The Primo Sound...

Pete Rock, J Dilla, Large Professor, etc. Anybody have a any idea how they go about setting their closed hithats??? I want that signature *tic, tic, tic* sound!!!

I know exactly what your talkin about. That is a big part of there beats.


It could be them sampling through the SP1200. I never knew how to get that sound but thats what i always thought they did.


If you aint got a SP close by, try just samplin your hats at 12-Bits, or reduce the khz.

hey amg.

are you talking about the griminess of the hi-hats or their swing?

Yeah,
I know what you're talking about, a lot of times it's a hat from a dirty old funk loop. Just find a hard beat, slice a hat out of it, and don't eq (keep the mids and lows in there). That'll make it hard and dirty and thick instead of soft and clean and shiny...
My two
easy

I'm talking about their swing and hi hats!!!

the swing is probably caused by their equipment, and primo uses an MPC60 (ive heard) to produce beats. At least he did back in the day, and i suppose he still does. if it aint broke dont fix it!, right?

hey but seriously i listen to a lot of gangstarr and his hats vary from track to track, so you need to be more specific. i got an idea that you're talking about the nice high freq. short hi hat. I suggest adjusting decay, EQ, and then compress. my 2 cents.....

checkonetwo wrote:the swing is probably caused by their equipment, and primo uses an MPC60 (ive heard) to produce beats. At least he did back in the day, and i suppose he still does. if it aint broke dont fix it!, right?

hey but seriously i listen to a lot of gangstarr and his hats vary from track to track, so you need to be more specific. i got an idea that you're talking about the nice high freq. short hi hat. I suggest adjusting decay, EQ, and then compress. my 2 cents.....

Here's the Primo sound.
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/temp/rams/89578083807055475.ram
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/temp/rams/89578083807055475.ram
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/temp/rams/89578083807055475.ram
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/temp/rams/89578083807055475.ram
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/temp/rams/89578083807055475.ram
My Favorite
The Best Example

none of those links work

i know wat u talking about to. i had nas is like on vinyl and i sampled it (cuz it like a tic sound right after the kick), on a beat break on the instrumental version. and took it into soundforge and cleaned it up and thats how i got it.

Cincere wrote:i know wat u talking about to. i had nas is like on vinyl and i sampled it (cuz it like a tic sound right after the kick), on a beat break on the instrumental version. and took it into soundforge and cleaned it up and thats how i got it.

He knows what I'm talking about. I'm just curious to know if Primo uses T.C.!

i know what you are talking about too.

i struggle with my hi-hats as well. most of my friends play them in unquantized.

the only tips i can think of that have kinda helped me are to play the hi-hats on 16-levels velocity. make the accents louder.

and if you want you can try and play the hi-hats in quantized on 16th notes. then go into step edit and try nudging every other hi-hat a tiny little bit early.

should kinda make things a little less stiff.