in them pockets!.



    -------------------------------------------------------------------
    Louis Den BeatCypher 12
    Live Hiphop Production Showcase & Beat Jam

    PETE CANNON | GIFTED MUSIC | ED STRONG | MAZZIE

    +open beats/DJ CRO
    hosted by Kosyne, Redbeard & Sonnyjim

    Thursday 21st October 2010
    Downstairs @unPlug Digbeth
    79 Digbeth High St
    Birmingham
    B5 6DY
    9PM - LATE
    £4.00 ENTRY BEFORE 10PM £5.00 AFTER
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Spread The Word!, Tweet/RT, Blog and invite your people to the facebook event!
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Facebook event link:http://bit.ly/a5XUWt
    flyer front : http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypheroct2010/louisdenbeatcypher12_front_web.jpg
    flyer back : http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypheroct2010/louisdenbeatcypher12_back_web.jpg
    Twitter links: @louisden @petecannonbeats @gifted_music @mazworth @theirscrew @stigofthedumpuk @sonnyjim01 @kelakovski @redbeard00 @eatgoodrecords @djcro
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Louis Den Beat Cypher is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

    Louis Den Beat Cypher 11 - ROUND ONE!

    Here is the very dope opening round from Augusts Beat Cypher which featured Jaisu, S-TYPE, Jon Phonics, Mr Figz and Canada's Muneshine.

    AB0181 on Camera duties as always (you rockin with the best!), ill beats all night and it was a blast; expect a bit more footage from the night to surface and big up to everyone who made it out!.

    Louis Den Beat Cypher 11 - Round ONE


    Also heres some random Pete Cannon heavy footage from the night; just to show we all have a great deal of jokes at these joints!!

    Bonus Outtake Footage

    Louis Den Beat Cypher 11 - Snip Reel - More footage coming! from Andy Brown on Vimeo.

    Thursday 30 September 2010

    Kelakovski - BeatMix 2010

    Kelz is in the lab doing what he does best; churning out fresh beats, he recently dropped a 2010 beat reel for heads to get a sneak preview on what he's been working on, and to let em know that theres more of the same if heads wanna get in touch and purchase material (think of it as a audio business card), some belters here!

    Kelakovski - BeatMix 2010


    While we're on the selling beats tip, heres a £50 joint Kela threw up earlier last week, first come first serve!.

    Kelakovski - £50 Beat


    Holla at @Kelakovski on Twitter or via www.kelakovski.com.

    Jon Phonics - Do It Phonz! [free download]

    Jon dropped this free gem the other week on his soundcloud, the beat entitled "Do It" went down a storm at August's beat cypher and now he's giving it away to good people! be sure to check the future bounce!! he had heads goin nuts with this one!.

    Pretty sure I demanded a pull up!.

    Do It Phonz by jonphonics

    Holla at @JonPhonics on Twitter.

    Raul Supreme - Beat Bonanza [free download]



    Louis Den resident Raul Supreme has been busy at it again, he's put together a free short beat collection entitled "Beat Bonanza" as he hasn't given this a formal title/artwork I'd treat it as more 'beats from the lab' rather than a project..either way dude has been busy and theres some nice joints here, including the recent 22tracks addition "Space-Lo-Tek", GET EM RAUL!.


    Raul Supreme - Beat Bonanza
    42nd Street
    Bubble Blip
    Cady Club
    Chinatown Express
    Dela Roose
    Dreamworks
    Sex Am
    Skiponetta
    Space-Lo-Tek
    Yen-su

    DOWNLOAD LINK: http://bit.ly/bEeKew
    Follow @RaulSupreme on Twitter

    Wednesday 29 September 2010

    Homework 72 - Sesame Street Week

    Lets cut to the chase with this one!, homework is due SUNDAY 3rd October and suggested in the chatroom in the last session; cant remember who exactly was responsible but its a dope idea so lets run with it!!.


    Homework 72 - Sesame Street Week



    RULES
    This week the goal is to make a beat using music samples from the kids show "Seasme Street" which you should all know!! this can be any of the educational skits, the theme songs or music from any of the albums or merchandise tie ins they've put out, here are some dope examples Swiff D | Alchemist. Usual Louis Dren rules apply; so use your own sounds/drums/synths but try to stay close to the sample.


    DEADLINE
    Beats are due Sunday 3rd October, email entries to homework@louisden.com by 18:00 and tune in at http://louisden.com/live within the hour of closing for the session to start!!.

    Sunday 19 September 2010

    No Louis Den Session Tonight!

