Melody In Hip Hop????

M

MastaMnd

New member
I recently saw an interview with the RZA and he mentioned how hip hop really has no melody in terms of instrumentation. He says that the melody comes in when the MC's do their thing. I strongly agree with this philosphy as well. And I think this is why I make beats the way I do (sampled or original). When I make a beat, I hear an emcee really doing their thing. So I try not to overdue it. Well with the way hip hop has changed in the last couple years, melody has most certainly become part of a hip hop beat especially if it's gonna get radio play. MC's ain't sayin' much nowadays so the beat is almost the most important part of a song nowadays. I prefer to make original joints, but I also love to make sample based beats as well, I'm just not as skilled yet crafting everything together but I'm getting better. I try to find a melodie or melody's inside my loops, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Maybe choice of sample, maybe my ears are still immature to sampling, but most of the time when I make a sample based beat, the melody so to speak is in how I play the chops I have made. Like they say, after doing this for a while now, there really is no way written in stone to put samples together into something that can be called hip hop. I'd like to hear you guys opinions on this.

Thanks for reading..
One Luv,
MastaMnd

www.myspace.com/mastamndbeats
www.mastamndproductions.com
 
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if you wanna add a melody to your beat you should try playing a synth over it. you can come up with some pretty catchy stuff. check out this track i made...
www.myspace.com/thetastate
the track's called newSkate, skip over to 1:15, thats when the chorus part of the track starts and the beat changes a bit. I recorded the synth melody over it...i think its the best synth melody ive done. dont tell me it isnt catchy ;)
 
I can agree with this on some levels, but i like to add some levels of musicality/melodies into my beats..even if its just a nod or suggestion of a melody it really can help boost a track. If you listen to, for instance, the album 'a piece of strange' by cunninlynguists they have some really amazing beats that carry alot of melodic elements. When i make a track i like it to be able to stand on its own, that is that without someone spitting over it it is still enjoyable to listen to (not with every track, but i like to do it with most).

I find the melodies that get radio play tend to be mostly just catchy riffs, they get old fast (in my opinion) especially when its synth riffs..having real instruments/sampled instruments carrying a melody is far better i think.
 
^^^I feel you on A piece of strange...great album that didn't really get the props it should...production is amazing to say the least...

However, I agree that Hip Hop has never really been about the melody. The drums and the MC basically makes it...But I feel this is the limiting factor of the music and as producers, it's something that should be explored more. Let's get real musicians involved to bring in some more musical complexities to complement the MC...at least it's what I shoot for...
 
so you think the future of hip hop is good melodies?
I think its the present... right now all that radio ish is all melodies and just something on top (content doesnt matter and is generally very similar across the board). I think hip hop is gonna move in and out of the 80s a little bit and then return to have some more progressive synthesizer action on it.
But then again Blues hasn't changed much at all in the last 40-50 years.

At least there's no real blueprint for hip hop except for the arrangement has gotten very standardized.
 
Melody, I love melody. When I sample my sample almost always becomes a background spice-er upper. I add bass, strings, leads, pianos... I add in a lot of extra stuff. Because, erybody can sample and flip a track almost the same way, but, its easy to sound original when you add in your personal melodies and sounds. *Nite*
 
Thanks for your thoughts on this topic. I liked all the comments. One in particular that caught my attention was what Protator said.... That hip hop may move in and out of the 80's and then come back with more synthesizer action. I think that's already happening. Everything that gets major radio play (whether you consider it hip hop or not) has synthesizer elements (everything!!!). And yes everything sounds similar and it should b/c if it's too different, the people may not accept it. The cool catchy riffs do get old quick, but they do catch the ear quick and make people rich. As I continue to make beats and expand my horizons, I've learned to kinda keep things simple until I tighten up how I arrange things sometimes. If not I run the risk of having things clashing with each other which we all know isn't good. Yes, I am aware that a good mix helps in the arrangement as well. But like they say get it right from the beginning which makes everything else after that easier.

