I need advice on producing Dancehall/Reggae - PLEASE!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Johnny Handsome
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Johnny Handsome

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I produce hip-hop but I want to produce some Dancehall or soulful reggae beats like the old days but I dont know where to start. Can anyone breakdown what instruments and layering goes into a Dancehall or Reggae beat? Like I can hear that there's usually a chord or two repeated every down beat but other than that I dont even know what kind of piano patch to use. Can someone please help?! It would be greatly appreciated. And sorry if I posted this in the wrong place I just really need the help. Thanks in advance.
 
If you want to do reggae like in the "old days", then you have to use natural sounding instruments. Bass, piano, guitar, rim drum and kick drum. No 808's or anything too synthy. The chord or "skank" is played between the kick and the snare. If it's a "one drop" riddim, the snare and kick are played together. The skank will still be played at the same point.
 
Hey man thanks for the advice, I was just checkin out your myspace - SMILIN INNA MI FACE IS BANANAS!!! Wow thats they type of sh** I love man. I'm tryin to work on some stuff right now so hopefully I can pull something out with the advice u gave me and I'll hit you up and let you know how the progress is coming along. If there are any more tips you think could help me please dont be afraid to tell me, IM ALL EARS! lol and I wanna be really good at this not just some bored person trying new things for no reason
 
rebuilding old riddims too also helps you get into it more because you'll become more aware of some nuances (some u may not have paid attention to before).
 
Thanks for the compliments. Feel free to send me your work in progress for critique. I'll try to help you out. Do you use Fruit Loops. If you do, I could do a quick drum pattern and send it to you tomorrow or so.
 
hey reggae is an art form that is simple to master with practice time and patients because each element has its own personality that makes a track unique so the best place to start is to try understand what each element does plus with dancehall the tempo is from 100bpm up and for 1drop it depends on the movement u want in the track
 
jerryroy said:
with dancehall the tempo is from 100bpm up and for 1drop it depends on the movement u want in the track
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Dancehall is more like 92 bpm up. It can be lower too. As with one drop, it depends on the vibe you want.
 
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