As a follow up to my previous article, 8 Tips for Getting Your Music Heard (For Free),I decided to up the ante a bit, and see what was possible with a budget of  $150.  The test album for this experiment is my own instrumental collection of beats, “Instrumentally Sound” by the Sound Scientists.  This series of articles will also serve as reviews on CD Baby, GrooveShark, SoundOut, Jango Artist Airplay and CreateSpace.  At the end of the process I am hoping to get my music into all of the major online stores (iTunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody) and into regular rotation (or as close to it as possible) on various online radio stations (Pandora, Grooveshark, Jango, etc.).  It’s always great to get feedback too, so the more information I can get about my listeners, the better.

I’m writing these reviews from the perspective of an artist trying to spread their music through as many avenues as possible.  The reviews won’t be based on profits, but on how useful each services proves to be, how easy they are to use, and anything else that impresses or disappoints me.  Seeing how the album is already available online for free in multiple places, it would be a tainted experiment to judge anything based on sales.  Plus, this is not so much about how to improve sales, but how to improve the amount of people that actually hear your album.

The budget I decided on originally was $100, but in order to review more services, I upped that to $160.  There is still plenty you can do for under $100 in order to gain a little more exposure.  The other requirement I have for this series, is that all of the processes must be digital, and all done online.  I do not want to bother with manufacturing, mailing, inventory or any of the overhead that goes along with physical CDs.  Unfortunately, some services (like Pandora) require a physical retail album (complete with UPC) – however there are ways to get around that too, without spending any money out of pocket.

First things first – any respectable artist with an album these days, has that album for sale in iTunes and Amazon MP3 (among other places).  Even if you aren’t planning on making a living off digital album royalties, it’s great to refer people to your work in the same places they get all of their other music.  For this, CD Baby seems to fit the bill perfectly.  The next post in this series will cover the entire process of submitting your music to CD Baby, which includes digital distribution via iTunes, Amazon MP3, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, Spotify, Verizon V-Cast, Nokia, Zune, and lots of other services that I hadn’t even heard of.

Hip-Hip production is unlike many other genres of music – producers create beats from many different sources. The fact that so much of hip hop revolves around sampling, actually forces a close-minded producer to open up to other genres. Whether it’s appreciating the breakbeats of psychedelic rock groups from the 60s, the melodic synth loops of the 80s, or the progressive variety of Krautrock; every sample-based producer is forced to listen to other genres of music, in search of these samples. Many times this will lead to having a larger appreciation for music in general, which in turn opens you up to all sorts of creativity.

In addition to getting inspiration from older genres via sampling and etc, it’s incredibly useful to listen to other types of current music, without any intention of sampling. Staying aware on the progression of other music styles is essential. With that being said, here is just a small selection of hip-hop inspired music that I highly recommend for expanding your musical palette.  This is a “Best of” post, but obviously it’s next to impossible to list every good song or even album released over the last decade. If you know of some good music, please post them in the comments below!

Bonobo
Instrumental music, heavily sample based with breakbeats. This is one artist you should not be sleeping on.

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

Glitch Mob
Collection of producers and DJs that specialize in “glitch” music, heavily influenced by hip-hop. In fact, they have crazy remixes with some dope artists (Lupe, Mos, etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtnVduIY75Y

TM Juke
More instrumental music, heavily sample based with breakbeats. This is one artist you should not be sleeping on either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb2w1JsPhxE

Dday One
Some truly heavy and hypnotic beats. Cop this music asap. All instrumentals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqy07Esluk0

Third Eye Foundation
Again, more deep and hypnotic beats.

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

Backini
Dissecting different types of music into some pretty rich tracks.

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

Belleruche
Soulful voice, breakbeats, samples, very dope vocalist/soul album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYQzSIqWUH4

Little People
Instrumental beats. When I first got this album, it was on constant rotation for months

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0AuRPnTR9s

Dirty Elegance
This one took a while to grow on me, but has become one of my favorite albums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NhAQ3QeGLI

Joe Budden over the years has turned into the new 50 Cent. No, we are not talking about a multi-platinum selling artist. We are talking about beefing with rappers for no apparent reason. Beefing with rappers to get publicity for themselves. Joe Budden had a little underground buzz in 2003.  His self-titled album, “Joe Budden” was released.  The debut had some positive feedback, but it did not sell like he and others thought it would. Joe began to do a few underground mixtapes to create buzz for his sophomore album, and during this period he began to unleash some lyrical fury.

