The Most Unquantized method of beatmaking with a 4 track tape recorder

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[@mpchead]

Weekly samples www.patreon.com/mpchead Sample packs mpchead.bandcamp.com

[@sergiosandoval7955]

As of late my fire for music has been dying, my financial situation isn't great. I had to sell everything I had accumulated as far gear goes for my family. It hurt alot. I've been apprenticing as a glazier for about a year and half now and there's really good money in the trades. So soon I'll be able to get my gear back, but something else is happened that I didn't expect, my interest began to wane. Then I saw this video today and you my friend have stoked the flame. Thank you! Stay blessed.

[@williamjohn-charles7101]

hope everything gets better man, think that's every musicians worst nightmare

[@terrymiller111]

Trust me, nephew. I have been in a similar situation years ago, and when you repurchase some equipment, you will appreciate it so much more. Plus, you are a glazier now.

[@anton-ello]

Where are you from Sergio?

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

yo, have you tried fl studio mobile?

[@anton-ello]

@@DarkMetaOFFICIAL any good?

[@magicspiral3323]

This unquantized technique is referred to as “playing live”

[@youthmanrecords965]

Hilarious

[@milkweedreflections]

Lmaoooo

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

You sound like an expert.

[@tjw_]

is "playing live" a new ableton daw?

[@lauedbeatz5655]

If you’re into live beats, check out my channel; I have many live Mpc videos

[@subtracktion]

Professional drummers and other musicians spend years practicing to be able to play along with a metronome accurately. Hip hop and other EDM producers have reached a point where the metronome is sometimes totally ignored to give a less perfect feel. It's an interesting juxtaposition. It seems like no matter where we start we tend to move towards something different or even opposite to maintain our interest.

[@moussetache1815]

Yes, it's interesting. Also "less is more" is always relevant.

[@englishcool247]

great observation

[@CerculIntreg]

What makes it desirable for a human to sound more like a machine? The human heartbeat although more or less constant still will have variation. At times great variation. There is a lot of beauty in accelerations and decelerations in music that have been widely lost nowadays. Let's bring the humanness back into music, dance and life. :)

[@HARLEMPZZZ]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXPZk2qnnZtrkLc

[@AXOLOTLKINQ]

i like you

[@devmiles]

In a world of zillion DAW's, producers using just laptops it's really refreshing seeing producers keeping the real craft alive! Props my son!

[@TimGn]

I remember doing that back in the day, but with verses, bridges and choruses. Hitting that record button was instant anxiety, but made you a better musician.

[@unclemick-synths]

...and becoming a better musician saves a whole bunch of time. It's far quicker and better for my skills to just hit record and do another take than spend hours pushing MIDI notes around. I wish I knew that back when I bought my Atari and Cubase 3! I could have been a concert pianist by now 😁

[@dannydaniel1234]

You brought HUMANITY back!!

[@Jackson-mi3dr]

Bro you made a great point at around 3:50. I am a big culprit of being too perfectionist. Social media and all that bullshit gets in the way , I can clearly see how it stifles my creativity. I end up getting hooked trying to perfect one little loop idea, and when I can’t replicate how I want to, I get frustrated. The irony is that, 98% of people who listen to it would probably say, “hey man thats cool”, not shit on my work because I made a mistake or it isn’t flawless. We are our own worst critics. I’m 20 years old and I’m still learning in the world of playing piano and making beats. One day I want to feel 100% content with the work I put out, and not an ounce of self doubt or worry about what people gonna think.

[@jamesd.6979]

100% dude. That really resonated with me.

[@Crispybeats.]

Every single beat/video on this channel is fire. Deserves at least 10 times the subscribers.

[@safenafe1]

This in normal for me. From a young age involved in music I’ve always loved the raw human feel recorded in music. Got a lot from old reggae and dub.

[@ZIGGIEITAL]

The Best genres!

