Warzone Beat Battle - April 29-30, 2022

[Vossi Beats]

Yeah. Problem is the acapellas were mixed for a completely different track so you can quickly ruin the vocal trying to change it for your mix. But generally compression and that sort of thing are already done. No sense in compressing a mixed down vocal.

Yes but most of them are really bad samples and everything is all over the place. I'm not taling about the few times where you manage to find a studio acapella original release. Those are no hassle to deal with. but they are also few and like you said before as good as all of those have already been used 1000 times

 

[Fade]

My trick for acapellas lining up (started doing this when DJing), is to get the instrumental (or the full song), and line that beat up with my beat. Then I'll know exactly when to drop in the acapella.

So in my DAW I just solo my drums and line it up with the song then line up the acapella with that. As long as you have an idea of what the BPM is, you should be good to go. At that point it's just a matter of slicing up the vocals and my beat if I want to move the vocals around or take some vocals out.

 

[Iron Keys]

then you are stuck with something that requires a lot of skill to turn a bad quality into a good quality.

Yeah i don't bother with them ones.

 

[Vossi Beats]

My trick for acapellas lining up (started doing this when DJing), is to get the instrumental (or the full song), and line that beat up with my beat. Then I'll know exactly when to drop in the acapella.

So in my DAW I just solo my drums and line it up with the song then line up the acapella with that. As long as you have an idea of what the BPM is, you should be good to go. At that point it's just a matter of slicing up the vocals and my beat if I want to move the vocals around or take some vocals out.

That's actually pretty clever. I usually just go by ear and then take the vocals one syllable at a time and try my way around to find the spot that fits with either the kick or the snare and then go from there. Think some time can be saved when doing it your way because a lot of times you go down to road and find out it wasn't the right spot after all and then you have to start all over

 

[Fade]

That's actually pretty clever. I usually just go by ear and then take the vocals one syllable at a time and try my way around to find the spot that fits with either the kick or the snare and then go from there. Think some time can be saved when doing it your way because a lot of times you go down to road and find out it wasn't the right spot after all and then you have to start all over

Yeah I've tried doing it like that by pretty much guessing but that's risky. Like you said, sometimes you think you have it but then it drifts off lol. That sucks big time. Plus it wastes time.

The reason I do it like this is because I would do DJ blends all the time, mixing an acapella from one song and playing it over the instrumental of another song. So all I had to do was line up the instrumentals first, after that it was easy.

 

[Fade]

Oh yeah, one issue with this though is your source. See when I did it as a DJ, I had the instrumental and acapella on a 12" so they were both the right BPM.

But for example, if you download the full song or instrumental from YouTube then download the acapella from some other YouTube video, there's a good chance the BPMs are different.

So I recommend getting the full song, line that up with your drums, then line up the acapella over all of that. You might hear the acapella slightly out of sync with that of the full song. So just tweak the pitch to get it right.

 

[Vossi Beats]

sometimes you think you have it but then it drifts off lol. That sucks big time. Plus it wastes time.

The reason I do it like this is because I would do DJ blends all the time, mixing an acapella from one song and playing it over the instrumental of another song. So all I had to do was line up the instrumentals first, after that it was easy.

Yeah that really sucks.

Makes sense that Dj ecperience would benefit you when going on to making remixes in a DAW. It's kinda the same thing just in different settings

 

[Fade]

Yeah that really sucks.

Makes sense that Dj ecperience would benefit you when going on to making remixes in a DAW. It's kinda the same thing just in different settings

Yeah it's much simpler this way. I'm surprised more people don't do it this way. I've heard lots of beats where the vocals were off slightly.

 

[Vossi Beats]

Oh yeah, one issue with this though is your source. See when I did it as a DJ, I had the instrumental and acapella on a 12" so they were both the right BPM.

But for example, if you download the full song or instrumental from YouTube then download the acapella from some other YouTube video, there's a good chance the BPMs are different.

So I recommend getting the full song, line that up with your drums, then line up the acapella over all of that. You might hear the acapella slightly out of sync with that of the full song. So just tweak the pitch to get it right.

To bad they don't just release the acapellas the same way as they sometimes used to do.

 

[Fade]

To bad they don't just release the acapellas the same way as they sometimes used to do.

Yeah I noticed some videos where the acapella was from some guy recording off of vinyl but the pitch wasn't even at zero lol. So it's hard to get a good source sometimes. If you have a good pitch effect in your DAW, lining it up with the full song shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Vossi Beats]

but the pitch wasn't even at zero lol.

lol why would he even do that?

I really like how easy it is to re pitch stuff in Maschine tho.

 

[Fade]

lol why would he even do that?

I really like how easy it is to re pitch stuff in Maschine tho.

Probably high AF.

Yeah Maschine is good for that.

 

[Iron Keys]

it's more complex than just lining it up.

The original beat may have a push or pulled snare, a swing, something that causes the rapper(or singer) to land slighty off beat in a musical way, that on your beat will just sound poorly timed or off-rhythm in a non musical way.

Sometimes the tone/timbre/attitude of the vocal wont suit your soundscape. Sometimes the vibe musically does not match the acapella. (sometimes contrasts can really work, but).

It's a lot more than just slapping the right bpm/key signature.

 

[Fade]

it's more complex than just lining it up.

The original beat may have a push or pulled snare, a swing, something that causes the rapper(or singer) to land slighty off beat in a musical way, that on your beat will just sound poorly timed or off-rhythm in a non musical way.

Sometimes the tone/timbre/attitude of the vocal wont suit your soundscape. Sometimes the vibe musically does not match the acapella. (sometimes contrasts can really work, but).

It's a lot more than just slapping the right bpm/key signature.

Yeah that's a possibility, but that's where producing and having a good ear comes into play.

There were SO many mixtapes I heard back in the 90s where DJs would just line shit up but it sounded like shit. It just amazed me how this was acceptable.

So line your shit up, but it's common sense to also have a good ear. Hence, producing.

 

[Iron Keys]

Yeah that's a possibility, but that's where producing and having a good ear comes into play.

have a good ear. Hence, producing.

exactly my point.

 

[StoneLockProd]

Serato Sample all day bitches.

 

[Vossi Beats]

it's more complex than just lining it up.

The original beat may have a push or pulled snare, a swing, something that causes the rapper(or singer) to land slighty off beat in a musical way, that on your beat will just sound poorly timed or off-rhythm in a non musical way.

Sometimes the tone/timbre/attitude of the vocal wont suit your soundscape. Sometimes the vibe musically does not match the acapella. (sometimes contrasts can really work, but).

It's a lot more than just slapping the right bpm/key signature.

This is all a part of what I would refer to as lining it up. What ever you gotta do you do to make it sound right.
Chop, stretch, pull, rearrange, what ever. And that's the part about it I like the most. Then comes the mixing part and that's what I really don't like.
It's like now the fun part is over and now the work/grind part starts.

 

[Vossi Beats]

it's common sense to also have a good ear. Hence, producing.

That's very true, but having a good ear is also something that takes much practice. This is why we need places like this where we can all come together and learn from each other, and hopefully be inspired by those who have a natural talent in the areas where we have hard times and vice versa. Not just about competing but also about learning and growing. For me that's the major case at least as to why I take part in the battles inhere. Competing is fun don't get me wrong, but it's the learning and growing that holds the real value.
That's also why I never get when people get salty from losing. It's like they haven't understood the fact that the losing part is just an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and then next time you come back stronger and better.

 

[Vossi Beats]

Serato Sample all day bitches.

 

[Vossi Beats]