house beats, your help please

Hi All,

I have had my mpc2kxl for about 4 months now and I am making steady progress with my beats hip hop d&b and house.

But I wondered if anyone has any tips that might be useful for programming my house beats. I am using a basic kick on 1st kick & snare on the 2nd kick on the 3rd on kick & snare on the 4th. Now thats all good but I am having a little trouble with my Hi Hats, dont get me wrong they sound ok and I am making some nice patterns but if anyone can I would like someone to explain how to programme open and closed hats. I use note repeat on different time settings sometimes to create fills and stuff on the ends of sequences.

So any suggestions on the type of hats to use and how to programme would be very welcome. I enjoy finding out by my self but a little push in the right direction helps lots.

Cheers

Happy new year Roundy

HELLO ROUNDY,

SEARCH THE ARCHIVES THERE HAS BEEN A NUMBER OF STUFF ABOUT THIS BEFORE WHICH I WONT GO INTO HERE...stoopid caps!!!

right for hats dont use note repeat...i mean you can but get used to tapping them in at slower tempos or using step edit- you need to because its the relationship between the hats and the kicks that gives the groove- therefore the durations of the hats are very important....put full long decay hats in a 120-130bpm house tune and it will sound sloppy so you need to reenvelope your hats so they are shorter in length- i generally find a durantion of around 24 as the very longest ill use...

second is placement....you can use the swing as its very suitable for that house sound..57% is quite nice and laid back- 62-65% is for that shuffle dj sneak feel...also try having your hats hit slightly early....or alternate them so the first is late second is early etc.....

thirdly sound...always chop the lowend off your hats- try a 12db lopass at around 1000-2000hz......things just get cluttered if your hats have to much bottom end...also use the samples to cut each other off so a closed hat cuts off an open hat- this will give you a more realistic sound...

play about with these techniques its all about sound, note placement, note length and note volume....if you can get your kick and hat working togther well your half way there to a good beat...

greg

Greg,

Thanks very very much man, thats some great advice there. That has given me a big insight as to programming a nice house beat. Up until recently I have been looping other people beats and felt I really needed to start making my own as you cant 100% say a tracks your own until you have created all the parts yourself.

It's people like you that give me alot of encouragemnet by sharing your knowledge. I cant wait to start experimenting wth those tips.

Are you a Sneak fan? Are you into anything on peaches/igloo.... chi-town in general?

Again thanx

Roundy

dub is the man he really good on the house advicehe's given me a few tips that just boosted my music 100%,
learn that swing technic thats the key{one of the main foundations i have learned to make your music sound better}
good luck and have fun remeber
roundy
peace
e.d.e

Yeah e.d.e the swing is gonna take a while to master but the more practice the better I will get to know it. Do you use the adjust or just the swing percentage, I am going to experiment with it tonite and discover some new tricks..

After reading greg's advice last night I made a beat and it sounded like you say 100% better, I cut the duration of the notes and my hats sound much more crisp. It's given me a real boost, I cant wait to go home and get stuck in.

I also have to sing the praises of this site, alot of peeps would be messing around in their bedrooms taking longer to learn basic things on their own. This site puts you in touch with expert mpc heads from all around the world how cool is that!!?

Take it easy

Roundy

this forums is def my fave....never used to be but as its progressed some real sound peeps have come along, stayed and shared knowledge...

yeah i like that sneak stuff, stuff on igloo, the peaches series, music for freaks, subliminal as well as uk stuff and tech house....too much to mention

the american house sound is sublime...so warm and full yet crisp and pumping...the uk has a different sound which i like but its that US sound im trying to achieve...

yeah get that swing thing down...there are actually a few producers which swear by certain swing settoings in logic...16b and 16c- 16c equates to 62% on the mpc....and yeah swing everything...even bass parts...there are other house grooves you have to program rather than use swing....

greg

Yeah I am going for the nice warm american sound too, but at the same trying! to cultivate my own thing too many influences. I like those nice tight moving hats it gives a beat so much groove. I'm really feeling Joey Youngman's stuff at the moment. Funky and slamming at the same time.

You are definately right about pepole sharing knowledge it's very generous indeed.

Roundy

yeah its not the actual american sound as in content just the sonic signature..y'know warm liquid basses, punchy drums, silky top end etc...luverly

greg

Yeah I understand. I am trying to create nice deep house of the bassline variety aswell as jackin beats thats my first love.

Do you have any house music you have produced on-line, so I can get an idea of your style/direction?

Roundy

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/writePa ... =dubmunkey

there is a very old tune from 2001 on there called its all about you....summery laid back early doors sort of stuff..

but no ive not got anything else online....ive have tunes going at the mo but never seem to finish them off...so that tune doesn't really represent what im doing these days...its either more minimal, dirty, funky or even that deep jazzy stuff- if i ever upload any of my new stuff ill let you know...
greg

Kool I'll give that a listen tonite. Do have plans to release any stuff in the future?

if i was good enough which i dont feel yet...i have the musicality and the ideas but my engineering lets me down...havent cracked that element yet- if i could just get half way to the sound i wanted i reckon the ideas would flow a lot freerer- i spend more time programming sounds, getting kits together etc which is ok but sometimes just wish id spent more time in the past getting the sounds and the sound right- still its all good mate...i do other styles as well but house and techno just seem to flow outta me....

greg

was that track sequenced 100% on the mpc...what gear did you use?? i am trying to make house but all my drums were sampled and chopped up for hiphop and i can't seem to make the switch..

Greg

Just listened to those tracks both nice but I think the second is very nice cool mellow and a nice skippy beat. It's screaming out for a vocal, you should get someone to sing over it and you could send it off to someone like om/20 20 vision(although they have gone a bit electro recently) get a nice bassline going. Good skills

Roundy

If I manage to get up to date with technology i'll stick one of my efforts on-line.

not bad dubmonkey! i like the 2nd track to. mad vibes