    Just a quick note to you guys to let you know theres not homework playbacks for the Expendables homework tonight; unfortunately we cant all get to the lab so we've called it off for another week so consider this an extension!!, If you've already submitted a beat then feel free to send in another beat (label it clearly) and we'll play that next week!

    peace

    Monday 13 September 2010

    Homework 70 - Expendables Week

    The "Simply Red Week" came out kinda nice! props to everyone who entered a beat; was quite a consistent week for beats as you guys didnt disappoint!.

    Something a little more regular this week, we're revisiting an old theme of action movie stars (remember Arnie week?) but given a recent film release we figure its a nice tie in and quite an open challenge which'll hopefully attract some heads that have been sleeping back into the homeworks, you should use these as a perfect exercise to sharpen up, afterall the league is coming!...


    Homework 71 - Expendables Week



    This week we want you to flip samples from soundtracks that comprimise the filmographies of the actors in the new flick "The Expendables", the cast is stupidly large and consists of some of Hollywoods Action Star vets..for a full listing head off to the idmb entry in the links but off the top you've got Dolph Lundgren, Sly Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jet Li and the list goes on!.



    Similar to Arnie week you've got an open license to go flip anything from sountracks of any of the actors previous efforts (so if you think Sly you've got the Rambo series, Cobra, Rocky, Demolition Man etc...the list goes on) and the others have mighty healty resumes too so you really are spoilt for choice!.




    RULES
    This week the goal is to make a beat using soundtracks (or movie scores) from any film containing a cast member of the new movie "The Expendables", standard louisden rules apply you can use your own drum sounds,vst's, instrumentation; just as long as the body of the beat is from the sample, email your finished beats to homework@louisden.com please dont send us download links; we dont wanna be waiting on downloads and entering captcha codes when we're itching to start the session!! attach them in the message so we can DL em straight away!!

    DEADLINE
    Hit the lab and bring something to us by Sunday 19th September, we'll be streaming from the lab around 18:30 @ http://www.louisden.com/live

    LINKS
    If you're stuck for material, hit the louisden forums at http://louisden.com/forum for some help!, the imdb page for the expendables is over here - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320253/

    Tuesday 7 September 2010

    Homework 70 - Simply Red Week

    No its not a joke, kela suggested it; those of you who hung around in the stream might have had the heads up, I said let it be on his head...he said fine hahaha uff it lets give it a go, its a bit of fun and plenty of samplable joints I guess!.


    Homework 70 - Simply Red Joints



    Im not sure how the discussion came about but we were in the lab and ended up talking about dudes music, Kela seemed well up for using the bands music for this weeks challenge insisting there was heat in there so lets see!.

    RULES
    Samples this week need to come from my man Mick and his band, seriously.... Standard ldbb rules do what you have to do to make heat but get the sample source from the discography!.

    DEADLINE
    Beats are due Sunday 12th September and as usual email the entries (with your producer name if it isnt obvious) to homework@louisden.com, Im determined to rally the gang and get in the lab for a decent time this week so tune in to the stream at http://louisden.com/live from 18:30 and we'll kick things off, hopefully have some bangers to play you!.

    Wednesday 1 September 2010

    Homework 69 - KPM Joints

    Nice turn out for the sell out beats; after talking over the theme in the lab with Myke and Kelz we came to the conclusion that the "Sell Out" title might have been a bit misleading "Commercial Week" might have been better!.

    Anyway there were some smashers so make sure you hit our ustream page over at http://louisden.com/live to listen to the submitted beats and YES the divshare player will be coming back with all the previous homeworks so dont fret!

    On with the new homework!


    Homework 69 - KPM Joints




    This week we want you guys to flip music from the kpm library records series (http://bit.ly/a9jmFC); partly inspired by watching some Ren & Stimpy the other week it came to my attention that most of the background music came from particular volumes in the series which dont scream "sample me" by most standards; its all familiar bed music that you would have come across in the past in one way or antoher so thats what we're using here.

    If you've already got a hold the ones in question then even better; if not we'll link you to a page where you can peep them below; we figure after having a few themed/kit weeks we get back to a traditional sample flip so get busy!


    RULES
    This week you have to make a beat using a sample (or samples) from the following KPM releases.

    KPM 81 - Archives 1 - Light Activity - http://bit.ly/d1cKlI
    KPM 82 - Archives 2 - Drama - http://bit.ly/9Zx51s
    KPM 83 - Archives 3 - Showbiz / Romance - http://bit.ly/b3XyZJ
    KPM 84 - Archives 4 - Newsreel / Sport - http://bit.ly/98b3kU

    DEADLINE
    Standard louisden rules apply, use samples from the releases specified although your own drums/vst's/synths are all cool as long as they dont draw away from how you've used the sounds in the archives.