[@SuperG-bb8le]

I have the same 4 track. ive been making beats on it since the 90s. I also crinkle some tapes to get some really authentic low fi sounds. the beat sort of phases for a second or muffles when you do that. four track recording is an art in itself and some of the ideas you wouldn't normally do on a daw. the backwards stuff is really cool to do and really easy

[@snottdog]

One of the things I always struggle with when sequencing music is having enough variation. The jamming/live playing element brings that in so easily and well. It's just free variation and makes everything feel so much more natural and human. Leaving little treats all over the place for the listener.

[@newmanana]

Sounds like the way Dilla made beats. There’s waaaaaay too much quantized music out there. Bring back the human element of tempo, which fluctuates naturally

[@berlinblast5736]

The whole catalog of Medieval, Classical and Jazz as well as other folk styles are all about human feeling, intensity and unadulterated emotion, unless you are talking about studio takes and post editing in the quest for that 'perfect sound'. Recently it is being discovered that even classical recordings that supposedly are thought to be completely live are infact edited as well sometimes as much as 1000 edits per session. It is crazy! Even the music INTENDED to be live is subject to plastic surgery. All that spontaneity and live communication going on between the band members have been tempered and shrink wrapped to fit consumer demands. Enter the computer, which to me would entail just another abstraction in a continuum of rhythm placements, just like when Jazz was not yet invented or discovered depending on who you ask, just like Swing, which is totally different from Folk triplets or the shuffle, it created a shift in the perception of time and added that as a signature to music creation and an entire genre based off on that rhythmic principle as well as the harmonic and melodic development around that time. We have barely even witnessed the after effects of using computers in its short history of less than 100 years, and we are already saturated with both abundance of tools, options and the resulting products that result from such a democratic workspace. Getting back to the drum tracks argument, the authenticity is being maintained here without the addition of the rhythmic paradigm that comes with calculating logic gates firing off on a quartz crystal to give that precalculated metronomic signature, really its just a reflection of the times we live in. Remember we can always throw out the metronome out of the window, humans have the final say, not the tools, we designed the metronome, the quartz clock and the software that works with it, so it aint rocket science at the end, just another 'kitchen appliance' really. With that in mind, I think both styles are valid, from Rubato free form, to a Chacconne, to a Gig, to a Swing Band, to Rock and to Hip hop and to Deep House or Minimal Techno and to Ambient....it all are just different expressions really. The fact that we happen to live in an era of sonic saturation does not take away anything from out aesthetics or our essential design and ear biology and reptiliian innards. We will always be who we are, the best we can do is botch our own design or choose to revel in it. The difference between a modded instrument and the instrument built out of love is that the love always stands out versus the Frankenstein nature of the modded ones. The other thing such conveniences or 'edit filters' do to our core musicianship is that it spoils our daily involvement with music foundations and make us sloppy musicians with questionable timing on a REAL instrument as well as un-honed ears with lackluster intervallic sense and musical acuity. Becoming a bad musician in the end is real danger if the atrophying of who we can be is placed in front of us like using wheels to go everywhere and losing our built in stamina and muscular definition in the process. End of the day, the wheels do not define who you are even as it may SHOW who you are, your body is the only thing you truly can play with and the very essence of your physical existence. This is a genuine conflict, like using calculators everytime to lose arithmetic ability or using a Grammerly plugin to write English texts and very soon, everyone sounds the same. No personal built style, no ingenuity, no uniqueness, especially when that IS an option if we choose to foster and imbibe real skills or get by using a toy to do the dirty work every single time. It is a choice, and I hope we as musicians make the right one in keeping with traditions of the past and the path for the future. Just because we can manifest something does not mean we ideally should. I am sure there might be some who could summon an actual demon who can do all the musical performances for them in quantum level time and impeccable phrasing etc, only to be enslaved by the same entity with no way out barring self destruction. If you give power to someone or something else, it will take from you, pure physics, and you will be left empty in a negative sense. You would ideally want to be empty of the responsibilities of your time here, not your powerful self. That is decision you have to make for yourself. It is inevitable just like in the universal cycle of creation and destruction that we will no doubt come back full circle and be as naked as the way when we first came in. All this in between is just minutae in terms of the point of view, however the interaction and contributions with this illusion if it results in generation of more knowledge and the resulting wisdom then that phase has been useful, even more so if spiritual enlightenment is in progress as well, which music is mostly all about, a celebration of the fact that we are spiritual beings first and corporeal beings second. Therefore, computer music seems saturating after a while, just like wearing glasses with polarized filters and tint layers get heavy on the nose bridge and a headache is in short order if worn overly long. The moment we remove these 'visual aids' and start seeing the bright sunshine, we are filled with empowerment and are truly connected with sight and sound the way we are gifted with and that is when we shine our best. I feel all this artificial tech only helps us achieve that realization in the end, the fact that we cannot best our master designer in anything barring making our toyish versions of items from the very materials or atomic structures that he has created apriori and the fact that even with the license to use all the atoms at our disposal the fact remains that we cannot escape this physical reality just by material means alone as the physics that come with it are debilitating and limiting. So we have to come full circle back to our essential spiritual selves through an indirect training session of sorts. It is our spirit making the music, not the body or even the brain. The mechanism implementations must not be in conflict with the conscious source that does the actual talking. We are not some mechanical turks made out of biological mass but breathing beings that have a primordial history. Considering the history of mankind, beatmaking and even the last 300 years of Western music came just yesterday. As much as I love the machines that we make purely as a human exercise in ingenuity like building a sandcastle out of sand, we are essentially doing just that. We are supposed to build and enjoy our times here and play like children near a sea shore, knowing that it will all be washed away soon. When the sea beach is our playground, sand is not something you would bother to hoarde or count. So you focus on your own sandcastle and make it the most beautiful one you can and enjoy both the process of getting your hands dirty and the final result as well. MPC and other gear in this regard is the spade and bucket and the compositions are the sand castles, the ephemeral creations that are frequency vibrations captured in a physical media that are expressions and impressions encoded as information onto our physical media, our sand castles. Frequencies is nobody's property as far as the sand particles are concerned, just the fact that the current creation is made in your play space so it is yours and no one else should ideally infringe upon that.

