Fire... Blackstar, Common, Nas

It's been a while but the train's back up and running now. I'm gonna be dropping some more production articles in the near future including the follow ups to the EQ article. If you're just here for the fire though, this won't disappoint.


Blackstar, aka Mos Def and Talib Kweli, aka one of the best duos in hip hop. (Not to be confused with Binary Star) Coming in hard on this one, with that nice jazzy New York flavour and of course the lyrical finesse. Throw in some Common and you've got a nice joint sprinkled with style and lit with consciousness.


And again. Intelligent concepts and a catchy track stitch this one up tight. Read along with the lyrics if your ears can't snipe it live.


To finish up, some gritty from the King of NY. Part 2 to the OG track from Illmatic, this one's even darker. Piano adds a lot to the atmosphere and the production overall just bangs hard.

That's it for now. Roll credits, shout it out in the comments.

Flying Lotus, Pacewan, Appleblim and Ramadanman

Ok today I've got some stuff of all styles to keep my minions happy.

First up, if you don't know, you need to know.


This song defines "jam". One of the top FlyLo tracks out there off his Cosmogramma album, this showcases his skill at constructing funky psychedelic beats like no one else. Pay attention to how he builds energy throughout the song and caps it off when the trumpet drops.


Next up to hold down the hip hop heads:


Drums are sweet. Hihats are money. Etc.


Finally we need a healthy dose of dubstep flavors,


This track has retarded subs. Hopefully you've got a decent system to listen on and you've set everything up after reading the previous post on speaker placement for best sound quality. Apart from the sub barrage, this track has some nice floating atmospherics and a cool switchup up in the middle. After the break it comes in with some chord stabs and when it finally drops you get treated with more sub blasts on dotted half notes. Some real head-nod action to be had here.

Let me know in the comments if you like, if you don't, if you're just commenting to fish for ad clicks, etc.

Speaker Placement for Best Sound Quality

Most people when placing new speakers, simply choose the most convenient spot or wherever they look the best aesthetically. If you're more concerned about sound quality and fidelity there are some guidelines to follow to ensure the sound hitting your ears is a true representation of what is coming out of your speakers.

What Is EQ?

Eq or equalization is the technique of balancing the frequency spectrum of a piece of audio. A primitive example of this is the bass and treble knobs on your car or home stereo. An equalizer boosts or attenuates a certain range of frequencies relative to the rest of the spectrum and it is one of the most valuable tools in the producer's arsenal.

Style Wars, The Dusty Movement

This is like my walking home at 3 am song. Actually it's my whenever song but it's prime for chillin. You gotta turn it up loud to hear all the detail in the background. He's got another little melody tucked in under the keys, which sound fantastic by the way. Like churned butter. The chord voicings are what nails it though, I could listen to that progression forever. It holds on one chord to build up suspense and then releases nicely. There's a fake out fade-out in the middle which just makes you appreciate how tasty it is when it comes back in again.


More smooth jazz progressions here. Track reminds me of the leaves changing colour and the smell of fall. It'll be here soon enough I suppose, whenever summer gives up.


And again. Drum and bass groove is locked up nice here. Melody has a nice lazy feel to it. Its timing lags just a bit, with a more triplet feel than the rest of the elements.

The rest of this EP is great as well, really chill groovy songs that conjure up memories of walking through blizzards, midnight treks across town, and looking at the stars. Best part about this EP? It cost me nothing! There was a free download on his bandcamp, and it's been on my ipod ever since. It's still available if you wanna cop it, go check it out! Link here.

Note: it requires an email signup kind of deal which is understandable. I did it a long time ago and have never received an email so you're not gonna get spammed. If you don't wanna put in your real address, try a disposable email service or post up here in the comments. If enough people are interested I can upload it to a fileshare site.

Also a bit of a teaser on what's coming up. The observant ones might have noticed I skipped a couple days there. Don't stress, just been working on some things in the background. Namely a giant music theory guide that will explain everything from the ground up. Should be big things, so stay tuned for that.

If you enjoyed the tunes or have something to say, hit up them comments.

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How To Use Your Headphones as a Microphone

Quick tip today for those situations when you find yourself without a microphone. Say you come up with a cool idea and need to get it down quickly. You just want to beatbox or sing it into your computer but you've got nothing to record your voice with... or so you thought. Chances are you've actually got something hanging around that will do the trick in a pinch...