Butcher Boom

Just love this quote.

2009-09-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

http://ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/09/what_kanye_west_means.php

This is history through the veil, again. It's virtually impossible to be a black person and believe that Americans were somehow more humble in the past. Our very existence springs from an act of immodesty. I can't even begin to imagine the Native American read on this one.

A Gentleman And The Hierarchy Of Success

2009-09-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

Really enjoyed this article from the Urban Gentleman today.   It was about Swift-Westgate, but in it he talks about some of his routines that he considers to be important to being a gentleman.

Haircut every Thursday,
clothes perfectly ironed,
class and work before time,
open doors and pull out chairs for all women,
exercise daily,
read the Times and Journal everyday,
always have an interesting book I'm reading,
spend QT with friends and family,
savings and investments in order,
weekly shoe shine (my nephew does it and I tip him very well-
you have to teach young kids how to save),
practice my second language weekly,
volunteer atleast once a month,
keep my car and house clean,
wardrobe immaculate...
and no turning hoes into housewives.

I love lists, so I also I enjoyed this from Seth Godin's blog. In the article he talks about what he believes is his hierarchy of success, which is :

   1. Attitude
   2. Approach
   3. Goals
   4. Strategy
   5. Tactics
   6. Execution

Nobody cares.

2009-09-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sort of obsessed with what people are thinking. And the only reason why is because I have no idea what people are thinking. Of course, I have evidence with which to make a hypothesis, but outside of that, I got no fucking clue. I used to think that my actions affect people in a way that they could react to and respond to. And I just recently realized that people aren't like me.

They are content in their very small and little worlds. My world is no bigger than theirs, of course, but I am constantly seeking a way to expand my perception or my environment. I don't always actually succeed or committ an action, but that need is always there.

Why am I writing this?

To express that my actions are in a sort of void. A void of apathy. Think about that.

We live in a world where no one cares. This means that for the most part you don't have to worry about people's reactions to you, about what they're feeling or what they're thinking, because in the end, it's really irrelevant. People may pretend certain reactions for whatever reason to your small little interaction with them, but for the most part, your actions don't affect other people. So if your current present action is not of the fullest part of your self, then it was useless.

And in the end, that actually gives me comfort, because it allows me to be who I really am. So fuck what you think, and have a wonderful day.

Maybe it's the nicotine withdrawl talking...

2009-09-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

But this beat a day project is over. I realized ultimately no one cares. Unless I could find people who were actually interested in rapping on these tracks, maybe, there'd be a point to it. So, right now, it's purely, fuck beats, and it's about making songs.

Moving on, when looking through really cheap records, I will almost always choose a record if the person is smoking in a cool way on the cover. Like the Marco Polo's Port Authority. He really looks like he is dying. And I LOVE THAT. Maybe that's just my personality.

Yeah, I just recently quit smoking. So I am not feeling good at all. More later.

Just Had An Epiphany

2009-09-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

I was reading this article and, it made realize me posting beats every day and a song a week isn't enough to get people interested in reading. Also, just doing this blog so people read it really isn't a specific enough goal. I've always kind of been that person though. Doing things just purely for the sake of it. I've been doing this music thing for ten years just for the sake of it until I came to the realization that you can't live life in a vacuum.

I started with a program called Modplug Tracker. It was incredibly simple, and at the time, my sampling was limited to sample packs that my friend had given me and the occassional dabble into "crazy" sampling of mp3s I downloaded off the Internet. I was just doing this for fun, and I just decided to show my friend this really good beat I did. He really liked it. And we've been working together for the past ten years on and off with him rapping over my beats. Or atleast we tried to. That sort of all fell apart.

Funny thing is, I look back on the quality of everything and I'm really surprised how far I've come and always how little things have changed.

So, this this first song was recorded way back in 1999 or 2000. I remember we went to crazy lengths to try and get a good recording. We had him sit in my closet with a whole bunch of pillows all around him with the mic like two inches away from his mouth. It was hilarious... Oh yeah, and for some reason I was really into the lo-fi aesthetic, so even though the beat was made with my computer I recorded it onto a four track recorder and had him record onto that and THEN put it back into the computer after it was recorded so I could mess with everything.

Here's the track.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

It's named after a chick my friend was into in high school. Pronounced Ann-uh-eed. Anyways, hope you enjoyed my little sharing session with you today.

Beat Of The Day

2009-09-05T22:49:00.001-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Song Of The Week

2009-09-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Beat Of The Day

2009-09-05T00:04:00.001-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Beat Of The Day

2009-09-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Beat Of The Day

2009-09-02T23:13:00.001-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Beat Of The Day

2009-09-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

New song

2009-09-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

This isn't going to be my song of the week. This one I did just for fun. I would explain the story behind this, but I think it'd be better if I let the song speak for itself.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Beat Of The Day

2009-08-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Beat Of The Day

2009-08-30T20:30:00.001-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

New song - Killing Fields

2009-08-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

I originally was just working on this beat to experiment with this idea of glitching out hip hop tracks. I started with my favorite non-played out song on 2001 "Bang Bang". I sampled these 1 beat portions and then I was just messing around with compression and came up with a really sharp drum sound that almost distorted the original sound of the sample leaving just the drums. It was really banging. Then I did like Aphex Twin effect with loops on the chorus.

I was just going to make that the beat and finish, but then I thought that horns would work really well on this beat. So I looked through some of my loops and I found this really great horn sample from a Glady Knight & The Pips album. I chopped it a lil and re-ordered it then threw it on top and it really brought the beat to a whole 'nother level. At that point, it actually kinda reminds me of Ante Up by M.O.P. I thought it could use an intro. It's is composed of a piano sample from someone I didn't bother to write down and an effects heavy diana ross sample. Then I took the original samples from the beat and rearranged them to make it a little more cohesive and dramatic. Voila. Beatdown.

After I finished, I wanted to give it to my friend to see how well he could rap on it. I've been working with him for years, and lately, he's been really slipping with the rap thing. So I gave this to him as a challenge. He had exactly one week to write lyrics and perform it in front of people. I would do the same, and whoever won would keep the beat and record the song.

He failed miserably.

Also, I must apologize for the poor quality of the vocal recording. I am of a lowly economic position, and this was recorded on a USB mic. Also, I have no experience with EQing and mixing vocals.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Beat Of The Day

2009-08-29T20:24:00.001-07:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

First Post.

2009-08-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm creating this blog, mainly as a super blog to hold all my other blog entries. I was thinking today how to create an online presence for my music, and I came up with a plan. I want to do a beat a day, a song a week, and a music video a month for the next year. Right now I already have the blog for the beat a day project which is Butcher Boom's Beats. The song a week, I don't think I'm going to actually make a blog for that. It seems a bit unnecessary. I'll just put it on my myspace. The music video thing, I can just put on my youtube. So, yeah, that's the idea. Thanks for reading.