Week One: The Flips

Last weeks sample source was:
Ester Byrde - Touch Me Take Me

Generously donated by Mr. Mass

And now for the beats...
Treebeats' Flip "Touch My Monkey"
Used: Sound Forge (for chopping and EQing) & Acid (for the rest)
Notes: used break from Rotary Connection's "Life Could"

Psy/OPSogist's Flip "Souls Touch"

Used: Reason & Ableton Live

B Logik's Flip "Touch Me"

Used: Acid 6.0

Straight Out The Congo's Flip

Used: FL Studio & Audacity

CZA's Flip "The Byrd Flu"

Used: Reason 3.5

Jaymo Janglez's Flip

Used: Reason & Audition

Vintage's Flip

Used: FL Studio

The Jake's Flip "Throwaway 1"

Used: stuff

He's Hers's Flip "When Our I's Meet"

Used: Goldwave & fruityloops.
Notes: The beat is all the Ester Byrde sample except for a 808 drum to back the kick, a snare sample from "Impeach the President" to back the original Ester Byrde snare, and the hi hat is from fruityloops FPC.

Rashad (of Elevator Music's) Flip

Used: MPC2000 XL

HaBlack's Flip "Aunt Ester Touched Me"

Used: MPC1000 jjOS

Notes: Also Used a Drumroll sample.

Eyes & Teeth's Flip "Tuuch"

Used: Sound Forge & FL

School Of Beats' Flip "Take Em There"

Used: FL Studio 7 & Adobe Audition

DJ V-RAP's Flip "Beat 33"

Used: Mixcraft 3
Notes: also sampled Andrew Bird "Simple X"

Silence Do Good's Flip "Touch Take Move Make"

Used: Ableton Live & Reason

Faster/Fiction/Friction's Flip "Touch Me Take Me Dance"

Used: Ableton Live, Battery, Tascam fw-1804 & a standard keyboard.
Notes: Used Various EQs in Live & this video for voice over.

DJ Swann's Flip "Little Do They Know"

Used: Fruity Loops 7 & Sound Forge

Canyon Cody's Flip

Used: MPC & Pro Tools
Notes: Ran it through Roland SP-404 for effects

And all the beats in one zip (compiled by a dude with a 52 k modem. No really! thanks E)

And now for our panels thoughts:

Andrew's Thoughts:
I think I'm gonna try to make this as short and sweet as possible. So I grab all the flips, settle down with my friend's awesome noise-canceling headphones that I've just about permanently "borrowed" and was waiting to hear some greatness. The first beat to come on was B-Logik's. "Holy shit!" was my first reaction...and I must have said it loud enough for my brother to come running in here asking what broke and all that.
CZA's beat sounded, in a word, thunderous. Excellent work sir. Excellent flip also, but to be honest, it got a little repetitive. Suggestion? Cutting it down a bit (as just an instrumental), but if someone were to rhyme on it, this would be epic.
"When Our I's Meet" sounds almost Madlib-esque...and it was unique.
When listening to PSY's beat, I could appreciate what was trying to be done...but I wasn't really feeling it to be honest. Not sure what it was, but something wasn't right to me. The treebeats version was also pretty good, and I'm convinced he made this just to show off his own beat-making skills (the panel has caught on!)
The final beat of mention is the too-short (make it longer next week bro) "Take 'Em There" from School of Beats. Had it been a little longer (I know it says teaser...but, whatever), it might have been considered for the top prize.
All that being said, I really do not want to hear any song using that sample ever again, and this week's champion in my eyes is B-Logik's "Touch Me". It was the first I heard, and also the best. I'm a sucker for crazy guitar (ie: Kno's "yellow lines"). CZA for second, and He's Hers a close third.
Thanks to all who participated, hope to see this sort of output (or more?) next time. Bring the heat, you've seen what you're up against now! PS: I attempted at making some fire in Fruity Loops and Reason before....anddddd I'm gonna quit now. Thanks.

Eric's Thoughts:

First and foremost, I gotta' give props to all those who had the balls to contribute their "flip"....Lord knows, I wish I had the talent and knowledge to do so myself. With that being said, some of y'all need to go back to the cutting room floor because some of the "re-workings" submitted were seriously lacking in originality and sound quality. If you're gonna' flip the sample at least turn in a finished product where the "EQ'ing" doesn't consist of holding a tape recorder next to the speaker box. On some real shit, that is what some of these beats sounded like. But again, I'm not even half as nice as the worst beat turned in was.....so, shame on me.

