Lessons For Up & Coming Producers

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def1nition

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
bigdmakintrax said:
The backbone of good patterns comes from lots of listening, or maybe getting some real music theory behind you, not that its necessary but it will take you further in production, you would be surprised at producers that not only make hits but at least play keys or some other instrument, that will also give you a foundation for melodies too..I know some good drummers that make killer beat patterns because thats the backbone of any track and like Krzy said the bassline is pretty crucial......theres a lot of people that I know that play by ear and I mean convincingly enuff that when they tell you they've never taken a lesson it is hard to believe but that has been cats I have played in live bands with....there is an element of musical ability to making good tracks, I think every producer should seek to improve on their musical abilities....learn scales, learn some basic drum rudiments and patterns, this will transfer over to your production...


Yeah I really agree with that I play drums professionally in clubs events and other places and play keys it really helps me put together tracks, and organize tracks musically even knowing what key a sample is in is a big help so that the bassline and sample don't clash or melody and sample don't clash. Also in playing live music I've leaned to anylize what other musicians are doing. In bands everyone has there own role thats what makes the music cohesive when I'm layin a bassline I try to think like a bass player or layin a keys line try to think like a keys player layin drum tracks I try not to quantize make everything flow give it that pocket feel, as if I'm playin it.
 

Medicine Man

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
The fact is, that most big time producers have well over a thousand dollars worth of equipment. So if one wants to actually make beats that big time artists or especially underground artists will actually use for there cd's or demos, then one must get the needed equipment to compete. Like GOD said, it really comes down to what your friends or competition are using. In another thread I hooked up a article about making beats with Dj Hi-Tek, El-P , and Dj Spinna that explains their studio setups and how they use the equipment, and all of them have a few thousand dollars worth of stuff in their studios. They all have a sampler, they all have tape machines(analog or digital), and they all have a computer with some software. My point is that regardless what kind of specific brands of equipment you use, there are a few things one must have to make professional beats, and most cats on this site start threads and ask questions all the time about how to step up their game and get their name out there. If all you want to do is make beats for fun, then don't ask how to make it big in the hip-hop industry. But if you do wan't to make it big in hip-hop, don't just pirate fruity loops or Acid off the internet and make non-professional sounding beats, spend some time and money and learn the art form.

Check the article out at : http://remixmag.com/ar/remix_bomb_tracks_hiphop/index.htm.
 

gram green

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
get an mpc... you dont need all that other ish... especially sequencer computer programs.. stick to hardware for beatmaking and use software for recording... i do record beats into logic or pro tools ... but the computer just serves as a sound board a recording base..... the majoraty of the creative shit comes out on the hardware for me... but as far as all that high end low end shit..., fuck all that software shit... you can make shit on alot of shit, and if you are really bout it you will make shit on anything really..... the final "mastering" and shit of course should be done on "high end" shit, but its not necessary to get your self out there or sell beats to have the high end shit.... you can get where your goin by having good product and a good business stratagy... f what kind of software you have
 

Medicine Man

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
A MPC won't work without sofware. Software is what makes the MPC control the hardware. An MPC is just a dummed down computer with a very small screen. Using a computer running acid and controling it with midi triggers is the same technollogy as a MPC. I'm tired of people acting like a MPC is different from a computer, its the same thing, you just can't get MPC software for a computer, but it is really out dated anyway.
 

God

Creator of the Universe
ill o.g.
When i said "sale" in my previous post I meant it as the "artist's budget." You're trying to sell the artist your skill, etc., in order to get his budget. That's what I mean by sale. Not an HD sale, lol.

My favourite quote:
gram green said:
you can make shit on alot of shit

I laughed endlessly at that.

