The Emu SP1200 was, without a doubt, a milestone in hip hop production (and sampling in general).  Working around its 10 second sample time forced producers to be creative, and efficient.  Out of these techniques to gain more time, a new sound emerged.  By speeding a sample up (for example, playing a 33.3rpm record at 45rpm) and then pitching it back down inside the SP1200, the sampling time could almost be doubled, however if the change was too dramatic, the machine added a unique distortion to the result.  It’s hard to describe, almost like a slightly distorted ring modulation.

That was 20 years ago.  Now, the gritty side-effect created by the SP1200 is a trademark, and recognizable to lots of producers.   Sampling drums and other short sounds into the SP1200 is pretty simple.  On the other hand, applying that grit to samples longer than 15-20 seconds can be a complicated process… but worth the time and effort.  With the steps outlined in this article, you will see how to perfectly apply this SP1200 grit to a sample of any length and then stitch it back together using Awave Studio.

1. grab any sample, and convert to mono/44.1khz/16bit wav
2. chop wav file into 3.9 second long segments
3. convert each segment to 26,040hz/12bit wav
4. stretch/resample time to 63% (use method that doesn’t preserve pitch or length)
5. force-sample 2.5 seconds of silence into A1, B1, C1 and D1
6. set sp1200 to receive midi dump
7. using awave, send sample #1 over with SDS ID 0, sample #2 with SDS ID 1, etc. the SDS ID is always 1 less than the sample number
8. then, the sounds should actually be assigned to A1, A2, A3, A4
9. set the mix all the way up, and set the tune all the way down for A1, A2, A3, A4
10. record the tuned samples back into computer, and patch them back together
11. done, final result will be at the (damn near) same pitch, only with maximum sp1200 grit

This list of steps is for getting the most possible grit sound out of the SP1200.  To get less distortion on your samples, change the resample time in step 4, and adjust the tune on the SP1200 in step 9. The next step is finding out a way to automate this process…

Interesting note: The SP1200s were produced from roughly 1987-1999, retailing for $2,495 new right before they stopped production, due to “running out of  chips.”  How does a company just run out of IC chips for one of their flagship products?  Well, that’s an interesting story.  The real magic behind the sound of the SP1200 most likely revolved around its SSM Analog Synthesizer Chip – specifically the SSM2044.  You can read more about the SSM2044 at the Emulator Archive:

E-mu Systems finally stopped using the SSM designs when supplies of the SSM2044 ran out in the late 90′s, and they had to replicate the chip with discrete logic in the final run of SP1200′s… Some chips turn up as old synthesizers are broken for spares. The original chip designs are apparently lost, although it may be possible to reverse engineer them as they use a standard transistor base.

No kidding.  And unfortunately, due to this mysterious “missing” SSM2044 filter chip design, the true SP1200 grit has never been reproduced in any modern day equipment, nor has it been translated into a digital RTAS/VST plugin.

Another note:  I will be updating this soon with pictures, audio and perhaps even a video to illustrate the entire process.  Decided to post this as-is for now, since it’s been written for over a year and just never got around to posting it.

It seems more and more, artists both big and small have been reaching out to fans and musicians through twitter.  If you don’t already have a twitter account, it may be time to start considering setting one up soon.

Raekwon the Chef, of Wu-Tang is looking for new beats (via his Twitter feed). Send beats (no more than 4) to built4catalina@gmail.com

In the past few months, there have been beat requests from MOP, Busta Rhymes and plenty others.  Stay tuned to HipHopProduction for more.

found via @Raekwon on twitter

Here’s the next one! Deadline is September 31, 2010.

Click here to go right to the Beat Meet:

The Beat Meet is a friendly competition between producers. They all must use a sample kit provided by this site. The kit will usually contain a fair amount of drum sounds, a bassline, and 2 sample loops. All contestants are given about a week to filter, combine, sequence, and flip the samples however they wish.

Click Here to Read More about the Beat Meet

Whether you are already a user of Propellerhead’s Reason or not, the new version of their flagship software is worth taking a serious look at. The new version comes with a new 8-channel sampler called Dr.OctoRex, which takes the place of it’s older single-sample version, Dr.Rex. Of course, there are plenty of other new features, like per-slice effects, live sampling, and a built-in Auto-Tune-like virtual rack module called Neptune.  Check out all the details at Propellerhead’s website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbhaeBRb7NA

Another great feature that both Sonar and Cubase have had for a while is block-based recording. However, it looks like Reason’s implementation is setting a new standard in ease of use. This not only allows you to make a song based on stems/loops/etc. like beat, chorus, bridge, intro, interlude, etc., but it also lets you edit the original stems and affect the song in real-time. You can also edit the stems in song mode, which leaves the others unaffected, but allows you to create variations very easily:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OPlD4N11vM

Finally, a very interesting looking module called Kong, which is a 16-pad drum module. The video explains it in simple terms. 16 pads. One sound per pad. Then goes on to show that the source(s) of each pad can include the new Dr.OctoRex Sampler, new built-in drum synths, or just about anything else you want to route into it. Take into account the new live sampling feature that exists in Reason, and this could enhance anyone’s setup that already has a drum-pad controller.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBdy0aTW5YI

This is so long overdue, that I lost count.  The absence of Beat Meets doesn’t mean that they are going to stop anytime soon, with plenty more planned to keep you beat makers busy for the rest of this year!