Budden began to diss the Game, Saigon and Jay-Z, and his latest victim is Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man. Some beefs should not happen. Joe Budden beefing with Method Man is like Bow Wow beefing with Rakim. There really is no contest. One of the most intriguing beefs in quite some time, and no one really cares. Many hip hop fans have no clue who Joe Budden is. If they do know who he is, they only know he hit single, “Pump It Up“.  This beef is similar to the Game versus Jay-Z: one rapper is younger, proclaiming the veteran has passed their prime. The younger rappers try to build credibility by dissing a veteran in the rap game. 9 times out of 10, it backfires. Joe Budden struck a match with subliminal disses to Method Man:

Joe Budden’s D.O.A. Freestyle (video after the break):

“They gasping, time-out go take a break from the clay and grab a Gatorade/A bad contract, team can’t make a trade/Majors fuckin’ you in the ass/You gonna stay a slave…Shit is fucked up and I blame it on the way it was paved/So I’ll chill for the sake of your age/You’re great live, but let me know when that stage get appraised.”

Method Man has said on countless interviews that he is not into beefing with other rappers. He just wants to make great music at the end of the day. Method Man decided to not diss Joe Budden back but he did discuss why Joe Budden should not waste his bars on M-E-T-H-O-D Man. Inspectah Deck of the Wu-Tang Clan decided to diss Joe Budden on a track called “House N***a.

Inspectah Deck’s House N***a (video after the break):

“First of all, you a blogger, YouTube goon/House n*gga,” Deck raps. “I see you like to put your world online, ain’t nobody checkin’ for you/They checkin’ for your girl’s behind/While your homie in the bedroom, dustin’ his eyes/While you filmin’ dumb sh*t/They probably f*cked a few times/How you Slaughterhouse, you barely get a nod/I’m convict, benchin’ daily in the yard/So I’m built like Optimus Prime/You couldn’t see me with binoculars, I’m/way ahead of you…This n*gga’s life’s a publicity stunt/But he think he fever/I ain’t a believer/Def Jam chucked him/They ain’t feel him neither/Why are you talking like the Morpheous of rhymes/When my first sh*t sold more than all your sh*t combined…Mef let you live, I’ma set it/And I ain’t on the phone but you get the text message…And I ain’t gotta talk about Gloria Velez/Stalker a** n*gga, you were callin’ her obsessed.”

Joe Budden took the Method Man route and dissed Inspectah Deck with his words not on wax.  Chi-King also chimed in on Joe Budden on his track called “Righteous Kill”.

Chi-King’s Righteous Kill (video after the break):

“Got questions for ya label whats the real intent ?/ I know this dude dont think he 50 cent /
50 got money and hood credibility not some crazy maybe runnin round the industry /4real 4 real word for word u get / blasted go from a padded room end up in a padded casket/”

“You bit Jigga style try to spar with meth / Saigon stomped a hole in ya ass u still test /throwin punches off the court like Ron Artest/have me droppn bombs get on dawgs i flex/

Inspectah Deck and Chi-King attacking Joe Budden on Method Man’s behalf might not be a fair fight but Wu affiliates have always had each others backs. Joe Budden retracted his statements he made against Method Man claiming they were of “bad taste.”  Joe Budden and Method Man officially squashed their beef on July 20th 2009, at the Rock the Bells show in Wantagh, New York.

The Aftermath:

Method Man and his partner in crime, Redman, released their second album in 10 years, “Blackout 2!” on May 19th, 2009. Both men are currently on tour with The Alchemist, Termanology and Dilated Peoples called “Still High”. A sequel to How High is also in the works.

