Hip Hop Prod. 101 - The Bangin' Beat ! Pt. 1

Thanks for the post Rome. Was def. some good info in here.

I always like to see/ read how other people do ****. Still tryin to really find my style.. So I'm always lookin for new techniques to try.
 
sic bigr.....nice layer breakdown of bassline mids and highs. o and dont forget the song title when u lay the mids.
 
Great Post ,especially the Sound Selection part, many people dont understand that the sounds matter just as much as the melody.
 
In my opinion a bangin beat is a matter of opinion,but please understand that it starts wit the beat.The artist vocals act like an instrument,the last instrument to complete the track,this is why it is important to leave room for him or her to breath on the track.I think one of the biggest misconceptions of creating music is thinking that the more u have going on the better.In fact the opposite is true,less is more.

As far as making a banger,1st u have to decide what genre of music ur going to do_Once u have established that then the fun begins.Tempo is key,it determines how things r going to sound seeing that an 8th note becomes a 16th note when the tempo doubles.Me personally,I like to start wit the melody,although I strongly suggest starting wit the rhythm track 1st.The drums should compliment the type of music u r creating etc.There r 4 main ingredients in a musical soundscape,drums,bass,melody and accompaniment any thing else is extra.

The most important thing to remember is there really r no rules in making music.U can do what ever u want,jus remember to always try to be creative and original.Producers like Dr.Dre and Timberland changed the coarse of music by being what,different.Holla back 1!
 
Thanks for taking the time to make this post, Rome! This is definitely helpful information as it gives a structure for beatmaking. Of course, in time, producers will come up with their own tricks and methods, but when starting off, you definitely need a format to follow.

It's like school. You start off with basic addition and subtraction, then you can move on to geometry and calculus. However, if you don't have knowledge of basic arithmetic, there's no way you be a math whiz.

The same goes for production. If you don't learn the basic structure, then you can't really progress to a complex one. If you take the time to understand the fundamentals, it will cut down your learning curve time and many many nights of frustration.

Plus, once you start dealing with multiple artists and groups, you absolutely need to follow a personalized beatmaking template in order to satisfy the production needs of your clients. When you have a signature sound, some will say they want a beat like a previous one you made. In this case, if you have a personal format or outline of your beat process in your head, you can quickly create something similar -- unless of course, you have a great filing system where you can get to the original tracks quickly (this does get difficult when you have hundreds of beats and use lots of different hardware!)
 
biggrome said:
Normally, you can just jack snares and hi-hats from popular songs on the radio. It’s a good practice… you get the sounds the pro’s use. Most of the kits people sell are jacks from songs that have already been produced. Fire up your audio editor and get busy.

How do u do this?
 
Teen Fury said:
How do u do this?

Smit had it right. This has been going on since... forever.

You'll normally want to eq the drum some so it won't sound exactly like it does in the song you got it from.

A good eq to use is Electri-Q (Poshipfopit Edition) I may have spelled that wrong but it's free.

You load a drum hit and place the Electi-Q eq on it and just mangle the eq curve until you get the thump you were looking for.

I normally just twist the eq curve in all kinds of directions. The initials chunkiness of the drum is there, you're just tweaking it some.

You can do the same for snares and hi-hats too.

Also layer other drums along with the drums you have and save those as a kit of your go to drums. You'll eventually end up with a large collection of drums that fit your sound and it'll save you time.

It's all just part of the process. Some people just take drums as is and get going. Nothing wrong with that either but you're more apt to say "this sounds good enough to use" instead of making it into "your" thing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What Rome is talking about is what I call finding the sweet spot. it can be different for each song because you have different instruments and samples so the mix is not the same. Once you find the sweet spot it will pop out at you and you'll know.
 
All the tech talk is fine, but what makes a good song cannot really be broken down into technical terms. The technical aspect of music can make a song sound better, but a good song is a good song/music as soon as the concept is created. If you don't have a strong composition, melody, and dymnamic, you're just wasting your time.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top