[@newmanana]

@@berlinblast5736 What an amazingly articulate response. Thanks for taking the time to agree that music feels good when humans make it!

[@berlinblast5736]

@@newmanana Best Wishes to you Mic.

[@randomanton]

There's gotta be a middle point. because unquantized music can get waaay out of hand if you're not careful

[@newmanana]

@@randomanton Definitely. I play un-quantized music with all of the bands I play with and it only gets out of hand every once in a while!

[@askreternal]

Mad dope!; That snare is killer also!

[@DuckAlertBeats]

@Alfie It's not that inspiring

[@chenguefer156]

Top class channel, exquisite content. Many thanks for sharing Mr. Marlow.

[@S.Haleem]

Peace. This joint "warmed" my heart plz do more of these jam sessions

[@nokiltr]

This has been my workflow for years! Shit's real.

[@BIG1TOWER]

That tape sound is so pleasant

[@MrJvandal]

Not much of a finger drummer he says. Then proceed to lay down super tight sounding drums for four minutes straight. Great work Marlow.

[@mpchead]

I think it works because I don't have to follow a click from the metronome.

[@MrJvandal]

@@mpchead Sounds great mate. :D

[@DionteBOOMstudio]

The most fun way to bang out sampled based beats for sure.

[@ja_da_li]

comment for algorithm, great stuff yet again!!!!

[@LowFah]

Thank God for you bro! My favorite KZbinr by far!!

[@mpchead]

✌🏼Thanks LowFah

[@Massproduce201]

Starting out in the 90s, all I had at my disposal was a boss dr660 drum machine, 10 sec Gemini sampler with the huge button and a tascam 4track tape recorder. Limiting yourself makes you a better musician and you learn to make the most of what you have.

[@DuckAlertBeats]

That all sounds like modern luxury compared to what we started on lol I think maybe a second and a half sample time, and two tape decks to bounce between ;)

[@Massproduce201]

@@DuckAlertBeats lol aaah yes cassette decks to over dub and loop sections, that’s where it all began!!

