Producer or Beat Maker

[o.Prime]

I just read an article at this new site called BeatTalk.com and it was showing the difference between being a producer and being a beatmaker. It said that a beatmaker is just someone who comes up with the actual beat, the person that loops the samples and adds the drums. The producer is the person who masters the track, and basically has all control over the project. It seems to me like they go hand in hand, I mean no one here just comes up with a couple of bars and passes them off to the "Producer" right?

My question is how do you guys catagorize yourself, and do you think there is even any need to distinguish the two, I mean I know the person cutting the check will want to distinguish the two, but whats do you guys think?

 

[Tim D]

i think this same sort of thing was discussed in a thread before, it might pop up in a search i think i was called Producer: Your Definition Here or something like that, and it went into what ur goin at

 

[Manji]

If you're producing musis then you're a producer. Simple as that

 

[Formant024]

I prefer beatcreator when talking hiphop, it's all about beats and beats make heads nod, anywhere. To executive monkeys I'm a producer, heck, I'll tell them that I am an engineer too lol! But my kinda hiphop doesn't affiliate with commercialism, so here I am a beatcreator.

That excerpt from beatTalk.com is refered to handicapped producers or for those that like to be called a producer since it appearantly grants a status of somekind, not willing to be called a " beatmaker " ( honestly, I have never heard of the term before ). I personaly don't give a damn since it doesn't stop me from being the person that's responible for the audible things people hear on my site or in real life.

It said that a beatmaker is just someone who comes up with the actual beat, the person that loops the samples and adds the drums.

Like that person could only make the beat, incapable of filling up the rest of a track ? Or is it because the " beatmaker " creates a beat in order of the " real producer " since he has a kick ass choon from his triton. Isn't the " real producer " capable of creating a beat, or is this offensive or insulting, that I should've said; " capable of producing a beat ." ??? In any case I don't get the point of this issue here besides what's "fashionable", which I also disapprove off. And in any of the two situations and definitly in a " real producer " situation, should they be able to produce a complete track when considering having someone else to make your beat, you must be either succesfull already in order to buy someone elses beats, when you're capable of doing em yourself.

Just doesn't make any sense...

 

[Cold Truth]

*YAWN*... SNORE.... blah, blah, blah- this debate is a bore to me.... but i must contribute my 2 to it, so here goes.....

this is like the "mc's and rappers are different" argument. there really isnt a point to it. guess what? the "beatmaker" IS the producer. the guy who OVERSEES the project- yeah, he's the producer too. and then you have the engineer, who can lay claim to that name as well, if he likes. HOWEVER... in hip hop, "produced by" is almost always followed by the name of the guy WHO MADE THE BEAT. (*as far as mastering, most studios (to my knowledge) send the finished tracks to a seperate place to be mastered by a seperate team.)

Now, these days we are a little more savvy- we cant all play guitar, so it will say "Produced by: Cold Truth. Guitars by: R. Johnson. Viola by: C. Medina.".... now that means that while i still PRODUCED it (made the beat), i didnt play EVERYTHING, although i did do all the chords and melodies for it. I still did most of the work myself. now, if another guy handles all of the engineering or arrangements, he'll wind up with a credit as well.... co-producer.

i think that its ludicris that we sit here and switch labels and try to make a distinction where there really is none- because there are different aspects of production and all are valid. now, when you go and take credit for humming a damn melody and tapping the snare on the 2 and 4 beat, thats a different story..... thats "The Guy Who Takes The Credit And Makes The Money But Doesnt Do A Damn Thing"..... lol, not exactly, but this is the place where the lines blur and you cant really say one way or the other- its just up to your perception.

remember, the root word for "producer" would be "product" and wheter you are the CREATOR of the "product" or the SUPERVISOR of the "product", you are STILL the "producer".

now, formant, guess what? you can call a duck a pig, but its still a duck- it is what it is regardless of its name- and while you may call yourself a "beatcreator" there is no difference, regardless of how you go about wording your own label. producer, beatmaker, beatcreator- "tom-ay-to", "tom-ah-to"- its all the same in hip hop.

if yuo venture into other forms of music where the "producer" USUALLY performs different functions then your traditional hip hop producer, the definitions are once again blurred here- because it is a different game then. rock producers dont always make the track. they guide the songs, and how they fit into the album concept, they offer advice, they work the boards and handle the recording process- and many times another engineer, an assistant, will handle mixing chores.... and then others do different things.

the point being, once again, there are many things that go in to being a producer. call it what yo uwant, but its the same thing.

