Blue Beats Dre, It\'s probably fair Blue Beats Dre to say that hip-hop has been the most globally influential style of music since some young wag stepped on Elvis\'s blue suede shoes. Starting out as a voice for African-American and Latin communities in the states, hip-hop soon spread and became the soundtrack to the 80\'s, 90\'s and the new millennium. Every year its influence and penetration increase, from commercials to films, and from charts to bars. In this section I will explain the basics of hip-hop production as well as 20 must know tips to make the best hip-hop tracks possible.
BEATS AND LOOPS
With hip-hop its all about the beats - so get inspired!
Beats are the backbone of all hip-hop. Whether you\'re into the cheeky one-two of Dre\'s Eminem productions or the juddering steps of Dj Premier, you need to make sure that if nothing else is playing, your beat still stands up to scrutiny. As US comic Chris Rock put it: \"If the beat\'s alright, they\'ll dance all night.\"
As we\'ve already seen, hip-hop beats started out as Blue Beats Dre breaks from records, beatboxes and sampling drum machines, so its very easy for hip-hop produced on a computer to sound a little lifeless. Live playing and clever quantisation can fix this, though. The main trick is to keep it sparse and once you have a basic groove going, try taking out different percussive hits before adding more.
Also, its important to keep it simple. If you listen to professional hip-hop productions, you\'ll notice that its rare for two different percussive elements to play at the same time - unless its a layered clap and Blue Beats Dre snare, and even then they\'ll alternate over a bar or two between both playing and then only one or the other. You\'ll also hear many parts were an instrument like a shaker only plays for a small and specific section of a looped bar, almost as if the different percussive elements are taking turns. This is no coincidence, as hip-hop culture is all about this kind of connection. Wether its DJs, MCs or breakdancers, hip-hop is, at its core, about this type of back and forth interaction, and this transfers to every single production element including beats.
STEP BY STEP the drums
1-The first thing I do when working on beats is lay down a hi-hat pattern. Usually , I do an eighth-note pattern and then go back and change it if necessary after I\'ve laid down the other parts.
2-Next up is the kick and snare . I keep them simple at first because I know that I\'ll be using a drum loop underneath. I start with a drum loop and add extra kicks and snares to reinforce it. The kick and snare are both sounds that I re-use on many tracks.
3-Next I\'ll add a sampled kick and snare to reinforce the stock kick and snare sounds. This makes the beat sound a bit thicker and grimier. I also leave a bit of \'air\' on the tail end - this acts like \'sonic glue\', giving the beat a more sampled feel.
4-The basic beat is now complete and ready to send into the arrange screen, later on I\'ll use this pattern as a template for other sections of the song, were I\'ll add snare fills and rolls.
STEP BY STEP The loop
1-When using sampled breaks, I always make sure they\'re either royalty-free, original or so obscure they wont be recognized. That way I dont have to worry about sample clearance. I\'m a fan of busy drums so I\'ll usually choose an action packed two-bar drum break.
2-Now you must match the tempo of the drum break to the tempo of your song. You can do this with any beat-slicing program.
3-Later on, after you\'ve added vocals and such you can use this drum break, were its needed throughout your song.
MELODIES, STABS, SAMPLES AND SYNTHS
Just like every other style of music, hip-hop\'s gotta have hooks
Melody or bass: it\'s hard to say which one you should start work on first, because hip-hop is at its best when its simple - great tracks often have a bassline but no melody or vice versa. And sometimes the bassline is the melody.
Most hip-hop is still created using samples as the main musical hooks, but while these samples were, for a long time, almost always sections from classic records, these days they\'re usually far more obscure, edited and processed. Its no longer enough to sample a section off an 80\'s rare groove hit and whack it over a beat.
While hip-hop is still very much a sample-based discipline, there are plenty of excellent synth-hop tracks out there. If you\'ve heard Kelis\' milkshake, you\'ll know how funky a good synth line can sound with the right tight beats.
The critical thing to remember is not to over-egg your production pudding. If you take away one thing from these lessons, its that hip-hop is meant to be simple but effective, so always try taking out sections or notes before you start adding more. And remember hip-hop is all about bringing seemingly disparate elements toegether - Run DMC\'s sampling of Aerosmith on Walk This Way, for example - so dont be afraid to experiment. Even harp solos and steal band recordings make excellent melodies in the right hands.
Finally keep in mind that in hip-hop you can never go to far wrong if your riff plays on the first beat of a bar, is quickly muted, and then picks up again from around the third beat. Seriously, this is a winning formula - try it out!
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