How To CREATE A Great Hip Hop Song

It's probably fair to say that hip-hop has been the most globally influential style of music since some young wag stepped on Elvis's blue suede shoes. Getting started as a voice for African-American and Latin communities in the states, hip-hop soon spread and became the soundtrack to the 80's, 90's and the new millennium. instrumental hip hop and penetration increase, from commercials to films, and from charts to bars. In this section I am going to explain the basics of hip-hop production and 20 must know ideas to make the very best hip-hop tracks possible.

BEATS AND LOOPS

With hip-hop its about the beats - so get inspired!

Beats are the backbone of most hip-hop. Whether you're into the cheeky one-two of Dre's Eminem productions or the juddering steps of Dj Premier, it is advisable to be certain that if nothing else is playing, your beat still stacks up to scrutiny. As US comic Chris Rock put it: "If the beat's alright, they'll dance forever."

As we've already seen, hip-hop beats began as breaks from records, beatboxes and sampling drum machines, so its very easy for hip-hop produced on some type of computer to sound a little lifeless. Live playing and clever quantisation can fix this, though. The primary trick is to keep it sparse and once you've got a basic groove going, try taking right out different percussive hits before adding more.
Also, its important to keep it simple. In the event that you listen to professional hip-hop productions, you'll observe that its rare for two different percussive elements to play simultaneously - unless its a layered clap and snare, and also then they'll alternate over a bar or two between both playing and then only one or the other. You'll also hear many parts were an instrument like a shaker only plays for a small and specific portion of a looped bar, almost as though the various percussive elements are taking turns. hip hop instrumentals is no coincidence, as hip-hop culture is centered on this sort of connection. Wether its DJs, MCs or breakdancers, hip-hop is, at its core, relating to this type of back and forth interaction, which transfers to every single production element including beats.

STEP-BY-STEP the drums

1-The first thing I really do when focusing on beats is lay out a hi-hat pattern. Usually , I really do an eighth-note pattern and then go back and change it if necessary after I've laid down the other parts.

2-Next up is the kick and snare . I keep them simple at first because I know that I'll be using a drum loop underneath. I focus on a drum loop and add extra kicks and snares to bolster it. The kick and snare are both sounds that I re-use on many tracks.

3-Next I'll add a sampled kick and snare to reinforce the stock kick and snare sounds. This makes the beat sound a little thicker and grimier. I also leave a little bit of 'air' on the tail end - this acts like 'sonic glue', giving the beat a far more sampled feel.

4-The basic beat is now complete and ready to send in to the arrange screen, down the road I'll utilize this pattern as a template for other sections of the song, were I'll add snare fills and rolls.

STEP BY STEP The loop

1-When using sampled breaks, I usually make certain they're either royalty-free, original roughly obscure they wont be recognized. instrumental music hip hop dont have to be worried about sample clearance. I'm a fan of busy drums so I'll usually choose an action packed two-bar drum break.

2-Now you must match the tempo of the drum break to the tempo of your song. You are able to do this with any beat-slicing program.

3-Later on, after you have added vocals and such you can use this drum break, were its needed during your song.

MELODIES, STABS, SAMPLES AND SYNTHS
Just like every other design of music, hip-hop's gotta have hooks

Melody or bass: it's hard to say which one you should start focus on first, because hip-hop is at its best when its simple - great tracks frequently have a bassline but no melody or vice versa. And sometimes the bassline is the melody.
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