Honestly, there are only three finished products worth a mention. First off, was Psy/OPSogist's "Soul's Touch", a solid flip on the original sample which sported a new dragging bass line that gave the track a new identity. However, being one of the lengthier tracks turned in may have also hurt "Soul's Touch" chances of taking the crown this week. After about three minutes into the track, the sample became somewhat stagnant. Don't get me wrong, it was ballsy on Psy's part to do a "longer" re-working and still come of dope. In the long run, and this is the final test...at least on my behalf, the determining factors for me were "how does this sound in the whip blaring thru the speakers" and most importantly..."if I was an emcee, which track would I wanna' rhyme on"?. As fresh as "Soul's Touch" sounded in the headphones, no matter how good of a "flip" it was, it was lacking in the "bottom" department and I wouldn't necessarily wanna' lay my vocals on this as well. Again, you can't front on it as a "instrumental" track though. Good work Psy, there's definitely some talent there.
Now, the best "flip" of the week came down to two finalist, Tree Beats' "Touch My Monkey" and B Logik's "Touch Me". I don't know if Tree Beats developed this idea to son y'all or what, cause' dude definitely impressed the hell outta' me. However, Tree Beats' flip was on some DJ Shadow "Entroducing" type shit, which isn't a knock. The echoing sample and studder step break was ill, but again, in an instrumental type fashion. Yet again, while Tree Beats' track was filled with clarity and depth, if I was an emcee this track would be a dope "intro" or "outro" not particularly a track to spit on. But, you can tell dude knows his stuff, it didn't sound like it was just thrown together for the sake of the site....it will be quite interesting to hear more from him in the coming weeks.
Ultimately, B Logik's "Touch Me", even though it border lined as a 9th Wonder "knock-off" takes the cake as the best "flip" this week. Clocking in at just under 2 minutes long, "Touch Me" left me wanting more. Believe it or not, this along with Tree Beats' joint stayed on "repeat" all morning. "Touch Me" came off more....how should I put this?...umm, seasoned, then nearly all of the "flips" did. Clarity, thump in the trunk and a nice spin on the guitar lick as well as a smooth vocal slice truly set B Logik's work apart from the rest of the field. You even had to like his little sample "filter" that opened the track. All in all, not bad for the first week, but got damn, I don't think I wanna hear the original sample for another year at least. Thanks to all who contributed!

King E's Thoughts:

So when I sat down to write this I had this idea that I was gonna talk about every beat, what I liked and disliked, blah blah blah. Well all these beats were dope in one way or another, y'all don't need an ego stroke from me. And every beat had its flaws as well, no one is perfect, and the art of making beats cannot be mastered. Its always about elevation, and growth of the art form. With that said...
The likes...
There was some seriously hot chops up in this bitch. I was also pleasantly surprised at the quality of a lot of the actual mixing going on, some real legit sounding shit. Much props to all that got down, and the best of luck to everyone in the future.
Much props to Jaymo (who I am vastly more familiar with as an emcee, if y’all don't know you stupid), mad original homie. I hope to hear you over that joint in the near future.
Same situation with B Logik, great emcee (stop sleepin bitches and go get his mixtape off of myspace) with ridiculous production chops. And dude, your drums are almost second to none, its always a pleasure.
The "on some other shit" award goes to El Canyonazo. That shit is ridiculous dude, its like one continuous change up. I’d love to hear an emcee over this shit.
The "whoa, I wasn't expecting THOSE drums" award goes to Treebeats. A lot of the cats this week used the break at the beginning, which is dope and I guess kind of part of the point but... yo that snare is on some other shit man, didn't see it coming, real pleasant surprise.
The dislikes...
First, there’s a difference between being "influenced" by someone and emulating their style. Andy Warhol didn't get where he did by saying "wow I like Picasso’s paintings, I’m gonna do THAT". Moving on...
As good as some of the mixes were... maaaan.... some of y’all need to invest in MONITORS, and/or good ones. And/or work on the acoustics in your beat making room. The engineering/mixing of a beat is as much of an art form as building one, and should be treat as such. You could have the illest drums, the slipperiest basslines, and the most retarded chops ever but if the mix is garbage ain't nobody gonna listen.
Lastly EQ should be as much your friend as compression... nuff said.
In closing...
In future weeks I’d love to know what kind equipment everyone uses as far as monitors, headphones, sound cards, etc etc. I think these things are as important as the hardware/software used to make the actual beat.
GREAT SAMPLE, but I hope you throw in the random oddball, mad challenging joints in the future. That was one of my favorite things about doing Lawn Jawns, throwing out that sample that makes everybody squirm and almost not want to flip it. That’s, in my opinion, when you see the cream start to rise...
And the winner is...
So my pick of the week has to go to...wait, wait.... here it comes... ready or not...
STRAIGHT OUT THE CONGO. Just a fly ass well put together beat homie. Nice mix, nice chops, moving bassline, drums knock, its hip hop the way hip hop should be done.
(and for the record, I’m a huge fan of Vintage, The Jake, and School Of Beats going into this blog deal. So if I say little about them its not because I don't feel them, its because I don't want anyone to think I’m bias, or jocking them. These cats will always get mad props from me, its almost unfair lol.)

