Falside on the Science of Beat Tapes
Posted by Justin Boland on Jul 21, 2009 | 20 comments
JB: What’s the science of the beat tape to you? How many tracks should a producer be putting out in one dose, and how long should they be?
Falside: I have a huge issue with over saturation. Filler work is unacceptable and hasty production leads to disappointment. The last two samplers I chose to release digitally consisted of 6 and 9 tracks collectively. This limits a listeners choice, but allows a more concentrated attention. When I buy items in bulk, I tend to waste the product. If you put 28 tracks on a mixtape, listeners will skip through the filler and land on the dope shit. As an artist, you know what your good work is. I just choose to eliminate filler so listeners don’t have to skip past anything.
JB: Do you think beat tapes are better for securing placements + selling beats, or better for just promoting the Falside name?
Falside: Beat tapes are a great way of securing placements and have the potential to be profitable in the long run. They are great oppurtunities for producers to display raw art in it’s purest form. A week after dropping “Bugs In Ya’ Teef”, I have been getting a positive response in terms of the “Falside” brand of beat. I have already secured placement of most of the beats from the sampler with artists including C-Rayz Walz and Jaysaun of Special Teamz. I spent some cash on this project. Aside from the free digital download, I pressed hard copies as well. There are still those people who prefer tangible shit. It’s really just all smoke and mirrors.
JB: Who are the producers you’re looking up to in 2009, in terms of self-promoting and running their business right?
Falside: Sean Martin of Hatebreed did a fantastic job on Cage’s newest album. Much respect for stepping outside his element. Small Pro, the cat who has been doing all the remix work of Large Pro and others has a fantastic sound. And much respect to Esh the Monolith. He is a producer/friend also from Providence with great production and mindset. Poorly Drawn People (Reason,Storm Davis, Dox) my main local squeeze have always had their shit together marketing wise. But in the long run I’m not too worried about what anybody else is doing. It’s hard for me to take advice from people who still make beats in their bedroom, but Marco Polo does, and I hear his video with Torae “Party Crashers” playing on MTVu as we speak. Maybe one day I will have a van with my face on it. I really don’t give a fuck, I just want people to hear my music, make a shitload of fans, and have a good time in the process. I’m still only 20.
If you’d like to read more, check out a recent interview with Falside on the DJ Multiple Sex Partners website: “Being a Beatsmith in 2009.”
Download “Bugs in Ya Teef”
Dilla Tapes and Open Questions
Here’s some hilarious hip hop production history—Detroit’s own Frank N Dank talk shop about J Dilla’s beat tapes. The man was beautifully paranoid, and went to inventive extremes to hide his work from biters and thieves.
OPEN QUESTIONS: What do you think the ideal format for a beat tape should be? Is there an unofficial industry standard? Should producers be using “tags” to protect their work? And finally: do you want to see more content specifically for beatsmiths and producers here on Audible Hype?
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20 Comments
1 squid says...
WHERE IS THE MEAT? what am i supposed to take away from this interview? two tiny tidbits of beat tape etiquette?
i'd be more interested in how he makes connections and gets his beats heard by cats like c-rayz. i'd also like to know where he makes his beats, since he's too good for a bedroom set up (most cats i know are almost ten years older than he is and can't afford real studio space).
this was a waste of time, man. it's really a shame because you were on such a roll.
Posted at 10:59 a.m. on July 21, 2009
2 Falside says...
-Squid. I still make beats in my bedroom. I was just questioning whether I should take advice from people who do the same. Then Marco Polo came in mind. So in conclusion, you should take advice/criticism from whomever dishes it your way. I'm not close minded b.
-I started doing production work for Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox) when I was in High School. C-Rayz and Vast came through Providence for a show. Vast introduced me, and I networked correctly. But it took time. I just received rough mixes from a C-Rayz project that I provided production for (We had planned to build over a year ago)
-Making connections-
I shamelessly marketed myself and exploited my beats for a long time. I am yet to come out with a cd that people can purchase. I don't charge for beats. I make absolutely NO money doing what I do. I refuse to work with mediocre individuals who are willing to pay me good money for production because I do not want my name connected to theirs. I love this shit too much. The biggest misconception is that I do make money because of the emcee's I have produced for. I just made friends who knew people. Then I befriended the people they knew. You can make any bar turn into "Cheers" if your there every day for drinks.
