Here’s something I’ve made, worked with a local rapper to make a really fun track. Got to DJ it out live with him once which was super fun!
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Very cool. And shouts to your boy. First time I’ve heard someone take a shot at David Brooks on a track. Hahaha
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I would like to see what you’d do with the Octatrack. I am still relatively new to it (maybe half a year)…
and one thing that sounds interesting to me right now is planning a live set. The Octatrack’s arranger seems like an amazing feature for preparing a whole set (see EZBOTs video on it).
If you would make a beat tape in one Octatrack project you’d easy(in OT terms) be able to perform it live!
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This gave me stank face.
What a kickass beat, that bass! 
Love the raps as well
Great track
Great that there‘s a Hip Hop thread, some fine stuff in here.
Here‘s my promo video for the Octatrack with copious amounts of weed smoking and sampling Zone of the Enders.
The OT is really awesome for boom bap type beats.
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Nice vid!
Hi guys,
this track has some Hip Hop Vibes towards the end.
Started with a little loop on the Digitakt, made a 6/8 beat which resolves in a 4/4 beat.
Started on a Digitakt and finished it off in Ableton. Hope you’ll like it 
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Ok, another thing I am struggling with and hoping to get your input on.
So I am currently trying to make something in Ableton for the beat battle (almost never work ITB, but 11.1 was released so I thought why not trying it for a change)
I’ve got something basic going, but now I want to add something on top of it, I was thinking a simple lead or something.
So I run into a familiar problem. No matter which plug-in/synth I try, it always sounds like it doesn’t fit in the mix. It always feels like it is tagged on (yes, I am playing in key 
)
Strange thing is, I don’t find this to be a problem when I combine different samples (from different records for example)
I’ve run into this problem many times before. Is it purely a mixing problem? Might it be that the old records use mainly acoustic instruments and that my ears are not used to synths being used in this kind of music?
Any thoughts/advice on this?
Very cool stuff! Definitely has something Hip-Hoppish, but I feel that it blends in some other styles as well.
Very fun and interesting track!
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I find that really difficult too, and it’s rare I get synths sitting nicely with samples to be honest.
Few things to try (even though I’ve just said I’m basically not very good at it)…
Play around with heavy filtering on your synth part
Reverb!
Experiment with distortion / saturation / bit crushing on the synth - could also try applying this to a sub mix with the synth and the sample/s
Try sidechaining the synth to the drums or maybe the samples
It might start to gel better when you’re sculpting the overall sound of the track on the mix bus/master
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I think that my synth stuff and my sampled stuff gel pretty okay. I don’t use the computer to do anything other than record and transfer audio though. I do things like this.
I usually sample records at 45 and pitch them down on the sampler. I treat my synth stuff the same way. I’ll record it into Audacity and speed it up. Then I’ll sample it. Also, all of the samplers that I use, the Digitakt, the Circuit Rhythm and especially the Zoom Sampletrak color the sound a bit.
Then there’s the way that I record my synths. I have my mini synths running through my Sampletrak because I like using the filter and then through my Digitone and then through my Digitakt before getting recorded into Audacity. The Sampletrak also adds a little hiss to the whole thing because it’s noisy.
I think what I wind up with are synths that were a little dirtied up so they sound nice next to the already dirty records.
So I would try dirtying up the synth a little bit. Maybe roll the high end off and use one of those cassette or vinyl plug ins. You can also try recording everything into your Digitakt and then putting it back into Ableton.
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Combining virtual instruments and even real instruments with mixed recordings, particularly old recordings, definitely requires work. I use a variety of plugins including tape and vinyl sims, reverbs, delays, autopans, compression, and saturation to try to get the instrument to sit better in the mix. Try putting it in mono as well. A wide stereo VST will stick out like a sore thumb against old recordings, especially if the VST is too pristine. Also consider placement in the stereo field.
I’m no expert, but it is something I worked on quite a bit back in 2020 (when I first went ITB).
The track I think I’m most proud of for this is something I did for a Stones Throw beat battle in 2020. It’s a mix of old French records (violin, vocals, piano, etc), VSTs (electric piano, bass, tuba, drums, percussion, etc) and real guitar (my 1991 Stratocaster). Aside from the VST work, I am super proud of how the guitar came out.
Other people might not dig this one as much as I do, but I like it, so I guess that’s what counts. 
I’ll post up some other thoughts I have on sampling and VSTs later when I get some time, as I have gone deep down the rabbit hole on this, and it’s still my great white whale. 
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Re: processing VSTs
Not much time to write now, but this series is a goldmine of information. It was a major source of inspiration for me to go ITB and get into VSTs.
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Yeah, this is something I didn’t even think to mention because I mainly use two mono samplers.
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So good! I didn’t realize stones throw did beat battles. You should do a Rhythm Roullete I think it would be very fun.
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Thanks very much. Stones Throw doesn’t have an official one anymore, but the people that did it have kept it going at STBBforever.com.
just as @Doug said, i do the same. i sample the synths in a sampler, or use the lofi fx on it.
you gotta think that samples and loops from records are already compressed and mastered. heavy process applied.
a dry vst synth is sticking out like my grandma in a rave party
try compression, filters, saturation and lofi fx, then reverb, delay and compression again. pfff just writing about it seems tedious daw work…
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The RC-20 plug-in is nice and delivers pretty good results for a good price. When I work in a DAW, I use that one a lot, but I stack loads of stuff.
I like recording to cassette tape more, as it gets better results for the aesthetic I like (I think I’ve finally found my sound).
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yeah tape is the best. i wanna find a small deck for a nice price. hopefully that saturation and compression will be enough as to not use my shitty lagging laptop for anything other than recording stems
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