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!

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
Follows us on Twitter @louisden
Blog Post on lousiden.com | Facebook Post
Flyer Web | Flyer Large

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!.

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.

Nov '10 Mix For Jus Like Music By Bug by Jus Like Music on Mixcloud

Hit up BUG if you're feeling the mix!

LINKS

Follow @BugMusic on Twitter

Listen to BUG's other mixes here

BUG's official site BUGmusic.net

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

LINK UP PHONZ

Follow @JonPhonics on Twitter

Jon Phonics Bandcamp

Check out Jon on Myspace

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

Linkup Praise

Follow @YoungPraise on Twitter

Praise on Bandcamp

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

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!.

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

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

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

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.)

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!.