    Submit beats to homework@louisden.com for 18:00 on 5th September and follow @louisden on twitter to find out when we'll start streaming (hopefully by 19:00 latest)

    Tuesday 24 August 2010

    Homework 68 - Sell Out Week

    Back with another homework (gotta keep it moving), remember if you want to hear the beats first then make sure you tune into the Louis Den live stream (http://louisden.com/live) where we archive all our streams!, the audio players will return to the blogs soon so in the meantime make sure you check the streams or archives.

    This weeks challenge is more a theme than a traditional sample/sample set homework but hopefully we should have some interesting results, read below and try to enter a beat if you can!


    Homework 68 - Sell Out Week



    Selling out is a weird thing, its often the first thing heads jump at when you are on to a money maker or even trying something out a bit more pop centered, thats not what we are here to debate!! we reckon a good producer can tow the line between making accessible material and staying to a core rugged hiphop sound (Primo / Cristina anyone??).

    Even then theres still nothing wrong with "branching out" and thats what this homework is all about (pardon the tongue and cheek title).

    So this week we want you guys to make that "Sell Out" beat, that one blap that'll catapult you into "super producer stardom", cue the fast cars & women, tax evasion and substance abuse...

    We're after that beat that'd "get you discovered" and latch you on to that pop dough, lets see what you can come up with, you've got a few routes you can try some pop ish, some R&B stuff or the radio friendly hiphop banger....remember we aren't after you to do an impression we want you to still sound like you! just think of it as going for that broader sound!!

    RULES
    This week you have to craft a beat aimed at the commercial market; something youd expect to hear on the radio, you're allowed to cross genres into r&b/pop if you need to but try and keep the bounce!, sample or none sampled beats are all good, make something for the challenge though! (thats where the fun is) dont just send something you got laying about!! submit beats to homework@louisden.com

    DEADLINE
    Beats must reach us by Sunday 29th August to make the stream/beats player.

    good luck....sell outs!

    Tuesday 17 August 2010

    Homework 67 - DMX Week



    Bit of a crossover homework in an effort to appeal across the board, alright so for those who dont know the Oberheim DMX was an 80's digital drum machine which rivalled the Linn Drum (see homework 47), it contained 24 sounds (that could all be individually pitched) and had 8 note polyphony.

    Famous users include RUN DMC, Mike Oldfield, Phil Collins and more!!.

    This weeks battle is to make a beat using the stock sounds that came bundled with the DMX, you can download the soundpack here - http://www.sendspace.com/file/i6pkgy

    Ok and now for the crossover, the former Def Jam rapper DMX was actually a beatboxer before choosing to become a rapper and named himself after the above machine (probably to let heads know he was as good as a drum machine heh) so for a bit of crossover for this weeks beat you can either turn a sample free synth joint (using the DMX drums) or you have dig through and reflip a sample used in any of DMX's catalogue, heres some starting points.

    the breaks | whosampled.com

    go get em!!.

    RULES
    Download the DMX drum machine samples and craft either a sample free synth beat or a beat that shares the same sample as a song from the rapper DMX's catalogue, email entries to homework@louisden.com please DONT myspace us a link we wont look for it there! if you sample a used DMX sample it is cool to add any extra VST's / synth sounds.

    DEADLINE
    Beats are due Sunday 22nd August 2010 exact deadline is 18:00 live stream from the lab will be soon after broadcasting from our new Ustream - http://louisden.com/live

    just in case you are confused we are looking for you to turn in either

    a) a synth beat with the Oberhiem DMX drums

    or

    b) a beat using a DMX re-flipped sample also with the DMX drums


    good luck..

    Friday 13 August 2010

    Purpose - Better Than Your Album

    Purpose has been really busy and got loads of the other Den regulars on production duties (Archimedes, Bug, Kela and Wizard), obviously the man has taste!

    Check the sampler here


    Now head over to www.tragicallies.com for your FREE DOWNLOAD and don't forget to get the Track Of The Week Mixtape while your at it for your weekend listening pleasure

    Tuesday 10 August 2010

    Homework 66 - Sega Week


    Homework 66 - Sega Week





    Sega made some of the illest video games back in the day!!, we figured lets redo the video games theme we explored many moons ago (its been a minute, we got new louisden producers plus the theme is slightly different).



    This week we want you to flip music from classic Sega games, obscure joints all good but the idea to link them all together is that they are Sega games or Sega franchises! ideas??



    Streets Of Rage, Super Hang On, Alex Kidd, Wonderboy, Altered Beast, Sonic The Hedgehog....the list goes on!, think of all the consoles too Megadrive / Genesis, Game Gear, Master System, Dreamcast, 32x, Sega/Mega CD etc...