Peace, KING_E

Max's Thoughts:

First off, I have respect for every person that flipped this beat, but then again, I have respect for anyone that can meet a deadline, something that I obviously cannot do on my own blog. And since that is something I should be getting back to, I'll keep this brief.

I'll probably be the only guy that kinda liked "Beat 33" by DJ V-Rap, but damned if it doesn't slightly remind me of She Wants Revenge (very slightly), and I was in a "I really want to listen to Joy Division but I should be listening to these mixes" kind of mood. A little tweaking, and that can be a banging instrumental interlude.

Anyway, getting to the ones I liked the most: "Touch My Monkey" is great in a DJ Shadow/early RJD2 (circa Deadringer) kind of way, but only as an instrumental, and personally, I can only listen to DJ Shadow albums once every four years like the Olympics, which may explain why I haven't gotten around to writing about Endtroducing yet. But it is good, though, and I'm not just saying that because I'll get booted from the panel otherwise. I liked Eyes and Teeth's contribution "Tuuhcs", since it sounds like a skit from the Prince Paul/J-Zone school of thought. I also really liked PSY/OPsogist's "Souls Touch", and appreciated the attempt at a beat that could easily lace the next post-9th Wonder Little Brother album, even if it was a bit long. But ultimately, I had to go with B Logik, and if I'm just following the crowd I don't apologize, it's that damn good. If I was executive producing the next highly anticipated album from your favorite rapper, I would buy this beat. Seriously. You can imagine someone getting their "reflective/I'm from the streets but I rose from the concrete" on over this hype beat with the hardest-hitting drums I've heard in the past ten minutes. B-Logik, you own this one. Everyone else, good luck on the next sample, and we'll see you next week.

Mike's Thoughts: I'm going to try and highlight my personal top 10 for each week. I'm into the more offbeat shit, so if for some reason you want to impress me more than anyone else, that's what you should go for:

1. PSY/OPSogist: He made an entire coherent composition out of this sample, instead of making a quick beat, so he gets the top spot with me.
2. Straight Out The Congo: Probably not the most technically proficient, but you can tell this Congo guy is a weird dude, and I look forward to his future beats.
3. Eyes & Teeth: Reminds me of some MF Doom Special Herbs shit. I may have given him the number 2 spot if he gave this track an extra minute and let it breathe a little.
4. Tree Beats: Gets a high spot because he made this blog up and I don't want to upset him. Just kidding.
5. B-Logik: Most of these tracks use the same parts of the original song, but they all kind of sound breezy and dusty, but B-Logik somehow made his shit sound real lively and upbeat.
6. Vintage: I like this one because it sounds like an interlude on a Slum Village/J Dilla/Some Guy From Detroit record.
7. Jaymo: He incorporated some scratching, and the track is called "serioo" which is a fake word that makes me laugh.
8. DJ V-Rap: I like that little organ melody. I'm not sure if it came from the original song or something else, but it got me hooked.
9. Faster/Fiction/Friction: Sounds like some crazy 90's Ninja Tune shit. I imagine this track is going to get hated on because it's 7 minutes and is all over the place, but I didn't agree to do this nonsense to hear some 4th rate 9th Wonder shit.
10. CZA: My soul doesn't like this song because it sounds like something that would end up on some major label ringtone rapper's album, but at the same time, I am giving him a lot of credit for flipping the sample in such a way to make it marketable to 14 year old white girls and other Soulja Boy enthusiasts (such as myself).

For the record, I didn't openly hate any of these tracks. I wish I could put you all in the top 10 guys!! LOLzzz! Big Ups to Max's Joy Division name check.

Travis' Thoughts:

Tune in next week when we use: Lucio Battisti - Prendi Fra Le Mani La Testa generously donated by DJ Nes
Go grab it and make it def and fresh.

Now it's your turn. Vote!!! Make a comment about what you liked or didn't like. Make you're 1's and 0's heard.