hip hop beat making

Producers block

2009-12-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

Just as songwriters get writers block; producers often get stuck, lose focus, become uninspired and have to stop working. If this happens to you, don't get frustrated. This most likely happens to everyone from Dr Dre to Timbaland. You probably just need a break. Put your project on hold and step away from the studio for a moment or longer. Even if you have a deadline to meet; you may be able to work faster once you've cleared your mind and regained some inspiration. Here are some ideas to get you back on track.

How to Cure Producer's Block:

1. Listen to something inspirational.

2. Check out some cool artwork.

3. Take a walk to get some fresh air.

4. Get a coffee (preferably with a hot chick).

5. Eat something good for you (banana's are great "brain food")

6. Play a game that stimulates your brain.

Finding your sound

2009-12-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

There are a number of ways to develop your sound and style. It will take some time so, you'll need patience and dedication.

1. Listen.
Listen to music when ever you get a chance. Listen to any and every style of music possible (yes, even country). Get a turntable (belt driven) and start crate digging at your local record stores. CDs & Mp3s can be a good start but old vinyl can really broaden your ears. You'll find a lot of good music that may not exist as Mp3s or CDs. Be nice to your ears. They are your #1 asset. Don't blast your speakers & headphones too loud. You need those ear drums.

2. Get educated. There's more than one way to learn how to make hip hop beats. You can learn from friends, at school or by yourself.

If you have friends in the music business you're lucky. Take every opportunity to learn from them. They can teach you things you would never learn in school.

Going to school for music is a good step to take. Study music theory. Get some piano, bass, guitar, drum, and or other instrument lessons.

On your own time, get into as many recording studios as you can and see, hear & study their gear. There are a lot of magazines and sites dedicated to the discussion of studio gear & instruments.

3. Take your time. Making music takes time. You may have friends cranking out beats. Don't let that frustrate you.

Finding your flow

2009-12-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of different ways to make a hip hop beat. As with any form of art, a hip hop beat starts with inspiration. Maybe it's inspired by a rap, a story in the news, a painting, a person, a feeling, or a dream.

What happens in between inspiration and the finished beat varies between artists and producers.

When I get inspired and I hear a beat in my head, I usually.

1. Keep the beat going by beat boxing it.

2. Record myself beat boxing ASAP.

3. Lay drum & instrumental tracks over my my beat boxing.

Hip Hop Beat Making 101

2009-12-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

1. Focus on goals. Is your goal to be a beat maker or a producer? Maybe you want to be a M.C. or a Rapper? If you want to be a rapper, don't waste all your time trying to become a beat maker or a producer. Every hour spent trying to figure out your recording software is an hour that could have been spent writing raps, songs or practicing an instrument.

If you want to make beats and be a producer then, go ahead and learn about recording. There are many college level programs available. Do some research and get educated. Next, get some gear. Do some research but don't go overboard and spend all yourtime trying to figure out what everyone else thinks is the best gear. Decide what gear you like.

2. Start small. We live in an exciting time. We can make decent quality music with very little money. Start with a quality computer with beat making and or recording software. If you're on a tight budget go for a piece of classic gear like an Akai MPC or Ensoniq ASR-10.

3. Find sounds & samples. There are a number of ways to build your collection of sounds and samples. Many dig through vinyl. Others use sounds on hardware and/or buy from sites.

4. Make music. Don't worry about making some dream studio or acquiring every piece of gear that you hear is good. Focus on making music with what you have. Grab some drum sounds from a record. Sample things you find around the house: a jar, a plate, a cup or whatever.

Free Roland TR-808 samples

2009-12-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

Here are some free TR-808 WAV files for you to download (16 bit 44 kHz). Most have been normalized in Cool Edit (the Windows WAV editor). They can be imported into an SBK file and loaded onto a Soundblaster AWE32. They can then be used as a midi-instrument in a sequencer. My fellow Ensoniq EPS and ASR-10 users may use a program called AWAVE to convert these WAV files to Ensoniq formatted files. AWAVE is a program that can convert any file format to almost anything. Thus it may also work if you have a different sampler or synthesizer (so look out for that).

All of these files have all been zipped and require WINZIP or PKZIP to extract the WAV files. Any files that are greater than 1Mb will be broken down into parts. When clicking on the download button, you will be taken to a special download corner where you could download the files part by part. The reason for this is that we are only limited to upload up to 500Kb per file. Also, it is a great convenience as well for those who are saving these files on standard 3.5 floppy disks where storage space is limited.