    Theres years and years worth of dope music to sift through!! so get crackin




    RULES

    To make a beat sampling (or interpolating) Sega music in their video games, extra stuff (vst's/sounds etc) are all good but try to stay true to your sample source, submit your beats to homework@louisden.com please DONT myspace us a link we wont look for it there!



    DEADLINE

    Beats are due Sunday 15th August 2010 exact deadline is 18:00 live stream from the lab will be soon after broadcasting from - http://louisden.com/live (url not live at the moment but will be on sunday....gonna try Ustream out this week!!)


    Friday 6 August 2010

    Louis Den Beat Cypher 11 - 26th August 2010

    June saw the second beat cypher of the 2010 season with producer/keyboard player BUG, Birmingham's up and coming SMITH THE MISTER and emcee/producers CAPPO, TRANQILL with Brum vet MALIK also sharing mic duties; although the beats banged all night we noticed a few faces missing from the usual Beat Cypher crowd (where you at??!) well with the football out the way hopefully you'll surface for this next instalment (you want us to keep doing this right??).

    Ok so we're back; news would have come a little earlier but we were holding out for a special guest who eventually couldn't commit no problems, the line up is still strong as ever and here it is.





    ON THE BOARDS
    MUNESHINE - Producer/Emcee/Engineer hailing from Toronto Canada Muneshine has put in work in all 3 fields amongst the various crews he's affiliated with and with his own material as a soloist; his album Opporunity Knocks LP had features and production from the likes of DJ SPINNA, PETE ROCK, ILLMIND, M-PHAZES and guest verses from SUPASTITION, ODDISEE, KEN STARR and EMILIO ROJAs, with worldwide appeal Mune has managed to scan over 30,000 units just in Japan territory alone causing for a few exclusive releases for that region. Our third international guest at a beat cypher we're honored to have Mune grace the boards!.

    THE TARTAN BULLIES (S-TYPE & Jaisu) - You already know the names and the stomping beats!, S-TYPE and Jaisu are collectively the Tartan Bullies; given that its been the best part of 2 years since these boys graced the beat cypher stages we figured we get them back together to let us know whats been going on since they appeared at Beat Cypher 02 back in Dec 08. S-TYPE has been going from strength to strength with production work for Tek's (of Bootcamp Clik / Tek and Steele) lead single from his solo LP, Up and coming J.U.S.T.I.C.E League (Rick Ross, Toni Braxton, Mary J Blige) artist LAWS and Hall Of Justus (Little Brother) artist JOE SCUDDA, with more and more credits appearing and inevitable solo work S-TYPE has NOT been slouching!. Same applies to Jaisu whos been on the grind providing material for the likes of Detroits MARV ONE, MICALL PARKNSUN, SHA STIMULI, PUNCHLINE, PRINCE PO and more! still not forgetting the Beat Tape trend he started with AB0181 he's also been dropping frequent volumes of his sought after BEAT TAPE series on Youtube (now on Vol 7 - http://tinyurl.com/jaisuvol7) and featured in a dope Q&A/Instructional portion of the latest Behind Closed Doors Hiphop Production Magazine DVD (http://louisden.com/bcd)

    JON PHONICS - Another familiar Louis Den face, Phonics is back simply because dude has been extra prolific in the 18 months since he appeared at Beat Cypher 03, Phonics has put out a myriad of releases in that time including the BEATS & PIECES beat tape which dropped last Xmas for free download and his sophmore LP "HALF PAST CALM 2" (http://jonphonics.bandcamp.com/album/half-past-calm-2) which had strong name checks such as KOSYNE (sorry hehe), JEHST, CYRUS MALAKAI, SONNYJIM, M9, VERB T, OBBA SUPA to name just a few not content with stopping there he's got 2 EP's dropping in the form a collab project (with other Louis Den producers) another collab effort with fellow producer from the Ill Rythmikz camp and Louis Den JEEKAY. Although the sounds have evolved but the funk is still present Jon will have plenty of treats in store!.

    MR FIGZ - aka Figaro is Birmingham a native thats been tearing up the 4x4 and Funky House circuit (http://www.discogs.com/Mr-Figz-Mr-Figz-EP/release/1245147) for quite sometime but dont get it twisted though! He's been down with the Louis Den Movement since we first started out (http://youtu.be/P-wuZAA6RjU) and has always been crafting headcrack soul for heads to vibe to expect the unexpected as Figz combines elements from all influences to bring you the undeniable Quinton bounce!


