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How To: Make a Mix Tape

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 – running time 08:54
DJ Eleven and Matthew Africa are responsible for one of the year's best mixtapes - Dirty Raps: The Best of Too $hort. In this episode, they walk you through how they did it - from choosing songs down to preferred kbps rates for MP3s, and give a nice history of Too $hort and mixtapes themselves along the way.

Be sure to head over to the XLR8RTV forum to discuss this episode.

XLR8R Magazine

Too $hort

DJ Eleven

Highlights
hard drive ( 8:42, 8:42 ) funk bands ( 4:13, 4:13 ) working out ( 6:51, 6:51 ) Mix Tape ( 0:32, 0:32 ) hard drive ( 8:42, 8:42 ) funk bands ( 4:13, 4:13 ) working out ( 6:51, 6:51 ) Mix Tape ( 0:32, 0:32 )

Automatically Generated Transcript(may not be 100% accurate) ( more )

" Yeah. Yeah I was set Tiant. Who."

" PJ eleven I met you at a good in it makes baby additional weight and you've already noted isn't on take him back to the bald eagle from the best solution no idea."

" I'm Matthew Africa did eleventh and we collaborate -- a mix tape thirty wraps that -- to sort. And -- front. We're remote so. And some real. Hopefully hero. -- a myth and magic. First person to see where did we get more than once and and vote and mixing or listening -- forever which have been making when he went -- written."

" safe mode is going to really important part of a pop culture you know as a way to expose consumers to new music away for dieters can create an identity for themselves and it's you know is typically far away away for DJ as we're trying to get their name out there to do so because you can't be in front of every person time. But if you meant to -- it which is really good you will get bootlegged and we'll get passed around and name become known and you'll be interviewed."

" I don't. The main issues we -- we don't hear from somebody -- for the day drama. And a originally and we. It's I guess it's safe to say the biggest name in them. -- these days at least in rap music but six months there's there was a raid using rested. Effectively. Treating missed that -- pirate. With stealing rather then -- helping to break -- suppose ours best case scenario when you get -- is that a."

" Record label war. You know but a lawyer for record labels and -- cease and desist order which is basically a slap on the wrist pain. Take this take this off the market don't edit watch it. Your big but they don't have gotten. Obviously they're big enough that somebody is now that's what you -- and pops --"

" Yeah yeah. I. Think every mixed it starts with an idea. Considers a billionth song and you gotta start somewhere out in narrowed down certainly what you -- whether to specific artists. So it that's specific style music figuring out if theme. And then from there for me I go to trying to get a possible trackerless like narrowing it down to. 3040. However many songs you listen to things separately coming up with our. -- are you listed them together midnight okay we can. What's up with these 45 so the other side that would -- issuers he has fourteen albums fifteen now sixteen I'm sorry sixteen albums I mean that's. At least a 160 -- tomorrow -- you know you put some 200 IU wrapped. You know I'd do -- around and wait dogs around the dude who put out 200 that's magellan's of that especially when now. -- particularly interesting because. He's been recording since the early eighties back to about 1983 which was before a lot of modern studio techniques. Like maybe what have you and -- Trace the history of the Bay Area wrapped from a production perspective through all this sounds of -- I very early on it was Alter a machine based on often used rhyming over other people's records. Later on he was playing over loops of life funk bands like the stuff -- thanks produced. And that has its own kind of weird rhythmic feel that's very different when you're trying to mix it. And then more recently. You know certain post -- stuff that. A lot of music with southern producers like -- John and -- bank and some sort I think sounding stuff. Yeah so. You know it's one artist but it's a whole lot different production spouse and and when the challenges and make in the CD was figuring out. How to fit those things together not only musically but to mix them because like a record this may 25 years ago. Does not -- generally the same way if something brand new does."

" We got that actual files from a lot of different places a lot of it map you have on final some of that I have on final. Some of that he got on CD some of it I've gotten MP threes from other people a couple things we I think we actually. At least the original version we were working around something -- download off the Internet so once we have everything together we got it and you know we got into a file format which we felt most comfortable with our first choice was. 31 mean. Kilo bytes per seconds. MP3. Second choice would be 192. Kilo bytes per second MP threes we would record isn't AI half but then converted to an MP3 just as it was easier in the files."

" Quicker once we've narrowed it down to roughly in in this case the forty songs we are working with it we. Figured out the B -- on all of you know manually here cheating a little bit and we tried to figure out a song sequence. Which you know we collaborated on and so there we go back and forth because. You know you'd have a block before five songs where you know while those with some really great together fit together stylistically. But then. How do you link that up to something else. I think a lot of the planning what's really in terms of just figuring out. How the -- an excellent that is sort of the energy level of starts that sound -- starts when and where."

" Goes so once we've got overall arc of the tape. You know planned out at least we had this long sequence plan now we have a rough idea of what the transitions we're going to be. We sat down -- record it. Recording from Cerrato. Going to approach tools. And sat down actually start working out what the transitions --"

" Typically what we do is. We figure out the tempos were going to be playing. The reckons that as we start witness then we're speeding up so maybe the first record rule recorded a little faster than it actually is. Then the next record we'll. He matches and then recorded -- the proper tempo and if we're off a little bit the first time well we can go back and make some little edits to make sure that. All the beats lineup and that sounds like Christmas well. And also do things like EQ it to make it sound like one part is fading a little or take some pace and do whatever they hear that. The -- like that it together it's house. You boom boom boom boom can."

