How To Make R&b Tracks?

  • Thread starter Thread starter KODINE
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KODINE

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WHATS THE DEAL YALL I'M NEW 2 DIS BOARD SO YALL VETS TAKE IT EASY ON A PIMP LOL
LET ME TELL YALL MY STORY:

ALL I DO IS RAP BEATS AND THAT IS ALL I KNOW HOW TO DO. I HAVE SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO R FEELING MY TRACKS AND LIKE MY STYLE AND R WILLING TO COME OUT THE POCKECT FOR THEIR ARTISTS ON THEIR LABEL. EVERYTHING IS COOL UNTIL ONE OF THEM COMES TO ME AND WANTS ME PRODUCE ONE OF HIS R&B ACTS, ALL I KNOW IS RAP TRACKS I MEAN HOW DO GO ABOUT DOING R&B CAUSE I HEAR A LOT OF SINGERS ON RAP TRACKS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE R&B. THE STYLE I'M TRYING TO LEAN TOWARD IS LIKE DAVE HOLLISTER,JAHEIM, R.KELLY,JOE,AVANT
I'M TRYING TO BREAK A WAY FROM THE TRACKS SOUNDING LIKE YOU CAN RAP ON THEM I GUESS WHAT I REALLY WANT KNOW IS WHAT INSTRUMENTS SHOULD I USE LIKE BELLS,STRINGS GUTAIRS,PIANOS ETC. IF SOMEONE COULD POST A EXAMPLE OF HOW THEY WOULD GO ABOUT DOING A R&B TRACK I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE!!!
PS.
SORRY FOR THE LONG POST I'M TRYING TO TAKE MY MUSIC TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
 
evrything good as long as u DONT use 4/4 time signature and u keep the BPM 50-75
 
Thank you for the love man these other cats acting like haters. Could someone else give me some feedback on how they would go about doing r&b?
 
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There are some common changes in R&B. I, IV, V and I, VI, IV, V are the most common.

Use organic sounds, or the actual instruments if possible. Realistic sounding drum kits, basses, horns, keys, ect.

4/4 time is OK if you ask me. 6/8 is fair game as well.

R&B dance tracks can be faster, but for those soul sounding joints, keep the BPMs below 70 or so.

Basic chords are typical of R&B. Major and minor, 6th and 7th, ect.

And leave plenty of room for the vocalist.
 
I agree with Bezo.
If you can play Keyboards or Bass or Guitar, you're on your way already. I suggest that you listen to some Al Green, Jerry Butler, Isaac Hayes, The Five Stairsteps, Curtis Mayfield (particularly his guitar playing) and more.

Good luck.

That's a mighty powerful tradition to love and wanna add to.
 
I don't know if this helps or not. But I usually do my drum line last when making R&B tracks. I do my bassline first, then the main melody, then add other instruments after that. But the drums are very last.
 
JiggSaw said:
... But I usually do my drum line last when making R&B tracks.
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I can't imagine recording anything before drums are laid. For me, the drums guide the groove. Expecially the bassline.

I spend more time on drums than anything. I have to get that groove right. I lay the bassline next. Lately they've been coming to me fairly easy. Afther that, the track almost finishes its self.

I'd be interested in seeing someone do it your way.
 
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Bezo said:

I can't imagine recording anything before drums are laid. For me, the drums guide the groove. Expecially the bassline.

I spend more time on drums than anything. I have to get that groove right. I lay the bassline next. Lately they've been coming to me fairly easy. Afther that, the track almost finishes its self.

I'd be interested in seeing someone do it your way.
Click to expand...

I usually do make my tracks that way (when I'm making hiphop tracks). But so much instrumentation lies in R&B songs, which is why i find it easier for me to do drums last. If I do drums first then it's going to sound like another hiphop R&B song.
 
Does anybody have a account with soundclick so that i could hear a sample. Much luv to yall. I might be crazy but the sound I really want is like a slow jam vibe something with a slow tempo as far as uptempo r&b anybody can do that,thats like doing a regular hip hop track. ya feel me.
 
your melodies have to be melodic. try to play them in live, so they are not quantised. sticking to keys and guitar is important.

high pitch strings help to make the verse different to chorus.

try to keep the drums till the end. with r and b, the kick drums is thrown all ova the place, and the snare drum is often missed out to help create anticipation. listen to rkelly ignition, the last snare of the two bar loop is missed out.

place kick drums where you would normally hear snares for example.

layer finger snaps, rim shots and claps to make completly new snares.

tap in your hihat patterns live, so they arent on every beat for example.
 
maan I feel ya man thanks I'm starting to get an idea now keep em coming baby I'm all ears!!!
 
Sup Kodine, check out www.soundclick.com/mikemiz for some examples. I have the opposite problem right now. Haven't been able to really hone in on that perfect rap beat, but R&B tracks comin out the ears. Check out Slo' Motion though. For me an R&B track is more about how you lay down the tracks then what sounds you use. Tempo is important too but peeps make R&B tracks over 100bpm. I try to keep it under 80bpm. I tend to go with orchestra type sounds, but you have to be careful not overdue it. Also keep your melodies long and drawn out. Having a bunch of instruments playing short quarter and 8th notes can kill that slow R&B feel. In all honesty its a combination of a lot of things. If you have a song I could listen to, I could tell you how you would flip it to sound R&Bish.

Holla!
MikeMiz
 
Thanks kill (if you were referring to me). I got some room to grow, but I gotta be headed in the right direction... :)
 
Soladee said:
your melodies have to be melodic. try to play them in live, so they are not quantised. sticking to keys and guitar is important.

high pitch strings help to make the verse different to chorus.

try to keep the drums till the end. with r and b, the kick drums is thrown all ova the place, and the snare drum is often missed out to help create anticipation. listen to rkelly ignition, the last snare of the two bar loop is missed out.

place kick drums where you would normally hear snares for example.

layer finger snaps, rim shots and claps to make completly new snares.

tap in your hihat patterns live, so they arent on every beat for example.
Click to expand...

some good advice here... but what it ultimately comes down to is songwriting ability..

my brother and i do insipirational r&b, and what usually happens is that he'll compose a song on the piano (live) and sing to it.. he'll tweak the composition for a few dayz..

then we'll record the music parts as midi files, assign the instruments to the various tracks - and use manual quantization to preserve 'live feel'

then i'll create the beats for the track... layering cymbols/snares and what not.. add sound effects

then there is a process of changing music/percusion/effects placement and mixing - like an ebb and flow until the track sounds right

but bottom line is good songwriting ability in my opinion
 
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