lofi smash mouth radio - beats to relax/study to
November 24, 2020 7:11 PM Subscribe
Courtesy Griffin McElroy and the game Fuser, an extremely cursèd DJ set: lofi smash mouth radio - beats to relax/study to
Fuser is basically Rock Band, only for DJs, and is available for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Hard to say what's most cursed about this set, but Griffin laughing at around 10:34 because he's just created Killing in the Name of Call Me Maybe is a strong contender.
Fuser is basically Rock Band, only for DJs, and is available for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Hard to say what's most cursed about this set, but Griffin laughing at around 10:34 because he's just created Killing in the Name of Call Me Maybe is a strong contender.
After watching and listening to 15 minutes of this I'm not sure they're doing anything particularly perverse with this. This just what Fuser is meant to do, right? (which, yeah, is make unholy mashups)
posted by aubilenon at 7:36 PM on November 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by aubilenon at 7:36 PM on November 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
No I take it back some of this is very bad.
posted by aubilenon at 7:41 PM on November 24, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 7:41 PM on November 24, 2020 [12 favorites]
This is why the first 20 years of the 21st century will be remembered as the most difficult period in the American Experiment.
"Party Rock Anthem" is worse than the Civil War, and there's only about 20 seconds of it in there.
posted by mr_roboto at 8:10 PM on November 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
"Party Rock Anthem" is worse than the Civil War, and there's only about 20 seconds of it in there.
posted by mr_roboto at 8:10 PM on November 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Update: It’s half an hour later and I have Born This Way stuck in my head
posted by aubilenon at 8:11 PM on November 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 8:11 PM on November 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
the top YT comment also made me giggle
I'm glad he streamed this in the morning because nothing wakes you up more than all of your fight-or-flight instincts being activated at once
posted by lazaruslong at 9:49 PM on November 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm glad he streamed this in the morning because nothing wakes you up more than all of your fight-or-flight instincts being activated at once
posted by lazaruslong at 9:49 PM on November 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
help how do I punch the internet in the face
posted by loquacious at 3:58 AM on November 25, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 3:58 AM on November 25, 2020 [2 favorites]
also I already knew the zuck couldn't DJ but when did he learn to grow a beard?
posted by loquacious at 4:02 AM on November 25, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 4:02 AM on November 25, 2020 [2 favorites]
I realize it's off topic, but…what exactly is the relationship between "lofi hip hop beats to study to" type music and "hip hop"? Is there even a connection?
posted by jabah at 7:07 AM on November 25, 2020
posted by jabah at 7:07 AM on November 25, 2020
I unironically love Calling in the Name of Kill Me Maybe
posted by supercres at 8:57 AM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by supercres at 8:57 AM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
it's terrible, I love it so much
posted by beandip at 9:08 AM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by beandip at 9:08 AM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
I realize it's off topic, but…what exactly is the relationship between "lofi hip hop beats to study to" type music and "hip hop"? Is there even a connection?
It’s descended from an actual style of hip-hop beats, yeah. The obvious father of the genre is the late Japanese producer Nujabes, who loved smooth jazzy samples and released several instrumental albums. And the “lo-fi” aspect owes a lot to the “loop something cool on an inexpensive sampler” ethos of Madlib, who has also released tons of instrumental beat sketch tapes, though tends to be significantly less “chill” and more challenging aesthetically.
Not to mention beats with those kinds of samples going back a ways.
posted by atoxyl at 9:17 AM on November 25, 2020 [9 favorites]
It’s descended from an actual style of hip-hop beats, yeah. The obvious father of the genre is the late Japanese producer Nujabes, who loved smooth jazzy samples and released several instrumental albums. And the “lo-fi” aspect owes a lot to the “loop something cool on an inexpensive sampler” ethos of Madlib, who has also released tons of instrumental beat sketch tapes, though tends to be significantly less “chill” and more challenging aesthetically.