But let me stop Squid, your time seems very valuable, it's a shame, I wouldn't want to waste it.
Posted at 2:50 p.m. on July 21, 2009
3 squid says...
HELLO AGAIN FALSIDE. first off, didn't mean to come of snarky, my humor is not built for the internets. definitely misinterpreted your comments about bedrooms, sorry about that.
guess i shouldn't count my chickens before i read soundscan. once again, you've proven yourself to be a consummate professional, and this article isn't a waste of time if you're gonna drop gems in the comments. i was disappointed by the original content because you had a lot to say in the MSP interview and i had hoped for a fleshier breakdown of your tape process.
the truth is, you do good work and a lot of that time that shit speaks for itself.. i'm still curious as to how you got linked up with vast aire originally. was that a myspace/internet come-up? i've made contact with some underground b-listers before but they always seem to be trying to sell me verses for way more than they're worth..
Posted at 6:35 a.m. on July 22, 2009
4 Dr. Quandary says...
First off, Falside: I really dig your style, man. BIYT is a classy collection, and I liked that interview you did for MSP's site.
In response to the open questions: I don't really know much about the industry standards, but I think it's more than acceptable for a producer to use audio tags on a beat tape. The truth is, there ARE cats out there stealing tracks, and the whole idea is that you want to turn those beats into worthwhile collaborative efforts.
Whether you're trying to sell your beats or not, I think you have a right as an artist to both protect your work and exercise some degree of quality control.
Posted at 6:29 a.m. on July 24, 2009
5 Loop Trooper says...
Beat tape standards come from cassettes, right? 30 minutes of beats. Pack it and slice it any way you want. Style points for breaking it into 2 separate, thematic mixes of exactly 15 minutes each.
Nah, I figure a beat tape is any collection of instrumentals. Some producers like to rock out long mixes of their beats so heads can freestyle, I know I do that for friends sometimes. Necro can just put out an instrumental version of his album and that's a dope beat tape. My Dilla beat CDs are prized posessions, J. Rawls, too.
Some shit from the DJ MSP site:
http://djmsp.com/posts/2009/feb/4/hip-hop-production-roundtable-listen-learn/
"When [J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League] first got together, we had this CD called The .38 Special, which got us hot in Atlanta. It was 38 hot, dope-ass beats that everybody including Jeezy loved. But now we don't even give out CDs. We upload it to a server, they download it via a link." --Rook
Posted at 6:57 a.m. on July 24, 2009
6 Justin Boland says...
I remember Molemen beat tapes were usually 20+ tracks, all between 1 and 2 minutes long...and it was a great format. Of course, they're also working with a whole crew of producers so quantity comes easier.
When I was working on this post, I spent some time digging through forums but none of the conversations were all that quotable. Everyone seems to have different standards. It would be interesting to get some surveys in front of hip hop heads and find out if there really is any kind of consensus.
Posted at 6:58 a.m. on July 24, 2009
7 generic myspace producer x says...
yo beat tapes that shit is wack u talkin old shit bro, u only make money if u got snocap, i put snippets on snocap n sounclick and lease em to nigazz $10 a beat yo holla
Posted at 7 a.m. on July 24, 2009
8 Falside says...
generic myspace producer x = marketing genius.
take note, amateurs.
Posted at 7:41 a.m. on July 24, 2009
9 Willie Green says...
There's obviously a lot of different way to do a tape, I usually put on between 10 and 15 joints. Too many is an overload for sure, but unless you're making a tape for someone in particular, you need to have some variety.
