playing instruments vs making beats

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I once worked with a dude that could play any song he heard on the keys.... his Hip Hop music sounded like PowerPuff Girls theme music...

We had a room full of about 15 emcee's one Saturday... at least 5 of 'em told me on the sly that they could rock to mine more than his...

"We don't like that shat, man... put some of yours back on..."

These were the blunt smokin', Old English drinking , standing in a cypher type of emcees, not the kind that type lyrics on the internet.... who like musical madness.

Good points from all of you. Play on! ...

oh, I've never had a song in my head... my music is straight up jam session type o stuff... start tinkering around and go from there. I'm not in a race.

If I had the time, I'd spank you young whipper snappers into shape with a real Hip Hop joint... but I got kids and stuff... and i have to be Captain America on Marvel Alliance in the evenings.

Good luck in all of your endeavors...

I agree to disagree also...

Hip Hop is dead.

oh, intentionally not knowing in Hip Hop is the key to making innovative music... or else you tend to follow what you know and that's just soooooo not Hip Hop.
 
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biggrome said:
These were the blunt smokin', Old English drinking , standing in a cypher type of emcees........
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Just networked and connected wit a cat like that today. Gotta have one of those "I don't give a damn about music" tracks around just in case.

:cheers: :D HAHA
 
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on the discussion above i believe that going off the feel of just playing and not using any skills you've learned in playing the piano, learning theory, etc is necessary in some cases. using knowledge of theory can be necessary and knowing how to play the piano well is a great advantage to make you versatile so when some rapper asked for a storch ethnic sounding track you can pull it off. i believe thinking how rome thinks and thinking how hitz/kham thinks are both important and the two ways of thinking can be both useful for different situations. i'll take the best of both worlds :D. At the moment i can't play the piano for my life (i'm taking lessons) and although just noodling and playing around can give a different sound, i wish to not be confinded by merely noodling around on the piano and i want to be able to know all those scales to let me be more flexible instead of pressing every key to capture a certain mood.

like i believe Kham said, i sample mainly out of my inexpirence with composing, not solely because i love sampling even though i prefer it more than composing. even though luckily, my friend is a good piano player but lacks the expirience in beat making/production that i have so i occasionally will collaborate and use him to help me in expressing my vision.

and like playing an instrument, production is an "instrument" that must be learned too. some people, despite their great expirence in instruments, theory, etc will fail when attempting to make beats but others might use their previous knowledge and excel.
 
PlanetHitzProduction said:
Gotta have one of those "I don't give a damn about music" tracks around just in case.
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It's gonna be bangin' watch!


... then the FP music surgeons will show up and give you 40 lashes.

"It says right here in this music theory text book that you aren't supposed to do that!!!!!!!!! Geez Hitz! Stick to the Rules!"
 
A formal musical background is good but nessicary. I sorta have 1. In elementary school i tried out for band failed. Middle school i did america sings glee club and shyt like dat quit. Had a guitar class my senior year. Had a keyboard and guitar lessons when i was 11 and even took beginner piano last year in college and still can play neither instrument. Most of my music background was me tying something and quiting. At the same time my music theory class in college last year was hella valuable for my composed beats. So it does help to play an instrument it isnt necessary but it helps. The most important thing in producing any genre is understanding how to make the best song/album for the artist you're working with. Some knowledge of instruments is needed not necessarily the ability to play them. With that said the computer can be used an instrument and should be considered as one IMO.
 
hey hitz, could you talk about the HFA thing, you'll never Rome, it rains too much in his city- that's why he stays GRIMEY(hot dog preparation during tutorials excluded)
 
C.P. said:
hey hitz, could you talk about the HFA thing, you'll never Rome, it rains too much in his city- that's why he stays GRIMEY(hot dog preparation during tutorials excluded)
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I'm one of those have to have the last word guys...

... it comes from my old battle rapping days.
 
[Khameleon] said:
When people listen to my music, they may not know what I know, but they *feel* what I feel and I use everything I know to create that feeling.

Since you mentioned him, WinTIP told me he wished he could play, and he only sticks to sampling because he can't.

Off this site, J.R. Rotem is one of the most working producers in the business (60 placements his first year out) and he's clearly said that the only reason he's able to do what he does is because he has musical knowledge to bring to the table. Yeah and he samples too...

I think some of us "new producers" are going to go places and enjoy it, and some of the "non-new producers" are going to be frustratated because they're still stuck here, making the same old style of beats.

The rest of the world is using music to reach people... Even in hip-hop. The reason the most popular samples work is because of the music in them.... *Somebody* wrote it, and who's to say you can only make hip-hop with music somebody else recorded. Make your own.
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Wow! This is exactly, EXACTLY the way I feel.

It's gonna take time, but I'd like to be the one someone else samples, instead of being the sampler.
 