Joe Budden has finally released his second album, “Padded Room”. He is releasing two follow-up albums called “The Great Escape” and “Escape Route” in the fall of 2009. Budden is also apart of a rap supergroup called Slaughterhouse. Slaughterhouse consists of four rappers, Joe Budden, Crooked I, Royce Da 5’9 and Joell Ortiz. Slaughterhouse is releasing their debut album on August 11th, 2009.

Joe Budden – D.O.A. Freestyle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNyz4rUKU8M

Inspectah Deck – House Nigga

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GULSipqPC0

Chi-King – Righteous Kill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGcfe0mZ3jE

LL Cool J is infamous for his rap battles with Kool Moe Dee, MC Hammer and Ice-T. Many hip hop heads were confused when LL began a feud with young up and coming rapper Canibus, who was introduced to LL by his former managerm Wyclef Jean.   LL worked with young rappers – he would put them on a track and give them exposure.  In 1997, “4, 3, 2, 1,” a track on LL’s album, “Phenomenon,” featured Canibus, DMX, Method Man & Redman. Canibus wrote his verse on the track and LL took it as a low blow. The line “L, is that a mic on your arm? Let me borrow that” was taken out of context and LL told Canibus to change his lyrics.

Canibus agreed to this only if LL would change his lyrics as well.  LL refused, and lyrically murdered Canibus on the track. The lyrics LL  spit that dissed Canibus were “The symbol on my arm is off limits to challengers” and “Now let’s get back to this mic on my arm / If it ever left my side, it’d transform into a time bomb / You don’t wanna borrow that, you wanna idolize.” No one knew this at the time until years later when Canibus’ original verse was leaked. Many hip hop fans were disgusted, and fellow rappers said LL Cool J was just stroking his ego – that the  diss wasn’t  necessary.

After the track was made, Canibus and LL began to take their feud a little further. Canibus recorded the track “Second Round K.O.” and made a music video that featured Mike Tyson. This song dissed LL Cool J for being on a family sitcom, dissing his family and his ego. It was well received and, propelled Canibus’ career.  LL Cool J counter attacked Canibus with the vicious “The Ripper Strikes Back.”  Canibus’ album “Can-I-Bus” only went gold, and critics panned the release.  LL Cool J came out with another diss track that featured Ja Rule, called “Back Where I Belong” on his “G.O.A.T.” album that was released in 2000.  Canibus’ career was pretty much dead at this point, with only his debut album selling well.

The aftermath of the rap battle:

Canibus’ albums after his debut did not chart, and sold less and less as time went on.  In 2002, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and he released “Rip the Jacker,” his most critically acclaimed album. He was later discharged from the service for smoking marijuana. Canibus is well known for his lyrical ability, but many critics pan him for selling out through his career to achieve commercial success. Sources have said Canibus will retire releasing 3 more albums. At first, he was referred to as a “modern day Rakim” for his complex lyrical ability, but LL Cool J killed his career.  If it hadn’t been for the battle, maybe Canibus would have gained more commercial success.

LL Cool J continued to be a force in the rap game. All of his albums since “Phenomenon”, the original diss track that featured Canibus, have gone platinum. LL has had a lot of hits, along with being an entrepreneur and a successful actor appearing in 19 movies since 1997.  He released his last album off of Def Jam recordings, the only record label he has been a part of since 1985.  LL is now a regular character on the successful crime series “NCIS: Los Angeles”.  LL Cool J’s presence and status could not be overshadowed by Canibus, and everyone knew it. One of the few rap battles in hip hop that didn’t make much sense.

Touted as competition to the APC40, Livid’s Ohm64 looks like something I needed, but wasn’t aware of that until just now. The preview over at Create Digital Music is pretty extensive:

Livid Ohm64:

• Open source editor, partially open source firmware, open source patches to connect to whatever you want
• Custom MIDI assignments, for use with whatever you want
• MIDI for now, but the chipset supports open source solutions for OpenSoundControl (OSC) in the near future – and even DMX (for lighting) is a possibility
• USB and standard MIDI jacks so you can sequence outboard gear
• Bus power
• 64 trigger buttons in a more logical 8×8 array
• “Made in the USA by humans” – with a beautifully-crafted body
• Free Cell DNA video software included

