what exactly is a "beat tape" ?

[Heat Vision]

sometimes i see stuff posted considered to be a beat tape but then it appears to be an album of some sort.

than other times i see beat tapes that seem to be more like a quick mix of beats.

what makes a beat tape a beat tape?

[jbl]

good question.
i would say it should be recorded to tape, at least originally. it should contain elements original character while at the very least hinting at someone elses work. however i would say a mix tape would be easily differentiated from by the absolute lack of originality.
any beat tapers care to elaborate?

[a.D.]

technically it probably should--but it seems to have become just a universal term for any instrumental release..not really sure how that happened,besides just being an extension of mix tapes still being called mix tapes long after they were actually pressed on tapes...& guess it just sounds cooler than "beat cd".I find myself saying "my beat tape" this,"my beat tape" that..not even sure why i'm saying it,other than that's just what every producer seems to be calling their instrumental projects nowadays. I wanna actually press up some tapes when my shit's ready though,strictly for nostaliaga reasons,really.I remember when i used to spend entire days making copy after copy of tapes to hand out/sell...complete w/ the fresh two color kinkos covers,lol.

[cartesia]

I think beat tape is just a term used for mix these days..

maybe its a 'mixed' mix, maybe its just a handful of tracks one after the other..

I think the important thing is that it's meant to be listened to as an entire entity, rather than picking out your favorite track and dumping the rest

[Heat Vision]

I think the important thing is that it's meant to be listened to as an entire entity, rather than picking out your favorite track and dumping the rest

I like this description

i like the idea of a bunch of coo tracks that alone may or may not be that special but together form a dope group.

[genn bo]

everything that has been said + i think beat tapes are more like promo/demo cds rather than albums. they show what are you capable of, or what you have to offer to mcs/singers, and not everything should be polished and finished, showing the "beauty of incompleteness" as i've read somewhere

[Sinapse]

to me a beat tape is themed. It's an entity...as opposed to an instrumental album/compilation where the individual tracks are not necessarily connected. some of the best beat tapes I have heard flow continuously from track to track

[V-F!]

fter. Just a bunch of beats on a tape. For the forum I think it is just an album of beats, instead of calling it a beat CD or Beat digital download(lol) cats just use the traditional term.

[a.D.]

^^ thanks you. jesus backflippin christ.

[Dr Van Nostrand]

a beatin tape is a tape you hide somewhere in your room/house that has your favorite spank material on it so when you get some alone time you can 'unload', so to speak.......most of the time its a dvd or files on your computer but people just use the term 'beatin tape' cause of the nostalgia or whatever

[IIIII]

i've made two, and they were both tapes, i just digitized them as side a and b to share with those who can't hear the physical copy. i look at them as focused moments where you plan to string together instrumentals that most likely won't be used anywhere else. also as a place to put alternate versions of finished tracks so if anyone is following your music they can hear alternate takes of the same idea. also i think they need to be made within a short amount of time, so all the beats sound like a they come from a certain "time capsule"

[Heat Vision]

^^^

Another interesting way to put it with the "time capsule" idea. Like i said earlier there is a certain quality to a shitload of simple beats put together to create a unified piece of work that i like.


I guess you could say that a beat tape to us beat makers is sort of like an artists sketch book. Filled with a bunch of quick ideas done in a certain mind state.

While an album would be more like their portfolio with stuff that your trying to impress people with.

[jbl]

@dr. van
nobody uses anolog anymore, they got beatin' stuff on the interwebs now.
wait my wife is just leaving, i got to go...

sorry i just watched "middle men".

[Dr Van Nostrand]

exactly, its just kind of become a term people use for their favorite beatin' material, even though its rarely in actual vhs format......jokes could also be made about collecting vintage porn on vhs format and how you would never use digital to please your needs, similar to sampling from vinyl only, but i'm just gonna post this instead.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny0ix0OyO1c

[shmedy]

^^^thats pretty damn funny(and gross)