Sincerely,
God
 

SupaStar

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Another one:
I cant believe I forgot this one y'all.
The importance of tracking where you coming from, and I am not talking 'bout the 'hood now. My partner s guilty of this one, anytime he builds a track and it doesn't sound well to him, he usually does either of these things save it and it gets lost on his massive 100 gig hard drive or he burns them to a back up disc which his cousin by the way finds delicious and a perfect chew toy. So all in all when he decides to work on a new track theres never any new progression or if any its not dynamic,
I recommend for all you future stars that you always keep and take good care of ya old skools no matter if they sound wack, they show well the distances you have travelled and the comparisons between old and new will bring to light the areas you have improved upon...
So if its even an Archive disc stashed away safely or a couple .zip discs with some fruity files keep good track of your progress by saving ya old and not so good sounding stuff. They're your ideas not garbage.........
 

Medicine Man

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
Opps, I wasn't trying to start another software vs. hardware war, I was just tring to point out that there is no actual difference between hardware and software at all. Hardware is controlled by software. If you open up a computer you will find the same exact hardware that you would find if you open up a MPC. They both use hardware and software! Personally I think using a combination of computer software and hardware based equipment is the key to making tight music.
 

gram green

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
hardware is the same as a computer?!?!?!?!? nawww

com on yall... there are real big differences between hardware and software... if you had used alot of hardware you would know.... i have used alot of both... hardware is closer to an instrument i believe... you learn all the ins and outs and secrets of it.... the swing and the quantizing is different on hardware /vs/ software... i could never really duplicate the swing my sp1200 seems to add to a beat naturally on software or even other hardware for that matter.... im sure some heads know what im talkin bout... its just a natural thing that only happens with the sp1200... the mpc seems to have its own different swing too, eps as well....... having software in it doesnt make it the same thing computer....
 

Nuff B

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Thanks to all of yall i just spent like my years savings on a new computer and a used triton it's used but it works and i havn't made anything yet but it was worth the money i know my tracks will progress to another level soon thanks yalll word to philly.
 

boneyboys

50 Million Year Trip
ill o.g.
Krzy K. said:
Congrats Nuff B, on ya new system, nothings wrong with used equipment as long as it dont electrocute or give ya a jolt when you wanna mess around with it.
Lol yeah, halfa your stuff's picked up off the sidewalks anyways Krzy, I'd say second hand would be a step up :D
 

boneyboys

50 Million Year Trip
ill o.g.
Lol yeah, I wish I could pick me up some of the stuff you find, don't think theres too many people chucking out recording stuff over here in the shitehole which I call "suburbia" lol. Keep finding yourself stuff man, one day someone'll chuck you out a 3 million channel mixer, then you'll be laughing :) Ahh the joy of ebay lol
 

Formant024

Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
How many noobs does it take to fit a ... vacuum tube ?!?!?

People....

We have brains use 'em, make your own opinion. Your own opinion on gear, h/w or s/w. If I take a familiar example.;

Neptunes use the o1/w, if they told you they used the mpc for it you'd believe it too. Why, because in all fairness, a mpc is much cooler. But what the fuck, how could you have known ???

Indeed, you couldn't have known, unless you're a true gearfreak ( like me, but I can be fooled too ). If that wont crush your ego, you'll be fine, but there's cats out there that only talk the drummachine language like there is no other lingua. It's posing with an mpc4000 but you actualy just dont know jack shit about it except the things people tell you. There's stuff that you cant know when you start out, dont pose like you the pro because there are always people that know more. You need those people, but imagine this ; ( hate me, but im using an example here of one who is a likely to be a pro )

(quote by medicine)
A MPC won't work without sofware. Software is what makes the MPC control the hardware. An MPC is just a dummed down computer with a very small screen. Using a computer running acid and controling it with midi triggers is the same technollogy as a MPC. I'm tired of people acting like a MPC is different from a computer, its the same thing, you just can't get MPC software for a computer, but it is really out dated anyway.

Tell that to Roger Linn and all the happy users. But fact is, you obviously dont own one so, actualy, you really dont know,hehe. But seriously, there are loads of smart cats who tell you an mpc from inside out, which leave you speechless, like should cause well...you dont know.

point 2, like a lot of those cats who know what they're talking about cant be bothered with clever kids. That unfortunate when those are just the people you need to get further. For short, they wont take you seriously and mistake you for a no-brain. I hope for those people that they're auto-didact because there's too much to learn on the subject of producing music and entertainment industry. Mind you, i've been doing this for 12/13 years now without schooling and I'm still learning.