Click here to go right to the Beat Meet:

The Beat Meet is a friendly competition between producers. They all must use a sample kit provided by this site. The kit will usually contain a fair amount of drum sounds, a bassline, and 2 sample loops. All contestants are given about a week to filter, combine, sequence, and flip the samples however they wish.

Click Here to Read More about the Beat Meet

Once again, big names in the industry are looking for beats from anyone and everyone.  From the Blog on BustaRhymes.com, Send beats to Busta Rhymes at Feedthestreetsforever@gmail.com.

Ever dreamed of turning on the radio and hearing the legendary Busta Rhymes rap ridiculously fast over one of your beats? We’re talking warp speed fast. So damn fast, you have no idea what the hell he’s even talking about…

Well now’s your chance to send Busta your original instrumentals for consideration on upcoming albums.

Link foundvia [King of All Beats] p.s. for anyone that likes keeping on top of these types of posts, be sure to check out the King of All Beats blog.

This morning, I just found out about a new service called Wax.fm, which is described as a place to  “help you find your favorite albums on vinyl both online and in the real world.”  It’s actually a pretty simple concept – search for any record by artist name, album name, or catalog number.  After finding the album you are looking for, you are presented with details for that record, along with links to purchase on ebay and amazon.

While it may not be much better than just going to ebay and searching directly, in due time this seems like a service that could prove to be very useful to all the crate-diggers and dustmites out there.  I also decided to test the site out, and see how well it did for finding a semi-rare album:

Can – Tago Mago

After searching just “Can” on the main page, their “Tago Mago” album was actually the fourth result, after “Confrontation by Bob Marley and the Wailers” (not sure where “can” was found in that), “Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream,” and “Soon Over Babaluma by Can.”

Unfortunately, at this point the site begins to fall apart a bit.  All but two of the links listed for this album are broken (I’m guessing because they are using forward-slashes in the link titles and addresses).  Anyways, once clicking on a valid link, a few more details for the album are displayed along with the ebay and amazon links, followed by a link that says “You might like the list: Killer Krautrock.”  Why yes, I do believe I might like Killer Krautrock…

So aside from being a fairly new service, despite the current issues with the site, and ignoring the simple features – this new service seems like it could end up being an invaluable tool for vinyl addicts all over the place.  I’ll be keeping an eye on it, and look forward to perhaps even integrating some of their features (or even their actual site) into HipHopProduction’s crate digging tool – SampleDig.  Stay tuned!

One more Chi-King update – here is the latest video featuring Fredro Starr of Onyx.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdPXijm1CEA

Just a reminder:

Chi-King, a featured artist on HipHopProduction.com, has just dropped a new album, and you can support the cause by getting his new CD, “The Big Heist” featuring Fredro Starr, G-Dep, Stack A Doller, 100MAD, Marcus Elias and more.

Incredibox is virtual beat-box flash app made by three French artists.

You basically drag different symbols onto a person’s (polo) shirt, and they begin to beatbox a certain instrument or melody.  Once you drag a symbol onto one of the beatboxers, a new one will appear next to it, ready for another sound.

Check it out at incredibox.fr

you can hear more from the beatbox artist, The Incredible Polo via his myspace page.

Chi-King, a featured artist on HipHopProduction.com, has just dropped a new album, and you can support the cause by getting his new CD, “The Big Heist” featuring Fredro Starr, G-Dep, Stack A Doller, 100MAD, Marcus Elias and more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Nxz351E5I

If you aren’t already aware of Chi-King, one of our featured artists, take some time to check out his page.

At the age of 15 he got his first gig and since has been spreading like a wild fire. He debut on Prodigal Sunns (Sunz of Mans) solo album The Return of the Prodigal Sunn. He also guest stared in Prodigal Sunns television series The Grindz .Heavy on his grind and talented in all aspects of entertainment he handled stage production and road management for actor/comedian sound genius Michael Winslow. With the help of Prodigal Sunn and 12 O’clock (Brooklyn Zu General) Chi King has been on many Wu-Tang mix tapes, albums, CD’s and Podcasts. He also landed himself in an upcoming feature film The Fan-Addict staring Sticky Fingers from the legendary rap group Onyx… He has toured with various artists from Cuban Lynx, Rampage and Ra Digga (Flip Mode Squad), Killa Preist, Prodigal Sunn, 60 Second Assassin (Sunz of Man), Warheadz, Redman & Method Man, GZA, KRS-One and many others.