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Join Date: 14 Dec 2005 Location: Belgium Age: 19 |  Re: Usefull Stuff -
03-01-2007, 02:30 AM
TIP 1: First and foremost, if you are a beatmaker/producer, then you probably have intentions of havin an artist rap or sing over your tracks so to alot of you novices, you need to realize this first tip: Learn how to structure your beats: Like Intro, Chorus, Verse, Verse with Variation, Chorus, repeat or somethin like that. The reason I mentioned this tip because, I hear alot of aspiring producers on shit like Soundclick and some of the tracks are ok but some sound unprofessional because of little but big things like letting a certain melody play all throught the track when maybe it should come in halfway through a 16 bar verse and thru the chorus or either just at the chorus. It can make the beat sound too repetitive. You always wanna keep your listener wanting more so don't overdo your melodies. Even if they are hot. It can also take away from the lyricism of the artist.
TIP 2: Always use good clean samples. Even if you want that gritty sampled sound, you can add effects to them to make them like that. Like on Jigga's Public Service Announcement on Black Album how those pianos sound gritty, it's because they added those dirty effects to them because they showed Just Blaze in the studio creating it on a coarg tri-tanium and we know it doesn't get any cleaner than that.
TIP 3: You can do beats like Kanye, Jus Blaze, Dre, Heatmakerz, or whoever to help promote and bring people to the real you but it's not the best idea to try to make a career of bein like someone else. You can be similar but don't try to do the exact same type beats as another producer. Just think, would Roc-a-Fella have signed Kanye if his beats sounded exactly like Jus Blaze? I don't think so. Both of them use a sampled style but they don't sound exactly the same.
TIP 4: The drums are the foundation for every beat so always make sure the drums are on point. The bassline is the next thing. After that, the keys and strings or samples, whatever you like dresses the track up and brings it to life. Also, make sure you use the right drums for the type of mood you're tryin to create like if you makin a street banger, then you need hard kicks and snares and not club drums. Furthermore, the hihats and cymbals you use should fit the kick and snare or kick and clap. You wouldn't use a clean kick and snare and then add gritty hihats. Closing this tip, your bassline and keys, they should be the same way given that your drums are the foundation and you are building up from the drums so if your drums are clean, you need clean bass and keys for your melodies.
TIP 5: Simplicity is the key to making complex beats. I know it sounds just opposite but I'll explain. Mannie Fresh has some of the most complex beats I've heard but to make beats like that, you need to get your main rhythm goin (first pattern) then you add each thing on separate patterns. Don't try to make a complex beat all in one pattern or all at once. Also, when you're trying to make those type of snare drum rolls like his that change tones from high to low or opposite, a good way to start off if you're a novice is slow down the tempo and make the drumroll exactly how you want it, then adjust the tempo to make it go fast as you want it. Always layer your beats like kick and snare on pattern 1, hihats on 2, cymbal or crash on 3, fill-in on 4, etc. You can also experiment with layering drum tracks to make a complex beat.
TIP 5: Bring your volumes to the right levels. You want your drum track to be just right and the bass should not drown out the drum track. Same with your keys and strings. They should always be a little lower in volume. On the same hand your drums shouldn't be so loud that they take away from any of those other elements.
TIP 6: If you're not good with keys and you wanna sound like a real piano player (or just decent) start with your main melody and build out from that. Use a piano roll. Put your main melody on the first pattern and everything else, on separate patterns just like the complex drum programming. Remember. Simplicity. Furthermore, when you want those type of grand piano melodies, when you have chords (playing 2 or more notes at once) keep your chords separate from the actual melodies on the patterns. The chords should always be on separate patterns away from the melodies so you can layer them. After you get your main melody and the first chord layer or 2 for that, you can start a variation melody and then make layers for that and then you can string it all together and loop it from the beginning. You'll find out that is mainly what most of your favorite rap producers do as they don't have a background in a church choir or a live band and probably couldn't read a piece of sheet music if their lives' depended on it.
TIP 7: Learn to adjust your effects and reverbs for the type of tracks you're making. It also helps to bring life to your music and makes it sound professional. Experiment with the different effects to get what you want.
TIP 8: Take the time out to get your sounds together and your samples. Get familiar with those sounds you like so when inspiration strikes, it's easier to lay down your tracks.
TIP 9: Work at your craft daily. Let people listen to your tracks and if you get dissed, don't quit. If you quit, you were never a producer to begin with.
TIP 10: Establish your role. Either you're a producer or a beatmaker. They are similar but what separates beatmakers from producers is that producers see the bigger picture and learn to make hits while beatmakers don't just have the long term vision and they just continue to make beats with no real direction. With the tools of the beat trade becoming more accessible to the average person, even people who don't have real talent are bound to drop a hot beat these days. The market is overcrowded with beatsmiths who got heat but if you wanna stick around for the longhaul and you wanna make real bread, it's best to be a producer. It's been proven that the producer will go futher than the beatmaker. It's just like a battle MC and a songwriter. The songwriter almost always makes better albums that stick around for years to come than the battlecat.
TIP 11: Surround yourself with platinum work from the top producers to understand what they did to make those hits and add those good qualities to your own work.
The Last: Learn to do you. Work in your budget. Find the production equipment that you can afford that offers the most advantages for it's price and that you can work best with. You don't need an MPC and a tri-tanium to make hits. Now if you have the money and that's what you prefer, do the damn thing but most of the best rap producers came from the hood and when they started, they couldn't afford that high priced shit. They used what they had or the next best thing. Do that until you've made enough bread off your work so then, if you wanna move on to other tools you can or if you decide to stick to what made you famous, you can endorse it and then everybody will be tryin to get that same thing that you thought was a piece of shit to make their beats with because the majority are followers. Now take this motivation and get on your job!!!
(yeah i ripped it from another site...) |
Usefull Stuff
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