So peeps, it good if you want to stand out but bare this one in mind, some people simply know better, learn from them.

Also I aint hatin', I had to elaborate on what we are not thinking about to make an addition to this. It's also an attitude and rann in to often. Like the whole h/w vs. s/w thing, like the people who object the hardest against FL dont use it, they only use reason and couldn't possibly admit the efficieny of another platform which is potentialy better than Reason ( or vice versa, i dont care, i work both n more ). Same with daw users vs. hardware, in most cases where people start hatin', they only talk in one direction, because if someone would admit to the opposit he might feel stupid with his arsenal of h/w or s/w utilities. I mean, common, get a fookin life, you blatantly dissin' something you obviously dont know about to save your face. Like that gonna help from calling you a noob. Talk less and use them ears and eyes, the rest is patience.
 
A

ACEBEATZ

Guest
gotta disagree

Medicine Man said:
I am a proffesional producer and I don't think some one's beats will be any better on higher end software, on a creative level, but they will make your beats sound more proffensional. But if you really want to make your beats sound more commercial, I think the only way to go is a MPC or like sampler. Thats what gives 98 percent of mainstream and underground hip-hop its sound. And I've heard people say you can get the same results with something cheaper like fruity loops, but a program like fruity loops will never give you that "hip-hop" sound, and thats just a fact because most cats that get paid use hardware samplers and pro tools or digital performer. And I've also heard cats say new producers like 9th Wonder use fruity loops but its not true! 9th wonder uses a MPC 2000xl!

I gotta disagree with that man. I work with pc since i began and i had machines too (Mc505, djx, worked with a ms2000,etc.) and it doesnt change shit. If you choose well the sound you use with your software sampler, its the same thing as worrking with an mpc, that is an hardware sampler. Plus, its more simple to cut and chop your samples in an audio editor before using in a sampler/sequencer. Find a sample on a vynil and use it in Mpc or in software wut does it change? Its the same fuckin sample. Anyway i know poeple who got 10000$ of stuff that sound wack and i know cats that do bombs in fruity loops. If you think it's the machine that give the result your on the wrong track. It's the guy and the ears sat behind em.

Holla Ace
 

x-squizet

Roll Tide Roll
ill o.g.
i agree wit u on dat ace, i know dis cat that produces on fruity loops and his beats is off the chain and i heard people dat uses da mpc-2000 and they beats is wack, so its not how da machine uses you, its how you use da machine.
 

Formant024

Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
Krzy K. said:
^Interesting. hope you dont get mad at me, but I dont get it.....the point.

no, you're too crazy to get mad @, lol.

Point one, you have a brain ( use it ), make your own opinion about ... and make shure those opinion are based on experience not " what he said ".

Point two, dont be an arse. Arrogance I respect when someone knows what he's talking about. Being arrogant and knowing jack shit means you're an utter moron, a fool to cause they aint learning jack shit either. I meet these cats way too often.
 

2_nice

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
krazy a tip for up and comers or just a bit of general knowledge. people get a book on classical orchestration. it will teach you how to analyse music and use soul arrangement techniques in your hip hop etc. and the most common hip hop structure is intro (chorus minus a part or two often) 16 or 32 bar verse 8 bar chorus a6 bard verse 8 bar chorus and this is where it gets different depending on if your first verse was a 16 or 32 your beat may end in a coda after your 2nd chorus or may have another verse another chorus then a coda blank stop etc. this is very rough and be creative don't just structure your shit generically and remember people need change about the 2 minute mark (short attention span thx to t.v) i.e 2/3rds of the way through the track this two thirs thing can be applied to verses even intros and choruses and i know often the most overlooked bit of a song is the outro but it is VERY IMPORTANT...... research take your ass to your state library !!!!!!!
 
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