" She requested. Normalizing is like when you flatten. JPEG's and Photoshop. -- collapses everything in two. A single set of files and from there you go and create separate tracks and then from that you move it to. A CD burner and you create your masters CD multi track digital audio recording programs all of that she would absolutely. So computer -- mr. Is all that you have to have. You know the rest Mikey doesn't listen."

" See you often don't release it until you're absolutely because. Don't kid and operate at school but -- an approach to -- from one hard drive to another don't have. Everything moved to quit lets you know -- in the old location for you have to go back to find everything you."

" Yeah. Yeah I was set Tiant. Who."

" PJ eleven I met you at a good in it makes baby additional weight and you've already noted isn't on take him back to the bald eagle from the best solution no idea."

" I'm Matthew Africa did eleventh and we collaborate -- a mix tape thirty wraps that -- to sort. And -- front. We're remote so. And some real. Hopefully hero. -- a myth and magic. First person to see where did we get more than once and and vote and mixing or listening -- forever which have been making when he went -- written."

" safe mode is going to really important part of a pop culture you know as a way to expose consumers to new music away for dieters can create an identity for themselves and it's you know is typically far away away for DJ as we're trying to get their name out there to do so because you can't be in front of every person time. But if you meant to -- it which is really good you will get bootlegged and we'll get passed around and name become known and you'll be interviewed."

" I don't. The main issues we -- we don't hear from somebody -- for the day drama. And a originally and we. It's I guess it's safe to say the biggest name in them. -- these days at least in rap music but six months there's there was a raid using rested. Effectively. Treating missed that -- pirate. With stealing rather then -- helping to break -- suppose ours best case scenario when you get -- is that a."

" Record label war. You know but a lawyer for record labels and -- cease and desist order which is basically a slap on the wrist pain. Take this take this off the market don't edit watch it. Your big but they don't have gotten. Obviously they're big enough that somebody is now that's what you -- and pops --"

" Yeah yeah. I. Think every mixed it starts with an idea. Considers a billionth song and you gotta start somewhere out in narrowed down certainly what you -- whether to specific artists. So it that's specific style music figuring out if theme. And then from there for me I go to trying to get a possible trackerless like narrowing it down to. 3040. However many songs you listen to things separately coming up with our. -- are you listed them together midnight okay we can. What's up with these 45 so the other side that would -- issuers he has fourteen albums fifteen now sixteen I'm sorry sixteen albums I mean that's. At least a 160 -- tomorrow -- you know you put some 200 IU wrapped. You know I'd do -- around and wait dogs around the dude who put out 200 that's magellan's of that especially when now. -- particularly interesting because. He's been recording since the early eighties back to about 1983 which was before a lot of modern studio techniques. Like maybe what have you and -- Trace the history of the Bay Area wrapped from a production perspective through all this sounds of -- I very early on it was Alter a machine based on often used rhyming over other people's records. Later on he was playing over loops of life funk bands like the stuff -- thanks produced. And that has its own kind of weird rhythmic feel that's very different when you're trying to mix it. And then more recently. You know certain post -- stuff that. A lot of music with southern producers like -- John and -- bank and some sort I think sounding stuff. Yeah so. You know it's one artist but it's a whole lot different production spouse and and when the challenges and make in the CD was figuring out. How to fit those things together not only musically but to mix them because like a record this may 25 years ago. Does not -- generally the same way if something brand new does."

" We got that actual files from a lot of different places a lot of it map you have on final some of that I have on final. Some of that he got on CD some of it I've gotten MP threes from other people a couple things we I think we actually. At least the original version we were working around something -- download off the Internet so once we have everything together we got it and you know we got into a file format which we felt most comfortable with our first choice was. 31 mean. Kilo bytes per seconds. MP3. Second choice would be 192. Kilo bytes per second MP threes we would record isn't AI half but then converted to an MP3 just as it was easier in the files."

" Quicker once we've narrowed it down to roughly in in this case the forty songs we are working with it we. Figured out the B -- on all of you know manually here cheating a little bit and we tried to figure out a song sequence. Which you know we collaborated on and so there we go back and forth because. You know you'd have a block before five songs where you know while those with some really great together fit together stylistically. But then. How do you link that up to something else. I think a lot of the planning what's really in terms of just figuring out. How the -- an excellent that is sort of the energy level of starts that sound -- starts when and where."

" Goes so once we've got overall arc of the tape. You know planned out at least we had this long sequence plan now we have a rough idea of what the transitions we're going to be. We sat down -- record it. Recording from Cerrato. Going to approach tools. And sat down actually start working out what the transitions --"

" Typically what we do is. We figure out the tempos were going to be playing. The reckons that as we start witness then we're speeding up so maybe the first record rule recorded a little faster than it actually is. Then the next record we'll. He matches and then recorded -- the proper tempo and if we're off a little bit the first time well we can go back and make some little edits to make sure that. All the beats lineup and that sounds like Christmas well. And also do things like EQ it to make it sound like one part is fading a little or take some pace and do whatever they hear that. The -- like that it together it's house. You boom boom boom boom can."

" She requested. Normalizing is like when you flatten. JPEG's and Photoshop. -- collapses everything in two. A single set of files and from there you go and create separate tracks and then from that you move it to. A CD burner and you create your masters CD multi track digital audio recording programs all of that she would absolutely. So computer -- mr. Is all that you have to have. You know the rest Mikey doesn't listen."

" See you often don't release it until you're absolutely because. Don't kid and operate at school but -- an approach to -- from one hard drive to another don't have. Everything moved to quit lets you know -- in the old location for you have to go back to find everything you."