The Gear Chase

     "It's not the gears, it's the ears!" So says my boy Mac, and he's right!

     When I first started the game, I needed a sampler and I needed it BADLY. The one I landed on was an Ensoniq EPS. It had something like 8 seconds of mono sampling at 35 kHz or some damn thing. It didn't even come with preloaded synth sounds! It cost me about $2,000 and took me a year to pay off, working at a fast food spot when I was 18. That was in 1990, long before PC production became the norm, and thus, long before any kid with a cracked copy of FL could get in on the action without any financial commitment whatsoever!

     Because gear was so expensive, I - like many hip-hop producers at the time - couldn't afford to just drop my keyboard the minute something bigger and better came out; I kept that sampler for about 7 years! As a result of our long time together, I knew that thing backwards and forwards; I could make it do things that even its designers didn't predict. But I wasn't unique in that way; if you didn't have the scratch to buy new shit, you had to make do with what you had. I think that I can speak for the majority of producers at that time when I say that I didn't even feel particularly constrained by the machine's limitations.

     So about 7 years later, I sold that keyboard and bought an MPC 2000. I believe they were going for around $1,200 back then, which was still a significant drop for me to make on a piece of gear. Gear prices were going down as technology improved, however, and I only kept the MPC for a couple of years before moving on to the next thing. I never really learned it inside and out the way that I had my EPS.

     Over the years, I have bought and discarded a TON of gear, always enticed by the next big thing. Through all that time, I never learned how to use it as extensively as I used the EPS, and I have spent more money than I care to contemplate.

     Finally, in 2007 I decided to get the monkey off my back. I bought Reason and resolved myself to learning as much about it as possible. Now I admit, Reason is not the most powerful joint out there, but I liked it the minute I started. I have been determined to get the most out of it, and the results have been really, really good.

     Here's what I've noticed: as gear gets more and more powerful, there is less and less for the user to actually DO. Sample-chopping? Automatic. Human-sounding quantize? Automatic. Mastering? Automatic. Even the drum programming, harmonization and MELODIES can be automatic with certain software. It has basically come down to just mixing and matching pre-recorded, pre-composed phrases together until the user happens upon a combination that they like. That's one of the reasons SO MUCH hip-hop sounds exactly alike!

     BOO!

     And still, so many cats think that if they just buy the newest thing, they'll finally be dope.

     Believe me, son, if you can't get it done with what you have, you don't have what it takes.. straight up. Here's a thought: sit down and try to be creative with what you already have. Learn your gear or app thoroughly. Take the time to learn the fundamentals: drum-programming, chord progressions, MANUAL sample-chopping, arrangement, etc. Take some time and find YOUR sound. If you learn the art front to back, it won't matter what gear you are using; you'll still be dope.

     Don't let the computer do it FOR you.




    

Ice Cream Galaxy

Yo, this one took a LOOOOONG time to finish. It was mad delicate and I was really getting too complex with it in the first few drafts. The shit is nailed now, though! Enjoy:

Ice Cream Galaxy

Hi, my name is Ace ("Hi, Ace!"), and I don't like rap. I used to LOVE rap. I produce hip-hop songs professionally, so that pretty much sucks. When I turn on Power 106, I start to get woozy, blood starts leaking out of my left eye, and I've found that I can't taste things for like an hour afterward; I think it's an allergy. I don't even like Phone Tap, and the commercials on 106 are, to put it mildly, in poor taste ("Ay, homie, did you get caught up in a case and now you need bail? Don't stress, we got you, mayne!"). I like to think of the Los Angeles radio situation as a microcosm of hip-hop in general: Power 106 is loud and clear with their candy rap confections, but KDAY starts to buzz and pop if my fillings are in too much of an east-west orientation. Guess where the money is?

I live to see hip-hop return to its creative roots. I don't mean boom-bap necessarily; I just mean to the spirit of individuality and innovation that seems to have been lost. I do what I can to see good rap songs get done; I react extremely violently to the bullshit. If you like to rap like a fucking toddler over house beats, I not only want you to look elsewhere but furthermore would like you to microwave your balls for about 15 seconds on high so that you can't pass your affinity for skinny jeans and R&B hooks to the next generation. That shit is mad effeminate; why can't you see that? Nice pants, Miley.

I am disgusted by the co-opting of hip-hop. When I see an infomercial for something like the "Hip Hop Abs" workout (and that's for real, by the way) or a comedian rapping ironically in a movie, it makes me wanna booby-trap my apartment, if you know what I mean. Just kidding! HAHAHA. I imagine that the surviving members of The Clash feel similarly when they hear "punk" on the radio.

One more thing: I don't work for free. I won't get into the details as I feel that they are self-evident to anyone who has ever had a fucking job. If you have something going on that looks like it might amount to something (and I don't mean your mixtape), I'm down to help, but it will have to be beneficial to me in some way. This is a hobby for some, it's my way of life.Holla!