Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun (ZAP POWER MIX)

[DeeJayZap]

In the time that I wasn't remixing the Beastie Boys, which would be the past few months (except for the once off occasional mix), I picked up guitar and bass. I have the basics of both down and I'm coming up with my own riffs. While working on my own beats, I wanted to get back to the Beastie Boys. I was thinking of what it would be like if I put these rock riffs and basslines over some Beastie vox. Well, I decided to try it yesterday with a riff I came up with after about 20 mins listening to LDTBOAG and playing over it. I think I did well on this and I'd classify it as one of my better mixes.

Download here (http://www.beastiemixes.com/deejayzap.htm)!

[/officialness]

[bigfatlove06]

I know this is a long post just to give feedback, but hang with me. I don't remix, but I do listen to every one I can find. My opinion is not worth much in terms of mixing techniques, but I can tell you as a listener how this one struck me...

What I love is the guitar. That riff is powerful and I liked the way the energy builds up over the course of the track (kind of like Sabotage). I starts off with a kick and builds till about 2:02 and then you kind of break it down and then it begins to build again. I was kind of expecting some sort of apocalyptic angry ending that fit with the tone of the lyrics and vocals. I was a little disappointed to hear a large portion of the original near the end because I was so into the stuff you played yourself. I recognize that the beat is really solid, but I would have loved to hear it end with a flurry of noise and a sudden stop. It seems like the energy builds up over the track is kind of dissipated as the track winds down.

Most importantly, though, what makes the track Kick Ass is that it made me think back to what I think is the "Golden Age" of Hip-Hop (89-92). There was so much variety in what was coming out. I was thinking it sounded a lot like Consolidated (one of my favorites). I hope you continue to use your own instrumentation, IT ROCKS!!!

[Tammeloeki]

Hey man, this is indeed a good mix. Although i like your scratchin too. Its just that i love the sound of a distorted bass, so you caNT EVEN GO WRONG.

tricky dick

[TheMightyAjax]

WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!! The instrument train that is...

I'm telling ya' playing your own riffs and licks is the way to go!
Glad to see you've expanded Zap!

A lot of people think you can't play Hip-Hop with instruments, they don't even realize the records they sample are made with instruments!!!

Keep playing, even if you get discouraged, keep at it, you'll only get better and now your music will get WAYYYY better!!! You'll start to hear things differently too...

If you have any questions on how to get the bass or guitar sound a certain way (If you want the tonality of classic rock, grunge, metal, etc.) let me know I'll help you any way I can.

Nice job on the mix too...It sounds like a real song not just bits and bleeps.

Oh yeah, find a song you like, that you would like to learn on bass or guitar and loop a part of the song so you can learn to play it on Bass or Guitar...then when you've learned the song or part, try changing a couple of notes here and there. So now you have your own groove.

Have fun!(y)