Not to mention beats with those kinds of samples going back a ways.
posted by atoxyl at 9:17 AM on November 25, 2020 [9 favorites]
Thank you atoxyl! I tried to research it on my own but didn't get very far.
posted by jabah at 10:57 AM on November 25, 2020
posted by jabah at 10:57 AM on November 25, 2020
I love the McElroys - but this seems like Aldi-brand Neil Cicierega. It's really kind of fantastic that they've coded a video game that allows anyone to make this kind of junk (junk that I love unironically).
posted by onehalfjunco at 11:17 AM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by onehalfjunco at 11:17 AM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
There was a whole emotional rollercoaster in that video, but ultimately I found it… oddly soothing? Maybe it’s the ADHD.
Except, 3 hours after watching it, my brain is endlessly looping the strings from “Call Me Maybe”. Just the strings from “Call Me Maybe.” At first I was like “Holy crap I want this game, this looks like amazing fun,” but I’m not sure I can take days of my brain playing me the same 4 bars of one instrumental track. Then again, it might do that anyway.
posted by snowmentality at 12:58 PM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
Except, 3 hours after watching it, my brain is endlessly looping the strings from “Call Me Maybe”. Just the strings from “Call Me Maybe.” At first I was like “Holy crap I want this game, this looks like amazing fun,” but I’m not sure I can take days of my brain playing me the same 4 bars of one instrumental track. Then again, it might do that anyway.
posted by snowmentality at 12:58 PM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
I love the McElroys - but this seems like Aldi-brand Neil Cicierega.
I mean there is a lot of tech going on behind the scenes to make it all work -- the software appears to be able to mix together tracks from different keys and tempos, whereas I assume Mr Cicierega is limited to tracks that are already compatible. Not that it diminishes the effort, talent or artistry behind the Mouth series of albums.
posted by pwnguin at 5:20 PM on November 25, 2020
I mean there is a lot of tech going on behind the scenes to make it all work -- the software appears to be able to mix together tracks from different keys and tempos, whereas I assume Mr Cicierega is limited to tracks that are already compatible. Not that it diminishes the effort, talent or artistry behind the Mouth series of albums.
posted by pwnguin at 5:20 PM on November 25, 2020
whereas I assume Mr Cicierega is limited to tracks that are already compatible
No, DJs' turntables have had controls to adjust the speed for my entire life, so tempo isn't much of a problem. Tempo-independent pitch-shifting is a more recent innovation, but certainly has been available for a decade or two now, and much longer if it doesn't need to be real-time.
posted by aubilenon at 5:39 PM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
No, DJs' turntables have had controls to adjust the speed for my entire life, so tempo isn't much of a problem. Tempo-independent pitch-shifting is a more recent innovation, but certainly has been available for a decade or two now, and much longer if it doesn't need to be real-time.
posted by aubilenon at 5:39 PM on November 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
If I didn't visit MetaFilter I would never know that this existed. Take that as you will.
posted by Tehhund at 7:59 PM on November 25, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Tehhund at 7:59 PM on November 25, 2020 [3 favorites]
No, DJs' turntables have had controls to adjust the speed for my entire life, so tempo isn't much of a problem. Tempo-independent pitch-shifting is a more recent innovation, but certainly has been available for a decade or two now, and much longer if it doesn't need to be real-time.
Yeah, Ableton Live is practically built around the concept of automatically stretching anything you drop into it to fit the current tempo.
(Apparently Neil uses Sonar/Cakewalk. But he also references Melodyne, which is the gold standard dedicated tool for time-independent pitch manipulation.)
posted by atoxyl at 9:43 PM on November 25, 2020
Yeah, Ableton Live is practically built around the concept of automatically stretching anything you drop into it to fit the current tempo.
(Apparently Neil uses Sonar/Cakewalk. But he also references Melodyne, which is the gold standard dedicated tool for time-independent pitch manipulation.)
posted by atoxyl at 9:43 PM on November 25, 2020
If you want to try out a pro grade DJ software for free, check out MIXXX. Get it from MIXXX.org.
