Effin' beats. I can't even begin to comprehend the skill it takes to do this. Those dudes who did this in the 80s were amazing. Each one of those white spaces is a tape splice. Incredible.

thank God for pro-fools!

that is freaking amazing. People really used to do that? craziness!

Yep. Next time you listen to some old hip hop, that's what was going on. Those dudes were true artists.

Really? what about early drum machines??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_CR-78

quote:

Originally posted by WebMonkey:
Really? what about early drum machines??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_CR-78

For an actual beat, yes, they used drum machines. But, when mixing various beats, parts, samples, etc. together, the only way to do it was to splice tape.

I don't get how they do it........

You have the tape with the one sound/beat/song on it, and another tape with another, etc., etc. You take short pieces of each and sequence them, and splice them together with the white splicing tape. The trick is knowing exactly how long to make each section of tape and each splice so that it ends up still in time. It's very tough to do.

...and before it was done with tape splicing, it went a little somethin' like this.

(some of my favorite dj's/turntablists)

these guys have so much more talent that puff daddy or kanye west

quote:

Originally posted by WebMonkey:
these guys have so much more talent that puff daddy or kanye west

Didn't Kanye do his last album all on Fruity Loops? Still a deep, killer program.

I can only imagine what kind of horrible crippling hand cramps these guys got. I'm still always amazed to see a dj drop a needle right on the beat, but to eyeball tape... whoa.

quote:

Those dudes were true artists.

You don't see a lot of collages in art museums, but I agree all that splicing was surely difficult and time-consuming.

quote:

Originally posted by RacerX:

quote:

Those dudes were true artists.

You don't see a lot of collages in art museums, but I agree all that splicing was surely difficult and time-consuming.

Oh yeah, because if it's not in a museum, it's not art. I guess that eliminates all of the music of every single band on here being considered art since it'll never be there either.

And actually, you do see a lot of collage and found art in modernism in a lot of museums.

Studio trickery can be used as a tool or a crutch, and the concept of "art" is subjective.

I generally prefer a more organic approach, that's all; take The Roots, for example.

quote:

Originally posted by RacerX: You don't see a lot of collages in art museums,

Not to bag on hands on craft and skills, because I get your point, but: Not true at all. Not even close. I've seen collage in The Guggenhiem, the MOMA, The Whitney... and that's just New York. I have trouble naming a museum I HAVEN'T seen collage in- they have it in the folk art museum and the Albuquerque art museum. http://collagemuseum.com Pop art, dadaists, surrealists.... I could list artists, movements and pieces all day- Picasso, Braque, Duchamp ...Ernst even did an entire book: Une Semaine De Bont`E, which is one of my favorite pieces of all time. And you could argue that besides the actual ones (there are elements of it in the majority of his work), Dali's films were splicing and collage, or the cut ups of Burroughs; the juxtopostion of charged meanings creates new and powerful dynamics. You may not see as much of it as you might oil painting, but you see easily as much or more than silkscreen or gouache, etc. Then you get into installations, constructions, found objects, which in my mind are just three dimensional collage. You see more collage in museums than you see any of us, that's for damn sure, and I'm imclined to say that if you haven't seen them you just haven't seen enough museums. The most important parts of visual art are composition, shape, color, line... not paint. Paint is just a thing. Just like as with music: tone, rhythm etc are more important than say, cables. Craft is important too, but when we string notes together, layer instruments... well, we didn't invent those notes or build those instruments, did we? All of us are in a well-explored field that is informed by expectations and governed by biology, instinct, and physics. There is incredible inspiration found just in playing with the fact that we DO already know this shit that previously existed by turning it in a way that makes us see beyond that. They are commenting on the RULES as well appealing to the reptile-brain fundamentals. they are showing us the man behind the curtain.

i like tape.

I like girls.

And candy...

Let me quantify my previous statement:

The vast majority of art displayed in art museums is in the "not a collage" category rather than the "collage" category.

The rather artistic (not to mention mammalian)photograph above my post is also not a collage.

no less incredible, but its probably some obsessive/compulsive personality at work on those beats and candy tops. not so different from burroughs writing naked lunch, and how high was he? anyway, is it about the process or the end result? did the candy top maker dream of that photo?

also, ? of roots copied the splices... and the whole thing goes fractal (and the whole thing goes fractal(and the whole thing goes (the whole thing goes fractal (thing goes ( thing

quote:

Originally posted by g f x:
is it about the process or the end result?

Both, for me at least. The end result sounds awesome to my ears, and the work and skill required to produce the mix is admirable.

Geez, you Poindexters are totally harshing my whole "boobs-n-candy" thread de-railment!

I mean, 'cmon Professor(s), boobs-n-candy!