One Luv,
MastaMnd

"Got some new songs up there".... Please have a listen.....


www.myspace.com/mastamndbeats
www.mastamndproductions.com
 
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Theres a big difference between melodic music and the "melodies" you hear on the radio. I'm not a fan at all of adding synths to tracks. This doesn't mean you have a melody, it just means you added a really wack part to a probably already wack track. I make a lot of melodic instrumentals, using real guitars, pianos, drums, and instruments. Music if you will. I can't stand these 4 note melody songs I hear on here and on the radio, that consist of nothing but high pitched synth sounds and ridiculously fake instruments. MIDI sounds exactly like MIDI, and in my opinion these all midi tracks sound EXACTLY like a telephone ringtone would. I would like to think the future of hip hop would stray away from this fake sounding music, because there is nothing melodic or unique about it.
 
Technically, if you have musical notes, it's a melody. So i can't agree with the rapper makes the "melody". But, the rapper is what gives the track "life", same thing, different terminology.

I think in gerneral though, the more musical a beat is, the less talented the mc has to be. Look at 80's rap. You could not let the beat just carry you. You had to be an mc. I'm not the biggest fan of 80's rap but it's the truth. I think the 90's is when it really started "meshing" for me personally the best. The beats were musical, but simple as well. You still had to be a good rapper to get the job done. Now beats are so "musical" that it really is the focal point. A rapper can let the beat carry him. I think there is much more too this but i do believe alot of current mc's could not survive on a simpler track and rely on the classic elements such as lyrics, voice and delievery.
 
3D Beats said:
Technically, if you have musical notes, it's a melody. So i can't agree with the rapper makes the "melody". But, the rapper is what gives the track "life", same thing, different terminology.

I think in gerneral though, the more musical a beat is, the less talented the mc has to be. Look at 80's rap. You could not let the beat just carry you. You had to be an mc. I'm not the biggest fan of 80's rap but it's the truth. I think the 90's is when it really started "meshing" for me personally the best. The beats were musical, but simple as well. You still had to be a good rapper to get the job done. Now beats are so "musical" that it really is the focal point. A rapper can let the beat carry him. I think there is much more too this but i do believe alot of current mc's could not survive on a simpler track and rely on the classic elements such as lyrics, voice and delievery.
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MAN TRUE DAT!!!!
Ya know a mc like Meth can take any beat and rock it. He just seems to instinctively know what to do with a particular beat. I think T.I. is that same type of mc. Maybe one day I'll lucky enough to work with a mc who really knows how to bring it on any beat.
 
Ok I am going to be honest. The future of Hip-hop is going down fast. The only stuff that gets played on the radio is sexual inuendos and sex moves of some sort. Hip hop needs to come back to the roots like 9th Wonder has with his first cd.

sorry newest not first...typo
 
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R.McCormack1 said:
Ok I am going to be honest. The future of Hip-hop is going down fast. The only stuff that gets played on the radio is sexual inuendos and sex moves of some sort. Hip hop needs to come back to the roots like 9th Wonder has with his first cd.

sorry newest not first...typo
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I definitely agree, that stuff on the air is garbage.
 
iLL SPokesman said:
I definitely agree, that stuff on the air is garbage.
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Fortunately, that's not representative of what's really out there...Don't be fooled. There's great stuff out there that isn't afraid to take chances...just have to dig for it
 
Tide said:
Theres a big difference between melodic music and the "melodies" you hear on the radio. I'm not a fan at all of adding synths to tracks. This doesn't mean you have a melody, it just means you added a really wack part to a probably already wack track. I make a lot of melodic instrumentals, using real guitars, pianos, drums, and instruments. Music if you will. I can't stand these 4 note melody songs I hear on here and on the radio, that consist of nothing but high pitched synth sounds and ridiculously fake instruments. MIDI sounds exactly like MIDI, and in my opinion these all midi tracks sound EXACTLY like a telephone ringtone would. I would like to think the future of hip hop would stray away from this fake sounding music, because there is nothing melodic or unique about it.
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i get what you mean i hate when they break out the brass section:cry:

to be honest modern synths are very powerful now. absynth is unbelivable and is in the price range for more proffesional producers. has anyone checked out hypersonic? very good piece of kit low cpu and easy to sound realistic which most synths dont have
 
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