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Sigma
02-07-2012, 08:15 PM
Check it out. It's only short. It's not mastered properly yet, but the bulk of it is done: -

http://www.digitalvertigo.co.uk/sigma/hook.mp3

djvix805
02-07-2012, 09:53 PM
Good stuff sigma! Glad to see you back as well! :tup:

cvdeco16
02-07-2012, 10:07 PM
Another example of scratching hotness by Sigma. Nice, man!! Hope you share the fully mastered version when it's ready! +rep

Btw, I frequently enjoy listening to that track "Respect" that you collaborated with Ponce De'Leioun & J Mei on. You should post that up on 2.0 so that others can enjoy it as well! :music:

DJ CirKutCision
02-08-2012, 12:42 AM
Very nice stuff Sigma, nice to see more people back. I am hipnopath by the way. I've been posting a lot in skratchlounge since DJF went down, now I guess I'll have to balance it out.

Sigma
02-08-2012, 07:55 AM
Thanks a lot gents!

@cvdeco16 - This tune is produced by the same guy who produced the "Respect" one, but this one is gonna be on sale on an EP so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post the full thing up. If I can, I will though.

cvdeco16
02-08-2012, 06:08 PM
...I'm not sure if I'll be able to post the full thing up. If I can, I will though.
That's cool, I'd be more than happy to purchase it!

Sigma
02-09-2012, 02:41 PM
Thanks man! It's not my call, but once the track is complete I'll see what I can do. I should be able to hook you up I would think.

Boomcie
02-09-2012, 03:09 PM
Nice work Sigma

Interracial Tea
02-09-2012, 07:54 PM
Wait, so how do you go about recording this? All I know is that you're not doing it all once.

DjDisArm
02-09-2012, 08:04 PM
dopeee stuff keep it up



interracial - im pretty sure its edited im guessing you're asking him on the formula on how to put the scratches together?

djarchitect
02-09-2012, 08:37 PM
Very nice. Cuts are nice and crisp

Sigma
02-09-2012, 08:53 PM
Wait, so how do you go about recording this? All I know is that you're not doing it all once.

Here's a screenshot of the session. If you open this in its own window you can see it full size, cos the forum automatically resizes it: -

http://i.imgur.com/Yiy5v.jpg

The blue zig-zag lines you can see are where I've panned the audio left and right. The green lines on some of the blocks are where the volume fades in or out. Each sample is cut up in an individual track of the multitrack so that I can adjust the volume independently of the other samples. Also, in some cases, track 6 for instance, there's just the end of an audio block there as track 6 has echo applied to it that I only wanted to affect the end of one sample.

So basically, to make something like this you have to do this: -

1. Pick out your samples and think what you want them to say in terms of sentences. Here's what the samples say here: -

Ladies and gentlemen,
You are now about to witness,
Central Parks (this is the producer's name),
And his orchestra,
JD that's me (this is the rapper's name),
Sigma is on the cut (me of course!),
Together forever, forever together,
Cos you know we're 'bout to rip shit up.

2. Open your multitrack session and insert the track/beat into track 1.

3. Cut your first sample up in track 2. You can record a bunch of different attempts and just chop out the best one, then move it into place.

4. Cut your next sample up in track 3. Basically, rinse and repeat with all of the samples recorded into their own tracks of the multitrack session.

5. Add any effects and panning. Go back and re-record any cuts if necessary.

6. Make sure the volume is good in terms of no samples being too quiet/too loud. This is why you record one sample per track.

And that's basically it.

For me personally, picking out the actual samples is by far the biggest stumbling block cos even though I've been listening to hip-hop since 1982, my mind just goes blank when I'm trying to think of samples that say a particular thing. Once I have the samples, it doesn't take too long to actually put together.

Interracial Tea
02-09-2012, 09:15 PM
Damn. That's fucking informative right there. The only thing that's been stumping me is how to record the samples without the background beat. Did you have two separate players going on or did you just kind of guess to see if it were on beat?

Dj_4-$hure
02-09-2012, 09:29 PM
That's some good ish homeboy. This is one of my goals in life,to scratch for MC's on some tracks.

Sigma
02-09-2012, 09:35 PM
Damn. That's fucking informative right there. The only thing that's been stumping me is how to record the samples without the background beat. Did you have two separate players going on or did you just kind of guess to see if it were on beat?
It works like this: -

You drop the beat (you can just drag and drop with Audition) into track 1 of the multitrack, so I already had the full track in there, minus the scratching of course.

Then you prime track 2 for recording and hit record. When you hit record, it doesn't just start recording. It also plays back anything that's already in the other tracks that you haven't chosen to mute, so in this case, the beat/song starts playing - you scratch over it and that's recorded into track 2. Only the scratching you're doing gets recorded into track 2 - not the scratching and track/beat combined.

To do this, you have to hook your gear up like this: -

Output of mixer ----> Line in on PC sound card
Speaker output on PC sound card ----> Powered speakers/amp

It will not work if the output of the PC is routed through your mixer, otherwise when you record the first layer of scratching you will get a combination of both the beat and the scratching recorded into track 2, rather than just the scratching on its own (which is what you need) and that would make it impossible to build up a composition in layers.

