As some people know, I’m a huge fan of good hip-hop. I’ve made instrumental hip-hop for over a decade, and I guess my biggest “claim to fam...
As some people know, I’m a huge fan of good hip-hop. I’ve made instrumental hip-hop for over a decade, and I guess my biggest “claim to fame” is my trip-hop duo Beauty’s Confusion (active from 2001-2006), which had a huge hip-hop influence, beat-wise.
Just wanted to share some tips I’ve picked up along the way. This is for people who want to make some good stuff, like Premier, Q-Tip (Tribe Called Quest), Dilla, Pete Rock, Stoupe The Enemy of Mankind, and all that good stuff (the first four, which many call the “golden-era” of hip-hop… and all five who many consider as the top 5 hip-hop producers of the last 25 years… it’s tough to argue that).
1. Collect vinyl and/or jazz/soul/ambient/prog/funk music from the 50s to the early 80s! Whether it be actual vinyl from thrift stores or bargain bins of good record shops (50 cents to $1 per record), or if you like to “e-dig” (believe me, you can find vinyl rip blogs if you do no more than 30 minutes of searching)… it’s worth looking into. The art of sampling is exactly that: the art. Sure, many people might say “well, you didn’t write it, and that’s stupid.” For those people, maybe you can simply skim this post… or ignore it entirely. Sampling and “sample chopping” is what makes for the best hip-hop, in my (and MANY others’) opinion.
2. Collect hip-hop-related royalty-free sample libraries! These are great sources for sampling and chopping, and you never have to worry about legal trouble (well, most of the time. Some libraries contain uncleared samples, which you have to watch out for)… some great sites include http://www.bigfishaudio.com (look for their sales), http://www.soundsonline.com, and http://www.timespace.com. Another KILLER resource is http://www.rawcutz.com (Loopmasters / E-Lab/Equipped Music partnership). You can never, ever have too many samples.
3. Listen to GOOD hip-hop. the producers mentioned above, plus artists like Eric B and Rakim, Tribe Called Quest, Molemen, Buck 65, Boogie Down Productions / KRS-One, Geto Boys, Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, J-Live, Blueprint, Bluebird, Sole (and most of Anticon’s earlier output), Jedi Mind Tricks (could be the most underrated hip-hop group of all-time). You’ll be amazed at what you can learn, by simply listening.
4. Get a 4×4 drum pad controller (MIDI interface) — On the cheaper (but VERY useful) side: Akai MPD18, Akai MPD26, Akai MPD32, M-Audio Trigger Finger (get all of these used to save a good amount of dough), Korg Padkontrol (same– they average $100 used)…. or on the more expensive side– Native Instruments Maschine MK2 (Mikro or regular), or Maschine Studio. Stay away from the new Akai stuff– don’t believe the hype. It’s buggy and you can’t produce beats as fast as with Maschine, or with one of those controllers + a VST sampler such as Poise, Shortcircuit, or Motu BPM. A computer, plus a midi pad controller (and maybe a 49-key midi keyboard) is pretty much all you need to make good hip-hop (a little research goes a very long way).
5. Watch beat production videos on YouTube (especially beat production tutorials). Man, I love how people are so damn HELPFUL these days…. some of the tutorials might be on the boring side, but others are incredibly awesome. One of my favorites is Andrew Schellman’s tutorials with Maschine Mikro: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ODfLapPcJt1Hjvbm_w0XD9u2mDKWKLF
This is just a simple tips list…. eventually I might do a “basics of hip-hop production” tutorial on YouTube… there are so many already, but I like to give people really affordable (CHEAP) options. When I was in highschool, none of this was possible for me financially…. 2013 offers a lot to the aspiring beatmaker/producer and all musicians/home recordists in general. You guys don’t know how lucky you have it. That’s one of the reasons I started this blog. Information is everywhere…. it’s a shame if talented people don’t put all the good info to use.
COMMENTS