30 Beatmaking Videos

Some of my favorites, from Rhythm Roulette video game flips to dusty SP-1200 disks.

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I love beatmaking videos. Early YouTube entries in the genre from 10-15 years ago were a huge influence on my writing and the creation of Micro-Chop. If I’m ever feeling creative stagnation I can watch an old favorite and get gives me a much-needed dose of inspiration.

I’m all about sharing the good stuff, so I compiled 30 beatmaking videos into one YouTube playlist a few years back. I’ll highlight a few of my personal favorites below. Tap into the full playlist here.

Rhythm Roulette: Oh No (2014) - Oh No seems like a super cool, down-to-earth guy. We’ve chatted a few times through social media over the years and I’d love to interview him one day. In this very memorable edition of the famed Rhythm Roulette series Oh No makes beats out of some used Nintendo 64 games. Video games and beatmaking seem to go hand-in-hand (Oh No himself said this in a 2005 Red Bull Academy interview) and this video does a great job of capturing the symbiotic relationship.

House Shoes Presents: Nameless - Rainbow Read (2013) - Veteran producer Nameless has an impeccable ear for creative sample flips. For his track “Rainbow Read” he employs the memorable theme song from a beloved children’s TV show as his sample source. The result is an unforgettable beat - one you can watch him make from scratch in the video below. This beat floored me the first time I listened to it and I’m always awed by how outside-the-box and well-constructed it is.

Rhythm Roulette: Wondagurl | Mass Appeal (2016) - I loved Wondagurl’s episode of Rhythm Roulette and the beat created by the end was a staple for me in the early days of Micro-Chop. It’s still up on SoundCloud if you want to peep it.

It’s mesmerizing watching her take the samples from the records she picked and distorting them into something beautiful and unrecognizable. I tried my hand at FL Studio several times over the years and have always sucked it. Producers who can do so much with the program make me shake my head in wonder.

Grap Luva - 7 Minutes of Sound - SP1200 Beats @redefrecords (2010) - This is on the Mount Rushmore of beatmaking videos for me. The story goes that Grap Luva wasn’t able to set up his SP-1200 to record beats back in 2010, so he reached out to his friend and fellow producer Damu The Fudgemunk. Damu let Grap use his 1200 to play beats off of his old disks so he could record them to CD. To me, this video is the perfect encapsulation of authentic, creative, and raw hip-hop. Grap hasn’t made new music since 1999 but people still pine for his production. If you watch this video you’ll understand why.

Drop a line in the comments and let me know what you think of the 30-video YouTube playlist and the videos I highlighted. I’ll be in touch again soon.

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