Free Roland TR-808 Samples
Kicks, snares, High Hats and
other Roland TR-808 sounds

Some Good Pay 808 Samples
Tr-808 samples Endorsed by Multi-Platinum Hip Hop Producers

Public domain music & Royalty Free Music to Sample

2009-11-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

Recently we came across some sites with some nice public domain Jazz & Classical music. With a little imagination you can bust out some hotness. Sample and chop em up to make some original Hip Hop beats like like Tribe Called Quest or Kanye.

I'm pretty sure that you do not have to clear these samples but please double check or contact the site. I can not be held responsible for any legal actions regarding the sampling of these songs. More to come soon. Enjoy!

Public Domain Jazz Music
Time to chop up some Jazz
and make some beats

Royalty Free Classical Music
Time to chop up some Classical music
and make some beats

Analog Synth Samples [by popular demand]

2009-11-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

Everyone seems to be into the analog synths these days. The last post to some analog synths had a good response. You wanted some analog synth loops so, here are some. The site includes (just to name a few) the ARP Odyssey, Moog MiniMoog, Roland Juno, Roland SH-101, Roland TR-808 & Roland TR-909. We noticed it can be a little slow so have patience. You get what you pay for. LOL

Also check out the link to our favorite TR-808 Samples. There are a lot of nice decayed kicks that rumble your speakers like the pros.

More Analog Synth Samples
Free Analog synths w/ loops
to make some beats with.

Our favorite TR-808 Samples
Hip Hop Samples Endorsed by
Multi Platinum Producers

For Sale Akai MPC 2000xl w/ Akai MFC42, 1 gig of hot sounds, SCSI Zip drive & disks

2009-11-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

We just got our 30 day eviction notice. We were told that it might happen but were hoping it would not. Anyway... that being said... don't try to low ball me on this unit. I think it's priced fair. What you get here is my beloved MPC 2000xl with the Akai MFC42 analog filter, a scsi zip drive, 15 zip disks filled with my hottest sounds and the case (if you want). This is a set so please do not try to break it up. They belong together. LOL. You should be able to crank out hits day after day.

Finding the best Samples

2009-11-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Crate Digging: The art of finding samples for Hip Hop beats. In the begining "crate digging" consisted of searching through record crates. Today it also includes CDs, mp3s and sample websites. Most producers probably don't sample from mp3s but they might hear a track on a mp3 and then find a CD or vinyl version of it. Another way of acquiring samples is to buy them from sample sites. There are a lot out there: modernbeats, abstractbeats, p5audio, joemadsamples etc. I don't like paying a lot but sometimes in a pinch the sites come in handy. I've bought from the 4 I mentioned above and I'll review them soon. Finding the right sample is an important part of making Hip Hop beats. It can be the difference between a making that track hott.

Hip Hop Samples on Blogspot

2009-11-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

After getting out of my old place and finding a better pad; I'm back in the swing of things. I'm happy to tell you that I didn't even have to sell my MPC2000xl. I sold the MFC42 (for $200), some records and one of my turn tables. After settling into my new room/studio, I wanted to get inspired by chopping some samples so, I searched blogspot for Hip Hop Samples and old records. Here's what I found today...

I can not be held responsible for any legal actions regarding the sampling of these songs. More to come soon. Enjoy!

Souled On Music
A lot of Soul music to sample and chop.
Updated often.

Wu Tang Samples
Wu Tang Forever Original Samples.

Where to Find Free Hip Hop Samples

2009-11-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

We started a nice list of places where you can find some decent free Hip Hop Samples and some other great resources for making beats. More to come soon. Enjoy!

Producer Sounds
Free Hip Hop Producer Samples
for making beats

Free Analog Synth sounds
Free synth Samples
for making beats

Finding the right tools

2009-11-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

There are so many different ways to make music. In Hip Hop, samples reign king. In the beginning Hip Hop was 2 turntables and a microphone. Then samplers came and allowed Hip Hop DJs to sample records so they could make their own beats. It's still common to find a producer using a turntable and a sampler (like the akai MPC 3000 pictured to the right). When samplers first hit the market, they were expensive and there were not many producers that could afford them. Early samplers could only hold a couple seconds worth of samples. Today, most samplers have more sample time than any producer really needs (they cost a lot less too).

