Anyone have any tips on hip hop melodies.

Any tips, tricks or advice, would be great!

The trick is to study as much that you can on Chords (Music Theroy)
http://64.33.34.112/MFILE/vpc.html

Once you got that down pack, you will producing your own melodies
by the dozen!

Lou-One wrote:Any tips, tricks or advice, would be great!

I don't really know about tips or tricks but I can give advice.

Pick up Contemporary Music Theory AND Tonal Harmony.

I say both because CMT gives you the layman's explanation of music theory while also providing you with methods for deriving scales, chords, etc. Also, it's more aimed towards the pop and jazz musician so it doesn't get into all that fluff.

Now, Tonal Harmony does get into all that fluff (plus more). It's the book to get if you want to learn everything except for counterpoint (I think, but I'd have to check on that; they may have a section on it). It provides you with all the hardcore, classical breakdowns of everything that you'll get from CMT and stuff that you won't even get from CMT.

Learn you're theory, then get you a book on composing music and you'll be straight.

It's a long and arduous road, but it's worth it.

Thanks guys! I'll definitely look into those. I'll see if the library has those books. If not I'll just get them to order them in. Saves me $$$

What I do sometimes is on my Triton do a one hit chord and sample into my PC. Process it and place it on ZIP and load into my 2kxl. AUTO chrom it and it's nice. That's just one of the things I do. I do that cause sometimes I want to hit that chord all on one pad on my MPC instead of the keyboard, it's just that the pads are magically delicious and I can't escape their grasp.

I have the 1000 and unfortunately it doesn't have auto chrome. It has 16 levels though, but I bet auto chrome would be much nicer.

don't count out the hum factor.......I might hum a melody and try to recreate it.....

I sometimes try to recreate parts that I heard on another album, and once I have it down, improvise a little bit. It is kind of an alternative to sampling the loop. I get most of my inspiration from other peoples music. Maybe I am not the creative? I'll usually flip the insturment. I'll usually flip it to something that kinda sounds similar, like a piano to an organ or guitar to a clavacord preset. I am with Prah on humming it out. If you have no idea what you want your track to sound like, it is going to be pretty damn hard to make your tracks sound like anything.

Rem is that book Contemporary Music Theory: Level One by Mark Harrison, and Tonal Harmony by Stefan Kostka, Dorothy Payne? My Library doesn't have them in, but this is what I found on Amazon.ca with those titles.

Ripper, I don't know what it is but when I listen to music and I'm really getting into it. I'm always imagining how much doper it would be if it went like this or like that. Most of the time when I'm listeneing to music I'm more listening to my imagination and what the music inspires in my head than the actual track itself. This is one of the reasons I decided to get an MPC. To see if I can make my own tracks out these imaginings.

The problem is when I attempt to create my own music I become a complete blank slate, and everything that does come out is very amateurish, repetitive, and extremely simplistic. If it comes out otherwise it's because I've taken a whole 2 bar loop and just added drums.

I'm not sure what the problem is but I cannot think or feel beyond the sample/chop I've taken.

I feel like pulling out my brain looking it dead in the frontal lobes and saying, "What The Dilly YO!"

All in all I'm very frustrated because of this and had thoughts of giving up on it all together.

It takes time, don't sweat. I got into this thing for the same reason you did. I heard something cool, and thought I could do it better. Listen to most hip hop now and even stuff from back in the day, not much imporvising at all. The best advise I can give is just keep humping till you see what works for you. Listen to all sort of isht. Listen to house, trance, classical, and hear how it progresses. Listen to jazz and hear how the drums bring in new instruments solos. Little changes make a track cool, you dont have to write an opus. I started off the same way sampling a 2 bar loop and adding drum. Then I was like how can i flip this up? well flip the drums here and there. Well what next? Add stabs and redundate loops with different instruments. Next thing you know you have a bunch of sequences that sound a like, but a little bit different, and way too much going on. That is when I know when to start make it progress. Have the most simple loop come in first, drum fill, then introduce a new sound, drum fill, introduce a new sound and maybe drop one out, drum fill.... get the idea? I am far from a pro but this is how I work.

Prah_860_ wrote:don't count out the hum factor.......I might hum a melody and try to recreate it.....

Ill co-sign for that one

Just be creative. Create what you feel. Making music does not have to be textbook. If you are like me, when I sit down in front of my Triton, it just flows. Art is art. Some of the greatest musicians have never studied chords . They just sit down and play what sounds good to them. It is not a bad idea to learn as much as you can, but try to be original. Don't copy everyone else. Look at OutKast, they are swoopin up them grammy's by being different. Some people will like what you do. Some people will not. Who cares because music is an expression of ones' self. If you love your own stuff, then other people will too. Not all of them, but the ones that matter will. Unless you just plain suck. I'm only kidding man keep doin' your thang, and stop wasteing time reading this. You could be making a hit right now.

Lou-One

Don't talk like you gone give up just because your ideas in your mind can't come to full fruitation on them boards and beat machines.

Perserverance, Focus Man.

That's what you need to do if you gone be true to dis music shit.

In time you will go from 2, 4, 8 bars tracks to complex musical compostions.

You get what you put into something mayne.

Time, Patient, Practice is what you need in order to succeed.

Thank if Michael Jordan would have quit when the dumb motherfunker cut him of the team back in the G.

If ****** think yo newbie trackz sound wack, keep at it until them shitz get funkin hot ******!

One

(I ain't telling u nothing I don't live by my damn self woadie)

Contrary to Paul's statement, I believe you will do better not only if you pick up some Theory, Piano Lessons, or whatever else it only helps you, but having someone like a Piano teacher who can break shit down and show it to you in your face and watch you progress really helps, it doesnt even have to be a Piano Teacher, just someone else who will take the time to teach you shit in person

You'd be suprised how many ppl wouldnt mind pulling in a DEDICATED head

O yeah and my tip for developing Hiphop Melodies is just listen to the artist that you like study how they do their shit and try to duplicate it for the learning experience, then take that with you and make it your own (don't bite it in so many words, you'll never make it that way)