I Tried Remaking Q-Tip’s “Illmatic” Pause Tape | NEVER AGAIN

Today we’re diving into the Nas song “One Love”, which was produced by Q Tip, recreating the beat entirely from scratch - seriously I’ve got the vinyl and I’m gonna try my hand at pause taping it - and seeing how this roster of incredible producers influenced each other to make their own songs better.

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--- GREAT GEAR TO USE ---

-- Headphones --
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-- Turntables --
• Technics SL-1500C Semi-automatic direct-drive turntable with built-in phono preamp -
• Technics EAH-A800 Over-ear wireless noise-canceling headphones - Silver - https://
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TOPICS COVERED
Nas
Illmatic
Q-Tip
One Love
Represent
DJ Premier
Pete Rock
Memory Lane
Pause Tape
Beat Tape
Cassette Tape
Heath Brothers
Music Production
Hip Hop
Music history
#qtip #nas #hiphop

[twoe]

I'm a 50 year old " tape loop mechanic" and there's a very easy way to loop the sample! You first have to record the complete song on a tape and then break out the plugs! You then take that tape as the original source and sample from that tape onto another blank tape to record the loops. There are some recording tricks that can be done including overdubs that sound more authentic than using todays technology. This method is the same as using reel to reel without the splicing. If you have a great dual cassette tape recorder you have some added effects like stab, echo and reverse. I still use this method to make beats and mixes today. Other producers like California's BinGrim uses this method as well! It's not hard it just takes patience, practice and progression on counting to stay on tempo.

[mpelle]

I used to make these back in the day. The key is that you need a dual tape deck with mechanical pause switches. The tape deck you’re using has electronically controlled switches which create an undesired lag.

All tape decks in the 80s used to be mechanical, but in the 90s they got fancy and started making electronically controlled buttons, which inserted unwanted gaps when using this technique.

Damn, i wish i still had my old pause tapes, the little kid version of me made some creative magic.

[GPow]

Q-Tip is a legend man, untouchable. I dunno what the original beat for represent sounded like, but I'm glad Preemo landed on what we've got now cause that's one of the hardest tracks EVER

[williamgeorge]

Tip is such a good MC everyone forgets his producing skills. Quite a talent.

[BuiltbyF]

His needle drop technique is crazy shit too. Q managed to innovate mad shit out of pure necessity, and nobody does that quite like he does

[Raucey]

"It works, that was terrible!"

Great video, really enjoyed this one. Nice job showing the process of these old school methods.

[bagelssmellgreat]

The amount of sheer WORK and finesse pause tapes required should inspire anyone with the tools we have today to go make something, anything, and put it out there.

[Drrolfski]

As a teenager in the mid-eighties, I played around with pause taping. What I found out then is that you need a 2-head cassette deck with old-fashioned mechanical pause switches, otherwise, your timing will be off and you will hear a pause between two recordings. Judging from your video you might have used the wrong cassette deck as the transport buttons look electronically controlled., not mechanical.

[makethappen]

Illmatic wasn’t just an album, it was a producer’s seminar💯

[manatarmsslaps]

man crazy part is that I never knew what a "pause tape" was and lived in the midwest (St. Louis) but also used to do this.. I knew what i wanted to hear and so I made what I wanted to hear.. I used to call them comedy tapes because mixed this with comedy from richard prior, eddie murphy, mixed with beat cuts and snippets from hiphop songs and skits.. I have no idea what I was on back then man.. was like in 8th grade, and in HS.. was trippin lol.

[AMComics]

I really respect how you treat hip hop like art - your reverence shines through in your videos - I watch every one of them, keep up the great work (Could you do a video on how the Pharcyde made their first album with J-Swift)

[esahm]

I used this technique in the 90s as a 11 year old looping a sequence without vocals from the first Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince LP. The loop I created was pretty flawless. Very proud of my 11yo self.

[ThatsMistaTwistToYou]

I remember making mixtapes like this, end making re-edits of tracks - so frustrating, but if you messed it up, you could always rewind a little, play it back until you got to the error, pause again, then record silence to erase it if you didn't want to overdub and risk the dreaded double hit. The slowest "undo" ever lol. You know, at one point there were tape decks with pitch control and crossfaders built onto the front? discovered one at a party once and sat there most of the time mixing up music from people's tape collections haha :)

BTW, pause tapes were way easer to make on the older models, as the buttons were spring-mounted, so you could hold down the pause button, play the record, then release on the "1" of the sample. I promise you it's easier than I make it sound!

[TimWrightDJ]

Talking about pause taping, my old man only told me after I'd been making music on our family PC for about 2 years that he used to edit and loop his favourite tracks using reel to reel, slicing the tape and sellotaping it in. I was amazed! I have my father to thank for a lot!

[dusteddevilapparel]

Old School DJ here... I'm going back to 1989 fresh out of high school. Pause tapes weren't always made from tape to tape. Sometimes we had one deck and only the vinyl. I made some of my first loops using one Technics 1200 and a tape deck. The trick was not hitting the pause button early or you would have to replay the previous pass. But... the beauty was having a few minor, barely noticeable glitches here and there. Most of the time the vocals covered any slightly early or late sections. Once I got my hands on a Tascam 4-Track it made everything much easier... I could alternate tracks for the loop and get each take perfect. Also some early Ibanez digital delays had enough time to be able to do an indefinite loop of a beat.

[dogsandyoga]

The crazy thing to me, is that I was pause mixing as far back as 1985. 9 years old, without being taught. It was just one of those things that logically made sense.. it was a trip when you meet other folks who we at home doing the exact same thing....

[BeatsByRouph]

Q-Tip is and will always be my favourite producer oat. The things he did for the rap game is insane

[mresilient]

You were using a more modern tape deck. We used to do this with the lever button tape players. Your finger is in control of the actual tape, that's how he was able to do the chops in the pause tape.

[danwg]

Love seeing a new video from you pop up in my notifications. You make some of the highest-quality music content on YouTube, and your enthusiasm makes it 10x better. It's obvious that you love what you're talking about. Thanks for all the great content man 🤘

[steve_santiago]

Q-tip’s signature banging drums and super crisp snares are an underrated part of this beat