Some folks here might know that I've been DJing for over 25 years, and up until recently and this horrible year I was playing gigs and shows pretty regularly, and a few years ago I switched to MIXXX and never looked back because I was tired of proprietary DJ platforms and glitches.
MIXXX has been rock solid on stage for me every time and it's a fully featured DJ platform complete with automatic tempo sync, key shifting, loops, effects and sampling. It even does four decks, which is how I've been operating as a so-called pro DJ for over a year now since I inherited a DJ controller that easily handles four decks just the way I like it.
Last night I was working on a basic step-by-step about how to use it to beatmatch, DJ and do mashups and keyshifting but I lost it when I got distracted with chatting with friends and family and had a browser crash.
It's honestly not that difficult, just a little more difficult than using Rock Band or this videogame-ified DJ game. Which I kind of naturally hate on sight because that DJ game is not really DJing but it's more of a loop launcher with a limited set of music and isolated stems to loop with each other.
If I get a chance I'll try to retype that quick and dirty guide I was working on, because it's REALLY SURPRISINGLY EASY to do once you know where the basic controls are and some basic DJing concepts.
It's about as simple as dragging and dropping some MP3s or WAVs into the open decks, hitting play and then hitting the sync button and messing with the volume faders or equalizer knobs.
Ok, it's just a little more complicated than that to do it well but I've taught people how to beatmix and adjust for things like phrasing and swing beats and stuff in about an hour or two.
posted by loquacious at 9:08 AM on November 26, 2020 [3 favorites]
Some folks here might know that I've been DJing for over 25 years, and up until recently and this horrible year I was playing gigs and shows pretty regularly, and a few years ago I switched to MIXXX and never looked back because I was tired of proprietary DJ platforms and glitches.
MIXXX has been rock solid on stage for me every time and it's a fully featured DJ platform complete with automatic tempo sync, key shifting, loops, effects and sampling. It even does four decks, which is how I've been operating as a so-called pro DJ for over a year now since I inherited a DJ controller that easily handles four decks just the way I like it.
Last night I was working on a basic step-by-step about how to use it to beatmatch, DJ and do mashups and keyshifting but I lost it when I got distracted with chatting with friends and family and had a browser crash.
It's honestly not that difficult, just a little more difficult than using Rock Band or this videogame-ified DJ game. Which I kind of naturally hate on sight because that DJ game is not really DJing but it's more of a loop launcher with a limited set of music and isolated stems to loop with each other.
If I get a chance I'll try to retype that quick and dirty guide I was working on, because it's REALLY SURPRISINGLY EASY to do once you know where the basic controls are and some basic DJing concepts.
It's about as simple as dragging and dropping some MP3s or WAVs into the open decks, hitting play and then hitting the sync button and messing with the volume faders or equalizer knobs.
Ok, it's just a little more complicated than that to do it well but I've taught people how to beatmix and adjust for things like phrasing and swing beats and stuff in about an hour or two.
posted by loquacious at 9:08 AM on November 26, 2020 [3 favorites]
Please do; I'd be interested.
I've been playing with Mixxx, mostly for doing streaming DJ sets for friends during lockdown, though haven't gone far beyond basic indie DJing, i.e., fading from one track into the next, no beatmatching or key matching involved. I did play a little with looping the beat from one track and fading it into the preceding track, which is something Mixxx lets you do.
posted by acb at 10:10 AM on November 26, 2020
I've been playing with Mixxx, mostly for doing streaming DJ sets for friends during lockdown, though haven't gone far beyond basic indie DJing, i.e., fading from one track into the next, no beatmatching or key matching involved. I did play a little with looping the beat from one track and fading it into the preceding track, which is something Mixxx lets you do.
posted by acb at 10:10 AM on November 26, 2020
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posted by pwnguin at 7:35 PM on November 24, 2020 [1 favorite]