Chopped and screwed

[sandy1884]

What's the best technique to get the Chopped and screwed effect in Reason 9?

[soroc sosta]

Hello, can you provide an example of the 'Chopped and Screwed' style you're speaking of?

I've found when ppl ask this, they are speaking of something totally different than the style thats prevalent in S. Texas...

[Rice]

yes, please provide a little more if you can. I am from the area where it was created, and know a great deal about it...thank you.

[sandy1884]

[QVprod]

Pitch shifting. You can do this with Polar, Neptune, or by manually transposing (via the tool window) the audio clip itself. transposing down 3-5 semitones is a good starting point for a male voice, but it depends on how high or deep the voice is.

[sandy1884]

Why doesn't it sound as "full" in Reason? When I lower the pitch it sounds robotic or something not as powerful like in records.

[Abstrax]

It originated from playing vinyl records at a lower pitch. If your talking about just screwing only vocals, than just transpose the pitch. If you are looking for full beats that have the screwed sound it'll take a little more effort.

Maybe make an entire beat at midtempo around 85-90 bpm. From there, you can bounce to audio and/or sample the audio to a rex file, and drop it into an NNXT or dr. octo rex. Like QVProd said, pitch down the sample. The pitched down sample will be way slower than the original starting point. This is pretty much it. Throw the vinyl setting of audiomatic on it to simulate the warmth of a record. It should have a low passed sound to it.

I personally believe that the slowed down drums are the most distinctive characteristic tho. The kicks end up very subby and the snare sounds very punchy.

[QVprod]

Why doesn't it sound as "full" in Reason? When I lower the pitch it sounds robotic or something not as powerful like in records.

If you use Neptune, you can use the formant to fine tune it. Adding compression and EQ also helps. Think of processing/mixing it the same way you would any other vocal.

[soroc sosta]

Im not sure how to how to do it on Reason, so I use the free Virtual DJ.
I also use AA, far more tedious though...

[sandy1884]

Never thought of trying a Virtual DJ. What Virtual DJ do you use? AA?

[soroc sosta]

Never thought of trying a Virtual DJ. What Virtual DJ do you use? AA?

Virtual DJ is the name of the DJ application, they have a free download for it! Is what i use to 'chop' the track.

AA = Adobe Audition (AA3 was free as well) has an awesome time stretch functionality, that I use to slow down or 'screw' the track

[QVprod]

Never thought of trying a Virtual DJ. What Virtual DJ do you use? AA?

Virtual DJ is the name of the DJ application, they have a free download for it! Is what i use to 'chop' the track.

AA = Adobe Audition (AA3 was free as well) has an awesome time stretch functionality, that I use to slow down or 'screw' the track

Why not just do this in Reason. Will save you time for the same result using one program instead of 3.

I only mentioned lowering the pitch because the Biggie sample posted isn't really slowed down much if at all, nor is it chopped. However the same can be done by chopping the sections you need and either slowing Reason's tempo and bouncing the samples, or bouncing the samples and importing them into NNXT or NN19 and it'll change the speed of the audio along with the pitch according to midi note or mod wheel. Benefit is you can slow down only a portion of the sample such as the just the last word by automating the mod wheel (similar to a tape stop).

[soroc sosta]

Just never attempted to do it in reason... I imagined it being tedious like I used to do it in CEP...
In CEP I copied the song, put the duplicate on a second track, slid the second track behind half a beat, then edited.
That was a pain to complete

With VDJ I load the song on 2 turntables, do the chops realtime, bounce audio, and "screw" in AA, takes about 10 mins if i know the song well

Do you have an example of a song you s&s'd in reason? would like to check it out. Perhaps I really am sleeping on reason, lol!

Why not just do this in Reason. Will save you time for the same result using one program instead of 3.

I only mentioned lowering the pitch because the Biggie sample posted isn't really slowed down much if at all, nor is it chopped. However the same can be done by chopping the sections you need and either slowing Reason's tempo and bouncing the samples, or bouncing the samples and importing them into NNXT or NN19 and it'll change the speed of the audio along with the pitch according to midi note or mod wheel. Benefit is you can slow down only a portion of the sample such as the just the last word by automating the mod wheel (similar to a tape stop).

[QVprod]

Just never attempted to do it in reason... I imagined it being tedious like I used to do it in CEP...
In CEP I copied the song, put the duplicate on a second track, slid the second track behind half a beat, then edited.
That was a pain to complete

With VDJ I load the song on 2 turntables, do the chops realtime, bounce audio, and "screw" in AA, takes about 10 mins if i know the song well

Do you have an example of a song you s&s'd in reason? would like to check it out. Perhaps I really am sleeping on reason, lol!

Why not just do this in Reason. Will save you time for the same result using one program instead of 3.

I only mentioned lowering the pitch because the Biggie sample posted isn't really slowed down much if at all, nor is it chopped. However the same can be done by chopping the sections you need and either slowing Reason's tempo and bouncing the samples, or bouncing the samples and importing them into NNXT or NN19 and it'll change the speed of the audio along with the pitch according to midi note or mod wheel. Benefit is you can slow down only a portion of the sample such as the just the last word by automating the mod wheel (similar to a tape stop).

I'd have to say you're sleeping on it. But it's so simple. Reason's time stretch is extremely good, and I'd imagine chopping a waveform in Reason's sequencer (or in a block) has to be quicker than recording in real-time and then using yet another program. If you're doing it in the sequencer you have independent control over pitch and tempo.

