Hip Hop Beat Making – The Essentials

Think you’re the next Eminem or Snoop Dog? Before you grab the mike and start busting out them rhymes, you need to lay down a big phat Hip Hop beat.

To this you’ll need to get into some serious beat production.

Beat Production is managing the beat so that it gives your song its overall drive. In Hip Hop and other genres of electronic music, the beat producer works with pre-recorded sounds, known as samples.

Click here for the best Beat Making Software >

What do you need to get hold of to make yourself a groovy beat?

Well, really, the choice is endless. Check out any of the following.

Top 7 beat making programs:

Acid Pro
Pro Tools
Fruity Loops
Reason
Cubase
Cakewalk
Kitcore

Beat Making Hardware

Keyboards. Leading brands include korg and Roland. These have hundreds of pre-programmed drum kits that you can select and play, just like a piano. They also have pre recorded drum patterns called presets that you can select and playback.
Midi Keyboards that make no sound on their own but work when plugged into a computer. These are used with beat making programs. You can also get MIDI touch pads like the Korg Pad KONTROL.

Now you wanna know the basic steps in this beat production stuff, right?

1. Get some samples:

Samples can either be “loops” which play continuously or single, non-repeating sounds which are sometimes called “one shots”.
Samples can be downloaded from websites. You can start your sample collection right now by googling “Hip Hop samples”. We’ll show you some of our favorite sites for downloading samples later.
Many sites also sell cds with hundreds of samples on them.
Magazines like Computer Music or Future Music come with free sample cds in each monthly issue.
Don’t forget, you can also record your own samples using computer music production software, keyboards, or, if you’re really old school, actual drums.

2. Get rid of any unwanted noise in the sample.

For example, the timing of the cymbals may clash with other sounds in the song. If you are going for a slick urban sound, vinyl crackles are a no-no.

3. Match the sample with the tempo of the song.

4. Mix it!

The mixing stage is the best place to play around with effects as they can easily be undone since they are not part of the original samples. Effects should only be used sparingly as they can clutter up the mix.
You can also control how the sound is placed between the speakers

If this is already messing with your head, you’ll seriously freak when you find we have only just begun our beat making journey. The possibilities for making beats and other music electronically are endless.

So just chill! We suggest you find the part of beat making that interest you the most, eg, hardware, software or effects and start with that. Read through these articles at your own pace and you’ll soon become the coolest beat maker in the house.