It's one of those things that's hard to explain in words, so I hope you see what I mean, but when you try it yourself you'll see exactly what I mean straight away.

EDIT - This might explain it better: -

This is what you want from multitrack recording: -

Track 1 = Song/Beat
Track 2 = First sample cut up
Track 3 = Second sample cut up
Track 4 = Third sample cut up

Etc.

This is NOT what you want from multitrack recording: -

Track 1 = Song/Beat
Track 2 = Song/Beat + First sample cut up
Track 3 = Song/Beat + First sample cut up + Second sample cut up
Track 4 = Song/Beat + First sample cut up + Second sample cut up + Third sample cut up

Etc.

So that's why you have to make sure your gear is hooked up properly, otherwise you get that cumulative thing where everything you've recorded previously is being carried over to the next track and you really don't want that.

DjDisArm
02-14-2012, 12:15 PM
question sig... when you look for the samples... does it necessarily have to be an acapella? or is it a sample off any song...? just so you dont get the backround music of the sample. but the track 1 song/beat might off set it?

PONTUS.2
02-14-2012, 02:09 PM
dope shit! i want to do stuff like this but i cant get ableton to sync up properly with my DJ set up :mad:

What program is that that you used?

I need a program that will allow me to track in my scratches and edit them next to a beat

Austin GoGreen
02-14-2012, 02:33 PM
Looks like Adobe Audition Pontus.2.... Damn I love these forums! Glad to see you back Sigma.

Changed my name, I used to post under AGizzle.

Old school meets new tech! Thanks for the info... I need a tutorial on how to make this happen with FL Studio.

Sigma
02-14-2012, 09:18 PM
question sig... when you look for the samples... does it necessarily have to be an acapella? or is it a sample off any song...? just so you dont get the backround music of the sample. but the track 1 song/beat might off set it?
It doesn't necessarily have to be an acapella, no, but you would generally use them over samples from the full versions of the tracks otherwise you'll get bassline/kick/snare clashes with your own beat. EQing goes some way in making things sound right if you can't get acapellas, so you can kill the bass and some of the mids or whatever. You can also tweak the EQing of particular samples in the recording software. That said, sometimes having some percussive elements in the samples you use actually works better, but it really depends on the samples and what you're doing.

In that track I had a go at making my own acapella for the "cos you know we're 'bout to rip shit up" part as the drums/bass on that sample were too overpowering. It didn't work 100%, but it definitely removed some of the drums and other instrumentation.


What program is that that you used?
Adobe Audition 1.5. You can do a similar thing in Audacity (which is free).

I'd also recommend this: -

http://www.reaper.fm/

A couple of people I know use this and recommend it over Audition. I only use Audition as it's a program I've used for many years, but apparently this is superior for this kind of thing. It's free to try and in fact, you can use it for free indefinitely, but if you do decide to pay it's only $60 which is very reasonable for a pretty fully featured multitrack DAW. The current version of Audition (5.5) is $349.

Welcome back to the forums, AGizzle!

DjDisArm
02-15-2012, 12:37 AM
nicee.. thanks for the info.... i guess since its only a few words... you don't have to worry about the backround but yeah like you said messing with the EQ would do wonders... oh and i wanna hear the finish product....

PONTUS.2
02-15-2012, 01:36 AM
WTF!!! DOPE SHIT!!! why the fuck cant ableton do that shit without having to spend a shitload of time trying to sync shit up :mad:

Surprised that audacity can do what ive been wanting to do for a long time :zany:

bout to work on some scratch tracks :ninja:

Sigma
02-15-2012, 11:43 PM
You still have to do pretty much everything manually, but I prefer it like that. Audition is just like a blank slate for recording and it allows you to chop up what you've recorded, move it around, and add effects and panning. It doesn't automatically line stuff up or sync tracks for you.

TMC Entertainment
02-19-2012, 06:50 PM
Very well done...

DJ D Reddi
02-19-2012, 11:41 PM
hey welcome back........ i'm happy

allenpa5
02-19-2012, 11:58 PM
Sigma, where's your Beginners Tutorial for scratching? I remember seeing it in 1.0, but can't find it anymore! I'd love to re-read!

Sigma
02-20-2012, 12:11 AM
It was lost when the site went down mate. It was copy and pasted to a couple of other sites though, so you can read it here (minus the audio samples): -

http://planetshake.goodollz.com/t164-beginners-guide-to-scratching

Whoever that guy is that copied and pasted it, he didn't copy all of it unfortunately. He did remove my name from the guide though, which was nice of him, lol.

allenpa5
02-20-2012, 12:15 AM
He did remove my name from the guide though, which was nice of him, lol.

haha what a nice guy

Redcon-1
02-20-2012, 11:26 PM
very nice

Karma
02-23-2012, 12:57 PM
That sounds great Sigma. I'm liking that beat alot too.