    ON THE MIC
    TWIN PEAKS (MUNESHINE & GHETTOSOCKS)
    Muneshine & Ghettosocks form the duo “Twin Peaks” (http://twinpeaksrap.bandcamp.com), We’ve mentioned Muneshine above, his rhyme partner Ghettosocks hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada he’s been an active contributor to the Halifax scene for a few years; he’s supported the likes of NAS, AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, SPECIAL ED, GZA, BEATNUTS and KOOL HERC to name just a few. “Treat Of The Day” his latest release features EL DA SENSEI, PUMPKINHEAD, EDGAR ALLEN FLOE, MUNESHINE and more.

    As Twin Peaks the pair explore themes influenced by David Lynch’s work fused with stellar production, their “Perfect Strangers EP” is out now and features production from M-PHAZES, RICH KID, SUFF DADDY and BIG BIX which serves as a prelude to their full length LP “Shaking Hands & Kissing Babies”.

    ENGLISH
    A vet on the UK circuit English (http://youtu.be/Pz2MBm7rUaI) has been tearing up mics up and down the country; getting his foot in the door via the battle circuits of “Battle Scars” “Jump Off” he’s since gone on to release a strong catalog with his debut LP “Attack Of The Killer Loops” on DAT sounds to his Left Turn Radio mixtapes and the recent release “My Way” (http://www.englishleftturn.com) out on his own imprint he’s been building since 2005 Left Turn Records.

    T-BEAR
    Finally completing the PA line up is the charismatic Colony affiliate T-BEAR aka TB aka Tuberculosis (http://www.myspace.com/tbworldwide). With a unmistakable voice and delivery T-BEAR has been grafting the last few years having collaborated with the likes of JON PHONICS, FARMA G, CHEMO, ENGLISH, PYRELLI, SHAMELESS, MR 2IBBS and more!, be sure to check his “The Beast From The East” Mix CD from a couple years back which was cut up by none other than DJ MK! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0KaYBeA0zE)

    OPEN BEATS / BEAT BATTLE / DJ CRO
    We've got the usual OPEN BEATS where producers of all levels are encouraged to bring some material to test the crowd reaction (3 beats max), this is a perfect opportunity to let others hear your material on a club PA and also lets knows in attendance know about the sort of talent on their doorsteps, perfect for networking, handing out beat CD’s and generally connecting with other artists.

    Those feeling like they want to take something home can compete in the legendary BUCKS FIZZ BEAT BATTLE where names dawn out of a hat can compete for a bottle of bubbly and bragging rites as the Louis Den Bucks Fizz Beat Battle Winner!!...and finally it wouldn't be a beat cypher with our very own DJ CRO providing the backdrop of hip-hop beats, breaks and treats inbetween the nights action.

    *ARRIVE EARLY TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN BEATS, ONLY 3 BEATS MAX PER PRODUCER AND WE MAY HAVE TO REDUCE THAT NUMBER IF THERES A HUGE AMOUNT OF SIGN UPS (prefence is given to newer names)

    * NO MP3 PLAYERS/PHONES/ DATA CD's FOR OPEN BEATS/BATTLE, sorry but its an ache to get all this sorted and the cables/pc's are for the showcased producers only...bring an audio CD or most likely its not happening!!.

    * THERE IS NO GUESTLIST AT THE BEAT CYPHER, please don’t try it and blag it…respect the cypher and the other heads paying, the more heads supporting the more chance of us being able to keep the movement going and bring you great line-ups of this seasons calibre!

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    Louis Den BeatCypher 11
    Live Hiphop Production Showcase & Beat Jam
    MUNESHINE | S-TYPE | JAISU | JON PHONICS | MR FIGZ
    TWIN PEAKS | ENGLISH | T-BEAR
    +open beats/beat battle/DJ CRO


    26th August 2010
    Downstairs @unPlug Digbeth
    79 Digbeth High St
    Birmingham
    B5 6DY
    9PM - LATE
    £4.00 ENTRY BEFORE 10PM £5.00 AFTER
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    Spread The Word!, Tweet/RT, Blog and invite your people to the facebook event!
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    Facebook event link: http://bit.ly/amuJDY
    louisden.com blog link: http://bit.ly/bAeVPA
    flyer front : http://bit.ly/997L2Z
    flyer back : http://bit.ly/93KXef
    Twitter links: @louisden @Muneshine @S_TypeBeats @Jaisu @JonPhonics @Mr_Figz @GhettoSocks @EnglishLeftTurn @DJCro @RedBeard00 @Kosyne @SONNYJIM01 @EatGoodRecords
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    Louis Den Beat Cypher is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
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