By a_real_mc
Tue Sep 27, 2005 3:20 am
This is an essay I wrote for ENC1101 in college. Just thought it might help someone...but it is very vague and basic....
Producing Hip-Hop Beats With an MPC
-----Producing noteworthy hip-hop music requires 5 essential elements. First and foremost, it is crucial to have a creative and open minded outlook on music. Secondly, you need to aquire a collection of vinyl records. You will also require a turntable in order to play the records. A mixer will be used to transmit sounds from the turntable into your sampler. Your sampler in this case will be an Akai MPC. By utilizing the equipment stated above, you will begin to understand the production of hip-hop beats with an MPC.
-----The most vital element necessary to create good music is always an open, artistic view of music itself. It is this creativity that will allow you to manipulate the music of other artists, thus forming your own style of beat making. The way you interpret the sounds you listen to will greatly effect the way you create them in your melodies. When you listen to a record you want to sample, you will hear one of three things: music that should be chopped, music that should be looped, and music that is unusable. This will become more familiar to you through practice, and you will start to develop a taste for a certain type of sample. If you lack an ear for music and you are not very creative, your career producing hip hop beats will inevitably be ephemeral.
-----Assuming that you do have an artistic outlook on music, you will also need some knowledge regarding the structure of a song. Acquiring and listening to a collection of old vinly records is the best way to gain this knowledge. By studying music that was written in the past, you will begin to understand the basics of a song's layout. Once you recognize the patterns used by former musicians, you can produce your own music using the same techniques as your influences. You will listen to your records and choose the material you wish to sample. Whatever music inspires you is what you should be sampling in your beats.
-----However, in order to be able to listen to your vinyl collection, you will have to have a turntable to play them on. Choosing a decent turntable can be the difference between satisfaction and frustration when lisening to music. Most of the cheap turntables are equipped with a mediocre needle which will cause your records to skip while scanning for samples. This can be overly frustrating and dicourage you from listening, so buy one of quality. Some turntables come with a built-in mixer, however, you may be required to buy a mixer.
-----Your mixer is the device which transmits the soundwaves from the turntable into the MPC. A mixer also allows you to customize the sound levels of the music, including: bass, treble, mid, and gain. By customizing the levels, the actual core sound will be altered. Alter it to your liking and prepare to sample. But, the mixer is also used for "scratching." Scratching is when you use your hand to move the record forward and backwards while it is rotating on the turntable. You will scratch and flick the crossfader to create a unique sound that is usually used in
the chorus section of a beat.
-----If you become familiar with all of the items dicussed above, you are ready to produce a musical composition. To do this you will be using a sequencer called an Akai MPC. Once you have located a sound you wish to sample and you have tweaked it using the mixer, you will record it into the MPC. You will also select drums that compliment the type of sample you are using. To sequence a beat, you will first choose a tempo. Next you will lay down the drum patterns. Once the drum pattern is complete, you will "chop" your samples. Chopping is the word used to describe cutting small portions of your sampling song. When you have chopped out all of the pieces you want to use, you will begin to layer them over your drum pattern. If you have placed samples over your drums and it sounds like it is on beat, you have successfully created a beat.
-----If you have a creative mind with music and you have follow these steps correctly, you will produce some type of music. However, it will depend entirely on you whether the music is noteworthy or not. If it is, you will become even better with practice, but if you lack the creativity and dedication which is crucial to making good music, you will most likely lose interest and quit.
Producing Hip-Hop Beats With an MPC
-----Producing noteworthy hip-hop music requires 5 essential elements. First and foremost, it is crucial to have a creative and open minded outlook on music. Secondly, you need to aquire a collection of vinyl records. You will also require a turntable in order to play the records. A mixer will be used to transmit sounds from the turntable into your sampler. Your sampler in this case will be an Akai MPC. By utilizing the equipment stated above, you will begin to understand the production of hip-hop beats with an MPC.
-----The most vital element necessary to create good music is always an open, artistic view of music itself. It is this creativity that will allow you to manipulate the music of other artists, thus forming your own style of beat making. The way you interpret the sounds you listen to will greatly effect the way you create them in your melodies. When you listen to a record you want to sample, you will hear one of three things: music that should be chopped, music that should be looped, and music that is unusable. This will become more familiar to you through practice, and you will start to develop a taste for a certain type of sample. If you lack an ear for music and you are not very creative, your career producing hip hop beats will inevitably be ephemeral.
-----Assuming that you do have an artistic outlook on music, you will also need some knowledge regarding the structure of a song. Acquiring and listening to a collection of old vinly records is the best way to gain this knowledge. By studying music that was written in the past, you will begin to understand the basics of a song's layout. Once you recognize the patterns used by former musicians, you can produce your own music using the same techniques as your influences. You will listen to your records and choose the material you wish to sample. Whatever music inspires you is what you should be sampling in your beats.
-----However, in order to be able to listen to your vinyl collection, you will have to have a turntable to play them on. Choosing a decent turntable can be the difference between satisfaction and frustration when lisening to music. Most of the cheap turntables are equipped with a mediocre needle which will cause your records to skip while scanning for samples. This can be overly frustrating and dicourage you from listening, so buy one of quality. Some turntables come with a built-in mixer, however, you may be required to buy a mixer.
-----Your mixer is the device which transmits the soundwaves from the turntable into the MPC. A mixer also allows you to customize the sound levels of the music, including: bass, treble, mid, and gain. By customizing the levels, the actual core sound will be altered. Alter it to your liking and prepare to sample. But, the mixer is also used for "scratching." Scratching is when you use your hand to move the record forward and backwards while it is rotating on the turntable. You will scratch and flick the crossfader to create a unique sound that is usually used in
the chorus section of a beat.
-----If you become familiar with all of the items dicussed above, you are ready to produce a musical composition. To do this you will be using a sequencer called an Akai MPC. Once you have located a sound you wish to sample and you have tweaked it using the mixer, you will record it into the MPC. You will also select drums that compliment the type of sample you are using. To sequence a beat, you will first choose a tempo. Next you will lay down the drum patterns. Once the drum pattern is complete, you will "chop" your samples. Chopping is the word used to describe cutting small portions of your sampling song. When you have chopped out all of the pieces you want to use, you will begin to layer them over your drum pattern. If you have placed samples over your drums and it sounds like it is on beat, you have successfully created a beat.
-----If you have a creative mind with music and you have follow these steps correctly, you will produce some type of music. However, it will depend entirely on you whether the music is noteworthy or not. If it is, you will become even better with practice, but if you lack the creativity and dedication which is crucial to making good music, you will most likely lose interest and quit.
http://www.myspace.com/a_real_mc
R.I.P. Dilla......you will forever live on through the inspiration your music brings....
R.I.P. Dilla......you will forever live on through the inspiration your music brings....
someone should sticky this