[@DuckAlertBeats]

@@Massproduce201 After that I moved into a Tascam 4 track like yourself. I wasn't trying to compete for most primitive setup btw lol I'm just making myself look old Your comment just sparked some old memories that's all :)

[@Massproduce201]

@@DuckAlertBeats I didn’t take it that way at all respect my bro!

[@zzzwy777]

Smooth ,groovy and organic , that's a simple recipe for something tasty 👨‍🍳 , good job sound chef

[@eddiethetruhead]

This beat is mad chill yo. Beauty samples. Props Marlow. Keep on Homie.💾🔥💾🔥💾🔥

[@zacharyburley992]

Dolby not Maxell ! Lol. Slick idea, I've found this works great with vocalists too. Have a singer riff lyrics or harmonies in key at any tempo and chop it up. With no stress on timing, it allows for more comfortable environment to take risks and ends up in unique vocal runs. Also when you change the speed and pitch of those samples you almost end up with more than one voice from that one individual. Much love and respect!

[@3nochendtimesmusic925]

One of my homies used to record on one of those back in the day, only his was a tascam. Love that tape sound.

[@kannon3979]

Sunday Digs!!! 🎶

[@non-violet]

This is awesome! Giving me lots of inspiration to create music freely instead of sticking to a quantized grid

[@unanimousarts]

Break the grid!

[@enildemday5294]

I was doing this in 98 using no quantize and making 3 minutes songs layers after layers into the mpc 2000. After getting a pentium IV I was recording also live into the daw that was cubase at the time.

[@HARLEMPZZZ]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXPZk2qnnZtrkLc

[@donofman]

OMG.... That was my first 4track recorder. I havent seen one of those in almost 20 years. Those old analog recorders have such a unique sound. I even started using my old akai S20 sampler because those old cheap samplers have such a good sound that my all digital system just can't.

[@robertk6258]

This was sick man, it's almost like working on a song with a band except your band is the samples..defo the direction I would like to go

[@mpchead]

Yeah the result is so different it definitely makes you rethink your process

[@rgonz3492]

Thanks for sharing your work flow also amazing use of a four track as a rugged sequencer impressive big ups homie

[@kitwhale4153]

Exactly how I do it yo...only I record the output from mpc into my daw, while I do things with it like pad mute or whatever....I keep the tempo approximate and it flactuates but who cares, the improvisation part is priceless!

[@mpchead]

yes, very cool way to make music

[@kitwhale4153]

@@mpchead I make beats and rap and over my time doing this I found that the earlier you can record the track whether an instrumental or a rap, of you take too long setting up the emotional content gets watered down somewhat I guess....or it sounds robotic...I mean I usually keep the first good take as a thumb rule...it's never perfect enough anyway ..yet it iS

[@sifulinks]

Amazing! Great outcome my friend. Rawness at its best. Salute from Greece!✌🏻

[@carlosg4342]

I’ve been using my 4 track basically as storage for beats from the PO-33, dope stuff, especially if you record at the highest speed and slow down w the pitch knob

[@truthfinder4973]

vcr with hi-fi nice to add in like if need free tracks up they use to d0 that trick back in the day record to vcr then back t0 get 2 m0re tracks

[@buckbumble]

Just beautiful inspiring stuff with this great gear man. Thanks again!

[@rhonga2k]

My younger sister makes beats like this every single day on her yamaha keyboard ...plays every instrument for the duration of the song with all the variations

[@aSpeaker2BlocksAway]

So good for my soul.... The sound and the workflow.

[@miseryloveseverything]

Sick video, have been looking into recording to a tape recently and this video has definitley made me want to do it more, looks like a lotta fun 🙃🙃🙃

[@CDeering]

MISERY LOVES EVERYTHING!!