Analog and digital synthesizers also play a roll in Hip Hop beat production but are really just icing on the beat. Synthesizers are optional in Hip Hop but can make some really great sounding instruments for bass, melody and chords. Their history is interesting because early synthesizers still play a roll in the production of Hip Hop and electronic music (in general). The first synths were pure analog. Later companies moved to analog with digital interfacing and then on to pure digital. The funny thing is that a lot of producers still like the warm and phatt sound that the old analog synths put out so they are still used in today's Hip Hop music. Today, there are still some companies, like Studio Electronics and Dave Smith, that produce real analog synths.

Alternatives to hardware samplers and synths are plentiful. There are a lot of recording, beat making & sampling software available at prices that allow a lot of people to produce Hip Hop beats. Some popular production software include: Pro Tools, Fruity Loops, Native Instruments etc.

When deciding on what you will use to produce your music it's important to choose your gear wisely. Don't get caught up in buying every piece of gear you see in the latest issue of some magazine or blog. Focus on the quality of your beats. Find something that you like and something that works with your style of producing. Go to some other studios or your local pro audio gear shop and trying out some gear. You can get some good results with inexpensive gear if you know how to use it.

Chopping Samples : J Dilla

2009-11-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

Here we have a collection of J Dilla sampled songs for you to sample the f*ck out of. If you're planning on using these samples, you're going to have to clear them first.

“Unknown Track” by Shuggie Otis
- Sampled in “Donuts (Outro)”
- Download
“The Worst Band In The World” by 10cc
- Sampled in “Workinonit”
- Download
“The New Style” by the Beastie Boys
- Sampled in “Workinonit” & “The New”
- Download
“Johnny Don’t Do It” by 10cc
- Sampled in “Waves”
- Download
“Light My Fire” by Lil Brown
- Sampled in “Light My Fire”
- Download
“Watcha Gonna Wear Now” by Detroit Emeralds
- Sampled in “The New”
- Download
“ You’re Gonna Need Me” by Dionne Warwick
- Sampled in “Stop”
- Download
“ People Hold On” by Eddie Kendricks
- Sampled in “People”
- Download
“ Fruitman” by Kool & The Gang
- Sampled in “The Diff’rence”
- Download
“Golden Apple Part 2″ by Galt Macdermot
- Sampled in “Mash”
- Download
“ All I Do Is Think Of You” by the Jackson 5
- Sampled in “Time: The Donut of The Heart”
- Download
“ You Just Cant Win” by Gene & Jerry
- Sampled in “Glazed”
- Download
“ I Don’t Really Care” by L.V. Johnson
- Sampled in “Airworks”
- Download
“ Lightworks” by Raymond Scott
- Sampled in “Lightworks”
- Download
“ Long Red” by Mountain
- Sampled in “Stepson of The Clapper”
- Download
“For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder
- Sampled in “The Twister”
- Download
“ A Legend In Its Own Time” by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
- Sampled in “One Eleven”
- Download
“Only One Can Win” by The Sylvers
- Sampled in “Two Can Win”
- Download
“I Cant Stand (To See You Cry)” by The Escorts
- Sampled in “Don’t Cry”
- Download
“Family Tree” by Tin Tin
- Sampled in “Anti-American Graffiti”
- Download
“UFO” by ESG
- Sampled in “Geek Down”
- Download
“ Charlie’s Theme” by The Jimi Entley Sound
- Sampled in “Geek Down”
- Download
“ Sweet Misery” by Martha Reeves
- Sampled in “Thunder”
- Download
“To The Other Man” by Luther Ingram
- Sampled in “Gobstopper” & “One For The Ghost”
- Download
“Rubber Band” by the Trammps
- Sampled in “Dilla Says Go”
- Download
“Walk On By” by The Undisputed Truth
- Sampled in “Walkinonit”
- Download
“ Just Because I Really Love You” by Jerry Butler
- Sampled in “U-Love”
- Download
“Maybe” by The Three Degrees
- Sampled in “Hi.”
- Download
“ Don’t Say Good Night” by The Isley Brothers
- Sampled in “Bye.”
- Download
“To You With Love” by The Moments
- Sampled in “Last Donut of The Night”
- Download
“ When I Die” by Motherlode
Sampled in “Donuts (Intro)”
Download
The Stylistics, Maybe it’s Love this Time
Sampled in (Baby)
Download

If you're planning on using these samples, you're going to have to clear them first.

