03
Beats from the vaults, demo tracks # 1
Posted by Waxer | Posted in Audio, Tape Rips, Waxer Demo Track | Posted on 03-02-2009
Like most people involved in Hip Hop music, I started dabbling with a double tape deck doing pause button mixes. Back in the day (1984) I had access to my dads’ beautifully engineered Technics tape deck with all its’ fabulous clunkiness. The pause button on this was second to none and I used to use it with another nameless tape deck I had borrowed. Problem was layering tracks as one was faster than the other so I had to swap the way I recorded each time. This progressed when I got a music centre with a double tape on it. Much easier but pause buttons were not as accurate as the Tech, so this needed cunning to get the edits the way you wanted it.
Around 1988 or 1989 I got a Commodore Amiga 500 and a Tascam 4 track recorder and this was off the richter for old Stevie Boy, and it’s from this era that I started to actually save tracks. The tape I am ripping these from is actually my backup tape as I seem to have lost the original, so it’s second generation. I still have the original 4 track master tapes but to way of getting the recordings off. SO if anyone has got a 4 track let me know ‘cos I need one!
This first track was from around 1990 and is instrumental, as were most of my beats unless I put an accapella over the top. I actually rhymed on a couple of tracks which will see the light of this blog at some point! The track uses samples from Children Of The Corn 2, Bob James and a couple of raw breakbeats I looped up which I can’t remember where from, but I know I must have the original somewhere as the only breakbeat albums I had then were originals, except Simon Harris which doesn’t count as they are gash anyway!
It’s an above mid tempo but not mega fast tune which reminds me of the scene at the time, very raw and much more concentrated on beats and rhymes as opposed to slick production. Anyway, as with all my tracks they are only demo versions, mostly unmastered and not of fantastic quality, but hey, they are in most cases 15 to 20 years old so who cares?! Also the names were only working titles, and as this one has samples of Children Of The Corn and is a Britcore tune, I called it Brit Corn (dodgy I know, but at least I knew what tune I meant!)
Anyway, here’s the audio…
Ah, the trusty Amiga! I used to rock an Atari ST with a Cheetah SX16 sampler, total muck, but all I could afford back in 92. Before that, I used to use an old Fostex four track & manually loop the breaks off the tt’s & bounce down the tracks!
Dope break on that track though (isn’t it the one Hardnoise used on their 2nd 12?) Good shit!