PlanetHitzProduction said:
HAHA you gotta post this in a new thread!
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Aight.... it sorta hits on some of the stuff in this thread.
 
I know personally that after I taught myself music theory my beats improved 1000% - I took 6 months to learn piano and it really helped. I don't do music the conventional way but I can read and write music now - I still just use my ear when composing melodies though.
 
biggrome said:
A lot of the "Hip Hop" I hear people say is Hip Hop on this site.... is only Hip Hop on this site. lol.

KomplexBeats and Win T-I-P make Hip Hop...

Others do too, those two just come to mind right away.
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Thanks for the shoutout lol i do know quite a bit about music though and i'm always looking to expand my mind.

Like you said though its a feeling but I went from stricly sampling tracks and not knowing a lick of music to taking theory classes and learning how to play the keys well enough to get by.

It's really just about adding techniques to your existing natural ability.

Both you and PlanetHitz make valid points.

I think its a benefit though to know what you're doing and how you got there so you can incorporate the techniques whenever you need them.

Like i might not consciously think about it when i get on the keys but its nice to be able to say "oh ok so this song is in a d harmonic minor, i'm using a IV chord inversion here, etc."

The people you mention Rome are the one's who have no clue how to arrange sounds and songs in a proper way. These are the types better left to read sheet music and perform other peoples work instead of create...

All the theory in the world can't help a bad ear. I've plenty of skilled musicians when in a band setting but when they try to create their own stuff its a jumbled out of tune mess.

Peace
 
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That real talk planet......I was told once it's not the gear it's the ear,i havent been in the music game like alot of u guys but i did learn that instruments has the original flow to the soul from their heart to others,kinda like being person with ur piece that makes u appreciate music,because if u appreciate it music and it's origin u can make the best of both worlds.
 
I've playing violin since I was 6 years old.. I ended it when I was 14.
And I begun play piano when I was 15.. and I was 16 when I begun making beats, now I'm 17 and I'm here where I am.

About samples I can say that I don't even use samples.. becuse I can't. (never learned)

and yes, I have had an HUGE benefit of playing instruments...
 
iif you want to be a producer the biggest thing to get into is the keyboard or piano...understanding it and the theory behind it will help a whole lot.....but i know some super talented musicians who couldnt make a tight beat if their life depended on it....bottom line is you have to know music theory..otherwise your music just wont sound right...orchestration and arranging also plays a big part....but musicians who become producers dont necessarily have a leg up except for the fact that if thier piano or keyboard players they already uderstand the theory....but that still dont translate into a sicc hip hop producer
 
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Timbaland's stuff bangs just as much as Scott Storch's...

... well, more.
 
biggrome said:
A dude with Fruity Loops from Texas will make a better dirty south beat than a musician from Beverly Hills.

A dude like Alchemist who lives a Hip Hop lifestyle will make a more Hip Hop beat than a dude who had parents that paid for his piano lessons and one day he decided that Eminem was cool...

It's a mesh of what's in you and can you get it out of you...

of course knowing keys helps... but I doubt if Elton John can pull off a tighter Hip Hop song than Timbaland (sampler).

If I could play keys... my music would be worse. I know this because I used to work with a dude that couldn't leave out some of the musical stuff he learned and I used to like to leave the songs sorta raw... it would bother him to no end to not have a "backbeat" or some other musical crap that has nothing to do with Hip Hop... he would ruin the songs and I would just resort to drinking brew and watching him ruin the songs...

In the end, your ears are more of a musical tool than your hands.
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of course alchemist a well established producer..whs been making tracks forever could throw down a better beat than some kid who took piano lessons...but i guarantee you alchemist knows musical theory and may even know how to play keys....even though you use samples doesnt mean that you dont have to know what key its in...and also know how to arrange it with other parts for it to sound good...the kid who plays the piano will have a leg up on some kid who you just give some software and tell him go though...the kid who plays the keys already probably knows the theory behing melodies, harmonies..ect

biggrome said:
Timbaland's stuff bangs just as much as Scott Storch's...

... well, more.
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i guess its all in opinion and taste...i'm a west coast kid...so i grew up listening to producers like dre...timbalands clean for sure..theres a reason hes making hits...but scott storch IMO is in a league if his own
 
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Phuck what everybody say about it being equally the same. No it is not. If a person has been playing keys or an instrument since a child then you are damn right that they are gonna make better tracks than someone who doesn't have a musical history. Every musician that I know will tell you, anybody can make a Lil Jon beat, or anybody can make a Kanye beat. A real musician can recreate his own sample instead of paying somebody else to do it like Kanye does. As well as for Lil Jon, Nitty etc... anybody can make that simple synth shyt. Thats why everybody trying to make beats these days because they see how easy people like Lil Jon is making it. People that can't play music say that Scott Storch is overrated. Let me see someone that cant play music make a track like Dangerously in Love for Destiny Child. The key to being a good credible producer is being able to do both.
 
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