[@earthboundboy]

Just come back to this one as I’ve been thinking about doing some pause tape loops and spinning in samples from the turntables etc like back in the day… enjoyed this again very much! 🙌🏼

[@solesust8427]

Dagg, I’ve been doing this ever since the s900 Y’all taking are stuff and then showing us how it’s done... Dagg!!! But, keep rocking on

[@bustacutxl2784]

Human error brings it to life also you can use the vertical faders to create changes and variations

[@Tulizukka]

What an amazing beat! Ive been doing music lately via similar method but to computer or looper, just now i started again recording midi and quantize things, but it missing the feeling little bit. So probably will use both for the future. Quantize when needed only and jam with bigger takes vs. Small loops

[@softeyez6700]

this is insane!!! when i finally get my mixer and am able to properly track out my mp im going to try this

[@DJSoSupreme]

This is a dope concept. Thanks for walking through the process and explaining what you were looking to accomplish.

[@youthmanrecords965]

This concept has been around since cassette 4 tracks came out.

[@DJSoSupreme]

@@youthmanrecords965 I get that. I enjoy the fact that he explains the process in way that is easy to follow, isn’t pushy or holier than thow. Clues into some of the older concepts can be simple ways to help clean up your work flow in your DAW. Knowledge is key and I appreciate those that are willing to share.

[@Qouleyheye]

I feel exactly where you're coming from I make a lot of my Beats like that straight from the heart I feel everything doesn't always have to be quantized and I love that dirty feel and rawness truthfully that's the way I like it I wouldn't have it no other way

[@thernandez81]

beautifully done, very genuine!

[@exaktdaneben]

i love this beat. nice work.

[@pongtrometer]

The Details in the flaws is the beauty

[@wkwk1152]

Much love from 🇵🇭 ✌️

[@mpchead]

Love to the Philippines

[@tekbeatz]

I also like imperfection beats.. Its raw

[@369lofi4]

Sample is 🧨

[@ArturTadevosyan]

Great track!

[@jerrypizzini]

U used a 4 track recorder as ur sequencer. Just to create a great feeling beat. Good job 👍

[@mpchead]

Yes it makes the whole thing more "human" I feel

[@stephanechamotif_rblackwoo4528]

Yeah he does it ok and even more ok ( like dub masters) in 2 years mate.... pleaaaase this is important this is music.

[@Ermite_Noir]

Like before the 90s,that's how master tapes was used to

[@biggrime]

I want to record a whole beat tape with this method. Thanks for sharing

[@mpchead]

yes man this thing is genuinely one of the most creative and fun methods I used.

[@chibukun]

So minimalist yet so deep 🔥

[@I.O.M.]

We need to get you some tape loops and play samples over that live. Love it!

[@mpchead]

made a video on that too. I need to get back to that.

[@I.O.M.]

@@mpchead I'll check it out. Really love your stuff and the beats. I am more ambient/noise maker but have started using the Yamaha SU10 for my samples/beats.

[@OnlyDaFunk4444]

"ReLaXiNg"‼️ nice👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@Spencergundersenmusic]

Some BoC energy with the looseness I love it!!

[@transmutationdotse]

Love it!

[@OBZRV82]

The liberation of the metrodome? 🤔 😳🤯 That makes so much sense..😃👍🏿

[@BoombapArt]

Dope beat! 🔥👊🏻 I really like the idea, maybe should test it out sometime.

[@LukeLine]

Enjoyed this one, had to binge a few vids this morning... love the swing here and the warm saturation of the Analogue Heat too!

[@jerzwhite4548]

Much love and appreciation from Nowhere Pennsylvania

[@anjovimusic]

I just hopped onto koala sampler from making beats on the fl studio for years and I'm in a phase where I can't even be bothered to touch the sequencer in it. I'm just mapping stuff out so that I can play it live and I've been loving it! I do a bit of finger picking blues and playing with the mpd218 and a sampler (like how the sp would be) really feels like playing the guitar when i make proper chops. All the improv, variations that parallel all of the different licks and chord variations that i'd play on guitar. Been enjoying the videos! The video on layering samples and "eq-uing" (or the substituting it with filtering, panning, and volume control) are really helpful in re-orientating myself to beat making with this new gear.

