structuring beat tapes (explicit and jacpot) as well as anyo

so ive been listening to a bunch of instrumentals and beat tapes recently, ive noticed that most beat tapes the songs are shorter than your average hip hop production and arent broken down as such (8 intro . 16 verse . 8 hook. 16 verse . 8 hook . 16 . 8 . 8. )
probably because it would get boring to listen to hip hop instrumentals for 4 minutes long.


so my questions to you are:
1.do you start a beat knowing that its going to be an instrumental end product or does it just morph into that later on?
2.if your going to keep a beat instrumental, do you go about structuring it differently than you would a normal beat with a rapper over it?
3. have you ever made an instrumental that was supposed to have vocals, then transformed it to a full fledged instrumental track afterwards?
4. how do you break up the monotony of a sample based instrumental? what do you add to sections? what do you mute? are these instrumentals generally more complex than your average rap song?

im gonna start counting bars critically next time i listen to an instrumental, to try and divide some of my favorite tracks into sections ect, but i thought it would be a cool thread to post.

i have tried counting some stuff before while listening but not critically.

it would be cool to hear your input, especially if you have released a beat tape (that i have listend to) before. (jacpot and explicit im talking to you)

and if you like, post up your beat tapes, ill check em out if i havent already!

it would also be cool if you wanted to post a breakdown of your favorite song on it, or a single beat you made.

I do not have any history or experience in making a beat tape, but from my understanding the producers who release these tapes, release them not intended to be full-song-length tracks. they release them as a demonstration of their skill/talent & what beats they have in their arsenal for anyone looking to cop some tracks.

I say this because majority of the beats tapes I have heard I end up hearing the same beat from that very producer used on another rapper's project.

thats just my perception of it, but would love to hear some established/matured producers point of views on this.

Who the hell is anyo??? Don't tell me you mean tayo? C'mon man thats insulting.

Ill-Green wrote:Who the hell is anyo??? Don't tell me you mean tayo? C'mon man thats insulting.

haha i was gonna write "anyone else" but the whole sentence wouldent fit

i didnt know that about the demonstration of their skills, (it would be cool to hear what beats you have heard on these tapes and what songs they turned into in the end. if you can remember any of them.
i was thinking more of beat tapes as an artistic choice for a full length LP.

damien907 wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:Who the hell is anyo??? Don't tell me you mean tayo? C'mon man thats insulting.

haha i was gonna write "anyone else" but the whole sentence wouldent fit

i didnt know that about the demonstration of their skills, (it would be cool to hear what beats you have heard on these tapes and what songs they turned into in the end. if you can remember any of them.
i was thinking more of beat tapes as an artistic choice for a full length LP.

don't take what i typed as face value because i could be wrong. but thats just my perception.

I usually do my beat tape tracks as follows:4 Bar Intro,8 Bar Verse,8 Bar Hook,4 Bar Outro. They usually wind up being less than 2 minutes depending on tempo.All my beats are done this way until somebody hears it and wants to get on it then I go back and structure the verses to 16 bars and add a couple verses to get it to song length. Also to breakup the monotony I solo different parts and put in fills and breakdowns to keep the listener engaged and interested. Doing it like this I usually put 20 tracks or so on a CD and hit up all the hip hop spots and get em off to MC's...Plus Im a DJ first so I do my own exclusive remixes to play out using my own beats.

yeah, i would like to hear other peoples opinions on it also, im sure producers do use beat tapes as a way to get their beats out there; but im sure some people make beat tapes as a final product aswell.

Earnest Magilakutti wrote:I usually do my beat tape tracks as follows:4 Bar Intro,8 Bar Verse,8 Bar Hook,4 Bar Outro. They usually wind up being less than 2 minutes depending on tempo.All my beats are done this way until somebody hears it and wants to get on it then I go back and structure the verses to 16 bars and add a couple verses to get it to song length. Also to breakup the monotony I solo different parts and put in fills and breakdowns to keep the listener engaged and interested. Doing it like this I usually put 20 tracks or so on a CD and hit up all the hip hop spots and get em off to MC's...Plus Im a DJ first so I do my own exclusive remixes to play out using my own beats.

cool man, so your beat tapes are structured as promotion for beats that will have emcees on them eventually; so do you ever put breakdowns in them or do you save that for the final version of the beat?

i was thinking i could do that, but make the verse 16 bars long, and maybe 2X4 bar hooks with the second verse being 16 bars with a breakdown to release it as an instrumental beat intended as such.

thanks for the input so far everyone.

It's a bunch of producers that got "Beat Tapes" out for sale as "final product"...9th Wonder,Babu,Alchemist,Madlib,Evidence,Primo,J Dilla,Oh No...those are the ones I can think off of the top of my head just because I listen to them alot.

Earnest Magilakutti wrote:It's a bunch of producers that got "Beat Tapes" out for sale as "final product"...9th Wonder,Babu,Alchemist,Madlib,Evidence,Primo,J Dilla,Oh No...those are the ones I can think off of the top of my head just because I listen to them alot.

oh shit i aint know 9th wonder had a beat tape out

i just bought dj shadow ...emergance and j dilla donuts is being sent to me right now. stoked

whats your favorite primo and alchemist and madlib tape?

bump

damien907 wrote:so my questions to you are:
1.do you start a beat knowing that its going to be an instrumental end product or does it just morph into that later on?
2.if your going to keep a beat instrumental, do you go about structuring it differently than you would a normal beat with a rapper over it?
3. have you ever made an instrumental that was supposed to have vocals, then transformed it to a full fledged instrumental track afterwards?
4. how do you break up the monotony of a sample based instrumental? what do you add to sections? what do you mute? are these instrumentals generally more complex than your average rap song?

1. I just make beats... When I was working on my beat tape I was just looking for a certain tone but I wasnt specifically giving them different arrangments just cuz it was going to be on my beat tape.

2. I think answer 1 answers this aswell. I dont go about it any differently.

3. Nope.

4. They are not more complex. As far as breaking it down it really depends on the beat itself and what drums I used. Percussion sounds are always easy to add/ mute, drum rolls etc. Theres no wrong or right way... Once you get real good you can always start adding in different sounds for choruses or bridges etc.

But to add... my beat tape featured full length beats.

It was made to target MC's who want a beat to cypher with or even just make a full track to them.

In my opinion you shouldnt follow a structure.

I have some beats where the intro is 2 bars or 4 or 8... I dont think it matters... For example my "Here We Go" beat has a pretty long intro but it fits the beat and sets the mood. Do what works best.

Or even on "Mental Murder". I have no idea how long that intro is... LoL That shit is like 20 seconds long
"Kings Return" has like a half minute intro

Same goes with choruses... I have 4 bars and sometimes 8

cool thanks for your input ex.

yeah i wasnt talking about a set in stone structure, i switch up song structures as well, i was looking for more of an "idea of different structure" thats different in a song vs. an instrumental beat

thanks for all the info guys.