Unfortunately I don't have a song example for you since it's not something I particularly use, but I have a beat I made a few months back that uses a similar process but the sample is pitched up instead of down. I actually made it in Studio One, but the time stretch in both programs is pretty much equal and I could have just as easily done it in Reason.

If I have time I may try to do a on a track this week but for now this is the closest example that exists though it uses Recycle (you won't need recycle since Reason has the slice markers now) At the end you can hear some of the Jada samples he's triggering are pitched down. There are also a couple videos of chopping in Reason with the slice markers floating around.

[soroc sosta]

I'd have to say you're sleeping on it. But it's so simple. Reason's time stretch is extremely good, and I'd imagine chopping a waveform in Reason's sequencer (or in a block) has to be quicker than recording in real-time and then using yet another program. If you're doing it in the sequencer you have independent control over pitch and tempo.

Unfortunately I don't have a song example for you since it's not something I particularly use, but I have a beat I made a few months back that uses a similar process but the sample is pitched up instead of down. I actually made it in Studio One, but the time stretch in both programs is pretty much equal and I could have just as easily done it in Reason.

If I have time I may try to do a on a track this week but for now this is the closest example that exists though it uses Recycle (you won't need recycle since Reason has the slice markers now) At the end you can hear some of the Jada samples he's triggering are pitched down. There are also a couple videos of chopping in Reason with the slice markers floating around.

Nice Track Bro!

OK, I see understand what you're doing in the example that you gave, hence the reason I asked for an example initially.

I've come to find out that in EDM, ppl slice a vocal, keyspan it or pitch it (screw it)and play it in the tone they wish to have it sound. They also retrigger it to give it the 'chopped' feel. That is what they call "chop & screw".

This is not what I'm talking about, but perhaps more along the line of what the OP was speaking of.

What I am speaking of is more linear...taking a song and doing this throughout the entirety of it, Like DJ Screw (RIP) the namesake and originator of the style.

This is an example of something I did 'Chopped & Screwed' in the way that it is done in S. Texas,

[QVprod]

Nice Track Bro!

OK, I see understand what you're doing in the example that you gave, hence the reason I asked for an example initially.

I've come to find out that in EDM, ppl slice a vocal, keyspan it or pitch it (screw it)and play it in the tone they wish to have it sound. They also retrigger it to give it the 'chopped' feel. That is what they call "chop & screw".

This is not what I'm talking about, but perhaps more along the line of what the OP was speaking of.

What I am speaking of is more linear...taking a song and doing this throughout the entirety of it, Like DJ Screw (RIP) the namesake and originator of the style.

This is an example of something I did 'Chopped & Screwed' in the way that it is done in S. Texas,

Thanks a lot!

I see what you're saying. Believe it or not though it's the same process minus the retrig. We're pretty much saying the same thing. The track I posted is a sample of Sade - No Ordinary Love. Not just a vocal sample.

To do what you did on that track, all you have to do is make your cuts, (or use the entire song in one NNXT) and load them into separate NNXT samplers. It'll automatically be mapped across the keyboard, higher keys speed it up and raise the pitch, and lower keys slow it down and lower the pitch. From there you're just tempo matching.

Alternatively, just put the audio in the sequencer then tempo match it. If you know the bpm already just set the bpm before importing the audio. If not, then just disable stretch temporarily and turn in back on when you match it. The benefit to this like I said is the tempo and pitch are independent of each other. You can drop the pitch and keep the same tempo or drop the tempo and keep the same pitch if you wanted.

I believe Marley Marl works this way. About 3 years ago we were both helping a school set up a radio station, and he was telling me how much loved the time stretch in Record - he hadn't upgraded at the time.

[Logismos]

I believe Marley Marl works this way. About 3 years ago we were both helping a school set up a radio station, and he was telling me how much loved the time stretch in Record - he hadn't upgraded at the time.

M-m-marley = legend slicer+dicer! Used to listen to this stuff regular:D Must have been to sit down with a game changer! sweet!
"I know your gonna dig this"

A lot of old hiphop headz use reason

[QVprod]

I believe Marley Marl works this way. About 3 years ago we were both helping a school set up a radio station, and he was telling me how much loved the time stretch in Record - he hadn't upgraded at the time.

M-m-marley = legend slicer+dicer! Used to listen to this stuff regular:D Must have been to sit down with a game changer! sweet!
"I know your gonna dig this"

A lot of old hiphop headz use reason

Cool is an understatement. I was in a room with both him and Dr Bob Lee at the same time!

[Goriila Texas]

I use to do screw tapes in my 20s,they best way is two cdjs with the same song loaded with one 1 second slower than the other. So when you hit the cross fader it would double what ever is playing at the time. Slowed down to taste. There's really no way to this in Reason. Htown!

[Goriila Texas]

After reading the whole I see he's looking for slowed down chops which can be done in a nnxt.

[Logismos]

Cool is an understatement. I was in a room with both him and Dr Bob Lee at the same time!

2 x dope =) Did you learn something in particular from marley?
I'm pretty sure people like mixmaster mike,babu,hank shocklee +++++ tons of others- have enjoyed reason at some points in time.

@OP - take another look at what can be done with delay units like echo and ddl. It's possible to scrub,pitch change and timestretch audio in realtime.
(Turntable effects can be produced-combi's have been programmed already )
Even creating an audio monitoring feedback loop,can create certain glitch and pitch results- if used in such a way.

[QVprod]

Cool is an understatement. I was in a room with both him and Dr Bob Lee at the same time!

2 x dope =) Did you learn something in particular from marley?

Nah, we were working on something unrelated to music making so the focus was elsewhere. But the experience was pretty cool.