[@lukebussey5218]

I went through a phase of making boom beats in ableton and I would just turn the quantize grid off and do everything freehand. Sounds much more human

[@thedayones4918]

Always coming w gr8 ideas n the heat rocks!!

[@lukeburkett5645]

I like the way your pads are arranged for the drums. I'm going to try that

[@anthonysarantakis]

Inspirational.

[@wutsupg]

It was very chilled bro. Grainy... i like it.

[@mpchead]

🙏🏼

[@melundank1039]

this is how i made beats from 94 to 97 had tascam 4 track, akai s01 and a midi keyboard .....use to record 3 tracks then bounce them to 1 and have 3 more tracks

[@tristate0mind]

Sick vibe yo. That Punk Funk!

[@MrAmericanMe]

That beat is fuckn ill!!!!!!!

[@AndrewJohnClive]

🙂The first recording device I ever owned was an XR7, bought it in 1996❤️

[@zappendustah]

That was super smooth! 👌🏽

[@leisuresuitlar123]

Perfect beat , Great video thanks for sharing

[@diggadirt393]

I think I remember hearing about RZA making his beats this way? Somebody witnessed him doing this and they were confused and said "what are you doing?" It was in a Wu documentary or sampling doc maybe?

[@mpchead]

Would like to see that if you ever come across it again.

[@jonathonhouston4643]

So vibey

[@daanbaas2962]

The final track has an awesome vibe to it! I would be very curious what happens if you pull just these four tracks into Logic or Cubase and use some slightly different eq-ing, widening and reverb on each of the tracks to give it the final "depth". I would buy your music for real.

[@js78910]

I love your videos Marlow! ❤️🤘🏻 They really make me want to get some analogue equipment. Haha

[@Robert_Babicz]

hi, i am coming from the techno/house universe and i tend to play synths also just by hand and no midi, no quantization.... its like a additional color in your pallette

[@C.Ellis_BMI]

Outstanding Marlow!💿🎶🎵🎶OverDubbing at its finest!

[@DJ279V]

Excellent video to demonstrate using a 4track, filters, and free flowing. Nothing beats unquantized beats 24/7/365

[@PhatMc]

Dam this beat is so dope and your sample packs off the chain g having mad fun butchering it I'll tag you in what I'm working on when I bounce it salute

[@coldstewpid]

Love it.

[@MichaelPareda]

Very good.

[@Sizorhandz]

love the concept, this groove flows great always wanted to try this !

[@bostonconnor5706]

AyoOo; This right here is Str8 up what I call pure raw unkuttt dope madness sun🌞🙏

[@kallmehu1598]

Damn. I would need to try this

[@slowsky22]

Loved this 👏👏

[@fade2blak91]

Dope!

[@valentinolar955]

Sensei strikes again

[@ivanmuhlenberg7521]

Super nice and chilled beat. Love the way you record it!

[@CoolCalmMaurice]

Yo, this was amazing. Very intriguing. I've never used a 4 track recorder before so I am trying to understand the process. So for each track, you play it out individually for the 2 min or however long you want the beat to be. And for the next track, the main sample, you would play that out for the length of the beat along with the drums (previous track). So you basically just build upon each track for as long as you want the beat to be? Rewinding the tape and re-recording to create the complete beat? This is blowing my mind how incredibly dope it sounds and the creativity using this kind of workflow. I need a 4 track recorder, definitely my next piece of gear to cop!! Thanks man!

[@mpchead]

Yes, you got it right. Recording each take at a time to the 4 tracks of the tape. Recorded the drums to track 1, rewind the tape, record the sample to track 2, rewind the tape ...... It makes you express different than if it was just recording to a loop.

[@thevinedge]

Fire Beloved. Takes me back..91 92 easy.

[@mechanicalapple]

Love it, sounds like Dilla crossed with Portishead 👌🏻

[@timhartl4976]

dope

[@urbanbasslab]

Crazy & dope

[@frankiewalnuts]

Beautiful bro, I love going back to the roots... big up