Old School Sampling in the 21st Century

2009-11-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

If you're making Hip Hop then you're most likely sampling. You most likely crate dig and listen to music with the intent of sampling it. Today with the ability to find rare music all over the internet it's easy to find new samples. There are a lot of bloggers posting old out of print vinyl that have not been used in Hip Hop music. One of our current favorites is...

http://myjazzworld.blogspot.com/

Of course you have to get permission and pay royalties if you're going to use stuff like that but that's the reality of Hip Hop sampling in the 21st century.

There's a big difference between Hip Hop sampling today compared to the golden age of Hip Hop 20 years ago. Back in the late 80's and early 90's the legality of sampling had not come to the forefront of Hip Hop music because most of it was flying below radar. One of the main reasons that record labels didn't notice or care about Hip Hop music sampling was because initially Hip Hop music wasn't making much money. It wasn't until after albums from artists like Run DMC & Public Enemy started making big money from their sample based Hip Hop albums.

So, the bottom line is, whether you're using pre-made samples or doing it yourself; you have to be responsible for clearing your samples if you plan on making any money from your music. So be careful, that sample from modern beats could just be from a old record. If you use something that is obvious enough for a jury to pick out of the original recording then you could end up paying fines. There have even been cases where "free" websites have been asked to take down copyrighted samples and break beats.

Free Hip Hop Sample Collections

2009-10-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

One of our new favorite spots for free Hip Hop Samples is over at HHS. There are a number of decent sample kits waiting for you to download. Our favorite sample collections are the producer style collections

Styles of kits include Jay-Z, Rick Ross & Young Jeezy Kit, Jazze Pha Drum Kit, Jermaine Dupri Missy Elliott Drum Kit Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, Dr.Dre, Swizz Beatz, Young Gunz, Cassidy, Scott Storch, Lil Jon & Lil Wayne & more.

I can not be held responsible for any legal actions regarding the sampling of these songs. More to come soon. Enjoy!

Free Hip Hop Sample Collections
A lot of producer sample collections
and other hot kits to make some tracks with

Plenty of Free Drum Samples

2009-10-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Drum samples are one thing that a hip hop producer can never have enough of. Audioskull.com has more than enough drum samples to keep you busy. You need a little patience to deal with the seperate downloads but each zip usually holds around 10 to 25 free drum samples.

One-Shot samples included on Audioskull.com:

125 kick drum samples, 50 snare samples, 3 deep bass samples,10 tom samples, 5 kettle drum samples, 10 bongo samples, 10 conga drum samples, 10 cowbell sounds, 10 rattle sounds, 10 tambourine samples, 5 triangle samples, 10 crashes, 10 hi-hats, 10 metal perc samples, 5 hand
cymbal samples, 10 stix samples and new sounds are added every once in awhile.

Plenty of Free Drum Samples
Free Drum samples
to make some beats with.

Free Online Audio Software for Collaborations

2009-10-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some free TR-808 WAV files for you to download (16 bit 44 kHz). Most have been normalized in Cool Edit (the Windows WAV editor). They can be imported into an SBK file and loaded onto a Soundblaster AWE32. They can then be used as a midi-instrument in a sequencer. My fellow Ensoniq EPS and ASR-10 users may use a program called AWAVE to convert these WAV files to Ensoniq formatted files. AWAVE is a program that can convert any file format to almost anything. Thus it may also work if you have a different sampler or synthesizer (so look out for that).

All of these files have all been zipped and require WINZIP or PKZIP to extract the WAV files. Any files that are greater than 1Mb will be broken down into parts. When clicking on the download button, you will be taken to a special download corner where you could download the files part by part. The reason for this is that we are only limited to upload up to 500Kb per file. Also, it is a great convenience as well for those who are saving these files on standard 3.5 floppy disks where storage space is limited.

Make Hip Hop Beats Online
Free Online Audio Software
for beat Collaborations

Free Loops [by request]

2009-10-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

We don't usually use loops because we like to have control over each track's volume, EQ and FX. There are some resources out there for free loops if you're ust looking for a quick fix or want to practice your flow. Check out free-loops.com! They provide free loops and audio clip downloads to the music production community. Some definatly are not cleared because I saw "Diamonds are Forever" on the most popular loops. There are also some one hit samples. Thanks for the feedback!

Free Loops
Free Loops to make
some Hip Hop beats with.

Hip Hop Samples site:blogspot.com

2008-10-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite ways to gather up hip hop samples off of blogspot posts is to simply go to google.com and type in "hip hop samples site:blogspot.com" in the search bar. Here on "Hip Hop Beat Making" we consolidate and post our findings for you so that you don't have to. We hope that you find our blog easy to navigate. Let us know if you have any suggestions or requests.