 

[Formant024]

now, formant, guess what? you can call a duck a pig, but its still a duck- it is what it is regardless of its name- and while you may call yourself a "beatcreator" there is no difference, regardless of how you go about wording your own label. producer, beatmaker, beatcreator- "tom-ay-to", "tom-ah-to"- its all the same in hip hop.

I said " I prefer ", that's a personal opinion, not the general concensus upon the correct use of the term issued here. As far as hiphop goes I have very few definitions to absolutly no principles as when it comes to hiphop. But the point I think is that within each genre there's a different oppinion to what a producer is. Look at techno for example, the most " producers " I've met are practicly engineers considering their knowledge on the whole production in production and the top artist master their own exploits, it's a part of the trade being a electronic producer. I found out that in general most artist/producers in the hiphop always rely on a studio engineer to master n record, most of them, when it comes to it leave to someone else.

The worst thing I've come across is someone who is telling you that the real producer is the executive producer. It's all friggin' relative, but when looking at that he basicly only needs to say yes or no. That differs from my point of view whereas a producers is the one pushing the buttons and not telling someone to push them for you. I call that a manager.

 

[Guevara]

DAMN THERES BEEN A FORMANT/TRUTH BEEF BREWiN ARoUND HERE.

PRODUCER
ARRANGER
COMPOSER
BEATMAKER

IT DEPENDS ON THE GENRE, HiP HoP CHANGED THE DEFiNiTiON oF THE "PRODUCER" TAKE DR DRE HES A PRoDUCER WHILE SoME UNDERLiNG AT AFTERMATH MAY BE A COMPoSER, DRE BRiNGS THE ELEMENTS ToGETHER To CoMPLETE A TRACK.i USED To HATE oN DRE ToO BUT oNCE U UNDERSTAND HiS METHoDS AND THE TiTLES, THEN iTS NoT ALL FoREiGN.CiTY!!!

 

[RigorMortis]

i dont see a beef just a healthy discussion with arguments and now on with the discussion..

 

[Equality 7-2521]

yeah im like truth told this is such a boring question.

i agree with manji. if you produced it then you are the producer.

its got nothing to do with how much control over the project you have. i could be working with an MC for his album and he might tell me exactly what he wants his music to sound like but since I program the drums and samples etc, it is ME the PRODUCER who will be listed as such on the album credits

 

[mod1]

I'm both because,I come up with everything for my beat and,I master my tracks.

 

[Formant024]

No beef here, I lack compitional drifts hehe.

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Well if you stay on this board long enuff then you gonna find that the discussion will tend to be repetitive.....and hell yeah I remember this discussion more than once.....Here is one of the more memborable threads kicked off by non other than GOD himself...
https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2799&highlight=beatmaker

 

[o.Prime]

^ cool, I was pretty sure this discussion was in the back logs somewhere

 

[RigorMortis]

I think Jazzy Jeff kind off would agree with Formant on this one.

How did you balance the egos in ATOJAZZ?

That's hard! ATOJAZZ is like a college. I find young guys that have a lot of talent and don't know the ins and outs of the business. I put them in a position to be creatively free and learn all the aspects about being a producer not just beat making. I don't think a person who makes beats is a producer. A producer doesn't have to know how to make beats. The way I equate a producer is more like a coach. A coach doesn't play basketball but he or she knows how to motivate you to play basketball. The bottom line is to get the best out of the person you're working with.

I want to show you all the aspects of production. It's important that you learn how to turn them knobs and be independent without an engineer. You need to know how to get the sound that you want and know how to make records that are sonically correct.

source: http://www.onestopbeats.com/jazzyjeff.html

I make beats but I dont call myself a beatmaker/beatcreator or producer, I'm bored and it happens so that i fill some voids in my life with music..