Today we’ll talk about a phenomenon like mixtape. What is this, we will consider in detail in this material. Music lovers can listen to a hit dozens of times. Moreover, they must enter all the melodies into their own playlists in order to play them in a certain order. To facilitate this task, professional musicians specially for their listeners came up with a new phenomenon, which will be discussed later.
A bit of history
So our theme is mixtape. What is it, you can answer very simply. This is a sound recording that combines several musical works on one medium at once. In other words, a collection of songs that have a common composition and a certain mixing style. This phenomenon appeared in the 70s of the twentieth century. At that time, there was no production of 8-track magnetic tapes. For the first time, this method of sound recording was discovered by long-distance drivers. They were the first to mix their favorite tunes on audio tapes. A little later, such carriers began to be traded in the markets. This is how mixtape came about. What did it mean in those years for music lovers? To understand this, it is worth listening to the audio cassettes popular at that time: "Top 1977", "Super 73", "Country Chart".
The musicians have another opinion about the emergence of mixtapes. It is possible that this concept arose in America among professional "black" rappers. That is why, at the present time, mixing audio recordings has become the most widespread in the direction of hip-hop.
Rap
We continue to discuss mixtape. What does this mean for rap? The main thing is the mixing of tracks of completely different artists. In some cases, the compositions used are related by one theme. The ownership of all tracks belongs to one artist. Sometimes a bit is read by different performers, although it belongs to a particular performer.
Album
I must say that the creation of mixtape takes a little time and does not require official confirmation of copyright. For such work, no producer is required. There is no censorship, the recording is simply adjusted to the radio release. For the artist, freedom of selection of musical accompaniment opens, he chooses the necessary instruments. You can, for example, use the composition of the bard, add female vocals to it, mix it all with the rhythmic melody of a popular hit in the style of rap.
Let's look at how mixtape differs from an album. There is an obvious difference between the two. To record an album, a professional musician has to work long and hard. He releases commercials, records video clips.
In fact, the artist releases a music release, the rights of which are fully protected, all sound bites are bought. Of course, this product is of high quality, which distinguishes author's music. The difference is quite obvious. Creating an album, the artist aims to earn income and become famous.
Thus, between the concepts of mixtape and album, the difference is significant, but in both cases we are talking about music.
Varieties
DJs and rappers work in this direction. The former are engaged in mixing various musical compositions, creating one stream. The second become the lead, who read a certain text to the sounding melody. Sometimes they focus on the transition of one melody to another.
DJs are not needed to create rapper mixtapes. In this case, the musicians combine their own tracks with strangers. They rap in which texts are combined. There can be a huge number of such options.
Amateur mixtapes are also very popular. They are independently created by ordinary music listeners at home. How to record a mixtape, and what is needed for this, we will describe further. The process is not too complicated. To create such a record, you must have several musical tunes. Usually their quality is lower than the original mix. To record both amateur and professional mixtape, you need to have a list of the necessary songs, a mixture of compositions, general topics.
Well-known works
In this direction, several projects can be distinguished: Memorial Day Mixtape; "New Russian rap"; "There was no sadness." DJs after creating mixtapes became very popular, for example, the composition White Owl Drop That 31 is known to many. According to certain categories, such recordings become a series of mixtapes. They become semi-official.
What is the purpose of this work?
What does mixtape mean in the music world? To understand this, just listen to a few recordings. Professionals release them in large quantities, but since they do not have an official status, records are distributed only in the amateur musical environment. It’s much more difficult to give an exact answer, what are mixtapes for? Beginner artists include them in their promotional presentations. To do this, they give their tunes to DJs. After mixing, a single tape is obtained, having an original design, which is shown to the general public.
It takes a lot of money to create an author’s music album. You need to make video clips, mix melodies and mastering. You can make a mixtape without the costs described above and without restrictions. The artist can easily mix some of his songs and quickly distribute them on the Internet. Lovers are creating mixtapes for a variety of reasons: for their own listening, talking about their musical passions, demograting their talent, trying out an unfamiliar program, out of interest.
How to record a mixtape yourself
It is very easy for a musician to do such a job. There are many different programs for this. Next, we'll talk about how to make mixtape in FL Studio. Manufacturing technology consists of several steps.
Concept
It is advisable to have a specific direction. Come up with a name, draw a cover. In a mixtape from your own compositions, you need to include only new, not yet published creations.
Bit selection
If your own bits are not enough, you can borrow other people's tunes. On the Internet you can find the necessary instrumental versions of the necessary tracks.
Sampling
When creating a mixtape, you should always remember that this method has become very widespread among professionals. Therefore, you need to use only high-quality copyright texts.
True, not everyone may like this interpretation. There are two ways out of this situation. Create your own music or take advantage of previous works that did not appear on the albums. For example, songs by world famous performers.
How to record music
In case of difficulties when recording music, you can use the services of a professional DJ. Using it is easier to find the right tracks. The author will only have to perform rap under them.
Cover
To distribute your work among rap lovers, not only on the Internet, you need to think through a picture that will decorate the future CD. Its appearance should attract attention with its originality and bright colors. The cover should not contain unnecessary details. For complete success, it must have an original picture and name.
So we discussed such a thing as mixtape. What it is, you already know.
FL Studio: how to make mixtape
First of all, run the program. Next, download from open sources all the necessary components, vocals, the main melody, effects. At the first stage, we set the rhythm. Next, using the function of the same name, we determine the pace. For accuracy, a metronome can be used. Next, we move on to working with chords. The Newton 2 plugin available in FL Studio will help us with this. Thanks to him, you can get a sample located in accordance with the notes. Then you can diversify the melody using the piano and other instruments.