Since the norm is now to put tapes up on the internet, I definitely believe tagging is necessary. I completely respect doing this shit for the love, but I also feel artists need to be paid for their work. That said, working for free also generates relationships with people, and can result in great collaboration. There just has to be a balance
Posted at 7:41 a.m. on July 24, 2009
10 MalaKai says...
as a producer, i think tags should be used for beats that are intended to be sold. for beats that have already served their purpose, release that shit for free. don't fret over people you don't know two-tracking your shit. look at it as free promotion. especially the wack cats. because it will happen. even when you give subtle hints that the beats are for listening purposes only. i recently dropped an album with 40 tracks, but it was a retrospective from the years between 2002 and 2007, so it meant a lot more to me than probably anyone else, even though i've already found cats using them. i feel honored and humble about it. my first beat tape had like 7-8 beats on it, and obviously no filler. i don't think quantity even matters because i've learned that fans and emcees have different tastes. a beat that you might not like as producer could end up being the one that will land you high-profile placement.
and who cares about bedrooms anymore when cats are making beats on their iphones. 9th wonder used fruity loops! OMG!
Posted at 12:04 a.m. on July 28, 2009
11 Falside says...
I guess I should have not made that bedroom beat comment. Lets all sit in my backyard and have a beer summit about this one.
Posted at 3:21 p.m. on July 30, 2009
12 Justin Boland says...
These comments have been dope, funny and helpful. I'll try to keep the discussion of "industry standards" going in the future posts.
Once we start getting into the nitty-gritty details of World Around in August, it will definitely start growing into a system of best practices. And we'll be opening that system up to public comment, so, I really appreciate what everyone is dropping here. Thanks.
Posted at 10:48 a.m. on August 2, 2009
13 Pilfer says...
I really like producers who will drop un-tagged instrumentals. To me, the core of hip hop is the cipher, just getting buzzed with friends and freestyling for hours. It's a ritual thing, and having good beats is like the campfire of our caveman religion. It's just art. Just put it out there. Be proud of it. Share it without letting business literally put a "tag" on your shit.
I guess it all comes back to the classic joke "Selling out? Shit, we'd love to sell out any venue we can!"
Posted at 8:31 p.m. on August 3, 2009
14 Reciter says...
You should interview some of the producers who DO make a living doing it, like Domingo.
Posted at 7:58 a.m. on August 4, 2009
15 MalaKai says...
I recently heard some get-rich-quick-making-beats dude on youtube make the claim that there are more producers than there are rappers. The old logic was that there are more rappers than there are FANS.
And also, what if someone was to take a work you did and make money off of it? Like... straight up resell YOUR beat, especially if it was an original composition. Even though a work is copy written by virtue of being created by you, if this third party entity were to take the time to actually register the work (assuming you did not) you would be SOL. So, business practices can be important to save yourself trouble and protect your labor/time/effort investments.
Posted at 2:22 p.m. on August 4, 2009
16 Simplicity Complex says...
Funny I came here from a google search on "Making Beat Tapes" because I'm trying to find good advice on it. I guess you're the only blog that's talked about this! Funny how there are big holes in the information age, eh?
Anyway, please do more interviews and production oriented material, I really liked reading this and the Scroll interview where he talked about working with the MPC in a live setting. This kind of material is missing! Young producers need to be educated. I know I do!
You're doing good work for the hip hop culture. Thank you.
Posted at 10:29 a.m. on August 9, 2009
17 Ravenous says...
Dig up the Dilla interviews, I know he talked about this in Wax Poetics.
Posted at 3:42 p.m. on August 9, 2009
18 Justin Boland says...
From Crate Kings, here's another excellent Dilla interview where he's talking about beat tapes and ID tags:
http://www.cratekings.com/j-dilla-interview-beats-mcing-style/
Posted at 8:13 a.m. on August 14, 2009
19 Fire science says...
I also make absolutely no money at what I do. I would love to see articles about that.
Posted at 1:37 a.m. on September 14, 2009
20 Justin Boland says...
^^^^
You would love to see articles about being broke? I dunno, man, I do have a lot of experience with that but it doesn't sound like something I want to write about. I try to focus on getting un-broke here at Audible Hype.
Posted at 11:57 p.m. on September 16, 2009