Along with videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcmlCXgh35c

httpvd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiPklrq0pzg

more info at: Create Digital Music

found via The Awesomer

Unless you have an unlimited budget, it’s important to know where the best deals can be found, and cheaper solutions to the effects you are looking for. Perhaps you can replace an expensive outboard rackmount effects processor with a free VST plugin.  Assuming you do have a budget (albeit it limited), there are plenty of options out there for getting the gear you want. Thanks to some great articles on “Recession Gear” posted over at BeatStatus, these options are all explained in detail – including lots of great sources for gear that I was unaware of.   Check out some of highlights below:

SP-1200 Crunch For a Fraction of the Price

Any SP-1200, regardless of condition, is hard to find below $1000 and sometimes go upwards of $1500 – $2000. Now that’s simply too out of reach for most of us since it’s primarily going to be just for drums. Not quite affordable in anyway. There are a few options out there that can give you almost the EXACT sound at a fraction of the price.

• Classic Price: E-Mu SP-1200 $1000+
• Budget Option: E-Mu SP-12/Turbo $300 – $600
• Recession Gear: E-mu Emax (I) (SE/HD/Keyboard/Rack) $150 – $250

3 Pro DAW’s on a tight budget ($100-$400)

3 great audio interfaces that can help you get a much better sound than you’re getting from your M-Audio or Edirol piece of sh–I mean interface. The ability to get 8-ins and 8-outs with Midi and SPDIF and 2 xlr inputs w/ quality preamps for $100 – $300.

• Digi 001 (PCI) $100 – $300
• MOTU 828 Firewire $100 – $400
• TC Electronics Konnekt 8 $300 (NEW!)

MPC-60 Sound on a Budget

If you’re looking to get that crunchy 12-bit sound at a fraction of the price, there are a few options available. An MPC-60, even with the stock OS and ram will run you between $400 and $600 if you can find one. So what else is there?

• Classic Sound with a Classic Price: Akai MPC-60 / II  $400 – $800
• Budget and functionality: Akai S-950 / S-900 $100 – $300
• Recession Gear: Akai S-700 / Akai S-612 $0 – $100

There is also a great article on 8 places to buy a second-hand Akai MPC, which could apply for all kinds of gear, not just drum machines and samplers like the Akai MPC.

Well, I’ve heard a lot of questions about whether one compressor sounds different than other ones. I decided to find out for myself by comparing them. Basically, I took 5 compressors (Waves Bundle, Golden Compressor, Sonalksis SV-315, Sonitus, and TC Native DeX) and then a drum loop and sample and compared them.

I used the same settings on every compressor each time. Here are some of the screen shots of the compressors I used to work in Sonar 4 with the drum loops first.

Here is the original drumloop: OriginalDrumloop.wav

Sonitus: (SonitusDrumloop.wav)

TC Native DeX: (TCNativeDeXDrumloop.wav)

Golden Compressor: (GoldenCompressorDrum..>)

Sonalksis SV-315: (SonalksisSV-315Druml..>)

Waves: (WavesBundleDrumLoop.wav)

As you can see there are big differences in each compressor. Here are some screen shots I worked with the compressors on a sample in Sonar

Here is the original sample: OriginalSample.wav

Sonitus: (SonitusSample.wav)

TC Native DeX: (TCNativeDeXSample.wav)

Golden Compressor: (GoldenCompressorSamp..>)

Sonalksis SV-315: (SonalksisSV-315Sampl..>)

Waves: (WavesBundleSample.wav)

Not as big of a difference here, since the dynamic range is much smaller..

Mainly drums benefit the most from compression as you can tell. The best one on the drums was in my opinion was the Sonalksis SV-315. I like my drums to thump and it gave me that feel although Golden Compressor was a good one too. I didn’t like the Sonitus one but it is a stock compressor that comes with Sonar so you cut some slack there.

Of course, compression takes some serious time playing with each setting, depending on what you are going for, and it has a LOT to do with the room you are listening to your mix in.. just like EQ. Everyone has a different ear, but this should help you decide which could be right for you